Photo: John Bridge (middle) pictured with Chamber President Colleen Robinson (left) and Sound Publishing Regional Publisher Eran Kennedy (right). Sound Publishing is the award presenting sponsor. (Photo by Brown Maloney)
SEQUIM — The Sequim–Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce presented its annual community awards Tuesday at the Citizen of the Year luncheon.
According to nomination materials, longtime educator and volunteer John Bridge was named 2025 Citizen of the Year for decades of service to Sequim and the Dungeness Valley.
Bridge spent years as a fourth-grade teacher at Helen Haller Elementary School and went well beyond the classroom — coaching Math Olympiad teams, refereeing youth soccer and leading school chess clubs. Nomination materials also cite his service on the Sequim School Board, the Sequim Education Foundation and the Sequim Planning Commission, along with volunteer work at the Dungeness River Nature Center and Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.
The chamber also recognized Gary Huff as the Citizen of the Year finalist for his role in reopening Sequim’s pool as a YMCA facility and for long-term fundraising and volunteer work in the community.
The chamber’s first Emerging Leader of the Year award went to Laila Sundin, a Sequim High School senior recognized for student leadership, civic involvement and community service. Sundin will also receive the inaugural Emerging Leader Scholarship at Peninsula College.