SMOKEY POINT — The Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber Board of Directors bid farewell to three of its members, while the Downtown Arlington Business Association recognized the exceptional contributions of one of its own board members.
Returning DABA president Mike Britt grew emotional as he dedicated a new annual award to incoming board treasurer Mary Andersen, whom he cited as vital to the group’s “very successful year” in 2014.
“When I took over last January, it was like a dinosaur walking through a living room, but she made everything clear,” said Britt, who noted that Andersen took diligent notes of local businesspeople’s meetings with state and federal governmental officials in the wake of the March 22 Oso slide. “We didn’t know what we needed to be doing, but we knew that this impacted our back yard, so we wanted to document everything.”
Andersen, a cancer survivor, even canceled a meeting with her doctor to check a growth for DABA business.
“She set the standard for our volunteers,” Britt said. “I rarely get choked up, but she’s been an inspiration to me, and I look forward to seeing what we can do together in the future.”
DABA swore in not only Britt and Andersen, but also vice president Brian Bovee, secretary Dana Fowler, 1st board position Zeph Regland and 2nd board position Jeff Phebus.
Chamber board secretary Michelle Heue of Shiraz Specialty Pharmacy, and board members Jean Simpson of Village Community Services and James Eubanks of AFLAC, were honored with certificates as they left the board. Outgoing board president Kristen Granroth, of the Granroth Insurance Agency, singled out Eubanks, crediting him with much of the success of last summer’s carnival in Smokey Point.
As her last duty as board secretary, Heue swore in not only Granroth as past president, but also Julie Morse of Opus Bank as president, Carrie Byrum of Avon as vice president, Sid Logan of the Arlington School District as secretary/treasurer, and Dale Leach, Steve Peiffle, Vanessa Pawley, Jennifer Holocker and Dan Bliven as the remaining board members.
