By Mary O’KEEFE

On Oct. 27, the CV Chamber of Commerce held its annual recognition banquet. The event honored those who make a difference in the community, who go above and beyond in making the community a safer place, who contribute to the community and who help guide future leaders. One recipient, the student honoree, used that guidance to help give back to the community through volunteerism and other outreach activities.

This year, the Woman of the Year Camille Levee, chief executive officer of Glendale Healthy Kids, was honored. CVCOC president Leslie Lesh spoke of Levee’s ever-present day planner. When volunteers are needed, Levee is known to immediately begin flipping pages in her planner, checking dates and then telling the organization how much time she can give. When accepting her award, she thanked the Chamber for the honor.

“And there are flyers on your tables,” she added. The flyer was for a FUNdraiser at Collectors World, 2249 Honolulu Ave. on Nov. 16 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event supports Glendale Healthy Kids and grants provided by the CV Chamber/Mary Pinola Educational Endowment fund.

Neil Ryan was named Man of the Year. Ryan can be seen running around town – literally. He is an avid runner and most recently organized the Chamber’s 5K Run that raised money for the organization and Rosemont Middle School sports programs. Presenter Eleanor Wacker spoke of knowing Ryan most of his life and that he was always at her door asking for something.

“And when he sees you, he is [usually] still asking for something, but this time it is for the community,” she said.

Ryan gave credit to his upbringing and especially his dad, who has been his inspiration. He dedicated his award to his father.

Also honored at the event were: Student of the Year Molly Shelton, Volunteer of the Year Roger Young, Business of the Year Allied Waste Services, Educator of the Year CVHS Band Director Mathew Schick and Organization of the Year Crescenta Valley CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Those honored from law enforcement were: California Highway Patrol Ming-Yang Hsu, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Marcelo Ruiz (photo online), L.A. County Fire Department members of Station 63 and Glendale Police Department’s Officer Sue Shine and Det. Mario Yagoda.