'Silent warriors': Othello honors volunteers

by Charles H. Featherstone Staff Writer
| January 15, 2017 12:00 AM

OTHELLO — Mayor Shawn Logan calls them the city’s “little, silent warriors.”

At a recent city council meeting, Logan honored four longtime Othello volunteers — Bill Bethmann, Fay Coats, Nancy Briggs, and Eric Morgan — in a short ceremony where he presented each of them with a certificate of appreciation and an honorary key to the city.

“These are folks who are making Othello a better place to live,” Logan told the Columbia Basin Herald later. “None of these folks are doing this to draw attention to themselves. They see a need in the community, and they fill it.”

The honorees are all longtime residents of Othello, but none of them are natives.

Bill Bethmann, 88, arrived in Othello in 1963, eventually running the city’s Rexall pharmacy for a number of years while helping as a member of the Lion’s Club (including many of its vision-related service projects), helping with the food bank, supporting the Boy Scouts, and doing dishes at the Senior Center.

“I’m not a self-starter, and I need something to do, sometimes for exercise, and sometimes just for fun,” Bethmann said.

“Oh, yeah, I’m still volunteering,” he added. “It’s kind of hard to quit when they give you an award for it.”

Eric Morgan, 70, is the closest to a native. He was born in Smyrna, an unincorporated area south of Royal City, and his grandparents homesteaded in Othello more than a century ago. A long-time active duty and reserve member of the U.S. Army, Morgan currently serves in the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Othello, and has been a volunteer firefighter, has helped with flag ceremonies on Memorial Day, is president of the Othello Museum, assisted with the Sandhill Crane Festival, and delivered Christmas baskets to needy families.

“All of these different communities need volunteers to step forward and do what the city can’t do. We wouldn’t have a lot of things if it wasn’t for volunteers doing it,” he said.

Fay Coats, 75, came to Othello with her husband in 1961. She has served on the board of the Othello Museum (she still arranges the museum’s annual opening), has volunteered with the Sandhill Crane Festival for many, has been very involved in the Lions Club, and is an active member of the quilters group at Pilgrim Lutheran Church.

“This is a great community to live in,” Coats said. “I’ve been interested in a lot of causes, especially as our children were growing up.”

Coats, said she is especially interested in preserving and promoting wildlife, especially for kids. Like the other recipients, she was also characteristically modest about the award.

“I didn’t seek this. There are so many wonderful people in Othello who volunteer, and it is humbling to have been among them,” she said.

Nancy Briggs, 83, came to Othello in 1964, and described moving there from her native Seattle as “a big change.” She has been active in the Presbyterian Adult Women’s Society (PAWS), a board member of the Othello Museum, volunteered with the hospital auxiliary, and when her husband Bill got cancer, the two of them became very involved in Relay for Life.

“It makes you realize how many people even in a small community are affected,” Briggs said. “But a small effort personally can make such a big difference in people’s lives.”

Briggs said that working together “in fellowship toward a common goal,” are something that gave her strength and courage, and help make the community a better place for everyone to live.

“These things enrich your life,” she added.