Jim and Pam Clark are named to the Camas Days Royal Court

Senior Royalty Coronation and dessert reception

When: Wednesday, July 17, at 7 p.m.

Where: Zion Lutheran Church Social Hall, 824 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas

Cost: Tickets, $5 per person, can be purchased by calling Jeanette Jester at 834-2354.

Jim and Pam Clark have been selected as Camas Days royalty this year.

During a recent interview at their Washougal home, Jim said he was surprised and quite honored to be chosen.

“So am I, very humbled,” his wife Pam said.

They are enjoying getting “ribbed” by friends about their new titles.

“She is our royal highness, and I’m the lowness,” Jim said. “We’ve given most of them permission to stay seated when we enter the room.

“Pam is the great volunteer,” he added. “She steps up. It’s like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. I’m tagging along.”

They were nominated by Dollie Mitchell and Judy Whetzel.

“They both are willing to dive in and help wherever needed and where one is, the other is right there ready to help as well,” Whetzel wrote. “They work together as a team.”

Whetzel has jokingly dubbed Pam as the “Center of the Universe.”

“She’s a fabulous resource for local happenings, people and history,” Whetzel said. “She seems to know everyone and everything local.”

Pam recalls volunteering for Meals on Wheels in the early 1990s with Lea Hornbeck, the 2012 Camas Days Royal Court King. Hornbeck’s wife Irma served as queen.

In 2011, Pam attended the coronation and reception of Camas Days Royalty Lila Trammell.

Pam, a 1964 Washougal High School graduate, is the Oldtimers reunion coordinator. The events in July, for Panthers from the classes of 1931 through 1971, include a car show and a picnic.

Pam stays in touch with graduates by making calls and sending emails and letters.

“I get a lot of gratification,” she said. “I keep them in touch with their class and what’s going on.”

Pam, 67, is pleased that members of the Oldtimers donated $7,100 to benefit the turf replacement project at Fishback Stadium.

Pam said 1962 WHS graduate Ed Holterman calls her “bossy.”

“Let’s call it decisive,” Jim said.

He graduated from Twin Falls High School, in Idaho, in 1960. Jim, 70, was an organizational development facilitator at the paper mill in Camas.

After Jim retired, he was a leadership consultant with his company, Leaders Edge. That included some consulting work at the Camas mill as well as Longview Fibre.

Pam, a former hospital employee, had a variety of titles including surgery secretary, center supply manager, outpatient and surgery ward clerk, emergency room secretary and lab secretary. She is also a former stay-at-home mother.

They are both active volunteers at Washougal United Methodist Church.

Jim is the lead singer and plays a guitar for “Country Crew.” The group performs gospel music during some of the worship services.

Jim is chairman of the Church Life Council and co-chair of the church health team, which looks at ways to revitalize the church. He also mows the lawn and helps with “miscellaneous stuff” at the church.

As chairwoman of the care team at WUMC, Pam sends cards, makes calls and visits church attendees. She schedules volunteers to help as greeters, ushers and other ministries.

Pam is a co-coordinator of the holiday bazaar and chairwoman of the memorial committee. She is a member of the Heartfelt Quilters, which makes quilts for children in the foster care system.

Pam was captain of the church’s team for the Multiple Sclerosis Society walk, held in April in Vancouver. The “Jet Walkers” was named in honor of WUMC members named Judy, Ellen and Tammy.

When asked why they are so involved in the community, Jim replied: “She dragged me in.”

“I’ve always been an outgoing person,” Pam said. “I do not like things when they’re not organized.

“I jump in to do something, and the next thing I know, I’m in charge,” she added. “I do not know how to say ‘no’ yet. It’s my personality.”

“Issues find the leaders,” Jim said.

Pam is a former president of the Friends of the Camas Community Center and a previous member of Soroptimist International of Camas-Washougal.She is a current member of the Wayward Women of Washougal, a Red Hat Society group, and a former attendee of Seniors and Law Enforcement Together meetings and events.

Jim and Pam are both board members of the 27th Street neighborhood committee. The couple celebrated their 33rd anniversary Friday. It is a second marriage for both.

Pam is a former co-leader of the luminaria ceremony at the Relay for Life of East Clark County, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Her mother and Jim’s first wife died of cancer. He is a cancer survivor.

They have two children, LeAnn and Doug, and four grandchildren. LeAnn was a member of the Clatskanie Heritage Days Royal Court in 1983.

“She’s royalty also,” Pam said.

The Senior Royalty will be featured during the Camas Days Parade Saturday, July 27, at 11 a.m. A luncheon for past and present royalty, hosted by the Camas-Washougal chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, will be held in the Zion Lutheran Church, located at Northeast Fourth Avenue and Garfield Street, after the parade.