The Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce gathers each year for its Community Awards program not just to celebrate those who have served their community, but to champion volunteerism itself.
“What makes a difference for a community is people giving back. It is the contributions of all these people that make Lake Oswego a wonderful place. I’m very happy for the role the chamber gets to play in that,” said emcee Christopher Boyer.
During the event at Ironlight Thursday, May 23, the chamber dolled out awards to people and businesses that help the community thrive including the Bob Bigelow Lifetime Achievement Award to Robert Le Chevallier, the Sextant Award (which was renamed the Dr. Bill Korach Leadership Award) to Dr. Bill Korach and the Dee Denton Business of the Year award to Legal Locator Service & TSA Enrollment Services, among other honors.
Le Chevallier accepted the award named after the former Lake Oswego Review publisher to conclude the ceremony.
Paul Graham, who presented the award, noted that Le Chevallier, a Buckley Law attorney, was president of the Rotary Club of Lake Oswego and the chamber, where he worked on projects like the Rotary’s lobster feed and SASEE Awards scholarship program, helped establish the Kruse Way Economic Forum, organized the chamber’s flower basket program and much more.
“Those who know him best describe Rob with praises like ‘a thoughtful listener,’ ‘a role model with honesty and compassion,’ ‘a consensus builder,’ ‘value-based leadership and vision,’ ‘curious and creative,’ ‘results driven,’” Graham said, adding: “(This) is recognition and thank you for the large amount of time and treasure you have provided our community.”
Le Chevallier said volunteerism starts with one small commitment and spreads to myriad efforts for multiple organizations and across the community. He said doing so provided many benefits including long-lasting friendships.
“Thank you for this incredible honor. I’m committed to continuing my efforts to contribute positively in our community. Let’s work together to keep Lake Oswego a wonderful place to live, to work and to raise a family,” Le Chevallier said.
Korach received an honor that was twofold — not only did he win a leadership award, but the chamber decided to name the honor after him. Korach served as the superintendent of the Lake Oswego School District, helped establish a chamber’s Leadership Lake Oswego program and has been a consequential figure in the community for decades.
“The main secret to his success that has become abundantly clear to me as a result of working with Dr. Korach over these last few years is a genuine and undeniable reason his leadership success comes so naturally … He cares. He absolutely, genuinely cares. He cares so passionately about creating the conditions for other people’s success and he is driven to do all those things to create that success,” Boyer said.
Korach said effective leadership isn’t just about how other people see you, but also how those who follow your guidance feel about themselves and their own work.
“A leader can light the way but it takes the contributions, efforts and commitment from many people to turn promise into possibility and possibility into reality. That’s what leadership is about,” he said.
Legal Locator Service owner Ticia Symonds — who adjusted her business to become a center that could process TSA screenings during the pandemic — accepted the business of the year award. Chamber President Heather Graves-Ramsey said that 150,000 people have come to Lake Oswego in the last two-and-a-half years due to Legal Locator Service’s expanded services and that Symonds also started the Ladies Who Lunch program locally.
“I didn’t get here by myself. I have a great team. They are extraordinary. We did this together. Thank you so much for everything,” Symonds said.
The Oswego Lake Country Club — which was founded in 1924, braved a challenging first couple decades due to world turmoil and has recently renovated facilities — received the Century Award while Oswego Heritage Council volunteer Mark Browne earned the C. Herald Campbell Heritage Champion award for helping organize and modernize collections at the Oswego Heritage House and the Lake Oswego Public Library. Jeanne Denton garnered the Kay Vega Lakewood Center for the Arts Award for continuously fundraising, hosting events and leading volunteer efforts at the Lakewood center; Nan Robertson won the Arts Council of Lake Oswego Fortuna Award for serving on boards and committees for the organization and leading volunteer initiatives, Dawn Irwin with Directors Mortgage received the Chamber Champion Award for launching programming and being an active chamber ambassador, Bobby and Tannie Chanyapakorn and their business Adisaya Thai earned the Chamber Rookie of the Year Award for quickly becoming positive forces in the community by working with local schools and businesses; and Boyer accepted the Chamber Networker of the Year award for facilitating 40 networking events and spotlighting businesses.
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