When Everyone’s A Winner

On Thursday afternoon I attended the Valentine’s luncheon “Live Laugh Love” of The Guild at Adventist Health Glendale. Held at the Castaway Restaurant on a cloudless day, the luncheon was a wonderful way to learn about the work the Guild does while providing a chance to financially support its efforts. It was well-attended and entertainers Todd Sherry and Heather Olt were a lot of fun. Thank you, Camille Levee, for making my attendance possible.

In the evening I shared a wonderful dinner celebrating the Verdugo Hills Council Boy Scouts, their accomplishments and those of their leaders. Singled out for their achievements were Bryan Sanchez who received the Torch of Gold Award, Daniel Nakanishi who received the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award and Joseph F. Wilke Jr. and Paul R. Chiaravalle who received the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award. Dave Davis and Greg Schowengerdt were presented with the Silver Beaver Award.

Listening to how hard these people work to better the lives of young men (and soon young women) is truly inspiring. The traits that the scouting organization is known for were found in the Scouts who took the mic to speak about their future plans and their favorite aspects of scouting. I felt proud not because I had a Scout there but because of who these young men and their leaders are. 

Prom Plus was the big winner on Saturday night during the annual Prom Plus bingo event held at the American Legion Memorial Hall. Over 100 people packed the Hall enjoying pizza (provided by Jean Maluccio), hot dogs, homemade brownies and chili (provided by Kyle Studebaker), fresh fruit, chips, cookies and an assortment of beverages – many supplied by the veterans. Students from Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School were on hand, performing every kind of duty from helping at the food station, picking up used bingo cards and even walking around distributing fruit. Their help, along with that of the veterans who ran the game, the numerous sponsors who donated and even called some of the games (including State Senator Anthony Portantino) and, of course, the players who came out, was essential to the success of the night. I have to offer a shout-out to Kaipo Chock who was at my side the entire night making sure everything was running smoothly, thereby ensuring my sanity.

Two unique things occurred during our Prom Plus bingo night. There were no “shared pots.” In the past, it was not unusual for there to be more than one winner in a game, thereby having the pot (typically worth at least $100) split among the winners. At Saturday’s game there wasn’t one pot that was split; all the winners kept the entire prize.

The other thing that I have never seen before was the extreme generosity of the winners. Several of the winners of the games on Saturday night gave their money back to Prom Plus as a donation. I was absolutely floored! And we’re not talking small potatoes here. In total, Prom Plus kept over $500 in prize money. Wow! There are not enough words to relay our appreciation.

It was a busy couple of days to be sure; but by the end of them it was apparent that there were many winners in our Crescenta Valley.

  robin goldsworthy