Gallery: City of Lemoore again honors its many volunteers at annual dinner

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The Lemoore Recreation Department held its annual Volunteer of the Year recognition dinner Thursday night (Feb. 21) at the massive recreation facility, and recipients included everyone from lone volunteers to the police department’s Volunteers in Policing. Lemoore Chief of Police Darrel Smith and Parks and Recreation Department Director Jason Glick were on hand to present their awards and praise the hundreds of recipients who tirelessly contribute to the city in a variety of ways.

While the city recognized specific individuals for specific awards, both Glick and Smith recognized the full range of volunteers who quietly and without much fanfare, contribute in various ways to the health and vitality of the city.

The major awards, including Volunteers of the Year, went to a pair of gentlemen who for the past 20 years volunteered to maintain the Lemoore Sports Park. Joe Correia and Frank Bernhardt would always make sure the park, now being run by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, was always ready for youth softball and soccer.

“They took care of maintenance at the Lemoore Sports Park for the last 20 years. We felt it was important to recognize their work,” said Glick.  “They were volunteers through the Lemoore Youth Sports Foundation. They still volunteer every once in a while.”

The City honored the Lemoore Youth Sports Complex as the Organization of the Year. While it may have given up control of the complex to the city, it has played a significant role for the past 20 years providing recreation services to the community.

“Over the past 20 years they created a premier sports park for the children of the community, and over the years they helped develop youth softball and soccer programs,” said Glick. “They put in a lot of effort over the past 20 years.”

Teen Volunteer of the Year, Makenzie Taylor, was honored for her continuing contributions. “Mackenzie volunteered during summer day camp. She volunteers for all of our you the events,” said Glick. “She’s someone who answers our call. She volunteers constantly for us, and we wanted to recognize her for her efforts.”

Smith, who handed out several recognition awards, was adamant about the importance of volunteers. “In our community, it is unique in the sense that volunteerism is thriving in Lemoore. In my organization, we would not be able to accomplish the things we do without our volunteers (and local service organizations). All of the functions in our city, we couldn’t pull it off without our service organizations.

“I told everyone last night that it’s one of my favorite events of the year,” insisted Smith. “ We get to honor these folks. It’s our time to give back to them.”

For Smith’s part, he had plenty of praise for the long-standing Volunteers-in-Policing (VIP) organization and this year’s VIP of the Year John Cardwell, who unfortunately couldn’t make the Thursday night event.  He also honored the long-standing Neighborhood Watch program, local service clubs, the Police Athletic League and others.

Cardwell attended the 20th Citizen’s Academy class and became a VIP in May 2017. Included in his myriad of activities are fingerprinting and crossing guard duty, coordinating swap meets, taking vehicles to Fresno and other locations, assisting with evidence, helping with the Citizens Academy class, National Night Out, Red Ribbon, Reason for the Season, and much more.

The Neighborhood Watch Captain of the Year was Ray Fagundes, an honor he’s held before. The Manager of the Year went to Sarah Henderson and Mona Cobine who joined the Crime Free Multi-Housing program when they became the new manager for the Landings Edge apartment complex. 

Photos by Gary Feinstein/Feinsteinfotos