88th Kirkland Awards — fishermen's finest

The Kirkland Chamber of Commerce held its 88th Annual Awards Luncheon on December 7, 2023 at the beautiful Woodmark Hotel & Still Spa. The event, sponsored by Evergreen Health, The Port of Seattle, Google, and Waste Management was in honor of those who have given back to our community.

Ryan James, Scott Becker, Beth Gale, and Kristian Uri

Kirkland Chamber Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Beth Gale welcomed the capacity crowd to the event and announced that the Chamber has officially announced a new Executive Director, Jessica Hoover, a well-seasoned Chamber Executive who will begin work in Kirkland next week.

Beth recognized Mayor Penny Sweet, Councilmember Amy Falcone, Councilmember Kelli Curtis, Councilmember Jon Pascal, and Councilmember Neal Black and thanked them for their support of the Chamber.

Peter Kirk Club Members and Past Presidents were also recognized as well as the current board of directors of the Kirkland Chamber and Foundation. Finally, the Kirkland Ambassadors were recognized and she turned the event over to Stephanie Lizza, Director of Community Engagement and Legislative Affairs for Evergreen Health - Our Title Sponsor.

KCAwardsLunch2023-5290-Enhanced-NR-2 (1).jpg

Before we recognized the 2023 Award winners, Kristian Uri and Ryan James took a moment to recognize and thank Beth Gale for her dedication, seeing the Chamber and Foundation through as the Board worked through our executive search.

The first award to be presented is the Charles O. Morgan Business Excellence Award. Several years ago we lost our good friend Chuck Morgan. He was one of Kirkland’s patriarch’s, having served as the Chamber’s Board Chair both in 1953 and 1965. Chuck’s professional background was in journalism. He was the long-time publisher of what became Eastside Journal, the first newspaper on the Eastside. With many of us, he helped with the founding of the Kirkland Performance Center, Evergreen Hospital, and Cascadia Community College. There is very little about the Eastside that Chuck did not play a significant role. Past recent winners include Livengood Fitzgerald Alskog, Kirkland Parkplace, Argosy Cruises, The Heathman Hotel, Google, and last year’s winner, Lee Johnson.

Join me in welcoming Tod Johnson to present the award to this year’s winner, Stacy Eakman of Alair Homes

The Chamber Member of the Year Award is named in memory of A. Duane Lund, a highly regarded local attorney who served as President of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. Duane epitomized Chamber involvement and commitment in the community. He served on the Board of Directors and was Board President in 1993. It is said that the older he got the more he realized he could give to the community. Join me in welcoming last year’s recipient, Alicia Quaco, Interim President of Eastside Health Network.

The Community Service Award is named in memory of Anne J. Owen, a Past Board member and outstanding community member. Anne was a tireless organizer and resolute worker for Custom Industries. She served on the Board of the Kirkland Arts Center for 10 years overseeing the preservation and maintenance of the building that has become a local landmark and home to the Kirkland Arts Center, the Peter Kirk Building. She was also synonymous with the Parkplace Festival. The award honors a Chamber member, who like its namesake, performs special community service over an extended period of time.

Join me in welcoming Terri Fletcher from Hallmark Realty who received this award a year ago, and presents this year’s award to Dennis Newell.

The next award to be presented is the William C. Woods “Above and Beyond Award” named in honor of long-time Kirkland community leader, Bill Woods, who we were sad to lose last year. Bill was known for his quiet, unassuming and dignified manner. He has demonstrated his long-time love and commitment toward the community through his generosity of time. Bill Woods was the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce board president twice and was instrumental in the development of the Kirkland Downtown Association. He also served as a vital member of the Kirkland City Council and also served the city as mayor from 1966-1974.

Join me in welcoming Stephanie Lizza, who will be accepting on behalf of this year’s recipient, Dr. Jeff Tomlin, CEO of Evergreen Health.

Our next award is The Lee Johnson Student Community Service Award which is named in memory of Lee Johnson, community leader.

When the family and Chamber discussed this award, a couple of themes arose as to what criteria would be used to find recipients. The first theme was community service. Many of you who knew Lee, remember how community service was truly dear to his heart. Throughout his life he was involved in many things that he felt benefited the community. Whether it was through Kirkland Rotary, the family business or just personally, Lee felt very strongly that the key to success was to give back to the community. The second theme was youth. Lee was raised in Kirkland and knew very well how important it was for kids in this community to be involved in different activities. He knew that Kirkland was a unique place to grow up and that people here took pride in the support they gave to their kids. With these themes in mind we came up with the “ Lee Johnson Student Community Service Award.” This award is to be given to a student in the Kirkland community who has shown a great drive to be involved in curricular and extra-curricular activities. I’d like to invite up Tod Johnson from The Lee Johnson Auto Family, and Lynn Lawrence from Lake Washington School District, who will be presenting to this years recipient.

Our next award up is the Merrily Dicks Community Arts & Culture Award. I’d like to invite Kathy Feek up at this time to say a few words about this award. ( Kathy, feel free to use this or your own) Merrily Dicks is and has always been the embodiment of what it means to be an advocate for the arts, culture and heritage in Kirkland. She has worked tirelessly to promote art in all its many forms for community members of all ages. Her involvement in the formation of the Creative Arts League( now called the Kirkland Arts Center), the Heritage Society, Summerfest , and the Kirkland Cultural Arts Commission has helped to make Kirkland the thriving, beautifully scenic city we all love. Merrily Dicksis a vital part of Kirkland’s arts community, and we are honored to name this Arts Award after her, and to recognize those in the community who share in Merrily’s creative drive and vision. I’d like to introduce last years recipient, Chris Lye from The Kirkland Arts Center to present to this year’s awards winner, who will present the award to Gunnar Nordstrom.

Our next award is the Scott Becker Outstanding Ambassador of the Year Award. We honored Scott Becker last year by naming this award after him, for his countless hours and years of service supporting our local businesses. Our Chamber Ambassador group serves as an extension of the Chamber by delivering plaques, attending ribbon cuttings, and being a mentor for new businesses, as well as involvement and volunteerism in supporting Chamber events. Our beloved long time Ambassador, Brenda Kauffman could not fly up this time, so here to present this year’s award is William Wright, who presents the award to Christina Schiefer.

Scott Becker, Christina Schiefer, and Will Wright

Our last award for the Kirkland Chamber is The President’s Award. This award was created to honor some of our our “un-sung” Chamber heroes. Many of our businesses give their time, energy and services not only to our Chamber, but to other organizations in our community and city. They do this selflessly and many times without needing or wanting any recognition. We were especially touched during Covid, when so many of our businesses came together to support each other. Here to present this years winner is last years recipient, Tanner Eriksen with Duffy Electric Boats NW, presenting this year’s award to Sandra Ekins.

Sandra Ekins, 50 year Chamber member, and Tanner Erickson

Finally, let’s thank all of our 2023 Sponsors: (Please hold applause until the end)

Title Sponsor: EvergreenHealth

Elite Sponsors: Amazon, Google, Kirkland Urban

Diamond Sponsors: Integrity Marketing, Fishermen’s Finest

Platinum Sponsors: Gesa Credit Union, Waste Management, Puget Sound Energy, Port of Seattle, Overlake Medical Center, Lee Johnson Auto Family.

Gold Sponsors: Alaska Airlines, CMIT Solutions, Northwest University, Luly Yang, The Heathman Hotel,

Silver Sponsors: Garrett Brown Realty, The Woodmark Hotel, First Financial NW Bank, Umpqua Bank, Morningstar Senior Living, Banner Bank, Chick-fil-A, Chateau St. Michelle

425 Magazine, BeLocal, Kirkland Lifestyle, Fena Flowers, Kirkland Heritage Society, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Parte’ Events by Masha, Raining Cookies, Taira Marie Photography, Vela Apartments, Woodinville Wine Country, Zing HQ, Ziply Fiber, and a special thank you to our photography sponsor today, Rachel Rausch of Rachel Rausch Photography.