By Isiah REYES

The Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station held its 53rd Annual Volunteer and Reserve Awards Banquet on April 22 at the Brookside Country Club in Pasadena. The night began with a greeting by Sgt. Cynthia Gonzales and Dep. Jesus Alcala. Gonzales presented the Volunteer of the Year Award to George Mohr, who put in more than 3,067 hours of volunteer work.

“I want all of you to know that this award means a great, great deal to me for several reasons,” said Mohr. “I was in the army and received awards; I worked in corporate America for 44 years and received a lot of awards but none of those awards means as much as this award. The reason for that is because I am not being paid anything. It’s strictly because I committed myself to my community and if it were not for all of you I would not receive the award.”

The Montrose Search and Rescue team awards were presented by Reserve Team Captain John Camphouse. The first award handed out was the Silver Mic Award presented to Steve Goldsworthy for going out and doing the most public relations talks. Out of the 23 PR talks the search and rescue team did over the year, Goldsworthy presented 11 which included going to elementary schools and Girl Scout troops to talk to the kids about what the rescue team does.

The second award from the Montrose search and rescue team was the Golden Piton Award, which is presented to the person who has outstanding mission participation. The award was presented to Doug Cramoline. Out of the 127 call-outs last year, Cramoline responded to 104 of them.

“I’m very honored and I enjoy participating in our calls. It’s something I like to do, so it’s nice to be recognized for it,” said Cramoline. “There’s a lot about search and rescue I enjoy. I enjoy helping people in need, I enjoy the camaraderie of the teammates, I enjoy the outdoors and I like to participate in activities in the outdoors.”

Dannie Hensley was awarded a recognition award for his 50 years of service. He was sworn in Sept. 18, 1964 and has been on 762 call-outs, 512 meetings held once a month, 494 trainings, 230 patrols, and 175 public relation talks.

“It’s an honor just to be among these men and women. To be a part of [the team] is a win-win,” said Hensley.

Paul and Lisa Dutton received recognition awards for their involvement with CERT [Community Emergency Response Team].

“We were nicely surprised,” said Lisa. “I enjoy helping the community, meeting with people and the camaraderie and it’s nice to see everybody get together and hear about all the stuff they’re doing. A lot of these people have full time jobs and they’re still out there volunteering.”

Ginger Hunnicutt was recognized for her milestone of 11,000 hours of volunteer work.

“I didn’t expect the award,” said Hunnicutt. “I’ve been here for 27 years and I’ve gotten quite a few awards and I really appreciate them but I don’t know what to say,” said Hunnicutt. “I enjoy working at the sheriff’s station. It’s like another family and I don’t think I would be as young as I am [Hunnicutt is 87] if I didn’t have the sheriff’s station.”

Other awards handed out included the Reserve Deputy of the Year Award presented to Robert Panza and the Explorer of the Year Award presented to Dillan Williams.

“It’s great. I think everybody had a great time and it’s something that needs to be done every year because the volunteers deserve it,” said Gonzales. “It is great to get everybody under one roof to show our appreciation for them.”

  Isiah REYES