West Plains Chamber awards presented

Businesses and individuals from across the West Plains were recognized for their achievements at the April 8 "Best of the West Gala" at Northern Quest Resort and Casino's Pend Oreille Pavilion.

The event is organized by the West Plains Chamber of Commerce and, among other things, singled out awards that went to Cheney High School teacher and coach Bobby Byrd as the Educator of the Year. Lt. Chris Munoz of the Cheney Fire Department was named the First Responder of the year and Pat DeVries the Business Leader of the year. These awards were presented by Ken Halpin of Eastern Washington University.

Byrd out polled EWU's Jeff Stafford. "Being a leader is a lifestyle, not a position," Byrd told the audience at the sold-out event.

"It's been a real interesting ride in terms of what I have been able to do," Munoz said. "I honestly don't feel like I'm running towards danger, I feel like I'm going over to help people." Cheney police officer Nate Conley was the other finalist.

DeVries' wife Sue helped accept the award for her husband who was, ironically, away at a shredding conference in Florida. "On the beach," his wife added. The company shredded 4 million pounds of paper in 2015. "Paper that did not go into a landfill," Pat DeVries said in an introduction video.

Fairchild honors included Junior Enlisted, Non-Commissioned, Company Grade and Senior Non-Commissioned airmen of the year. Chamber Executive Director Joe Jackson, a former member of the military, presented awards to the Fairchild personnel.

Junior Enlisted Airman, Zachariah Daehn, a fuels journeyman with the Washington Air National Guard's 141st Air Refueling Wing, spent time on the fire lines battling last summer's wildfires, and the classroom where he maintained a 4.0 grade point average at Spokane Falls Community College.

The top NCO is "The backbone of U.S. armed forces," Jackson said. That award went to Staff Sgt. Jasmine Phillips of the Aerospace Medicine Squadron. Phillips tossed out a thank you to her table who recognized the shout-out with some loud applause and whoops.

Officer of the year was Captain Maria Malhabour who has also been recognized by U.S. Air Force Central Command Surgeon General for her work that included investigating a suspected Ebola outbreak, among many more accomplishments.

Master Sgt. Joseph Koch was honored as Senior NCO long distance, via video, from his deployment.

Koch was a key cog in Fairchild's win of the coveted Omaha Trophy and oversees training for operators of the refueling booms. He twice served as the superintendent of his squadron.

Koch's commander, Lt. Col. Jason Brown accepted the award for his airman. "If any of you have the pleasure of working with an individual with an unstoppable positive attitude and a work ethic, that's Sgt. Joe Koch," Brown said.

Steve Wulf from Sunshine Disposal delivered the top business awards - small, medium and large.

Award winners were Small Business Mechanics, small business, the Cheney Free Press as the medium business and Dealer's Auto Auction as the large business.

Owner Dave Krygier of Small Business Mechanics said he appreciated getting to know so many businesses throughout the year while producing videos for the chamber.

"The Free Press is important because every community needs a newspaper, everybody needs a voice," owner Bill Ifft said. His company also publishes papers in Davenport, Ritzville, Spokane Valley and for Fairchild Air Force Base.

DAA had a relative auspicious start in 1992 with their first auction happening in the snow. "I think they sold two cars that day," Mitzi VanVoorhis, DAA's director of marketing said.

Other honors, including Most Uniquely West Plains, Young Leader of the Year and Person of the Year, were handed out by Washington state 6th District Sen. Michael Baumgartner.

The honor for Most Uniquely West Plains went to Eastern Washington University football over Airway Fitness. Assistant coach Nick Edwards accepted the award and wondered why he, and not EWU head coach Beau Baldwin was not on stage. "I drew the short straw," Edwards said.

The finalists for the Young Leader were Hannah Seagrave from the Airport Ramada Inn and the Kalispel Tribe's Economic Authority's Brandon Haugen. "This is real glass, it's heavier than it looks," Haugen said describing the award.

EWU's Beau Baldwin outpolled Spokane Airport Director Larry Krauter as the Person of the Year. WSU-Spokane Chancellor and former state senator Lisa Brown was presented with the WPC's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.

EWU's pep band, Code Red provided entertainment throughout the evening. Their music punctuated the different segments of the awards ceremonies.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].