BG Citizen, Business Person of Year to be honored
The Battle Ground Citizen of the Year and Business Person of the Year for 2006 will be honored during a recognition banquet set for Sat., Feb. 3, at the Heathman Lodge, 7801 Greenwood Dr., Vancouver.
Three finalists have been named in each of the two categories, with the names of the winners withheld until the banquet. One person--Bev Brissler--is a finalist for both awards.
Reservations may still be made for the banquet by calling the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce, 687-1510. The event will get underway with a 6 p.m. social hour, followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Cost is $50 per person.
The banquet will include the installation of Chamber officers for 2007, with Denis Marsh of Nies Insurance taking over as Chairman of the Board, the post filled by Cheryl Yarwood of Stewart Title in 2006.
Announcement of the Citizen of the Year will be made by 2005 citizens of the year Rich and Trish Rubin. Scott Collard, 2005 Business Person of the Year, will announce the name of the 2006 winner.
Citizen of the Year finalists
Bev Brissler, Pat La Croix and Don and Jane Higgins are finalists for 2006 Citizen of the Year.
Bev Brissler has been active in the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce for seven years, three as secretary. She has chaired and co-chaired Chamber committees, including Harvest Days. She took over leadership of Harvest Days in 2006 following the departure of the former Chamber executive director.
Brissler is on the board of the Rock Solid Community Teen Center and was honored as its Citizen of the Year in 2005. She is a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs-Battle Ground where she helps collect cell phones and toiletries for women’s shelters and working on the Lady Bug Bazaar. She helps sort books for the Friends of the Battle Ground Community Library. She assists with the annual Walk and Knock food drive.
Brissler is an associate broker with Century 21 Americana Properties.
Pat La Croix, a member of the Battle Ground Art Alliance, headed up the “Chair-ity Project” in 2006, a fundraiser for the planned new Battle Ground library. She arranged for area artists to decorate chairs declared surplus at the current library, and then sold those chairs during a dinner-auction event, with over $4,000 in proceeds benefitting the library construction fund.
La Croix chaired the Spring Show and Sale for the Art Alliance. The event featured the work of 115 artists and drew hundreds of people. Proceeds supported an art scholarship at Clark College. La Croix also assisted with a ceramic tile project for improvements at Kiwanis Park in Battle Ground.
La Croix has taught jewelry classes at the Rock Solid Teen Center, helped with the Battle Ground rose float, completed the Master Gardener program, sorted food for the Food Bank, served on the board of the Chamber of Commerce, and co-chaired Chamber committees.
Don and Jane Higgins are leading the drive to construct and equip a new community library building in Battle Ground.
Moving to Battle Ground in 2000, Don and Jane Higgins took up the library challenge that had been unsuccessful for many years. They have worked with staff of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District and a Battle Ground developer. So far, the couple have arranged for about $2.5 million of the $3.4 million needed to complete the project.
In other areas where they have lived, Don and Jane Higgins worked on gaining adequate school space for children, assisted with neighborhood associations, and been active in parent-teacher organizations.
Others nominated for Citizen of the Year honor were Dorothy Person and Tracie Gorbet.
Business Person of the Year
In the running for Business Person of the Year are Eli Kassab, Bev Brissler and Tom Opdahl.
Kassab developed the Gardner Center at SR-503 and NE 199th St. in Battle Ground, bringing an 8-screen movie theater, family restaurant and other businesses to the community. He incorporated seven major bronze sculptures by artist Jim Demetro into the commercial project. The Gardner Center created over 100 new jobs with more to come as development continues. The Battle Ground Cinema sold over 200,000 tickets in 2006.
The Gardner Center development included the extension of Scotton Way to SR-503. The Cinema runs public service announcements for Fire District 11, Battle Ground schools, Battle Ground library and Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce.
Kassab supports family day at the Clark County Fair, the Rock Solid Teen Center, and two women’s care facility fundraisers. The Cinema put on the American Cancer Society’s Battle Ground Relay for Life Movie Memorabilia Auction in 2006. Kassab also constructed a city monument at the corner of the two highways.
Brissler is a Realtor/associate broker with Century 21 Americana Properties in Battle Ground. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors. She was instrumental in the creation of nearly 1,000 building lots where new homes have not been built. Those transactions were valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Brissler works to be a positive influence in the Battle Ground business climate through image, reputation and promotions. She sponsors a “Dear Bev” column in The Reflector. That series guides consumers in their real estate dealings.
Brissler serves on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rock Solid Community Teen Center. She has chaired or co-chaired various Chamber committees, including an economic development committee and the Harvest Days community celebration.
Brissler was honored with the “2005 Special Achievement Award in Recognition of Years of Outstanding Citizenship and Excellent Business Practices.”
Tom Opdahl operates Opdahl Chiropractic in Battle Ground. In 2006, he added a Creating Wellness Center with new equipment to assess physical, nutritional and emotional health. He refers clients to Battle Ground-area gyms, naturopaths, medical doctors, massage therapists, physical therapists and nutrition stores. He organizes programs in which his clients win promotional items from area businesses.
Opdahl started the first Battle Ground LeTip referral group. He is a member of the boards of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce and the La Center Chamber. He provides free treatments for clients who donate to certain charities, including Children’s Home Society, the Food Bank, Pregnancy Resource Center and the Perpetual Education Fund. He conducts spinal screenings and blood pressure clinics at fairs and exercise facilities. He participates in a Keep Kids Safe Halloween project.
Others nominated for Business Person of the Year were Dan Mueller of Old Town Battle Ground Association, Annette Hunt of Mallard Landing, and Tani Zarelli of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Gala event raises money for new BG library
The second annual Ben Franklin Dinner, held Jan. 20 at The Cedars on Salmon Creek, raised about $15,000 for the construction and outfitting of a new Battle Ground Community Library.
Organizer Jane Higgins said 142 people attended the event, which included an auction and the announcement of special donations.
“People were in a party mood,” said Higgins. “It was good weather. People were happy to get out.”
PacifiCorp Foundation for Early Learning donated $5,000 to the library project, with the money earmarked for young adult books.
The Altrusa Club of Clark County made another installment payment on their $10,000 pledge from last year.
The GFWC-Battle Ground donated $2,500 to the library project.
A sale of decorated chairs brought in about $3,400. The chairs were declared surplus from the existing library when new furniture was acquired last year. Members of the Battle Ground Art Alliance organized the decorating of those chairs and their subsequent sale. All but five of 15 chairs have been sold. The remaining chairs may be viewed on the library support website: bgcfriends.com
Rich Rubin served as master of ceremonies at the banquet.
Naming opportunities remain
Library supporters who make significant contributions to the library project may have their names engraved on various items in the new library.
While some naming opportunities have been taken, several other remains.
For example, someone who donates $250 may have his/her named attached to a wood chair.
A naming opportunity is offered for an outdoor bench, tables and microfilm cabinet at $1,000 each.
Computers can bear the name of those who donate $5,000. For a $10,000 gift, a person’s name will be engraved on a study room door, staff workroom, recorded books area or a meeting room kitchen.
Someone giving $100,000 will be honored with his/her name engraved at a reading area, young adult area, and adult literacy area.
The entire library will bear the name of someone who donates $1,000,000.
Higgins, who is president of the Friends of the Battle Ground Community Library, said the naming of one study room at $10,000 has been reserved, along with three children/young adult collections at $2,500 each. So far, donors have reserved the naming of 18 wood chairs.
Higgins stressed the importance of 66 members of the Cornerstone Society who donated $1,000 each when the fundraising effort was first underway.
Higgins said the Friends group has yet to raise about $855,000 as its share of the $3.4 million project. Construction of the new library could start this year near SE Grace Ave. and Rasmussen Blvd.

Sentencing of Tobias Grace put off to 2008
U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess has delayed the sentencing of Tobias Grace until January 2008. Grace was to be sentenced Jan. 19, 2007.
Emily Langlie, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, said the court documents relating to the decision to delay the sentencing hearing have been sealed.
Grace was part of a phony computer software scheme involving former Battle Ground resident Scott Laney. Laney and Grace managed and supervised the criminal activities of at least 11 individuals in preparing and distributing counterfeit and counterfeit-labeled software, according to court documents.
Grace was a resident of Vancouver at the time of the crimes, officials reported.
Laney was sentenced on Nov. 29, 2006, to five years in prison, plus three years of supervised release and restitution of some $9.4 million. He was convicted of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit labels and computer program documentation, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Laney is to self-surrender in early 2007. As of Jan. 24, he was shown as “in transit” in a federal prison locator system.
Langlie said Grace faces charges in the Los Angeles, CA area, and that the delay in sentencing may be due to including the results of that court case in sentencing decisions in Washington.
According to court documents, Laney and Grace conspired in the sale of Microsoft software with fraudulent licenses. Officials said Laney and Grace obtained the software well below wholesale prices, and altered labels and licenses to make the software appear to be a full retail product.
Laney admitted he sold as much as $20 million in counterfeit-labeled software or software licenses, officials said.
Laney lived in Battle Ground from 2000 until July 2006. The crimes were reportedly committed between 200 and 2004.
Officials said an undercover investigator working for Microsoft purchased software with counterfeit licenses from one of Laney’s companies in 2003 and on other occasions.
During the investigation, officials seized currency at 23501 NE 120th Court, Battle Ground.
Others charged in the case include Tom Polmatier, 39, Shawn Stockford, 36, and Arlyn Maldonado, 30, all of Vancouver, Grace’s sister, Arnica Grace, 29, of Texas, and several residents of California. Ages were as of December 2006.
Laney’s attorney, Richard Troberman of Seattle, described Laney as a devout Mormon who was active in his church. He said Laney did not understand the consequences of his illegal conduct.
Troberman also contended that Grace was the “brains behind the business,” and that Laney took directions from Grace.
The case was investigated by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and IRS Criminal Investigations.

Cougar couple will be missed
Bill Myers
staff reporter
Friends of Richard and Helen Robbins, who died Jan. 20 in a motor vehicle accident on an icy road about 13 miles east of Woodland, say the couple will be sorely missed.
Richard, 73, and Helen, 68, both grew up in the mountains east of Woodland. They attended Yale and Woodland schools, and lived in Cougar for most of their adult lives.
As a young boy, Richard spent most of his summers at Lake Merrill east of Cougar, helping his parents who rented cabins to vacationers. He spent the winters in Cougar where his parents owned a home.
Richard enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17, and became an aviation mechanic. A Korean War veteran, he was honorably discharged after four years of service. Richard returned to the Cougar area and began dating a girl from Yale Valley. Real love came when he met the girl’s sister, Helen Hall. Helen had started life in Kansas, but came to Yale Valley with her family early in her life.
Richard and Helen were married in August 1956. They became partners for life.
For more than 40 years, Richard worked as a log truck driver. For many years, he worked for Wilson & Sutton Logging in Ariel. Over the years, as daughters “Barbie” and Laura grew, the Robbins family teamed up for skiing, hunting and fishing trips. Family adventures included 4-wheeling and snowmobiling.
The Robbins celebrated a happy event, their 50th wedding anniversary, last August.
Friends, including Stephanie Burhop, owner of the Cougar Store, remember how the Robbins loved the outdoors.
“They loved to go clamming at the beach,” said Burhop. “They were salt of the earth people who would do anything for anybody. They were what Cougar is all about,” she said.
Memories of the couple won’t fade soon in the rural mountain town they loved. “Losing them was like seeing the heart taken from Cougar,” said Corky Wann, a Cougar resident and family friend for 25 years.

Woodland Planters Day court named
Three Woodland High School juniors will represent Woodland Planters Day at parades and events during the spring.
The members of the Planters Day court are Brittany Hunter, 17, daughter of Tina Hunter; Amber Olinger, 16, daughter of Jim Olinger; and Erica Risley, daughter of Tonya Richards and Mike Risley.
The three, all members of the National Honor Society, were chosen from a field of 12, and one of them will be selected queen of Planters Days.
Hunter, junior class secretary, said she hopes to study dentistry.
“I had my teeth worked on when I was little, and the orthodontist gave me a lot of confidence in myself,” she said.
Hunter is also a cheerleader, member of the Pep Club and a member of Interact Club.
Olinger, student body treasurer, plans to attend law school eventually. She’s a member of the Pep Club, DECA and Interact and the Spanish Club.
“I love to dance and hang out with my friends and family,” she said. “I have been active in community service and had a great time doing it.”
Risley, who hopes to become a police officer, has been a volunteer in the office of the Woodland Police Department since June. She is also a peer mentor for students in special education.
“My duties at the police department include public service, office assistance and ride-alongs,” she said.
The princesses will begin selling raffle tickets Feb. 1. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to future Planters Days events.
The three will participate in the Tulip Festival in April at Holland America Bulb Farms and the Lilac Festival at Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. They will represent Woodland in the Long Beach Loyalty Day parade May 7 and in the Hazel Dell parade later in May.
A queen will be selected from the court to rule during Woodland’s Planters Day June 14-17.
Assistant chaperone Marilyn Rohm said that this year the court lacked funds to buy formal gowns and shoes for the three princesses, but a Woodland company came to the rescue.
Columbia River Carbonates donated $300 to buy gowns and $150 for shoes. Lori Murphy, administrative assistant at the company, said she was a member of the judging panel that selected the court. When she learned that funds were low, she asked Columbia River Carbonates owner Joerg Bleeck if the company could help.
“He said, ‘Sure,’” she said. “Maybe this will inspire other businesses to help out.”

Skateboard park increases lease to city
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
A skateboard park built last year in Horseshoe Lake Park will cost Woodland $1,500 for a 30-year lease with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The Woodland City Council voted Jan. 22 to pay $50 a year for 30 years in a lump sum of $1,500.
Jim Hough, former acting public works director who is helping organize the community development department, told the council that the city staff had negotiated the agreement with the state to pay the lump sum to avoid future increases should a public swimming pool be constructed.
Opposing the lease amendment were council members Erica Rainford and John J. Burke who have said publicly that they are opposed to using Horseshoe Lake park land for an indoor swimming pool. The lease states that an indoor swimming pool could be part of the park.
A portion of the park is owned by DNR, but until the skateboard park was built, the city leased land at the south end of the park from DNR at no cost.
DNR District Manager Todd Welker said the land owned by the state is classified as aquatic land. At one time the area was under water or affected by tides.
Because a skateboard park does not depend on the lake to exist, the city must pay the state for the lease as required by state law.
“The skate park could be anywhere; it could be in a mall,” Welker said. “It’s not water-dependent.”
Structures such as boat ramps or swimming areas could be added with no increase in cost, he said.
The lease amendment states that permitted uses in the park will be “day use picnic areas, open space, boat launch, an open-air skateboard facility, as well as a proposed combination swimming pool/recreational facility, and those improvements normally associated with a park, and for no other purpose.”
Mayor Doug Monge said the original lease included information about a proposed swimming pool, and that the only new information in the amendment was about the skateboard park.
“So we have to pay more because we built a skate park,” Burke said.
The skate park, sponsored by Woodland Rotary, was built in 2006 with donated funds, including $20,000 from the city and about $30,000 from other sources.

Insel Road residents face construction woes
Alice Perry Linker
staff reporter
A series of problems, including an open ditch, piled dirt, no running water, and blocked driveways and mail boxes left residents of Insel Road confused and angry when a contractor laid a drainage culvert.
Sharon Watt, who lives on the road, articulated the homeowners’ frustrations when she spoke to a Woodland City Council meeting Jan. 22.
“There was no notice to the homeowners,” Watt said. “There has been a whole week of traffic problems.”
The problems covered the range from water shut-down to missed mail.
“There was no coordination with the Post Office,” she said. “We had no mail on Tuesday. There was mail Wednesday but none Thursday.”
Watt said her plants beside the mail box were completely covered with dirt from the project.
Residents were not notified when their water was turned off.
“Water on the whole block was off and nobody was told ahead of time,” she said. “When I talked to the workers, they said, ‘Didn’t somebody from the city call you?’”
Battle Ground contractor Tapani Underground was hired by developer Pacific Lifestyle Homes to lay the drainage tile. The developer of Meriwether Estates has been required by the city to lay a 42-inch drainage pipe to help prevent flooding on Insel Road properties from runoff. The developer is responsible to build the project to city specifications.
The Meriwether Estates property will be filled to raise the land above possible flood level, and the Insel Road residents have said they are worried that the fill will cause flooding on their properties.
Watt told the city council that most Insel Road residents said that reporting the construction problem would be futile, adding that residents said, “Nothing will happen.”
Mayor Doug Monge apologized to Watt for the city’s failure to notify homeowners of the proposed work.
“I don’t know why you didn’t get something in the mail,” he said. “We dropped the ball. We’ll look into it.”
Woodland Public Works Director Elaine Huber said after the meeting that confusion may have occurred because the city did not order the project. The contractor filed a traffic control plan with the city.
“Because of staff changes and some other things, it didn’t come together as it should have,” she said. “This is a very unusual circumstance.”
Huber said that city staff planned to discuss the issue with Pacific Lifestyle Homes and Tapani.
“We’ll talk to them. They’ve been good about working with us,” Huber said. “There are things we’re trying to correct.”
Most street and road work is performed by contractors hired by the city, Cowlitz County or the state, depending upon road ownership, she said.
“We’re going to send out another notice (to residents),” Huber said. “We’re going to try to make up for the things that we did wrong earlier.”
The city’s Web site, www.ci.woodland.wa.us, has information about possible road closures along Insel Road, but has no information about possible water shut-off or closed driveways.
Meriwether Estates is planned to have more than 300 homes when it is complete. Development is expected to be done in phases, with the first phase having about 113 lots. Pacific Lifestyle Homes will build a community center and outdoor swimming pool for the residents of the subdivision.