Goldenwest District Annual Recognition Dinner

On Sunday, April 7^th, the Goldenwest District (the District) held its Annual Recognition Dinner at the Golden Sea Restaurant to recognize and celebrate those adult volunteers that their peers felt exceeded expectations while serving Scouting a Cub Scout, Scouts BSA or Venture Crew, and/or the District. The event was expertly planned by District Awards Chair, Sandy Vo, and Committee member, Kathy Hight.  The event drew over 160 guests and hosted by master of ceremony, Mat Forester, Goldenwest District Chair, who was flanked by award presenters, Dan Moran, Camporee Chair, and Charlie Osaki, Goldenwest District Vice Chair.

 

The event was kicked of by the color guard provided by the Scouts from Troop 007, led by Kyle Daniels, from Troop 642, who led the audience in the flag salute. Mat welcomed all of the guests by stating, “This is my favorite event of the year because we have 60 Scouting units and over 2,000 volunteers, and tonight we get to recognize those volunteers that you singled out for contributing beyond expectations.”

 

“Outstanding Service to Scouting Awards” were presented to two community organizations that have supported the Goldenwest District’s Scouting events: Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress, represented by Andrew O’Hare, Director of Events, and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Anaheim-Cypress, represented by Erika Gary, Interim Chief Executive Officer. For 27 years, Forest Lawn Memorial Park has provided the venue, supplies and food for the “Flag Planting Event” at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Cypress, co-hosted by Troop 295. Once a Troop event, it is now a community event that draws nearly 400 volunteers annually, and is still organized and led by Troop 295. The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Anaheim-Cypress has been generous in providing its Cypress location for quarterly Eagle Scout-required merit badge workshops to be conducted, in addition to offering space for district roundtables, unit meetings, and Eagle Scout boards of reviews. In just 18 months, over 150 Eagle Scout-required merit badges have been completed at the Boys & Girls Club facility in Cypress. Both of these outstanding organizations lent their support to Scouting at a critical time when the Covid pandemic restrictions were being rolled back and space for activities was challenging to obtain. Bravo, Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Cypress and Boys & Girls Club of Greater Anaheim-Cypress!

 

Kyle (“Daddy Daniels”) Daniels was the recipient of the “Outstanding Youth Service Award” for his leadership and support at the 2023 Goldenwest District’s Camporee, where he served as the SPL. Once Kyle turned 18 years old, he got trained in as an Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) and in outdoor leadership skills, and will serve as an ASM for Troop 642, starting with this year’s summer camp. Well done, Kyle!

 

The district’s highest recognition of an adult volunteer is the “District Award of Merit” which was awarded to two Scouting volunteers extraordinaire, Michael Eyre and Justin Le. Micheal Eyre has been a longtime leader, both ASM and Scoutmaster, for Troop 295, and has made a significant commitment of time to support the Goldenwest District’s Life to Eagle Scout process, especially over these past four years. Michael is an Eagle Scout (1973) and has been a Merit Badge Counselor since 1999. Justin Le was the Crew Advisor for Crew 680 from 2015 through 2023, and as of January 1, 2024, he is the Charter Organization Representative of Pack, Troop and Crew 680. Justin advanced to Eagle Scout in Troop 680 (2010) and was presented with the “Outstanding Crew Advisor Award” in 2022. Like Michael Eyre, has been a pillar of support for the Goldenwest District’s advancement program. Congratulations, Michael and Justin!

 

Three Scoutmasters were recognized for the “Outstanding Scoutmaster Award:”

Rolando (Rolo) Barrientos, Troop 658

Roger Tran, Troop 1930

Dan Moran, Troop 642

 

Two Cub Scout leaders were recognized for the “Outstanding Cubmaster Award:”

Kheim (Keno) Ha, Pack 680

Scott McCall, Pack 526

 

Sandy Osaki was presented with the “Spouse of the Year Award” for her support of Scouting in the Goldenwest District for almost 20 years.

 

Finally, for exceptional service to a unit, the “Unit Exceptional Scouter Award” was presented to the following individuals:

 

Pack 007, Michael Ngo

 

Troop 007, Tam Le and Tuan Hoang

 

Troop 295, Melissa Rivera and Andrew Pilger

 

Pack 526, Betsy Kennedy and Alma Lucio-Flores

 

Troop 578, Earl King

 

Troop 642, Barb Ringhofer and Stuart Fong

 

Troop 650, Herb Wong

 

Troop 658, Veronica Thousand and Gloria Ginaven

 

Pack 660, Maureen Mello and Michaelle Maugham-Holloway

 

Troop 660,  Amanda McCall, Letty Totah and Andy Gersjes

 

Pack 667, Bob Kurkjian and Mohit Ghose

 

Troop 670, Bruce Troutman

 

Troop 671, Jeff Giocomi

 

Troop 680, Thang Nguyen and Harry Tran

 

Pack 735, Micheal Gossage and Pranav Patel

 

Troop 1930, Trang Van and Tina Nguyen

 

Pack 1789, Jacob Huynh

 

Troop 2519, Quyen Nguyen and Stephanie Tang

 

Goldenwest District Nominees, Marcie Lui and Lori Aguirre

 

Congratulations to the above award recipients for their exceptional service to their Scout units!

 

The evenings’ events wrapped up with dancing to the spinning sounds of DJ, John “Night Club Johnny” Vo, Scoutmaster for Troop 007.

 

A sincere “Thank You” to all of the Scouting volunteers for creating fun and meaningful experiences for our youth – this wouldn’t happen without you!

 

A final and grateful shoutout to Sandy Vo and Kathy Hight for planning and hosting a terrific evening of camaraderie, celebration and fun!