SAMMI Awards to be Held March 18 - Nominees of People Who Have Contributed to Sammamish Announced

The SAMMI Awards will be held on March 18 and event organizers are inviting the community to attend annual event to honor people who have contributed to life on the Sammamish Plateau.

"The people we honor have made unselfish contributions to the quality of life in our city, and in doing so they inspire all of us (to) give back," SAMMI Awards Executive Director Cary Young wrote in a letter to the community.

"This type of award ceremony is truly unique to Sammamish, and reflects the values that make our city one of the best small cities in America."

The awards ceremony will be held at 7 pm at Eastridge Church at 24205 SE Issaquah-Fall City Rd. in Issaquah. The doors open at 5:30 pm. The event is open to the public. But organizers would appreciate a $5 per person donation.

On average, about 400 people attend the annual event.

For 2011, the nominees are:

ART: Donna Gelinas

BUSINESS: Keenon Kennedy and Scott Moore

LEARNING PROMOTION: Connie Heldt, Gretel von Bargen, Rebecca Tapia, Paul Doran and Jeff Burgard

COURAGE: Tyler Croshaw

YOUTH ADVOCATE: Mike Shigley, Stephen O'Sullivan, Scott Kelly, Carol Stamper and Anne Ginther

TREVOR PRICE: Tarushi Verma, Guiomar Balsualdo and Jovahn Cruz

* The Trevor Price Award honors a young person who shows respect, kindness and compassion.

UNSUNG HERO: Del Goehner, Jerry Grummer, Man Jae Lee and family

TEEN SPIRIT: Adam Hawkins, Andrea Liu and Tiffany Ng, Josue Lopez, Nick Mahan and Sarah Zhou

ENVIRONMENTAL: Elaine McEnery and Judy Peterson

SPIRIT OF SAMMAMISH: Stephanie Doyle, Helen Baxter, Laura Walker and Charlotte Philips

If you're interested in volunteering for the event, information is online. To learn about previous SAMMI events, visit the group's YouTube page.