Sandy Coila with Michele Portman and Marsha & Dick Yandell on her right at the 2011 chamber banquet.
I am reposting this article to celebrate the life and achievements of Michele Portman who passed away September 21, 2011 in a tragic bicycle/vehicle collision on the Row River Trail. Michele was honored in January at the 2011 Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet for her decades of Distinguished Service to this community.
Michele was a beautiful person with a contagious love for life and those of us in it.
She is greatly missed. - Rose R. Miller
Community Service Honored at Chamber Banquet
Magic, Mardi Gras and community service were the themes of the 62nd Annual Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Awards & Installation Banquet last Friday. Purple, green and gold were the colors found on beads and feather masks. The evening was introduced by a moving Color Guard presented by young members of Girl Scout Troop no. 7 and Boy Scouts Webelos Troup no. 140. Local musicians Larry Bottemiller and Jerry McCollum performed the National Anthem and there was a moving invocation from Lama Trinley, who has served the Cottage Grove Buddhist Church for many decades. Trinley called for community members to aspire to having all their efforts inspire a sense of community service in others.
This was the overwhelming message that the attendees were honoring, service to the greater community. It was apparent in the solemn oath taking of the current installation of Chamber board members, many of whom have served for years in a wide variety of positions and continue to do so because they believe that service to their community is essential for its continued success.
Sarah Canales, this year’s Junior First Citizen scholarship recipient expressed her appreciation for the support that she has always received in this community, ever since she was born here. Canales stated that she has always felt that any success that she has had has come from a combination of equal parts her effort, her parent’s support and the support of this community. Canales will use the scholarship to contribute to going forward in college and becoming a medical doctor.
There were two people honored out of the greater than 400 employees of South Lane School district. Ruth Duskey-Price was honored for her 30 years of service as a classified employee and commended for being both a mentor to children and other adults at Bohemia School. Teacher of the year was Deb Henderson, who said, “I feel blessed to do work that I love with wonderful people who make up for all the holes that I have in myself.” Henderson went on to emphasize that education is a cooperative effort taking effort from the entire community. Both women were modest about the accolades they were receiving, though well deserved.
At this point in the evening attendees were treated to magician Dale Devorak’s performance, which included a wide variety of successful illusions, greeted by gasps of wonderment. In the social hour before dinner, guests delighted in experiencing both a fortune-teller and a palm reader.
When Michele Portmann, this year’s winner for Distinguished Service was introduced by last year’s winners, Jud and Sharon VanGorder, her list of accomplishments included more than a dozen volunteer positions many of which she has held for greater than two decades. Portman’s family was able to surprise her by coming down from Portland to see her receive her award.
Roger Braswell, manager of the Cottage Grove Safeway, represented the Business of the Year. Safeway’s more than 70 years of support of the Cottage Grove community was lauded for providing human resources, both food and financial support. There was a long list of charitable organizations that they do fundraising and provide support for. Braswell stated that it was a blessing for him to be doing business in Cottage Grove, following in his father’s footsteps, a man who served for 50 years at the Cottage Grove Post Office.
Sharon Jean, award winner for First Citizen, is well known in the Cottage Grove community for all the fundraising, support and organization that she has provided to many Cottage Grove organizations, most notably turning around the Bohemia Mining Days event when it was facing bankruptcy many years ago. She was appropriately introduced as a human dynamo and perfectly represents the community of Cottage Grove; exemplifying the strong spirit of volunteerism, which was being honored at this event.
Article originally posted January 2011 in Cottage Grove Sentinel
