CORVALLIS - Nine mid-valley residents were honored as "Everyday Heroes" on Thursday at a luncheon sponsored by the Oregon Pacific Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The chapter plans to make the Everyday Heroes program and luncheon annual events.

Among the honorees, selected from public nominations, were Tim Chase and Ken Stewart of the Linn County Sheriff's Office, Albany resident Lyle Wachsnicht and Sweet Home City Councilor Laure Fowler.

Also receiving recognition was Albany's Target Distribution Center.

Chase and Stewart were chosen in the category of "Professional Rescue" for saving a lost mushroom picker from from a ledge on a 25- to 30-foot cliff in October 2007. The pair formed a human chain that the picker used to climb to safety.

Wachsnicht, a World War II Marine Corps veteran, was selected as a "Military Hero" for having donated 260 pints of blood over the course of his lifetime. He has the rare O-negative blood type, which is close to universally compatible.

Wachsnicht, 87, attributes his good health to keeping his body regenerating new blood all these years.

The Target Distribution Center was picked as the "Community Partner Hero" for the thousands of volunteer hours its people donated over the course of the past year to various schools and nonprofits throughout Linn County.

Jerry Hull of Corvallis was chosen as the "Compassion Hero" for his volunteer work for Benton Hospice Service. He's in the Compassionate Companion Program, which helps ensure that patients without family and friends and friends in the mid-valley do not die alone.

Another Corvallis resident, retired dentist Ken Johnson, was picked as the "Medical Hero" for donating his time to give dental care to mid-valley children who would otherwise go without it. He's also made numerous trips to provide care in Third World countries.

The "Life-Saving Hero" award went to Comcast technician Paul Hennan, who responded to a woman's cries for help and performed CPR on a man who had collapsed in his Philomath yard.

As a result of Hennan's intervention, the man survived.

Fowler was one of three other mid-valley residents nominated to the Red Cross for their work in their various communities.

She coaches youth softball and knits blankets, caps and booties for patients at medical facilities and Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

The other two nominees were Senior Compassion volunteer Helen Cleveland and Corvallis community activist Barbara Ross.