“This year’s Business of the Year goes to a business that is older than anyone in the room,” Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce Vice President Emmett Maloof said at the Dec. 1 luncheon.

In fact, it is the oldest business on the Island.

The chamber’s 2016 Business of the Year award went to the 102-year-old Roanoke Inn and its owner, Dorothy Reeck. Both are pillars in the community, and Reeck received a standing ovation from the chamber members when the award was announced.

The Roanoke started as a chicken-dinner restaurant catering to ferry riders from Seattle. It then became a hotel, sometimes of questionable repute.

During Prohibition, it was a grocery store, and sold ice cream and candy to children through a window to the right of the door, since they couldn’t go inside.

In 1943, it was purchased by the Reeck family and it has become what all Islanders know as the Roanoke Inn.

Besides having a region-wide reputation as “the place to go on Mercer Island,” it is where every Mercer Island High School class since 1958 has had the first night of their reunions.

“It’s a place when Indian Guide/Princess Dads meet, church choirs go after practice and more than one or two political issue has been hashed out,” according to the chamber’s announcement.

The Roanoke’s slogan is “Where friends meet friends,” and Reeck has been a great friend to the community and “silent benefactor,” according to the chamber.

Reeck has underwritten the fireworks display for Summer Celebration, and has beed a financial sponsor for Rotary’s Race Day and Youth and Family Services’ Giving from the Heart Breakfast. She has sponsored softball teams and supported the Boys and Girls Club.

Reeck cooked the first two Parks and Recreation Department Thanksgiving dinners for seniors at the Roanoke and delivered them to the Community Center, and then offered to fund the food and flowers for the holiday meals.

She’s been a great supporter of the Mercer Island Historical Society, hosting their meetings for many years, and a generous neighbor to the VFW Hall, known now as the Keewaydin Clubhouse. She has paid for the paving of its parking area twice, donated food for its fundraising events, purchased appliances to upgrade its kitchen and even replaced the flags when they became weather worn. She honors veterans with special meals and 10 cent beers on Veterans Day.

Previous Business of the Year winners include Island Crust Cafe, the Mercer Island Farmers Market, Au Courant Salon and The Den and JayMarc Homes.

For more on the chamber, see www.mercerislandchamberofcommerce.org.

Roanoke owner Dorothy Reeck, far right, received a standing ovation from the Chamber members as she accepted the award for 2016 Business of the Year. Katie Metzger/staff photos

Roanoke owner Dorothy Reeck, far right, received a standing ovation from the Chamber members as she accepted the award for 2016 Business of the Year. Katie Metzger/staff photos