The Highlands Council (HC), in conjunction with the Issaquah Highlands Community Association (IHCA), honored over 70 volunteers at the annual Volunteer Appreciation event on Friday, February 20, for all the contributions they make to Issaquah Highlands, whether through governance, clubs, events, or hundreds of other volunteer opportunities.

The evening began with HC Executive Director, Renee Zimmerman and the IHCA General Manager, John Beaman, honoring the 2008 Volunteers of the Month by thanking them with a box of donated Boehm’s candies and a donated gift certificate for a free 16” pizza from Frankie’s Pizza in Issaquah. The volunteers were then split into four different teams and took part in a live game show by Action Entertainment! Some friendly competition and laughs took place between the team members! Many questions contained audio sound bites and required the contestants to guess what lead star played in what movie.

Over twenty questions were related to Issaquah Highlands (e.g. how many flagpoles are at Issaquah Highlands? Answer: Three. Where are they located? Answer: Fire Station 73, Grand Ridge Elementary School, and Village Green Park.) Team members used loud clappers to cheer when their team player scored the points.

Winners received “Action Cash,” which was later redeemed for raffle tickets. Volunteer of the Year, Dima Hallberg drew the winning tickets from a bowl. Winners included Ravi Chhabra, Stuart Linscott, and Charis Biesold. They each won an Issaquah Highlands bag filled with an IH blanket, cookies, a pair of Regal Cinema tickets, and a pair of tickets to the Parlor Live comedy club in Bellevue. The grand prize went to Elsa Benitez and included eight Regal Cinema tickets, a pair of tickets to the Parlor Live comedy club and a beautiful dish created at Art by Fire in Issaquah.