It’s one of the most fun events of the year when the community gathers in the Philomath High auditorium to celebrate volunteers with the Samaritan Awards. The event is coming up Thursday, Feb. 15, with the program scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
The Samaritan Awards presentation is an annual program hosted by the Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce with support through a number of sponsors. Various organizations submit the names of volunteers who they feel “made a significant contribution to the betterment of the community.”
There are also awards presented to a business and a nonprofit organization, plus the “people’s choice” award.
The evening culminates with the presentation of the First Citizen awards, which go to “an outstanding individual who best exemplifies the spirit of citizenship and who has shown significant leadership through their time, talents and efforts to enhance the quality of life for the residents of Philomath.”
There are four age groups included under the First Citizen banner — Future First Citizen (ages 18 and under), Junior First Citizen (ages 19-39), First Citizen (ages 40-64) and Senior First Citizen (65 and older).
It all adds up to an impressive evening that’s become a City of Volunteers tradition.
The awards ceremony is a free event and open to the public but I’ve been told that Friday was the deadline to RSVP through online registration. For those attending, the chamber will be accepting donations at the door to benefit the school district’s “Weekend FoodPack Program.”
2. National Anthem decorum
Back on Jan. 12 when Philomath High hosted Corvallis in girls basketball, an individual that I recognized from past games stopped me in the hallway and asked me what I thought about the visiting team’s actions during the National Anthem. I had to plead ignorance — I hadn’t really paid attention.
Then just this week, I received an email from an area resident who asked me if I was aware of some sort of protest during the girls basketball game against Corvallis. It didn’t connect what he might’ve been referring to and we ended up chatting on the phone for a few minutes. It turns out that he was also talking about the Corvallis girls basketball team during the National Anthem.
So, I went on a mission to find out. First, I brought up a video of the game — and thankfully the pregame was included on the recording. Sure enough, the CHS girls lined up on the perimeter on their side of the court (which is a little out of the ordinary), faced the flag, held hands and swung their arms during the anthem.
My first reaction was that it wasn’t a protest. It appeared to be some sort of team unity thing. Over the years, I’ve seen similar actions by various teams (I recall the Philomath volleyball team, for a time, would start to swing their arms during the final stanza of the anthem).
Still, I followed through and contacted Corvallis High’s girls basketball coach, Dan Miller, to see what I could find out. I asked him if it was a protest of some sort or an act of team unity.
“No protest is intended from it. We have been following that tradition for more than 10 years on a team with a player whose brother and sister were in the Air Force and Navy, and who went on to the Naval Academy herself,” Miller said. “My coaches and I have family members who served and believe each person should be able to honor the flag in their own way. We have always considered that it is a respectful act by our players that is also team unity as you note.”
I’m a traditional sort of person and as a career sports writer, I’ve been to thousands of ballgames and listened to the National Anthem thousands of times. I was taught as a child to face the flag and put my hand over my heart. That said, I don’t find anything offensive about what the Corvallis girls do during the anthem. I realize it strays from what is considered to be proper etiquette but as the coach said, they’re honoring the flag in their own way.
3. Boys basketball team honored
OK, for the third item this week, we go back to basketball but this time it’s for a cool award that the boys basketball team received. Philomath was recognized as the Les Schwab Tires Class 4A Team of the Month for January.
Prior to Thursday night’s home game, the team walked across the floor as part of a pregame presentation to accept the honor. At that moment, I wondered what the opposing team must’ve been thinking. I mean, one of the big wins for the Warriors in January was an 81-58 blowout on the road over the very North Marion squad that Philomath would face that evening.
As it turned out, Philomath had a much more difficult time with the Huskies this time around and had to go to overtime for the win.
Coach Blake Ecker said he believes it’s the first time the boys basketball team has won the award.
So, here’s what this honor is all about. Each month throughout the school year, Les Schwab Tires and the Oregon School Activities Association recognizes a varsity team of the month for each of the six classifications. The winning team is chosen based on performance, dedication in the classroom and service to the community.
The winning team are selected from nominations that come in from the public.
In addition to the trophy, $100 was to be donated to the team’s program thanks to the sponsor.
A Philomath High team did earn the honor on at least one prior occasion. In October 2018, the Warriors volleyball team won the award. That year, longtime assistant coach Liz Dooley passed away and the team honored her in various ways, had a 3.89 GPA and went to the state playoffs.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
