Comments from Chris - March 28, 2007

It’s a great place to live

I shouldn’t be surprised, after all I’ve lived in Anderson now for over 26 years, but I still get all choked up when I see good folks honored by their peers.

That was the case Saturday night at the annual Anderson Chamber of Commerce Awards dinner that was held at the Win-River Casino banquet facilities.

The business and the people who were honored were as follows:

Business of the Year, the Prime 11 Cinemas; Distinguished Citizen, Corky Keenan; and the Grace Bell Award, Lynn Gilliss.

I don’t know how the committee was able to narrow down their choices, there were so many outstanding people and businesses nominated for the three categories. I’m sure there were some really tough decisions made.

Prime 11 has entered the South County community with a high volume bang. It is a delight to go to the movies there. The theaters are always clean, the staff is always polite and there is never a bad seat in the house. Ken Hill has made sure that his level of community involvement has remained a priority over the past year. Every Monday a portion of the daily concession proceeds is donated to local non-profit organizations. In 2006, Prime 11 donated more than $8600 to a wide variety of South County organizations. Congratulations to Ken and his very worthy staff.

Our Distinguished Citizen, Corky Keenan has so many outstanding qualities the list would go on and on. Let’s just say she is a real dynamo. She is involved in everything, the library, Anderson Explodes!, Toys from the Heart and so many other events and projects that require volunteer help. Our community is so much richer because of her very enthusiastic presence.

Lynn Gilliss was honored with the presentation of the Grace Bell Memorial Award. This giving lady is very deserving of the honor. Not only does she work diligently on the successful NorCal Boat and Sport Show that is held in Anderson every March, but she also works tirelessly on a number of voluntary community projects that need the type of organizational qualities she possesses. Again, our community is much richer because of her hard work.

But despite honoring an individual every year, every citizen in Anderson should stand up right now and give themselves and someone near them a big pat on the back. This community has the true spirit and meaning of community. We laugh out loud, we cry at others’ misfortunes, we give big of ourselves and our wallets when a neighbor is in need and we always show that we care.

I don’t know of another place on earth that can claim all of the above, although I’m sure they exist. I’m just very proud to be a part of the South County.

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Starting next week the Valley Post will welcome a new editorial voice to these pages. I hope that you will enjoy reading her columns as much as I have. Her name is Joanna Hass. She is currently a senior at West Valley High School and the Editor-in-Chief of their newspaper, the Eagle Examiner. Joanna provides a fresh, youthful and unique voice for the Valley Post. I encourage you to read her commentaries and reply if you feel moved to do so. I feel that we can all learn something from her viewpoint.