Everett’s annual Monte Cristo Awards are an inspiring antidote to the current general tendency to tear things down — buildings and people alike. The tradition was created in 1994 by a committee of residents, to celebrate other residents, and the work they’ve done to improve their properties, whether home or business. To develop the idea, the Monte Cristo Awards committee worked with the Office of Neighborhoods, which is the organizational backbone of the different communities in Everett, giving them identity and bringing people together. This isn’t about developers, or home builders or big business. It’s about neighbors.
This year, 40 people were recognized at the Oct. 8 ceremony honoring the recipients. Among them were Debra and Adan Balangue, winners of an award in the rejuvenation and transformation category. They turned their rocky and brown front yard into a beautiful, nursery-worthy display of flowers, in their Evergreen neighborhood, as The Herald’s Gale Fiege reported. The Balangue’s bought their home in early 2010 and began its transformation about three years ago. Talk about time and commitment. Which is one reason why all winners deserve a hearty congratulations.
In the friendly business category, winners included: Corey Burke of Absolute Auto Body, Cascade View; Stephanie Moss of Artesia by the Lake, Silver Lake; Leslie Patchen of Metco Management Group, Silver Lake; Linda Smith and Robert Rohder of Super Supplements, Port Gardner; and Angie Carozzo and Gary Swett of Oh Sweet Chocolate, Port Gardner.
Carozzo, also profiled earlier in The Herald by Gale Fiege, opened her chocolate shop, which is across the street from the Schack Art Center on Hoyt Avenue, between Wall Street and Hewitt Avenue, on Valentine’s Day last year. It’s safe to say the place has been embraced by the neighborhood, and beyond. Like so many of the good places downtown, the shop displays local art.
Oh Sweet Chocolate adds to the growing vibrancy of that downtown area, anchored by the Shack, with a surrounding mix of vintage stores and restaurants. It’s a life-affirming area, with the extremely popular and award-winning Imagine Children’s Museum on Wall Street and the Monte Cristo Ballroom wedding venue across the way. It is really fun to see people in their wedding finery walking along Hoyt from the parking garage to the ballroom.
It’s a fun shopping area, with Goodwill nearby, and new and vintage goods to be found at Home Inspirations at Hewitt and Hoyt. Another excellent mainstay is the Bayview Antique Mall and other shops near it, most notably now, Hot Rod Heidi’s Vintage Closet, at Hewitt and Grand. The vintage clothing store with its cute facade and window displays is a 100 percent improvement over the pawn shop that occupied the space before. Behind the store is another business, Sunken Ship Tattoo and Piercing, which also has a fun facade. (It was voted The Herald Readers’ choice for Snohomish County Best of 2015 tattoo parlor.) On Rucker Avenue, Mishu Boutique a is a fair trade company that has two stores in Seattle and sells creative, alternative (hip), affordable clothing. They hire local designers to create patterns and samples for their collections.
The Monte Cristo awards remind us of how much one or two people or a business can influence their surroundings for the better. The pride is contagious, and it’s great. Tell your neighbor how you appreciate what they’ve done. Seek out and patronize new and old businesses that make Everett the way you want it to be. And while you’re at it, nominate them for a Monte Cristo Award.
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