How does an Orcas business celebrate 30 years on the island? They give stuff away.

After serving Orcas at Island Automotive since 1979, owner Perry Pugh didn’t celebrate his own 30 years of labor, but instead chose to appreciate his customers. On Saturday, Sept. 12, 160 islanders gathered at Island Automotive and participated in a prize drawing for what Pugh called “the Orcas stimulus package.”

“When we first did it, it was the Obama thing, and we thought why not stimulate something else? Why not stimulate the local economy?” Pugh said.

The door prize drawing included a first prize worth $1,405 of products and services from 24 local merchants. The goods were either donated or purchased by Pugh.

“When we started talking to merchants, a lot was actually given to me. The community got behind us,” Pugh said.

Eastsound resident Dan Brown won the first prize. The Browns, a family dealing with Dan’s serious illness, said the prize will come in handy right now because money is tight. Dana Brown, Dan’s wife, said they will use some of the prize for their own needs but will also give some of the prize away to others who could use it.

“I said ‘Let’s go shopping!'” Dana said. “It was very exciting. We won a lot of stuff.”

The second prize, an iPod, went to David Russell. Jeremy Price won the third prize, a mountain bike. Fourth prize, a radio control Nascar model, went to John Cook.

Pugh also entered every customer with an active account into another drawing. For every $100 purchased in a month, that customer received on entry into the prize drawing for a Signal big screen television. Rosario Resort won that prize.

Pugh considered the anniversary celebration of Island Automotive an opportunity to give back to Orcas.

“I’ve been a resident for thirty years. People have given a lot to us,” Pugh said.