Annual Banquet & Volunteer Recognition

This year the Annual Banquet and Volunteer Recognition was held on Saturday February 19th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah. Acting Board President Dennis S. addressed the crowd before we enjoyed a lovely plated lunch, followed by brownies donated by George’s Bakery of North Bend. Participants enjoyed a slide show of Museum activities and programs in 2010, as well as a gift raffle. After lunch there was the State of the Museum address by Executive Director Richard R. Anderson followed by our awards ceremony. This year’s awards were as follows:

The Legacy Award recognizes volunteers who have made exceptional long-term contributions and commitments towards the success of the Northwest Railway Museum. This year’s Legacy Award winner was Jason P.. While involved for a number of years in various capacities, Jason received the Legacy award for his dedication to sound at Day Out With Thomas and RR Days and for his recent leadership in the kitchen car during Santa Train. Jason is always upbeat and seems to easily maintain composure during stressful or adverse conditions. He is a pleasure to work with – thank you Jason!

Hugh H. is this year’s Cliff Sharpe Award winner. The Cliff Sharpe Award is given to a train crew volunteer who makes outstanding contributions towards the operation of the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. Unless he is out of town, Hugh usually spends a day a weekend on train crew, mostly as fireman or rear brakeman. This is a significant commitment towards train operations, done with a friendly demeanor and a great attitude – thank you Hugh!

The Conservation and Restoration Award is presented in recognition of outstanding service in the care of our collection of historic railway transportation artifacts. Typically the award is given upon completion of a restoration or rehabilitation project. This year, however, we chose to honor an individual’s body of work on a currently incomplete project. Marty B., a travelling volunteer, put in 550 hours in three months on the coach 218 project before heading south to warmer weather. Marty primarily worked on windows and was able to complete a significant amount of work. We will always think of Marty when we see coach 218’s windows!

This year’s Community Partner Award goes to Phil S. and Lisa M. of Finaghty’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. Phil has volunteered to manage the main stage during Snoqualmie Railroad Days, including finding and hiring bands, hiring the sound engineer and getting the stage donated. As music is a very important component of the event – having someone volunteer to take care of the whole thing has been greatly appreciated. A big thank you to Phil and Lisa for their community support of our RR Days event!

All in all it was another great day! Thank you to all the volunteers and special guests who attended the banquet - we thoroughly enjoyed the event and hope you did too.