>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

ELGIN — The Elgin Chamber of Commerce banquet held Wednesday evening applauded five citizens for leadership and extraordinary community contributions.

Mayor Carmen Gentry, the keynote speaker, acknowledged the leadership that has contributed to Elgin’s economic growth and progress.

“Over time, Elgin has had some pretty amazing leaders — decades of people giving their time to make Elgin a better place to live,” said Gentry. “Elgin is rich in social capital. Social capital is all about in-kind resources and how we leverage them. When we step back and look at the things that get accomplished here, it is clearly because of social capital.”

Among those honored as part of Elgin’s social capital were “Business of the Year” award recipients Dennis Cross and Bob Wiles of WC Construction. Chamber President Val Baird made the presentation.

“Tonight we honor two young men who grew up together, started WC Construction and are giving back to their community They have been involved with the 4-H Club, the Stampeders and more recently with the Elgin fire house,” said Baird.

Speaking to the group, Wiles expressed an appreciation for his hometown and his partner in business.

“I have to give credit to my partner (Cross) because he said he wanted to stay in Elgin and we did. Elgin, our hometown, has been awesome to us,” said Wiles. “Dennis and I lived across the street from one another when we were 5 years old. I couldn’t have a better partner than him.”

The “Man of the Year” award was presented by Katelynn Crawford, granddaughter of last year’s recipient, Ed Botz, who was recovering from knee surgery and unable to attend.

“On behalf of my grandfather, I pass the honor to a very deserving individual,” said Crawford. “This individual is vital to the ambulance service, is dependable when the school needs him to set up for prom or get the field ready for a Husky football game and is ready to fight fire when the call comes in. The 2008 ‘Man of the Year’ is Kevin Silvernail.”

Addressing the audience briefly Silvernail said, “Elgin is a great place to grow up. I’ve been here 12 years, and I appreciate being part of this community.”

Chamber Secretary Peggy Hayes presented the “Woman of the Year” award to Renee Rose.

“This year’s recipient always wears a smile, has a happy disposition, is very compassionate and never says no to anyone that needs her help,” said Hayes. “She is a member of the National Association for Family and Community Education, as well as president of the Garden Club and an active member of the Ladies Service Club. You’ll often find her helping at senior meals on Thursdays, serving and cleaning up. Coming from her native land of Switzerland and meeting her husband in Seattle, she has now been married 39 years.”

Rose approached the podium in tears as she tried to thank the chamber for the honor.

“I’m very honored,” she said. “I came to this little town about 2 1/2 years ago. I love this little town. There are lots of spunky people living here. I’m very honored to receive this,” she said.

The last honor, “Young Woman of the Year,” was bestowed upon Ginger Blair and presented by last year’s recipient, Carmen Gentry.

“This year’s recipient is fairly new to Elgin,” said Gentry. “She has put in countless hours with Little League, is the Union County safety officer as well as the Elgin safety officer and District 3 safety officer for the state.”

Gentry enumerated Blair’s many accomplishments, including involvement in Boy Scouts as a den leader and assistant cub master, as well as a Girl Scouts brownie leader and cookie mom. She is also heavily involved with the Elgin PTO as an elementary parent representative.

Blair is the Box Top for Education coordinator and helps at the Smarty Pants preschool with class activities. She is also a member of the Silver Sage Council that started a county-wide mother and daughter hike on Mother’s Day.

To mark the event, the men honored at the chamber banquet received engraved plaques, and the women were presented with jewelry boxes from the Women’s Service Club made by Smoke Wood of Elgin. The banquet meal was catered by Grande Cuisine of Elgin.