By Isaac SIMS-FOSTER, intern

On Saturday, July 14, the Crescenta Cañada Lions Club held a ceremony to present scholarships to local high school graduates. In total, $7,000 in scholarships was awarded. Recipients of the scholarships were acknowledged and congratulated by chapter members as well as by parents in Sadler Hall at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Church.

Awards were given to Marley Gang, Sabrina Huezo and Owen Park from Crescenta Valley High School and Hailey Bloch, Camille Lorenz and John Moore from La Cañada High School. The criteria for scholarships included good academic standing but, more pertinent to the Lions’ interests, excellent records of community service performed by the students.

Three other students from CVHS received Leo Scholarships, awarded for their success in starting and maintaining a chapter of the Leo Club at CV High School. The Leo Club is an on-campus club for high school students that works closely with the Lions Club, which mentors the students. The Leo Club Scholarship recipients were Quincey Kawahara, Taylor Duarte and Shania Shah.

The newly named Brett Tyler Educational Scholarship, awarded by the Lions Club in memory of former CVHS student Brett Tyler, was also presented. While at Crescenta Valley High School, Tyler was an active member of the Prom Plus Club. The La Crescenta native passed away last October while attending college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The scholarship named after him was awarded to Jack Festern, a Prom Plus Club member with numerous hours of community service donated during his high school career.

“The Crescenta Cañada Lions Club has been making these awards for more than 20 years,” said vice president Connie Jansen. “It is an event that highlights our commitment to the fantastic youth of our communities, and we plan to continue these awards for many more years.”

The Lions Club continues to serve the community by hosting events like the scholarship presentation and its annual Kases for Kids and encouraging involvement and service. According to its website, the Lions Club is “the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.”

For information regarding the Crescenta Cañada chapter of the Lions Club, contact president Jeero Habesian at Jeero@GlencrestTeam.com or call him at (818) 523-9995.

  Isaac Sims-Foster