Chamber doles out 2005 awards

Keynote speaker addresses travel safety

OTHELLO — Several of Othello's best and brightest shrugged off the notion that they were the best and brightest, but the rest of the people knew better.

Cheerful smiles and hearty conversation mixed in the Cimarron Restaurant dining hall Friday night as the Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet. One hundred twenty six people were in attendance.

The 2005 awards were presented during the evening. Tammy Foley received Teacher of the Year for grades K through 6, and Steven Purcell for grades 7 through 12. Capt. Tom Salsbury of Adams County Fire District 5 was named Firefighter of the Year, the first time the award was offered, while David Rehaume took home Law Enforcement Officer of the Year honors. Ace Hardware, owned by Ken and June Story, was named Business of the Year, and Brad Boersma was named Citizen of the Year.

Nominations for award winners were submitted to the chamber.

Scootney Springs kindergarten teacher Foley said she was surprised and honored to receive the award, and even more so because her parents nominated her.

"That makes it even more special," she said. "My mom was my first teacher, my best teacher and my constant teacher. She always supported me and always told me to follow my heart, and that's what I've done as a teacher."

"Very humbled, honored and excited," Purcell said he was feeling, noting he couldn't believe it when he was informed he won. "I've been doing this 36 years and worked with a good group of kids."

Purcell teaches special education at McFarland Junior High.

"It's a nice recognition to be made, and I can't believe I got it," he said.

"I believe it's an honor," Salsbury said. "It comes from the community, and I feel people must notice what I do in town. I do a lot of the fire inspections in town, and I get out and I get to meet all the business owners. I was born and raised here, so I pretty much know a lot of the people. It's fun. I enjoy it. It's a great job. Couldn't ask for a better job."

Ken Story said he was humbled to receive the award for Business of the Year.

"For me, it's more about the people who work for me than anything else," he said, noting he appreciated the people who work for him, and the people who shop at his business.

Boersma called his award an unexpected honor. His family makes a point of being involved within the Othello community, he said.

"I tried to think of some other people that were more deserving, because we're kind of ordinary people that do ordinary things," he said. "There are a lot of exceptional people that work on local, national levels, and we just do stuff that, quite honestly, everybody else does."

Keynote speaker Andy Lightbody opened by asking how many people had noticed a little blue suitcase he had placed by the Cimarron's stairwell in the hall. A few people raised their hands, but even fewer had actually gone over to inspect it, and even fewer had become suspicious about the suitcase.

"It reflects that out of 120 people that are here tonight, probably less than 15 or 20 of you actually saw it, noticed it or did anything about it," Lightbody said. "This is a typical American attitude, especially when it comes to feeling safe here in the United States, and feeling safe a lot of times when we travel: We make simple mistakes that we shouldn't make."

The suitcase bore several stickers, including ones calling for World Peace, support of armed forces, a Kerry/Edwards campaign sticker and a Republican National Committee member sticker.

"Ladies and gentleman, if I had been a terrorist and I wanted to hurt this country, this tonight could have been a bomb," Lightbody said. "We'd have all been dead in this room."

Author of 28 books and owner of his own television production company, Rocky Mountain Television Company in central Colorado, Lightbody's presentation was designed to increase awareness, not fear, of the people in attendance when they travel, and he shared several tips for increased travel safety.

Lightbody's tips included maintaining a low profile and not calling attention to oneself, putting work addresses instead of home addresses on luggage to avoid being followed by people casing the airport for personal information, and making sure to hang "Do Not Disturb" signs outside hotel rooms whether anybody is in the room or not, to avoid people.

Lightbody stressed he wanted to educate the audience, not terrify them.

"Don't give up the right to travel," he urged. "If you do this, the terrorist has won."

At the end of his presentation, Lightbody offered audience members complimentary copies of his 201 safe travel tips.