Chamber awards gala Jan. 24

Make plans now to attend the sixth annual Awards Gala hosted by the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce Jan. 24 at the Mirabeau Park Hotel.

A social hour and silent auction will begin the evening at 6:30 p.m., followed by a gourmet dinner at 7:30. Awards will be presented at 8:30 and there will be dancing to Jimi Finn’s Band beginning at 9:30.

Awards will be given in categories include citizen of the year, small business of the year, medium business of the year, large business of the year, nonprofit of the year, Chamber volunteer of the year and the community caring award.

Tickets are $52 and must be purchased in advance by calling 924-4994 or visiting www.spokanevalleychamber.org.

Blankets gathered for local shelters

The Spokane Valley Fire Department and Jennifer’s Auto Sales teamed up to collect blankets in December and gathered more than 500 for local shelters. The two organizations want to thank the community for their efforts.

City plans winter retreat

The Spokane Valley City Council will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Monday at CenterPlace, 2426 N. Discovery Place. The meeting is the council’s winter retreat and is open to the public, but no public comment will be taken.

Mayor appoints members to boards

Spokane Valley Mayor Rich Munson appointed council members to serve on various boards this week.

He appointed himself to serve on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce, Greater Spokane Inc. and Emergency Communications. He will be joined by Diana Wilhite on the Growth Management Steering Committee and Dick Denenny on the Spokane Transit Authority Board.

Councilman Steve Taylor was appointed to the Convention Center and Visitors Bureau board. Council members Wilhite, Denenny and Gary Schimmels were named to the Spokane Valley Finance Committee and Denenny, Bill Gothman and Rose Demsey were named to the Governance Manual Committee.

Councilmen Denenny and Gothmann were appointed to the Heath District Board, Gothmann to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee, Dempsey to the International Trade Alliance and Schimmels to the Solid Waste Advisory Board. Councilwoman Wilhite was named to the Spokane Regional Transportation Council.

The mayor also reappointed three community members to the city’s Lodging tax Advisory Committee for two-year terms. They are: Valleyfest director Peggy Doering, Mirabeau Park Hotel managing partner Lee Cameron and Sterling Hospitality president Cal Clausen.

Nina Culver