Success & Service: 40-year Red Cross volunteer honored

Retired nurse there to help seniors or victims of disasters

Bee Staff Reports

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

The Stanislaus Chapter of the American Red Cross said "thank you" and "bon voyage" to longtime volunteer Connie Moreno during a ceremony Thursday night.

Moreno, 81, has been a Red Cross volunteer for 40 years, and she is leaving the area to live near relatives in far Northern California.

Executive Director Rebecca Ciszek said Moreno, a registered nurse who maintains her license even though she is retired, oversaw volunteers who deployed to national disaster areas. As a nurse, she herself worked at some of those same sites.

Most recently, she gave countless hours of care and counseling to seniors burned out of an apartment complex in Oakdale and debriefed volunteers after traumatic assignments. She also worked locally at first-aid stations and gave blood-pressure checks.

"She'll be a real loss to our chapter and this community," Ciszek said.

Modesto Junior College's speech and debate team dominated other community colleges at a tournament Oct. 23-25 at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. The competitions included 28 four- and two-year schools, with MJC emerging as the best of the 14 community colleges. James Birlew won in novice extemporaneous speaking, while brother Richard Birlew won in open extemporaneous speaking. They teamed up to beat a duo from the University of California at Davis to reach the finals of open parliamentary debate. But they lost to UC Berkeley in the final round. Mostafa Aniss took second in novice impromptu. James Birlew, Michelle Yandell, Shannon Lee and Jessica Medina received finalist awards. Phillip Azevedo was a finalist in open impromptu, and Paris Player won a finalist award in novice prose interpretation.

Their win in Pleasant Hill followed a third-place finish among community colleges at a tournament Sept. 18-20 in San Francisco.

Appointments by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors:

Frank Freitas and Mike Borba to the Newman Drainage District board of directors

Kelland Murphy to the Burbank-Paradise Fire Protection District board of directors

Paul Souza and Charles Thornsberry to the Empire Sanitary District board of directors

Elizabeth Gripenstraw and Derek Davis to the Oakdale Rural Fire Protection District board of directors

Nancy Osmundson to the Valley Home Municipal Advisory Council

Nathan Cary to the Empire Municipal Advisory Council

Susan Renee Harris to the Hickman Municipal Advisory Council

Mary Ann Riner, Mark Swartz and Dorinda Soiseth to the Denair Municipal Advisory council

Laura Anhalt to Reclamation District 2091 board of directors

Reappointments by the county Board of Supervisors:

Angela Alvarado and Rosenda Mataka to the Grayson Community Services District board of directors

Grady Jordan Sr. to the Monterey Park Tract Community Services District board of directors

Raymond Lopes to the Newman Drainage District board of directors

Robert R. Rensted to the Ceres Fire Protection District board of directors

Bobby Yamamoto, Greg Petz, David Goubert, Kenneth Bays and Lee DelDon to the West Stanislaus Irrigation District board of directors

Richard Walke to the Hickman Municipal Advisory Council

John Swicegood to the South Modesto Municipal Advisory Council

Dan Lamb and Wendel Trinkler to the Reclamation District 2091 board of directors

Kathy Gabrielson and Pamela Hillar to the Burbank-Paradise Fire Protection District board of directors

Commendations by the county Board of Supervisors:

Ron Emerzian for being named citizen of the year by American Legion Post 74

Richard Edgecomb for his outstanding service to the community and the veterans of Stanislaus County

Commendation by the Stanislaus Council of Governments:

Mike Lystra, bus driver for Stanislaus Regional Transit, for coming to the aid of a man shot while walking with his girlfriend and their baby son in the La Loma neighborhood in July.

David Rucker of Modesto was one of 95 truckers honored by PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America for driving more than 1 million miles without an accident. Most truckers need a decade to reach the 1 million mark. The company has 500 million-milers, including seven who have logged more than 3 million mishap-free miles.

Submit items for this column to local@modbee.com.