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By NATE JONES
The Wellington News
The Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce Director Shelley Hansel-Wiliams says she has a fortune cookie message taped to computer at the office. It says "Focus on the positive and you will flourish." It is definitely a good sentiment for these tough economic times, which have affected Wellington and the rest of America.
That’s just what Hansel-Williams, and all of the Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce did at Thursday night’s Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony. Over all, the night went off smoothly.
"I'm just going to ignore the little glitches and say that pretty much this is exactly what I wanted," Hansel said. "I wanted it to come off exactly like it did."
"Community" was the theme expressed in a speech given by 2010 Chamber President Robyn Koehn of Koehn Motors.
The highlights of the night were the two prestigious awards; The Business of the Year and the Distinguished Service Award. Sumner Regional Medical Center won Business of the Year. SRMC President and CEO Dr. Bob Bean was moved by the award and credited the high quality of the hospital's staff. Bean was humble as he received the award.
"There's a bunch of people there that are deserving of this award," Bean said at the podium.
He acknowledged the challenges of the past year, and deflected even more of this honor to the talented staff at SRMC. Today, Bean said he is proud of the group of individuals he gets to work with everyday. He said no matter how bleak the economic outlook may be, SRMC will hang in there.
"Well certainly the recession has landed on our door step, like it has everybody else," Bean said. "...But we continue to get up and do a good job everyday, and really appreciate the community support and involvement."
Bean expressed how much of an honor the Business of the Year award is and that it was a "very pleasant surprise."
"To be recognized by your peers and the community is very humbling," Bean went on. "It's a great honor and it's because of our people, we just have great people."
The Distinguished Service Award winner thought he was at the celebration to present awards, not to receive. Jack Potucek or Grandpa Scratchy as his granddaughter calls him, was mystified as he was honored with the award.
"...I was taken off my feet," Potucek said after the banquet. "But it's a great honor and it speaks to the community. I think everybody's helped me all the way through."
Jack is looking forward to a bit of rest and relaxation in Florida for a week with his family. He said after that it's back to work.
"The things I've been involved in require a great amount of people to be in there with me," Potucek said.
The Wellington man said everyone works hard and has a good time getting it all together.
"That's the only explanation I've got," he said. "It's certainly not something I've done individually, all of my efforts have been collective with a lot of great friends."
Near the end of the awards presentation, Potucek’s long-time friend Jerry Peterson presented him with a sailor’s uniform and a Captain’s hat for this vacation to Florida.
"He deserved it, truly from the bottom of my heart, I mean that sincerely," Peterson said. "I love that man and he deserves every bit of it, he has given so much to his community and it’s time they gave back."
Peterson said his fondest memory of Potucek was his involvement with the Slate Creek Depot.
"The next fondest memory is when it burned down," Peterson laughed. "We had two fine memories there. It's like owning a boat, there's two good days, the day you buy it and the day you sell it."
Peterson has known Potucek for more than 35 years. It wasn't just Peterson who thought the award recipient deserved the honors at the celebration.
"It was great. It was very entertaining," said Wellington Mayor Roger Stallbaumer. "All the awards were very well deserved and we ended the night with a lot of comedy and fun."
Stallbaumer was a part of the festivities as he welcomed the nearly 220 people who attended the Chamber banquet.
"It was awesome and the hospital and Jack Potucek getting those awards, I can't think of anybody who deserves it more," said Rep. Vince Wetta (D-Wellington). Wetta says he has worked with both award recipients often in the last few years.
"They're both great ambassadors for Wellington, they do a lot for the community," Wetta said. "...It was a great night."
It was more of the same from Hansel-Williams.
"First of all, Business of the Year, that was amazing. Sumner Regional Medical Center certainly deserved that honor. I was so glad that Bob was surprised," Hansel-Williams said. "So great, great, great."
Keeping the award winners oblivious to the soon to be honors was a task that required 007 secrecy.
"I did have to lie to him [Potucek] to get him here tonight," Hansel-Williams said. "He thought he was going to be apart of the awards presentation and so when he kind of got passed over I think he kind of got mad."
She said she is glad that the DSA winner got to enjoy the celebration, but Hansel-Williams said she is through keeping everything hush, hush.
"I have known about this for two months — agonizing. Absolutely agonizing," Hansel-Williams said after the banquet. "His sister calls me and says 'I'm flying in but don't tell any of the family. So I didn't know how to keep that secret, that was brutal too."
Talking to Potucek, it was mission accomplished.
"It was a total sneak up on me," the DSA winner said. "Totally, totally."
Dena Martens who works at the Chamber of Commerce was also blind-sided by a couple of unexpected awards.
"I was quite tickled off of those," Martens said. "I wasn't expecting that at all." Martens was a key figure in the organization of the event. She said the attendance at the event wasn't record setting, but it has topped recent banquet numbers.
"Shelley put in a tremendous amount of work to make it perfect," Martens said.
She also mentioned the celebration had a great atmosphere. "...The mood was lively and relaxed...everybody laughed and mingled," Martens said. "You couldn't ask for more."
Hansel-Williams — like everyone involved with the Chamber — is looking forward to the rest of the year.
"This party really did set the tone and I think if that's the case then we have one heck of year ahead of us," Hansel-Williams said. "It's going to be a challenging year but do I think this community and this chamber is up to it? Absolutely. "
By NATE JONES
The Wellington News
The Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce Director Shelley Hansel-Wiliams says she has a fortune cookie message taped to computer at the office. It says "Focus on the positive and you will flourish." It is definitely a good sentiment for these tough economic times, which have affected Wellington and the rest of America.
That’s just what Hansel-Williams, and all of the Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce did at Thursday night’s Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony. Over all, the night went off smoothly.
"I'm just going to ignore the little glitches and say that pretty much this is exactly what I wanted," Hansel said. "I wanted it to come off exactly like it did."
"Community" was the theme expressed in a speech given by 2010 Chamber President Robyn Koehn of Koehn Motors.
The highlights of the night were the two prestigious awards; The Business of the Year and the Distinguished Service Award. Sumner Regional Medical Center won Business of the Year. SRMC President and CEO Dr. Bob Bean was moved by the award and credited the high quality of the hospital's staff. Bean was humble as he received the award.
"There's a bunch of people there that are deserving of this award," Bean said at the podium.
He acknowledged the challenges of the past year, and deflected even more of this honor to the talented staff at SRMC. Today, Bean said he is proud of the group of individuals he gets to work with everyday. He said no matter how bleak the economic outlook may be, SRMC will hang in there.
"Well certainly the recession has landed on our door step, like it has everybody else," Bean said. "...But we continue to get up and do a good job everyday, and really appreciate the community support and involvement."
Bean expressed how much of an honor the Business of the Year award is and that it was a "very pleasant surprise."
"To be recognized by your peers and the community is very humbling," Bean went on. "It's a great honor and it's because of our people, we just have great people."
The Distinguished Service Award winner thought he was at the celebration to present awards, not to receive. Jack Potucek or Grandpa Scratchy as his granddaughter calls him, was mystified as he was honored with the award.
"...I was taken off my feet," Potucek said after the banquet. "But it's a great honor and it speaks to the community. I think everybody's helped me all the way through."
Jack is looking forward to a bit of rest and relaxation in Florida for a week with his family. He said after that it's back to work.
"The things I've been involved in require a great amount of people to be in there with me," Potucek said.
The Wellington man said everyone works hard and has a good time getting it all together.
"That's the only explanation I've got," he said. "It's certainly not something I've done individually, all of my efforts have been collective with a lot of great friends."
Near the end of the awards presentation, Potucek’s long-time friend Jerry Peterson presented him with a sailor’s uniform and a Captain’s hat for this vacation to Florida.
"He deserved it, truly from the bottom of my heart, I mean that sincerely," Peterson said. "I love that man and he deserves every bit of it, he has given so much to his community and it’s time they gave back."
Peterson said his fondest memory of Potucek was his involvement with the Slate Creek Depot.
"The next fondest memory is when it burned down," Peterson laughed. "We had two fine memories there. It's like owning a boat, there's two good days, the day you buy it and the day you sell it."
Peterson has known Potucek for more than 35 years. It wasn't just Peterson who thought the award recipient deserved the honors at the celebration.
"It was great. It was very entertaining," said Wellington Mayor Roger Stallbaumer. "All the awards were very well deserved and we ended the night with a lot of comedy and fun."
Stallbaumer was a part of the festivities as he welcomed the nearly 220 people who attended the Chamber banquet.
"It was awesome and the hospital and Jack Potucek getting those awards, I can't think of anybody who deserves it more," said Rep. Vince Wetta (D-Wellington). Wetta says he has worked with both award recipients often in the last few years.
"They're both great ambassadors for Wellington, they do a lot for the community," Wetta said. "...It was a great night."
It was more of the same from Hansel-Williams.
"First of all, Business of the Year, that was amazing. Sumner Regional Medical Center certainly deserved that honor. I was so glad that Bob was surprised," Hansel-Williams said. "So great, great, great."
Keeping the award winners oblivious to the soon to be honors was a task that required 007 secrecy.
"I did have to lie to him [Potucek] to get him here tonight," Hansel-Williams said. "He thought he was going to be apart of the awards presentation and so when he kind of got passed over I think he kind of got mad."
She said she is glad that the DSA winner got to enjoy the celebration, but Hansel-Williams said she is through keeping everything hush, hush.
"I have known about this for two months — agonizing. Absolutely agonizing," Hansel-Williams said after the banquet. "His sister calls me and says 'I'm flying in but don't tell any of the family. So I didn't know how to keep that secret, that was brutal too."
Talking to Potucek, it was mission accomplished.
"It was a total sneak up on me," the DSA winner said. "Totally, totally."
Dena Martens who works at the Chamber of Commerce was also blind-sided by a couple of unexpected awards.
"I was quite tickled off of those," Martens said. "I wasn't expecting that at all." Martens was a key figure in the organization of the event. She said the attendance at the event wasn't record setting, but it has topped recent banquet numbers.
"Shelley put in a tremendous amount of work to make it perfect," Martens said.
She also mentioned the celebration had a great atmosphere. "...The mood was lively and relaxed...everybody laughed and mingled," Martens said. "You couldn't ask for more."
Hansel-Williams — like everyone involved with the Chamber — is looking forward to the rest of the year.
"This party really did set the tone and I think if that's the case then we have one heck of year ahead of us," Hansel-Williams said. "It's going to be a challenging year but do I think this community and this chamber is up to it? Absolutely. "
