Welcome to our newest member Tammy Dennee. The following is the gracious introduction read by her sponsor – member John McCulley:
It is our good fortune that Tammy Dennee will be a member of the Rotary Club of Salem. Tammy is a SNOB (Society of Native Oregon Born) calling Hood River her birthplace. She graduated from The Dalles High School and earned a degree in business administration from Kennedy Western University. Tammy also holds the coveted title of Certified Association Executive awarded by the American Society of Association Executives and is a Certified Meeting Professional as designated by Meeting Professionals International.
Tammy has a long and distinguished career serving farmers, starting in 1993 when she became Associate Administrator of the Oregon Wheat Commission. She was a leader in the Oregon wheat and grains industries for years including almost a decade as head of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, headquartered in Pendleton. After some forays into human services advocacy as Communications Director with Greater Oregon Behavioral Health and Executive Director of Building Health Families, she joined the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association as Assistant Director this spring.
With her involvement in the wheat industry, Tammy lived for 17 years in Pendleton where she was an ex officio board member of the Pendleton Round–Up Association. And this isn’t her first Rotary rodeo. Tammy is a past member of the Pendleton Rotary board and served on the Pendleton Rotary Foundation Board. She is a three time Paul Harris fellow.
Tammy boasts a long list of community service beyond Rotary. She is a past president of the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce and was appointed by the Umatilla County Commissioners to the Umatilla County Fairboard where she served for five years until her move to the west side of the state late last year. She currently is chair of the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation. Tammy’s husband Michael works for the Oregon Department of Transportation and we have Michael to thank for bringing Tammy to our club. His promotion within ODOT prompted the move from Pendleton that eventually resulted in Tammy being here today.
She and Michael have two grown children, recently married son Brandon who lives in Seattle and daughter Mallory a student at Oregon State. Tammy enjoys reading and taking long walks. She is a five–time finisher of the Portland Marathon. She used to enjoy camping, but when she and Michael moved across the state, they ended up living in a camp trailer for seven months before finally finding a house in Dallas. It may take a while for that camping experience to work its way through her system.