Vonie Polomis has worked for the City of Seattle for more than 33 years. Born in Washington, she’s lived in different parts of the state like Chelan, Yakima and Spokane. Now, Vonie enjoys the scenic beauty of the North Cascades as an Administrative Specialist III at City Light’s Skagit project where she’s lived the past 10 ½ years.
Family is also the upmost importance to Vonie who has two children and three grandchildren. She’s also an animal lover which is seen through the affection and care toward her 13-year old pet dove, Girlbird. In this week’s (spot)light, we learn about Vonie’s love of people, her community and Mother Nature.
Vonie is all smiles with her pet dove, Girlbird
“It’s been a blessing in my life to be up here. People always ask me how I live here. My reply is ‘How can I NOT?’ When I walk out that door, I’m in God’s country. The mountains are just beautiful; I’m so at peace in my home. I have two huge 12-foot windows where I just sit and look at nature. I like to feed the birds. I joke that the blue jays think of me as the bird lady.”
“I love people and the work I do for City Light. Customer service is something I greatly value. I also enjoy working with all the different teams and meeting the different folks throughout the utility. I’ve been with the City for the chunk of my career so I have a whole network back in Seattle! I work hard to make sure that the Skagit project sees different programs and events, such as Family Day and the RSJI initiative which I’ve been involved with the past six years.”
“I like being involved with the community. The people of Concrete are waiting for me to move there! So, now I’m thinking of what I can do for them once I’m there. One of the things that comes to mind is a Boys and Girls Club. They don’t have one and I’d like to focus on that when I move to town. They also want me on the Historical Museum Committee.”
“Another hobby of mine is softball. I played into my 40s. There’s a softball tournament called ‘Squash Ball’ that’s been held for the past 30 years or so. It’s with the firefighters in the community and other local folks. Anyway, I realized that Newhalem didn’t have a team last year. So, I rallied and made it happen. I even played! I actually hit the ball and got a double. It was amazing. So much fun.”
“I’ve come across many people in my life, but one piece of advice from a friend really stood out. She told me ‘If you don’t define yourself, I guarantee you that somebody else will, and you won’t like it.’ And that’s what I live by. I’m even writing a book about it called ‘I Wish I had the Nerve.’ Maybe one of these days when I retire, I’ll finally finish it!”
