Top chamber awards
Meg Stark, Washakie Medical Center honored as volunteer, business
March 19, 2016
WORLAND – Volunteer and Business of the Year were honored after an evening of dining and entertainment at the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Worland during the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber Banquet.
Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Wendy Sweeny said of the Volunteer of the Year (before announcing the winner), this person recognizes when there is a need to get things done, and how to bring together people of all walks of life to get things done for the common good.
Sweeny honored Meg Stark as the 2016 Volunteer of the Year with an engraved plaque. Stark has been the "unsung hero" of Worland since her arrival in 1962 and has been involved in numerous organizations like Hospital Auxiliary, the Crisis Prevention Program and Gorgeous Gals, Sweeny said.
"She has accepted many people into her home and her heart unconditionally ... The door to her house is always open, and no strays have ever been turned away, whether it's a person, a mule, a goose or a cat. She's known to many as mom, or another mother. She listens well, shares whatever she has for others." Sweeny said.
For more than 20 years she has helped raise awareness for breast cancer, worked with survivors of all cancers, kept the women's business professional organization alive and well, and provided drug testing services for the law enforcement center in the early days of her career, Sweeny said.
"She's amazingly energetic and ... watching her enthusiasm is very contagious. She transforms everyone around her to be a little bit happier, healthier and excited about things in our community," Sweeny said.
Stark was also gifted a handmade, crocheted mermaid on behalf of the Chamber Ambassadors, the women of Hospital Auxiliary and Gorgeous Gals made by Mona Webber. "It's a mermaid that's been handmade for her because mermaids live forever and may you live forever and keep on smiling," Sweeny said.
Everyone lives in a really special community, Stark said. "I came to Worland in 1962 with my husband who worked for the Bureau of Land Management and we were supposed to stay for three years, and 53 years later I have loved every minute of being here," Stark said.
Business of the Year
The Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce had last year's recipient of Business of the Year give out this year's award.
Linda Keyes of Pinnacle Bank honored Washakie Medical Center Banner Health as the 2016 Business of the Year, and personally thanked them for their excellent service for taken care of her mother while she was in the hospital recently.
Keyes gave this statement as to why the hospital was honored: "There will be a national leader recognized for clinical excellence and innovation for a highly coordinated patient experience and distinguished by the quality of their people. Their nonprofit mission is to make a difference in people's lives through excellent patient health care and recently breaking ground on their $23.4 million construction project. They will continue to provide excellent care and services to Washakie County for many years to come."
Hospital staffers Gracie Ramos and LeGay Parks Naseath accepted the award on behalf of the hospital. Ramos thanked the community for the nomination and said it's a great privilege to service the people of this community.
"It's such a great privilege to be in this community and provide health care for this community, and our vision really is to become the center of health care and excellence," Naseath said.