Kevin Smith, left, and his brother, Orin Smith, listen to Gail Shaw speak while at a Chehalis Foundation luncheon at Mackinaw's in Chehalis in this July 2013 file photo.
Mayor Dennis Dawes talks about the Orin Smith Commemorative Way street sign during a city council meeting last month in Chehalis.
J. Vander Stoep appears before city council during a public meeting to talk about Orin Smith Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
Mayor Dennis Dawes reveals the Orin Smith Commemorative Way street sign during a city council meeting Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
J. Vander Stoep appeared before city council during a public meeting to talk about Orin Smith Monday afternoon in Chehalis.
Mayor Dennis Dawes talks about the Orin Smith Commemorative Way street sign during a Chehalis City Council meeting in October. The council voted to approve the city's budget for 2018 on Monday night.
To honor Chehalis-born philanthropist Orin Smith, the Chehalis City Council on Monday night officially proclaimed the commemorative naming of the portion of 16th Street running in front of W.F. West High School in his honor.
“He has never forgotten Chehalis and has helped his hometown,” Mayor Dennis Dawes said about Smith.
Smith graduated from W.F. West in 1960. He later attended Centralia College, the University of Washington and Harvard Business School. He became the CEO of Starbucks and led the worldwide expansion of the company, noted Chehalis attorney J. Vander Stoep, who was speaking on behalf of Smith because his health condition did not allow him to travel. Vander Stoep also has ties to the family and knew the Smiths when he was growing up.
Smith was also a member of the only W.F. West boys basketball team to win a state championship, Vander Stoep said. The team was talked about and admired for years, not because of the win itself but how it was earned through teamwork and perseverance. They were role models, he said.
Vander Stoep told Smith’s story from his childhood days coming from a poor family to his international success in the business world.
“His life is the American dream,” Vander Stoep said. “When he got to the top he gave back to his community and (to communities) around the world.”
Vander Stoep said Smith is known for his humility. He believes he had something to learn from everyone, so he listened to people and worked with them.
Smith donated a considerable amount of money in order to build the Vernetta Smith Timberland Chehalis Library, which replaced the old building that was beyond its useful life. The new library was named after his mother, who would take her family there in order to check out books for free and to utilize its other free activities, Vander Stoep said. He added the Smith family suggested building a new library instead of remodeling the existing one, which was the city’s original plan.
“Today we would call Orin (Smith) an at-risk child,” Vander Stoep said.
Having come from nothing, Smith has had a vested interest in the community that supported him and gave him strength to succeed, Vander Stoep said. He wants other children to have the same opportunities he had. Although he did not have a lot of family resources, community members such as Vander Stoep’s father noticed the potential Smith had.
Smith has worked with the Chehalis School District and helped support it financially through the Chehalis Foundation to improve the way classes are taught from a lecture format to a more engaged style of learning. He has also helped expand the curriculum to allow more middle school students to take algebra by the time they reach high school to have the opportunity to take advanced science, engineering, math and technology classes before graduating.
Smith was instrumental in funding the construction of the Gail and Carolyn Shaw Aquatic Center, the Chehalis Boys and Girls Club as well as many other community projects.
Although Smith was unable to attend the meeting on Monday when he was honored, he did send an email to Dawes, which he read aloud.
“I wanted you to know how honored I am,” Smith said in an email read by Dawes. “What we have accomplished together has been remarkable.”
There is more to come, he added.
The mailing and street addresses do not change with a commemorative naming. A sign with his name on it and the phrase “preparing kids for a brighter future” will be installed along 16th Street early next month.
