Long-time residents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, young students are awarded scholarships, and a local woman takes the stage. Read about your neighbors here.
Kiwanis awards three scholarships
Scholarship winners, from left, Jane Chon, Kyle East and Jillian Wolhart pose with incoming Kiwanis President Al Dolata at the awards ceremony.
Recipients of the 2007-2008 Rancho Murieta Kiwanis Club college scholarship awards were honored Friday at the 19th annual Spotlight on Excellence awards banquet hosted by the Elk Grove Community Foundation at the First Baptist Church in Elk Grove.
The nearly 500 attendees watched as 184 individual awards totaling $163,000 were granted during the course of the evening.
Incoming Kiwanis President Al Dolata awarded the club's three $1,000 scholarships to Jane Chon and Murietans Kyle East and Jillian Wolhart. All three attend Pleasant Grove High School.
This is the second local scholarship Kyle East has received. Last month he was awarded a $1,000 Cosumnes River Little League scholarship at Opening Day ceremonies. It was the club's first scholarship award.
The purpose of the Kiwanis Club of Rancho Murieta Foundation's scholarship program is to foster the continuing education of the community's high school graduates by providing financial assistance through scholarship awards to the most deserving students. The scholarships are available to all students who are permanent residents of the greater Rancho Murieta, Sloughhouse and Wilton area, or are members of the Rancho Murieta Kiwanis Club-sponsored Pleasant Grove and Sheldon High School Key Clubs.
It was the second scholarship award in a month for Kyle East, shown here at Cosumnes River Little League Opening Day in April.
At minimum, three $1,000 scholarships are now available each year. The Kiwanis Club has also established a scholarship endowment fund, which will make additional scholarship awards available in the future. This fund has now grown to over $24,000 through community fundraising events and the generosity of individual donors. A portion of Kiwanis' share of the proceeds from the OKC Corral fundraising event, for example, has been a major
contributor to this fund during the past several years.
Anyone interested in contributing to this endowment fund, or in establishing a separate memorial or legacy scholarship endowment fund, may do so by writing the Kiwanis Club of Rancho Murieta Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 855, Rancho Murieta, CA 95683, or contacting Scholarship Chairman Joe Mazzoni Sr. at 354-0197.
An example of the latter scholarship would be a special scholarship established to memorialize a family member. The scholarship could be named for that person, and designated for award for any special purpose (the arts, sciences, etc.).
Newells celebrate golden anniversary
Bill and Donna Newell were the first to be married in a church that was new 50 years ago.
Bill and Donna Newell marked their 50th wedding anniversary April 6 by celebrating with family and enjoying one of their 3-year-old grandson's favorite treats -- cake and ice cream.
Fifty years earlier, they had the distinction of being the first couple to be married in a new church in Des Moines, Iowa. Since it was Easter, the church was decorated with flowers, a lucky thing, they say, since they couldn't afford to supply their own.
They were introduced by a mutual friend when Bill was a student at Drake University, and dated for a few years before marrying. "We had a while to think about it," Donna says with mock-seriousness.
In the early years of their marriage, they lived in Iowa, North Dakota, Missouri and Minnesota. As Donna sees it, "We spent our share of time in the Midwest." It was cold in the winter, hot and humid in the summer "and I don't miss that at all," she admits.
They moved to the Bay Area in 1972 with their son, John, and daughter, Jodie, after Bill became the western divisional manager for Barcalounger. Since the position required extensive travel all over the west, Donna found herself in charge of the home front. "I handled everything on my own," she recalls.
Baby Matthew with his proud grandparents.
Their lives changed after they visited Rancho Murieta to have a look around and "wound up buying a lot," she said. The couple moved here in 1989 "to retire and play golf and all that sort of thing," according to Donna.
She also took an active role in local politics and was elected to the board of the Rancho Murieta Association. As a director, Donna Newell served as secretary and headed the Recreation Committee. She presided over the first event at the Lake Clementia Amphitheater, and worked as one of the volunteers who helped to put together playground equipment at Stonehouse Park.
The couple's focus changed after grandson Matthew was born to Jodie and her husband, Joseph Villarreal, and they now plan to return to the Bay Area to be closer to their family.
Neighbor appears in critically acclaimed play
Neighbor Robin Albee-Kesich is appearing in an ancient play that critics see as relevant to the politics of today and the war in Iraq. The play, "Antigone," was hailed as "powerful theater" by the Sacramento Bee [1] when it opened last month. It's now entering its final week at River Stage in Sacramento.
Albee-Kesich plays one of the five elders who are council to the King of Thebes in ancient Greece.
The last performance is Sunday, May 18. Information about the play is available at riverstage.org. [2]