Johannessen earns 2011 Citizen award

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

SECRET REVEALED -- Clued in ahead of time, Marianne Johannessen, front on left, maintains rapt attention on Silas Lyons' introduction of her husband, Kaare Maurice Johannessen, front and center, as the 2011 Citizen of the Year.

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Elected officials line up to present resolutions, certificates and plaques to K. Maurice Johannessen, second from left, who was named as the 2011 Citizen of the Year during the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce's annual Chamberee awards dinner Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. The event was held at the Events Center inside Win-River Casino on Redding Rancheria grounds in south Redding. Those gathering on stage to congratulate Johannessen were, from left, California State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, State Senator Doug LaMalfa, Shasta County Supervisor Leonard Moty and Redding Mayor Dick Dickerson. The award, presented each year by the Record Searchlight newspaper, was presented to Johannessen by Editor Silas Lyons.

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Record Searchlight Editor Silas Lyons, left, presents K. Maurice Johannessen of Redding with the 2011 Citizen of the Year award during the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce's annual Chamberee awards banquet, held Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, at the Events Center inside the Win-River Casino on the Redding Rancheria grounds in south Redding.

K. Maurice Johannessen's list of honors and accomplishments is lengthy, but perhaps none mean more to the long-time Redding resident than receiving the 2011 Citizen of the Year award Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, during the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce's annual Chamberee awards banquet, held at the Events Center inside Win-River Casino on the Redding Rancheria grounds in south Redding.

Presenting the award was Record Searchlight Editor Silas Lyons.

"There’s an old Norwegian saying: Only he who wanders finds new paths," Lyons said during an introduction that summarized Johannessen's long odyssey from Norway to Chad, Africa, and eventually California, finally ending up in Redding.

"It’s hard to imagine how different our community would be if not for the wandering that eventually brought young Kaare (Maurice's first name) to his true path. And now you know where the K. comes from in K. Maurice Johannessen," Lyons said, revealing for the first time the name of this year's winner.

After reading a long list of Johannessen's accomplishments as a Korean War-era Army veteran, businessman, entrepreneur, Realtor and public servant -- he is a former Mayor and former member of Redding's City Council, a former Shasta County Supervisor, a former California State Senator and a former Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the State of California -- and a detailed accounting of the money, both private and public, that Johannessen brought to the north state, Lyons said, "He personifies all that is right about our country and our community. He is a visionary and a patriot. He is a great American. I’m so very proud and privileged to introduce to you the Citizen of the Year, Senator K. Maurice Johannessen."

On hand to heap accolades, certificates, resolutions and plaques on Johannessen were California State Senator Doug LaMalfa, State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, Shasta County Supervisor and former Redding Police Chief Leonard Moty and Redding Mayor Dick Dickerson, who served with Johannessen on the county's board of supervisors as well as serving in the State Assembly while Johannessen was in the California Senate.

Seated at the same table with the honoree were his wife of 34 years, Marianne, son Mark and his wife Stephanie, a granddaughter Jacqueline, and a sister-in-law Chris, widow of Johannessen's older brother John. Johannessen's sons Steven and Scott and daughter Sheila live in the eastern U.S. and were not able to attend the festivities, Lyons said.

Other awards presented during the Chamberee included 2011 Business Person of the Year accolades to Greg Balkovek of SFI Insurance Services and 2011 Business of the Year award to North Valley Bank, Redding's largest community bank with more than 300 employees.