A teen that finds volunteering to be rewarding, a man with a passion for helping youth, a woman with dedication and energy to benefit the community and a former music teacher who launched a popular weekly dancing event were all honored with First Citizen recognition Friday night during the annual Samaritan Awards.
Staged at the Philomath Scout Lodge and hosted by the Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce, the evening featured a celebration of community volunteers and exemplary businesses and organizations. An annual highlight is the presentation of the First Citizen awards, which went to Kyah Weeber (Future First Citizen), Trey Ecker (Junior First Citizen), Janel Lajoie (First Citizen) and Yvonne McMillan (Senior First Citizen).
Gallery: Samaritan Awards (Feb. 7, 2025)
A collection of photos from the Philomath Area Chamber of Commerce’s Samaritan Awards event at Philomath Scout Lodge on Feb. 7.
McMillan, who retired as a middle school music teacher in 2021, brought country line dancing to Marys River Grange about 2-1/2 years ago. Since its inception, the dances have grown to become a weekly event.
“Every Monday night, we have 60 to 80 people that come to the dance, it’s fantastic, it’s like a party,” McMillan said. “There’s a new dance taught every Monday night … swing dancing that’s being taught, so that’s very successful. Everybody is having fun and making friends.”
McMillan also introduced monthly bluegrass workshops and jams and put together events to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day and sing Christmas songs.
“The bluegrass is going well … we probably have an average of 20 people that come to that and we’re all learning songs and we learn things from different musicians,” McMillan said. “Everybody just keeps coming because they’re enjoying it.”
McMillan appreciated receiving the award.
“It was really fun and satisfying to be recognized,” McMillan said. “Even though you do it for the community, it is really nice to have the chamber of commerce recognize what we’re doing.”
Ecker, 28, enjoyed the spirit of the evening to recognize various contributions of those in the community.
“It is nice to know that there is something out there like this that does recognize the people that don’t often get recognized,” Ecker said. “So it’s a great honor and I know there were lots of great people that I was honored with — it’s really important, I think, to have this within our community.”
Ecker, who coaches Philomath High basketball with his dad, Blake, and had a memorable run of his own athletic accomplishments back during his days with the Warriors, enjoys working with kids.
“Coaching the youth has always been something that I’ve been interested in,” Ecker said. “PYAC has a great program that helps catapult youth sports and they’re always looking for volunteers. It’s a great thing to have people that are willing to donate their time.”
Ecker’s senior project a decade ago brought Unified basketball to Philomath, a Special Olympics program that’s still going strong. During his time in school, he also mentored and encouraged students with disabilities.
“The coaching is always there but you know, there’s always something,” Ecker said. “Whatever I can get my hands on or whatever I can get involved with to benefit and help myself and the community as well, I’m all for it.”
Weeber, 17, has impacted the community in more than one way through her service. Beyond her many contributions through 4-H, she also has made beds for animal shelters, collected donations to benefit the local food bank, sewn pillows for pediatric patients, cleaned trails at the Benton Bowmen Outdoor Range, participated in ocean cleanup projects and much more.
“I really enjoy it — it’s very rewarding to volunteer for things,” Weeber said.
Weeber’s accomplishments with 4-H have been notable. Just a few weeks ago, she represented Oregon 4-H at a national event in Texas.
“4-H is the main way I’ve been involved,” Weeber said. “One aspect of 4-H that it really encourages is community service, so I’ve been working on a lot of projects through that.”
In addition to winning the Future First Citizen honor, which goes to a volunteer age 18 and younger, Weeber also became the second recipient of the chamber’s Art Helkey Scholarship in the amount of $1,000.
Weeber said she plans to attend college at either George Fox University in Newberg or Linfield University in McMinnville and major in elementary education while competing in swimming.
Lajoie might best be known to folks in the community through Mud Oven Pizza, which regularly appears around town at various events. Lajoie also serves as manager of the Philomath Farmers’ Market, which has seen exceptional growth since it was established.
“Her dedication and energy are evident in her long-term efforts to develop and implement sustainable programs that make the town healthier, friendlier and more vibrant,” co-emcee Janelle Marcotte said about Lajoie during the award announcement. “Janel’s work leaves a lasting, positive impact on both the physical and cultural landscape of the community.”
Lajoie was not able to be in town for Friday night’s event. In her place, the award was accepted by Tyana Newbill.
Beyond the First Citizen awards, the chamber also recognized Cardwell Hill Cellars as the Small Business of the Year, Pacific Power as the Large Business of the Year and the Philomath Parent-Teacher Organization as the Nonprofit of the Year.
Individual Samaritan Award recipients were Brittany Kennedy (Philomath PTO), Shelby Juhl (Philomath PTO), Jennifer Ringwald (Philomath Community Services), Aileen Schrock (Philomath PTO), Gary Conner (City of Philomath), Sunny Bennett (Philomath Youth Activities Club) and Colby Johnson (Philomath Frolic and Rodeo).
