(WSB photos by Oliver Hamlin. Above, West Seattle Runner’s Lori and Tim McConnell with emcee Brian Callanan)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“We show up for each other.”

Wednesday morning, that was the sentiment about not only the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and its members, but also the entirety of West Seattle, as the Chamber presented its 2025 Westside Awards.

“Local business is about resilience, connection, and legacy,” declared Chamber executive director Rachel Porter in her opening remarks during the breakfast event at The Hall at Fauntleroy.

:
Porter said the awards are emblematic of “rid(ing) the wave of business in our community” – and indeed, each was an artistic rendition of a breaking wave, blue “water” and white foam (created by Jen Austin of Green Fern Studios). Every year the Chamber takes community nominations for its four awards – Business of the Year, Not-for-Profit of the Year, Emerging Business of the Year, and the lone individual award, Westsider of the Year. The winners were announced last month; the breakfast gathering was a chance to celebrate them, as well as two community members honored with special posthumous Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Emcee Brian Callanan – who you might know as a veteran local broadcast journalist, but whose Chamber involvement is centered on his coordination of the annual Loop the ‘Lupe (coming up June 7!) – noted that 62 organizations and people were nominated for this year’s awards.

The big one, Business of the Year, went to a one-of-a-kind independent retail shop that just celebrated its 15th anniversary, West Seattle Runner.

Each honoree was the subject of a short video; in the one about WSR, proprietors Lori and Tim McConnell marveled at their customers – again, “for showing up.” They recalled the rapid-response group run after the Boston Marathon bombing. After the video, Tim took the microphone, recalling, “When we opened our store, we had no idea how much time it was going to take, the effort to keep a small business open … we also didn’t (anticipate) all the support we’d have.”

He closed with a favorite quote attributed to President John F. Kennedy, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”

The founder of the Emerging Business of the Year recipient, Deeds Health, said that today (May 15) would be the one-year anniversary at her last day of working for someone else. Dr. Stefie Deeds then opened her practice in The Junction, where she said her goal is to “remove barriers from giving care.”

Executive director Allie Lindsay Johnson accepted the Not for Profit of the Year award for WestSide Baby, founded in 2001 in West Seattle “in a new mom’s garage.” She too echoed the oft-heard, “This community shows up.”

She also reminded everyone that the items WestSide Baby distributes are “crucial for children’s mobility, development, and safety.”

Westsider of the Year, recognition for a community champion, went to Cleveland King, who leads the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA.

In his acceptance speech, King talked about arriving for his then-new assignment in West Seattle about a year ago and being expected to deliver the message – “not my message but I was the messenger” – that the Fauntleroy YMCA would be closed, after a century. The uproar – and collaboration – that ensued “let me know how important the Y was to that community … it felt like home.” King worked with the community to save the Fauntleroy Y, and today it is thriving, he said.

In closing, he said, “If you don’t have someone around you who believes in your dreams, find someone else to be around.”

The last presentations were tributes to the two posthumous recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards. First was Dawn Leverett, who died two weeks ago and was remembered by Porter as “a steady force in West Seattle”; she and Ms. Leverett’s friend Amy Lee Derenthal offered tributes:

Ms. Leverett served on the Chamber board and championed others during her two decades as a real-estate professional. She was described as holding the sentiment “there’s no challenge … that we can’t handle together.”

The other achievement award was presented in memory of WSB co-founder Patrick Sand, who died unexpectedly in October. Your editor and our son Torin Record-Sand offered a few words about him:

Chamber board chair Jovelyn Agbalog of Procura Mortgage wrapped up the event by remarking on community qualities: “Resilience, innovation, connection, and service … we must keep supporting each other … we must keep showing up … we must keep making waves.”

Past Westside Award winners are listed on the WS Chamber’s website.