The 2015 Santa Clarita Valley Man and Woman of the Year Recognition Dinner celebrated Leon Worden and Sue Endress as the 2015 honorees.
More than 300 supporters attended the 49th annual event held Friday, May 2, in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Valencia.
Bill Lively, 2014 SCV Man of the Year and Cheryl Gray, 2014 SCV Woman of the Year, emceed the event.
Lively “sang in” the honorees to songs from “West Side Story” as he roamed the ballroom until he stopped at each winner’s table to announce the selection.
Winners Announced
Worden sported a big smile after Lively announced his name.
“Wow,” Worden said. “I can’t find the words. It was such a heavy field of candidates this year, I figured it wouldn’t be my year.”
Endress was clearly surprised by the honor.
“I am a little overwhelmed,” she said. “I am shocked.”
Individuals for the honor were nominated by nonprofit organizations in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Each nominee was introduced on stage and received a plaque and certificates of recognition from various government entities before the winners were announced.
Worden was nominated by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.
Endress was nominated by the Rotary Club of Santa Clarita Valley.
Sponsored Articles
Nominees for SCV Woman of the Year
2015 SCV Woman of the Year nominee
Other nominees for SCV Woman of the Year (and nomination organization) included: Lois Bauccio (Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley); Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel (Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society); Marianne Cederlind (Carousel Ranch); Elaine Foderaro (Santa Clarita Valley Scholarship Foundation); Gloria Mercado-Fortine (Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers, Inc.); Margo Hudson (Single Mothers Outreach); Anna Ott (Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley); Jacquie Petersen (Santa Clarita Child & Family Center); Donna Nuzzi (American Cancer Society Santa Clarita Unit); Susan Reynolds (Boys Scouts of America, Bill Hart District and Domestic Violence Center of SCV); Jane Bettencourt-Soto (Committee on Aging and Non Profit Leaders Network); Julie Sturgeon (College of the Canyons Foundation); Racquel Turner (Mothers Fighting for Others) and Dora Zavala (Soroptimist International of Greater Santa Clarita Valley).
Nominees for SCV Man of the Year
Other nominees for SCV Man of the Year (and nominating organization) included: Marc Emmer (Single Mothers
Outreach); Steve Chegwin (College of the Canyons Foundation); Ray Diaz (American Legion); Carl Kanowsky (Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley); Taylor Kellstrom (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Circle of Hope, Inc.); Jonathan Kraut (Domestic Violence Center of SCV); Jim Lentini (Santa Clarita Elks Club); Ed Masterson (WiSH Foundation); Harold Petersen (Santa Clarita Child & Family Center); Dave Reeves (Rotary Club of Santa Clarita Valley); Daniel Sterkel (Michael Hoefflin Foundation) and Eric Stroh (Carousel Ranch).
Recognition
Rachelle Dardeau, executive director of the SCV Senior Center and Lou Espin, incoming president of the Rotary Club of Santa Clarita Valley spoke about the volunteer spirit of Endress and her hard work to benefit both youth and seniors.
Alan Pollack, of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, spoke about Worden’s dedication to the preservation of SCV history and sharing the history of the SCV online with SCVHistory.com.
“I’ve know Leon to be working online at 3 a.m.,” Pollack said.
Each winner also received a license plate frame emblazoned with the appropriate “2015 Man (or Woman) of the Year” designation, as well as a car, that is a model of a car.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.Leon Worden
Worden is president and CEO of SCVTV, the 501c3 nonprofit corporation that operates the Santa Clarita Valley’s public television channels and provides multimedia services to all education and government agencies, and to the 120-plus nonprofit organizations that serve the SCV.
An SCV resident since 1970, he is a UCLA graduate and award-winning journalist (Associated Press, California Newspaper Publishers Association, National Newspaper Association, Numismatic Literary Guild awards for investigative reporting, business writing, opinion pages, websites).
He has served as president of the SCV Historical Society, chairman of the city of Santa Clarita’s Newhall
Redevelopment Committee, founding member of the Los Angeles County Small Business Commission and the county’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Homeless Services (SCV), founding member of SCV Habitat for Heroes, founding director of the Friends of Mentryville, and co-creator of the SCV Sheriff Station’s first Haunted Jailhouse.
He established the Old Town Newhall Gazette in 1994, and held several editorial positions at The Signal newspaper including city editor and senior editor.
Worden is chief administrative officer of the Santa Clarita Public Television Authority and manager of SCVTV.com, SCVNews.com, SCV History In Pictures (SCVHistory.com) and other local websites.
He is a member of the Hart School District’s Measure SA Bond Oversight Committee and Career Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Group, the SCV Historical Society board, the Friends of Hart Park board, the Rancho Camulos Museum board and continues to serve as president of the Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade committee.
As a past contributor to Coinage, the largest U.S. numismatic monthly magazine, he has won multiple awards including best numismatic article in any medium, worldwide.
He has volunteered countless hours scouring websites for local historic artifacts and paperwork that “set the record straight” regarding many historic SCV “facts.”
Sue Endress
The eldest of five children, Endress was born in Alhambra and raised in the San Gabriel Valley.
She attended Arroyo High School and Rio Hondo Junior College.
Endress met her husband, Bob, while working at the University of Southern California, where she worked in Human Resources. After they were married they moved to Newhall in 1978.
The couple started Unicom Wireless in 1980, selling two-way radio systems and service, pagers and cellular phones. They still work closely with the community, schools and municipalities with their communication needs.
In 2006, thinking she needed yet another challenge in her life, she opened Sue Endress Insurance Services.
Her volunteer spirit started as a child with her mother and father who volunteered in their church and schools. They were always at some project in the community of helping a family needing assistance.
Her primary support and dedication through the years has been the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center.
Endress has been involved with numerous fundraising activities, events, and programs. She was a founding member and trustee for the former Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center Foundation.
She has also been involved with SCV youth through her years with Girl Scouts, Hart High School Band Booster Club and PTA.
She donates countless hours to work with kids through the Rotary Club where she has guided and mentored approximately 1,000 students at four local high schools, teaching them the principles of ethics and the importance of service to others.
SCV Man and Woman of the Year Committee
The SCV Man and Woman of the Year are selected by past winners of the honor on the SCV Man and Woman of the Year Committee. Criteria for selection includes performing individual volunteer services given to a group or organization that is a designated 501(c)(3), community service organization.
Volunteer service is defined by long-time community commitment (not work-related). Volunteer service includes, but is not limited to, the years of volunteer service, the type of service, and the impact of the service that was provided to multiple local organizations.
The award was first bestowed on A.B Perkins in 1964 when he was named “Citizen of the Year.” In 1971 the award changed and became the SCV Man and Woman of the Year when two individuals were honored, one of each gender.
No awards were presented in 1982 when the recognition event passed from the SCV Chamber to the SCV Man and Woman of the Year Committee.
Past Honorees
A few of the past SCV Man and Woman of the Year honorees include: Ed Bolden, Barbara Cochran, Jo Anne Darcy, Tony Newhall, Jami Kennedy, Alan Barbakow, Pat Allen, Laurene Weste-McCarthy, Frank and Charlotte Kleeman, Pat Warford, Bob Kellar, Betty Seldner, Pat Willett, John Hoskinson, Adele Macpherson, Duane Harte, Don and Cheri Fleming, Linda Pedersen, Joyce Carson, Gary and Myrna Condie, Jeri Seratti-Goldman, Carl Goldman, Greg Nutter, Jeanna Crawford, Greg Amsler, Judy Penman, Nancy Coulter, Wayne Crawford, Mary Ann Colf, Steve Sturgeon and Elizabeth Hopp.
For more information visit www.scvmanandwomanoftheyear.com.