We had some AMAZING stories of sacrifice, quick thinking, and caring throughou the year. Congratulations to ALL of the Hometown Heroes that were honored in 2017! Here is a listing of all of their stories!
January – Bo McGinley
Bo is the local public schools resource officer for ALL of the local public schools. He has a big job, going from school to school, helping kids that are dealing with bullies, or having a hard time themselves, getting in and out of trouble, and he goes above and beyond to help all of these kids. He takes extra time to speak with families and school faculty, and his approach is with understanding and compassion, instead of judgments and frustration. I know of at least three kids he has helped by guiding them to know how to do the right thing, instead of just punishing them and making them feel bad. He has been a resource officer, I believe, for 20+ years, and in Bellingham for a few years at least, can you imagine how many kids he has individually worked with in that time, to help them succeed? He helped advise me on what to do when my eight year old was being bullied to a point that I had to turn to the police department for help. He was caring, compassionate, and took his time to talk to me about the process and what to do next. He has great repor with the kids and all who he works with. His job seems like a pretty thankless position, so I want to nominate him for our local home town hero. What a huge job he has, and what a great help he has been to so many.
February – Ellen Terpsma
When she’s not working as a nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center, Ellen volunteers her time to create a positive, uplifting environment for high school athletes. For the past four years, she has worked with Meridian High School to establish criteria that makes their athletic awards recognition wall a place of dignity and equal opportunity for all sports. Entirely unpaid, Ellen also manages to find time to record and create highlight videos for the Meridian High School girls basketball team- having been an avid fan of the sport since she was only ten years old. Her efforts stem entirely from her love for the game and have helped to create a place of fairness for all.
March – Vicki Niles
Vicki is a 5th grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary and has been teaching for over 40 years. I am currently a student-teacher in her room and throughout my time working with her, I have been continually impressed by the high level of enthusiasm and kindness she brings to her classroom. Due to her many years of experience in the profession, teachers from around the building look to her for support and advice. It is very apparent that she is in-tune with each and every student and goes out of her way to ensure that not only their individual academic needs are met but also other needs in their lives. For example, at Christmas this year, Vicki knew that one of her students was unlikely to receive any presents. She worked through a Microsoft grant to make sure that the child received an excellent Christmas gift (a laptop!). Further proving her inherent level of compassion, Vicki also runs a local dog rescue, Happy Tails Happy Homes. She coordinates funds, drives back and forth to Sea-Tac to pick up abandoned dogs from around the world and finds them good homes. Vicki is an amazing person that has made my student-teaching experience nothing less than remarkable and I’m certain that she has long been a hero to innumerable children, families and even furry-friends in our community.
April – Suzanne Nevan
Suzanne Nevan, the director of the Ferndale Food Bank ,deserves recognition because she goes above and beyond her duties . Not only does she continually come up with new and inventive ways to raise money and/or acquire donations for the Food Bank, she can be seen on a daily basis stocking shelves, picking up food, and/or driving the fork lift unloading product! She is very good at making her staff aware of the Food Bank’s mission to make sure no one in the community goes hungry! She is always thinking about the clients! She does not keep regular hours ..if a job needs to be done she will stay late or come in early to make sure it is done! If running the Food Bank isn’t enough..when the Ferndale Community Meal needed help to survive she volunteered to keep it going! She is also willing to help young people who need volunteer hours either school or court requested to fulfill their hours !
Suzanne is always going in so many directions however every direction is to benefit the Ferndale community! One more thing she constantly connects with our legislature to encourage them to make laws and rule that benefit those in need!!!
May – Devin Chicras
Devin gives of herself freely and without hesitation to our Skyway community. She’s the Treasurer of the non-profit, all volunteer, West Hill Community Association, and also is the President of the non-profit online newspaper The South Seattle Emerald. She keeps us up to date with everything that’s going on and gets us involved in community activities and events, such as the “The Skyway Outdoor Cinema”, which provides free movies every Friday night during the month of August and has raffles, fun games, and food for the kids. And this is just the tip of the iceberg ~ she can be seen posting regularly to nextdoor.com to keep the neighbors aware of things that are going on in the community, be it a lost dog, volunteers needed to clean up the area, petition to get a local business owner approved to open a coffee shop, job opportunities, upcoming block party, et al. She’s physically involved in the community and always has a smile on her face. 🙂 God Bless!
June – Michael Boyce
Michael is a Taekwando instructor, living in Bellingham. He’s a devoted teacher who previously served our country in the military. He travels from Bellingham to Marysville every single day for his students. He’s always willing to stay late to help anyone who needs it, and never complains about the long hours. Michael is supportive of the personal achievements of all his students out of the Taekwondo studio, as well as in it. He holds each student accountable for their actions, is never judgmental, and is always working to foster a family atmosphere. Everyone in his Taekwondo community is grateful to have such a wonderful teacher. He’s a prime example of honor, integrity, and loyalty!
July – Bob & Lynn Stevenson
The Stevenson’s saved the life of Aaron Wheatley. Something drew Lynn to the door looking out on Lake Samish. There she saw an empty pedal boat drifting into their dock. Bob went out to check and saw a man floating nearly unconscious close by. At 80 years old Bob did not let his age or that he has had a triple heart bypass stop him from pulling Aaron Wheatley out of the water while Lynn called 911. If Bob and Lynn had not acted as hero’s on Monday, July 31st my husband would not be with us today. Our family are forever in gratitude to Bob &Lynn, the EMT”s from Station 25 and St. Jo’s nurses & Dr.’s quick actions that diagnosed my husband had a heart attack while on the pedal boat.
August – Janna Gripp
Janna is always helpful no matter the cause! Not only is she involved with Lynden Tennis helping with fundraisers, but her and her family helped all summer to bring books and games to migrant workers’ children. They spearheaded a school supply drive to donate over 120 drawstring bags full of school supplies to those in need. On top of that, she volunteered at Special Olympics and Top Soccer events. She teaches Sunday school and is an avid volunteer with the Be the One mentoring program at Lynden Schools! I can’t believe she has time to work at her job too! With a smile on her face and a positive attitude, Janna is a wonderful hometown hero!
September – Natalie Fedak
Natalie is an unbelievably talented writer and actress with a gift for bringing people together in community. One of the things that is so striking about Natalie is her selflessness and compassion for complete strangers. Today my job took me out to Little Squalicum Park in Whatcom County. While surveying some points with my coworker, we heard a commotion down on the beach and went to check it out. When we got there, there were a number of families yelling out at the water. A family’s dog, Lyle, had swam well over the length of a football field out into the Bay, and was not coming back for anything. Everyone was yelling and calling and whistling for the dog to come back to shore, but the dog just kept swimming back and forth, way out in the water, and everyone was terrified that he would drown. Natalie, who was working at the park, came over and asked what was going on. My coworker explained that the dog was out in the water and wouldn’t come back. Natalie did not know the owners, nor was she directly responsible for the dog’s safety, but she stopped what she was doing, walked out onto the beach, swam out to the dog, and helped the dog swim back to shore. Natalie, thank you for your bravery and selflessness. You are truly an amazing person.
October – Jennifer Ullom
The story as submitted by her husband Michael… Jennifer is my wife and she works for a non profit organization in Ferndale that cares for developmentally disabled adults. On August 9th 2017 a 19 year old employee of a neighboring business who had been stung by a bee went into anaphylactic shock and Jennifer jumped into action when others around froze. Jennifer took necessary steps in the following moments as the young man slipped into unconsciousness. With no epi pen available Jen directed others to do call 911 and attempt to locate an epi pen from neighboring businesses while she kept the victim awake and conscious. As a car was leaving they stopped and just happened to have an epi pen which was rushed to Jennifer and administered to the young man saving his life as he was at this time completely unconscious. Paramedics arrived shortly after administering another epi pen but without Jennifer’s quick actions and fearless attitude to take control of the situation this man may not be with our community today. Jen above all else deserves to be a home town hero.
November – Andrea Alaniz
Andrea is a passionate & caring librarian at West View Elementary in Burlington, WA, a dual-language Spanish-English K-6th school. On top of being a single Mom to 3 amazing and talented kids, she has spent many years creating and expanding a cultural dance program within our community. Several times a week, as a volunteer, she teaches 98 students in grades 1st-6th, 15 different dances from 6 different states in Mexico. She designs, creates, sews & cleans the dresses & outfits and engages in performances locally as well as at some Seattle events.
In addition, Andrea has been working with the ASB club, helping them to raise money for a well for a community in Tanzania, and was able to have a group of children from WestView attend WE Day because of the work they’ve done and the money they have raised. Andrea goes above and beyond in everything she takes on and works hard to encourage involvement not just from the children but engages the entire community. To all of us in the West View Familiy, she is what a true hero looks like.
December – Joey Robles
Joey coaches for the Boys and Girls Club, and other clubs, throughout the year, for not only one, but 2 teams at a time. Giving so much to the kids of this community. He teaches the kids the fundamentals of football and life. Sportsmanship is number one priority for his players. He is always thinking about his players and how he can bring out the best in each player. Joey is a great asset to this community and I am so grateful for his part in helping so many young kids grow in sports and in life.
Thanks to:
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