HONORS
Church deacon honored for 71 years of service
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul North Sound Council held its annual luncheon on March 27 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Edmonds. During the meal, Deacon Don Hanika was recognized for 71 years of service to the poor.
Hanika became a member of the society when he was 15 and attending high school in Nebraska.
During World War II, he served in the Army and was wounded in action in Italy. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Hanika and his wife, Vers, met in Nebraska. They moved to Seattle in 1952. The couple celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last August.
They bought a home on Camano Island in the 1970s and joined St. Cecilia’s Parish. Hanika was ordained a deacon in St. Charles Catholic Church in Tacoma in 1982.
He helped to start the St. Vincent de Paul conference at St. Cecelia in 2000 with four members. The conference is now up to almost 20 members and aided about 400 families in 2009.
Snohomish Lions’ Weenie Wagon wins excellence award
The Snohomish Lions Club has something to be proud of when it comes to operating a food concession.
The Snohomish Health District Food Program recently presented the Snohomish Lions Weenie Wagon with its annual Excellence Award for Best Temporary Food Establishment in 2009.
This award topped some 900 other temporary food establishments rated by the health district for cleanliness and food handling.
The Weenie Wagon, which operates on weekends from April through September, is the greatest source of fundraising revenue for the Snohomish Lions. All the net proceeds are returned to the community to provide scholarships to Snohomish high school seniors, and to help support the Boys &Girls Club, the Snohomish Senior Center and fund other Lions community projects.
DUI Task Force honors local heroes
The Snohomish County DUI and Target Zero Traffic Safety Task Force had its annual awards ceremony March 29 recognizing law enforcement, youth, businesses and individuals who contributed to traffic safety in 2009.
Those who were recognized in the Community Champions award category were Arlington Times reporter Adam Rudnik; Central Welding manager Ken Berge; R&R Star Towing owner Dan Kelleher and employees Robert Staggs, Kori Payne and Tom Payne; Top Notch Towing owner Bill Blackburn; SNOPAC dispatcher Michelle Moore; and South District Court legal assistant Shirley McWayne.
Award recipients in the Traffic Safety Innovation and Dedication category were Lynnwood police Sgt. Wayne Davis and officer Mark Brinkman; Tulalip Tribal police Sgt. Ken Johnson; Everett police Lt. Mike Francowiak and Sgt. Ken Dorn; Washington State Patrol NEET Team: Sgt. Kris Schweigert and State Patrol troopers Derek Anderson, Joel Anderson, Jason Bart, Will Collier, Sean Templeton and Mark Ward.
Voices of Victims category winners were DUI Victim Panel speakers: Jan Schemenauer, Adrian Paytayon, Aida Stump, Becky Banghart, Dawn Bruce, Dee Lawrence, Detective Craig Davis, Emily and Fred Zylstra, Grant Fosheim, Jim Swearengin, John and Karen Elliott, Kathy Davis, Lynda Pichler, Mary Olson, Rick Griffin and Terri Deffries.
Recognized in the Youth Traffic Safety category were SCSO Drive It Home Program: detectives Al Baker, Scot Fenter, Joe Goffin, Doug Gold, George Metcalf; Deputy John Cummings; medical examiner Shannon Impett; special moms Sue Crolley, Kathy Davis, Jenny Lutz and Aida Stump; SCSO Explorer Post 207: Capt. Cassandra Kazcka, Lt. Dimitri Rondorf, parent advisers Cherie Kazcka and Brenda Rondorf, and Snohomish High School Driver’s Education Program teacher Sherry Weatherby.
Those who received Leaders in Law Enforcement awards were Arlington police officer Mike McQuoid; Edmonds police officers Linda Mack and Steve Harbinson; Everett police Detective Craig Davis; Lake Stevens officer Wayne Aukerman; Lynnwood police officers Chris Breault and Dennis Molloy; Marysville police officer James Maples; Mill Creek Sgt. Mike Reidt; Monroe police officers Javier Patton and Michael Young; Mountlake Terrace police officer Brian Osborne; Mukilteo police officer Alicia Quindt; Snohomish County sheriff’s Deputy John Cummings; Snohomish police officer Carl Whalen; and State Patrol troopers Debra Shearer and Jeffrey Leonard.
Task Force Ambassadors award recipients include Monroe police officer Darryl Stamey; Joie Worthen, Mountlake Terrace police; Jim Swearengin, Snohomish County Public Works; Conrad Thompson, DUI and Target Zero Task Force chair; and Jan Schemenauer, DUI Victim Panel coordinator.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Lynn McCormick, a Cascade District Court probation officer for 15 years from 1994-2009, DUI task force coordinator from 1992-94 and former alcohol and drug treatment counselor from 1977 to present.
The Gayle Whitsell Award winner was Janice Ellis. She is a former Snohomish County prosecuting attorney and traffic safety and victim advocate. Ellis supported all traffic safety activities and events including the DUI Victims Memorial Wall.
Washington State Patrol trooper Sean Templeton received the Norma Thompson Award For removing 264 impaired drivers in 2009 on 164 night shifts.
500 attend YMCA prayer breakfast
More than 500 people were at the Comcast Arena Conference Center on April 2 for the 50th annual Good Friday Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the YMCA of Snohomish County.
The prayer breakfast is a community event designed to bring the community together in a nondenominational setting to give thanks and seek guidance for the year.
Brian Muchmore, a pastor with Youth for Christ, presided over the event, which included music by the Trinity Lutheran College Touring Ensemble.
The prayer breakfast included an invocation by Everett City Councilman Shannon Affholter, a PLU graduate; a scripture reading by Jackson High School senior Erin Halsne; and a reading of the benediction by Command Chaplain Edwin Carroll of Naval Station Everett.
Football legend Frosty Westering was the guest speaker. He was a professor and the head football coach at Pacific Lutheran University for 32 years until his retirement in 2004. He is a member of a select fraternity: college football coaches who have won at least 300 games. His teams won four national college division championships and he has been three-time national coach of the year.
Many of the life lessons Westering shared have a football analogy.
“We’re all on the same team,” he said. “We just play different positions and have different views.”
Eight graduate from Fire District 1 disaster training
Eight people recently completed the spring Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in Snohomish County Fire District 1.
Fani Castillo, Diane Gage, Warren Gage, Steve Grosse, Amy Huber, Stacia Neil, Christine Richter-Muster and Sue Schepp participated in the eight-session course to learn how they can help their community in a major disaster.
Class topics included readiness, basic disaster first aid, search-and-rescue operations, how to put out small fires and the psychological effect of disasters. The students finished their training by putting their new skills to the test with a hands-on simulated disaster scenario at the Fire District 1 training tower near Mariner High School in Everett.
GIVING
Marysville TOPS group donates food
The Take Off Pounds Sensibly group of Marysville recently donated nonperishable food items to the Marysville Free Methodist Church Food Ministry.
The total donation of 110 pounds was weighed and donated on March 24.
Knights of Columbus help the homeless
The Knights of Columbus Fred Harrington Council 7863 in Marysville recently donated $600 to St. Vincent de Paul, North Sound Council.
The donation will be put toward funding the Friends of the Poor Program, which clothes and feeds homeless in Snohomish County.
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