Energy, warm personality make Ellie Huston shine

Clovis Chamber of Commerce involvement allows business woman to share her commitment, passion for Clovis

By Kelsey Baker / Special To The Independent Friday, Mar. 28, 2008

So what kind of person is Ellie Huston, a non-stop Clovis booster who never runs out of energy?

"One of a kind," said husband Don Huston II.

"A real kick in the pants," said son Don Huston III.

Huston has spent most of her 70 years in Clovis, and most of that time boosting the city, either unofficially or officially in her current job as interimchief executive officer of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce.

Hang around Huston for a moment and you get the idea that she squeezes every possible drop of enjoyment from living in Clovis. Take 10 years ago.

In June 1997, when the Best Western Clovis Cole opened, Huston was there -- before any other guest.

"I wanted to have my granddaughters and I to be the first guests there. I thought it would be a real special piece of history for them," Huston said.

As she arrived to sign the guest book, to her surprise the staff had forgotten to purchase one.

"It was no big deal, I just went over to the Clovis Stationery and bought one for them," Huston said.

And then she signed in herself and granddaughters, Alicia and Audrey.

When she is not out boosting the city, she is writing letters.

"If I try a product that's new and I like it, I write a letter to the company," Huston said.

Just recently she wrote to Windex to applaud its newest product and in return she received some free merchandise. "If something is good, let the company know," Huston said. "And if it is not, then it is only fair to complain when you have tried to do something about it."

An example would be the Cadillac Seville she and her husband purchased in the 1980s.

"We had bought it new and it turned out to be a lemon," Huston said.

With determination she wrote the dealer, including a picture of the car.

"He ended up writing back saying that that was the nicest letter he had ever received and reimbursed us for the car," Huston said.

Feedback and thank-you letters seem to do more than just provide a simple boost of morale when Huston writes them.

A 1955 graduate of Fresno High, she married Don Huston II in 1956.

From Fresno, the young couple moved to San Diego until her husband completed a hitch in the Navy.

"Our son Don was born in 1958 and a year after that we moved back to Fresno," Don Huston II said.

Back in her hometown, Ellie Huston immediately began her career as a business woman.

"I had always worked. Since I was a teen I have always had some type of short-term job," she said.

For 26 years she worked as director of personnel or human relations at the Sierra Gateway Hospital.

"After working for so long at the hospital, I just couldn't not have something to do," Huston said.

In 1988, she bought a Clovis dress shop called Fashion Crossroads.

"I had not the slightest idea about owning a business, and I knew that I wanted to be involved in the community in order to expect something back," Huston said. "I decided to become a member of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce."

She ended up selling the shop after three years. Although her time as a business owner was short, Huston had found her niche at the Clovis Chamber.

"I have been volunteering and working for the Chamber for the last 15 years," Huston said. Her resume includes fundraising for the Hinds Hospice and serving on committees such as the Clovis City Tourism Advisory Committee. She's been an ambassador for the Clovis Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Committee.

At a Hall of Fame dinner in 1999, Houston was awarded the Spirit of Clovis award, and in 2004, KSEE 24 recognized her as the woman of the year. "She enjoys the community and it enjoys her," husband Don Huston II said.

Former Chamber officer Judith Preuss worked with Huston for more than a decade.

"Ellie is a very warm person. She is an excellent representative of the city," Preuss said. "I don't think that she ever meets a stranger."

Awarded the Business Woman of the Year award in 1994 and the Woman of the Year award in 2004, Huston has definitely made her mark on the community.

Houston will serve as interim Chamber CEO until CEO Jim Ware, recovers from illness.

"Although the shoes are very large to fill, Ellie fills them completely with her personality," Preuss said.

That personality only enhances the youthful energy Huston exudes each day. As she says, "Didn't Kaiser Permanente say that 70 is the new 40?" Friendly Faces is an occasional series about people in Clovis who make it a great place to live.

To nominate someone to be profiled in this series, please e-mail Patti J. Lippert at plippert@clovisindependent.com