During this year’s Hermiston Distinguished Citizens Awards banquet Wednesday night, George Anderson, like in his career as an attorney, found himself in a courtroom of sorts.

In this courtroom, however, Anderson was not defending or arguing for a cause. Instead, he found himself being honored as Hermiston’s Man of the Year.

“George, I want us to pretend for just a moment that you are in a court room,” Oregon Senator Bill Hansell, who presented the award, said to Anderson before highlighting Anderson’s accomplishments in front of the packed audience at the Hermiston Conference Center. “I am the judge and the stage area is the bench. So, as any good lawyer has to do when the judge speaks, you have to sit there and listen.”

Hermiston, Hansell said, has seen remarkable growth in the last few decades and, with that growth, Anderson has had his fingerprints on a number of positive things that have happened to and in Hermiston in the 38 years he has been in the community. Anderson has sat on the Umatilla County Planning Commission, Hermiston School Board, Blue Mountain Community College Board and the Umatilla-Morrow Regional Strategy Committee. With many of those, Hansell said, he has held a chairman position for at least one year.

Additionally, Anderson has served as the director and secretary for the Hermiston Development Corporation, Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center Steering Committee, the Umatilla Army Depot Reuse Authority, the Hermiston City Council and led the effort to get the city to create a Hispanic Advisory Committee.

If that wasn’t enough, Anderson is also a decorated Vietnam veteran, where he served as a credentialed army counter intelligence agent and advised the South Vietnamese National Police. He is also married to his wife, Karen, and the proud father and grandfather or three children and three grandchildren.

“You will never know, including George, how much pro-bono work he has done for charity, clients, causes and community projects,” Hansell said. “Perhaps one trait that consistently defines who George Anderson is, is his commitment to doing what is right.”

When he got up on the stage to accept his plaque, Anderson quickly gave credit to not only his family, but to the families of many in the Hermiston community.

“Tonight is a great testament to what an unusual and interesting and growing place we have,” he said. “My family is a testament to that. I have three children and all of them now live in Hermiston … They too will help make this a better place … Many other families like Karen and mine, their children have done the same thing.”

Anderson said he has been proud to see Hermiston grow through the years and expects that growth to increase.

Honored as this year’s Woman of the Year, Shirley Parsons has also given much of herself in an effort to help others and the overall Hermiston community.

Presenter Kelly Bissinger said Parsons was nominated for the honor because of her dedication to her career and clients, her community involvement, her love for family and friends and her faith in God.

Bissinger said Parsons has held many jobs, but being a realtor is her calling. He said her favorite part of her job is helping first-time home builders.

“Give her a young couple, and she lights up,” he said.

Her role as a realtor is not only limited to selling real estate, however, he said. Parsons was the 2014 president of Columbia Board of Realtors, and she was recognized by her colleagues as realtor of the year in 2005. Bissinger also described Parsons as a prominent member of the National Association of Realtors and a prominent figure for the Desert Sky Estates, one of the new subdivisions in Hermiston.

With all her career accomplishments, Parsons also provides more than enough time for her family, Bissinger said.

“Her family comes first,” he said. “She has been known to sit in a gym watching a basketball game and, once it has ended, immediately head to another town to watch a dance recital.”

Parsons has also been active in booster clubs, Hermiston Little League and basketball, watched her granddaughters show their pigs through 4-H, traveled all over to watch her granddaughters’ dance competitions, hosted team dinners, put together goodies bags for trips to state basketball tournaments and more.

Bissinger said what guides Parsons is her faith. She is an active member of the Oasis Vineyard Church.

Upon accepting her award, Parsons said she was speechless for probably the first time in her life.

“This is an awesome, awesome feeling to be here,” she said. “What is the most awesome is my family.”

Parsons said her family stuck by her when she wanted to get her realtor license at the age of 50.

“They have been so supportive,” she said.

Also during the banquet Wednesday night, Altrusa President Dorothy Smith presented Hermiston High School student Skylar Grigg as the club’s outstanding young citizen.

Smith said Grigg always has a positive demeanor and is a well-rounded individual who cares about others and finds ways to help.

“At age 14, our recipient began a recycling business, a lawn and landscape business to earn money to purchase a specific car to fix up and get ready to drive in two years,” she said.

Grigg also teaches Sunday school at his church, volunteers at the Lions Club fair booth and also helps with the Lions Easter egg hunt. Additionally, he is a counselor for the Sunset Elementary School Outdoor Education Program, is a member of the Hermiston High School tennis team, a member of National Honor Society and has a grade point average of 3.72.

Hermiston Chamber of Commerce CEO Debbie Pedro and Oregon Rep. Greg Smith presented Teresa Moncrief with the chamber Volunteer of the Year award.

Smith said Moncrief has been an active participant in a variety of service organizations in the community, including Eagles Auxiliary, Elks, Relay for Life, Altrusa, the Emblem Club and Hospice.

Pedro said Moncrief has also served as a chamber ambassador for more than 20 years.

“It seems like no matter how busy she is with her family obligations and commitments, she finds time to give back to her community,” she said. “We all recognize this woman because she was Woman of the Year in 2008.”

Tom Denchel Ford Country was honored with this year’s Community Service Award for its continuing contributions to the Hermiston community. The award was accepted by co-owner Tim Buffington.

Presenter Peggy Anderson said Tom Denchel Ford Country is expanding constantly in response to community requests and special needs.

“They go out of their way to assist the customer with anything they need virtually day and night,” she said.

Anderson said the company has also been active in supporting a number of youth programs, including youth basketball, baseball, track, football and golf. It has also supported Festival of Trees, the Hermiston Education Foundation, FFA, the Hermiston Art Festival, the Lavender Festival, Funfest, Agape House and many others. The company has also raised more than $60,000 for high schools in the region through its Drive One For Your School program.

“While these things seem like little gestures, in the small community such as ours, these acts of compassion do not go unnoticed,” Anderson said.

Affordable Family Eye Care owners Marcia and Allan Lambert were presented with the Bob Severson Rotary Business of the Year Award.

Rotary President Bryn Browning said Affordable Family Eye Care exemplifies all that Rotary stands for.

“This business owner reached out to our schools from day one, not only in Hermiston, but in our surrounding communities, offering to examine any student of any age that might have vision issues,” she said.

Browning said many families may lack the money for vision screenings and eye wear, but the business makes sure those families have those services regardless of their ability to pay.

Additionally, Browning said the company has looked beyond the scope of Hermiston and even the United States to help others with vision problems. She said one of the owners returned last month from a South Pacific territory, islands without electricity, after working with a group that has helped restore sight to hundreds of people in the region, some of them blinded by cataract for years.

“This is the type of business that makes our community better in many, many ways,” Browning said.

The Hermiston School District also recognized its educators of the year.