CAR Honors Brokers, Special Olympics at Annual Awards Event

PORTLAND-Emceed by jokester John Mitchell, chief economist for the Western region of U.S. Bank, the Commercial Association of Realtors’ annual awards dinner Friday was a mix of humor and heart. The keynote speaker was Ernie Kent, coach of the University of Oregon’s Men’s basketball team, who spoke on inspiring greatness. But it was a presentation by Special Olympics Oregon president and CEO George Scott that really inspired the group.

After a touching video showing local athletes competing in various events, CAR presented Scott with a check for $2,000, but that was just the beginning. After presenters Jay Jacobsmulhen of Lane Denning Properties and Don Ossey of Ossey Patterson each matched the gift toward the end of the evening, it sparked an auction-like atmosphere directed by CAR president Don Maltase during which the heads of various brokerages began standing up with matching $2,000 pledges. By the end of the night, no less than $20,000 had been raised for the organization.

In between, a verbose Mitchell doled out a table full of awards and a mouthful of one-liners. In addition to the production-based Broker of the Year awards, there was the Bill Naito Award for the most outstanding real estate transaction, the Humanitarian Award for public service and the Member of the Year Award for outstanding work on behalf of the organization.