Sandy Delaney retires from Channel Lodge

Sandy Delaney has built two homes in La Conner during more than four decades here.

One is her actual residence, the other a rock-solid career with the La Conner Country Inn and Channel Lodge.

Delaney officially retired Friday from the local hotels, truly her second home, after 42 years on the job.

Make that, jobs.

Delaney began in housekeeping in 1978 at the stylishly designed Country Inn, which opened on Second and Morris streets a year earlier. It replaced small and aging wood-frame cabins, one of which had been infamously spray-painted with the misspelled moniker “Town Getto.”

Before long Delaney moved to the front desk and then on to bookkeeping, advancing over the years from pencil and paper accounting to managing new computer software programs.

“Sandy’s primary attributes,” Country Inn and Channel Lodge partner Rick Thompson told the Weekly News, “have always been loyalty and precision.”

Those traits go well beyond job performance.

Delaney, who is visually impaired and does not drive, is often lauded for having faithfully walked to work daily in all kinds of weather.

“If it was cold or rainy,” said Channel Lodge general manager Jane Schmidt, “she would bundle up and walk over the hill to work.”

Delaney was a natural to go into bookkeeping, Thompson said.

“She was upset if she was ever a penny off,” he said with a chuckle. “My background was in banking and in that business if you were within five cents, you called it good.”

Delaney was literally on the ground floor when the Country Inn, still in its infancy, became the go-to place for a slew of celebrities who stayed overnight in La Conner.

Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain was a Country Inn guest. So, too, was veteran actor Jim Davis, then at the peak of his career portraying Texas oilman Jock Ewing on the popular TV series “Dallas.”

The original Batman, Seattle’s Adam West, also lodged there. Same with then-Governor John Spellman and Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro, Thompson and his wife, Reinhild, recalled.

It was only fitting that Delaney, a skilled seamstress, would serve as a common thread binding together a span that saw La Conner evolve from a remote and sleepy village to a globally recognized tourist destination point.

Delaney had been on staff just over a decade when the Channel Lodge opened amid much fanfare on the La Conner waterfront, assuming a major presence along the North First Street shoreline.

As times changed, she kept pace, according to Schmidt, who has known Delaney since childhood.

“She had to learn all the new technology,” Schmidt said. “She had started off doing the P & Ls (profit and loss statements) the old-fashioned way. So, she locked herself in the office to learn all the computer programs.”

Not that Delaney focused on mastery of digital accounting methods to the exclusion of other roles.

“She always chipped in wherever she could,” Schmidt said of the mother of two, a grown son and daughter. “Her work ethic has been incredible.”

Delaney could be counted on to help plan employee Christmas parties with her handmade ornaments adorning holiday trees in the hotel lobbies. Over the years she delighted co-workers, family and friends with hand-crafted birthday cards and expertly sewn dresses and garments.

“Her talents,” Schmidt said, “are amazing.”

“I have a collection of Sandy’s cards,” Reinhild Thompson added. “She’s very talented.”

Delaney was so valued that the Thompsons encouraged her to build a home in town and set down permanent roots.

That laid the foundation for a career honored during a surprise retirement gathering for Delaney at the Channel Lodge last Friday.

While social distancing was observed, there was little doubt how close Delaney had become to her colleagues and the hotels’ ownership.

“She was always on the lookout for everyone,” Schmidt said. “She treated them like family. If tough stuff came up, she put herself in the line of fire. Her dedication has been a real statement about this place.