MJC ag teacher, program lauded by statewide group

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The California Agriculture Teachers Association has named Modesto Junior College Professor Steve Amador as a Teacher of Excellence and MJC's Agriculture Department as the 2009 Outstanding Community College Agricultural Education Program. The awards were presented during the association's annual banquet last month.

Amador has been teaching in the agriculture mechanics program at MJC since 2004. He is a Davis High and MJC graduate who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

MJC's ag program last received this statewide award in 2002.

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The California Department of Transportation recently singled out three groups that are among the 325 that clean up trash along state highways in District 10.

J's Heating and Air of Stanislaus County was recognized as one of the Volunteers of the Year in the Adopt-A-Highway Program. Owner Johnny Alderman and his family adopted a three-mile section of Highway 99. In 2008, they picked up 120 bags of trash.

The other Volunteers of the Year were Greenhorn Creek Community in Calaveras County and the Delta Nu Lota women's civic group in Mariposa County. (More information on the program is available from Kathy Cockayne, District 10 Adopt-A-Highway coordinator, at 948-7462.)

Modesto physician and pilot Lisa Michelle Masson was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan. It recognizes men and women who have made significant contributions to the field of aviation.

The city was the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, and the forest was a gift to the nation on its bicentennial from the city and the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of female pilots.

Masson, a 50-year-old primary care physician at Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, learned to fly from her father, also a physician and who served as a Federal Aviation Administration medical examiner. She was among 33 aviators inducted to the group, now numbering more than 1,200.

Yosemite Park ranger Dan Abbe received a plaque from two park visitors he rescued May 26 from a burning truck.

James Bachman and Dorothy Hovland, both from Huntington Beach, returned to Yosemite last week to make the presentation. Abbe rescued the pair after their truck and trailer slid off Highway 41 and down a steep hillside. When Abbe arrived, the engine compartment was on fire and Bachman and Hovland were unable to get out.

Abbe climbed on the truck and pried open the door, allowing the two to escape. They climbed up to the roadside as the truck and trailer were engulfed in flames.

The three suffered smoke inhalation but no serious injuries.

Civic clubs:

— Jeff Barton is the new president of the Noon Rotary Club of Turlock. Barton has been a member of Rotary for 12 years.

— Soroptimist International of Oakdale installed new officers, including President Suzette Titus, President-elect Cheryl Bolin, Treasurer Elaine McConnell, Assistant Treasurer Joanne Roberts, Recording Secretary Barbara Cook and Corresponding Secretary Debbie Carreira.

— Accountant Donald Kemplen is the new president of the Modesto East Rotary Club. He's been a Rotarian since 2005.

In business:

— Eric Tobias has been named senior vice president Modesto market manager for Farmers & Merchants Bank. He will oversee four full-service branches.

— Raley's, Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union and Fernando's Bistro were honored Tuesday as the large, medium and small businesses of the year, respectively, at the 10th annual Merced Success Breakfast.

— Modestan Joseph Swain, an independent financial planner, has been elected to a national advisory board for Aviva USA, a nationwide insurance company. The eight-member board, made up of general agents nationwide, is responsible for product design, compliance issues, customer service, and distribution enhancements and planning.

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