NEWS

New Foundation for B&G Club

SCV Boys & Girls Club splits board into Foundation and Governing members.

11/20/2002

By Michele E. Buttelman
Signal Features Editor

The leadership of the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club has reorganized into two separate boards. A Foundation Board composed of 42 community leaders and SCV Boys & Girls Club supporters was recently installed at the Sand Canyon home of Richard and Marian Sandnes. The new board will be the fund-raising arm of the Club. Future plans include expanding the Foundation to 60 board members.

A Governing Board will be responsible for Club operations.

The division into two boards is designed to ensure the Club’s financial stability for the future, said Judy Belue, SCV Boys and Girls Foundation’s executive director. “I just count it such an honor to work with the people on this board who are so committed to the youth of our community,” she said.

The new Foundation, headed by Foundation President, John M. Reardon, CEO of Valencia Bank & Trust, wasted no time in kicking into high gear. Reardon announced a campaign to raise the final $1.2 million needed to complete and furnish the new Boys & Girls Club clubhouse in Canyon Country.

The support of local businesses and individuals will be needed to supply the final 20 percent of the total funds needed for the new clubhouse, Belue said. The fund-raising campaign is scheduled to last until the end of the year.

Co-Chairmen Tom Veloz and Michael Hogan will provide leadership for the fund-raising campaign. “Canyon Country is overdue for the quality, affordable programs and facilities the Boys & Girls Club provides for kids. Young people in the west side of our valley deserve this new facility and the myriad of after-school activities that will go on there,” Veloz said. “The partnership assembled to build the new Club includes the William S. Hart School District and the City of Santa Clarita. The project has attracted national attention and support from state and federal agencies as well as private foundations.”

Team Captains for the fund-raising campaign are Tom Dierckman, Craig Peters, Dale Donohoe, Don Fleming, Wayne Crawford, Randy Ott, John Gedney and Sue Ostrom.

Hogan said the fund-raising effort will involve direct one-on-one solicitation by Foundation members. The teams will collect three-year pledges from businesses and community members. “Our goal is to raise $400,000 a year for the next three years and we hope to have all the commitments made by January 1. We know that is an ambitious schedule, but if everyone works together we can accomplish our goal,” he said.

The installation of the new Foundation at the Sandnes estate was a high-spirited affair which included a display of creative photos of several of the new Foundation directors taken by photographer Ted Dayton.

Among the clever photos, which reflected the jobs or hobbies of their subjects, were images of Reardon surrounded by bags of money, Signal Publisher Ethel Nakutin wearing a paper-carrier’s delivery bag, outdoorsy Tom Petersen hiking with a toy Humvee (like one he owns) on his back and Blue Barrel’s Karl McCarthy surrounded by a mountain of Blue Barrel trash containers.

The $6.2 million Canyon Country clubhouse was the focus of the evening. Of the $1.2 million needed to complete the clubhouse Reardon said $400,000 is needed to cover remaining construction costs, $400,000 is needed for furniture, fixtures and equipment and $400,000 is needed for operation costs.

Reardon praised the members of the new Foundation, telling them “you’re the who’s who of the SCV and we’re going to take the Club to a new level. The young people in this community deserve our best efforts.”

Belue also addressed the new Foundation and lauded the group for “making the youth of community your first priority.”

SCV Boys & Girls Club alum Carlos Vasquez gave an emotional testimonial how the Club changed his life. Vasquez, who first discovered the Boys and Girls Club at the tiny Canyon Country satellite, said the field trips he took with the club opened his eyes to a world outside the Santa Clarita Valley. “I realized there were other places than just Canyon Country and Newhall,“ he said. “The Club taught me to be committed to what you believe in.”

Vasquez credits the club with giving him the vision needed to attain his goals. He currently is one year away from completing his Master’s degree and is now working as a school psychologist intern.

“I hope to be able to make a difference in another child’s life, completing the circle. I took advantage of my opportunities and I thank you (SCV Boys and Girls Club), if I didn’t have the Club who knows where I would be,” Vasquez concluded.

The SCV Boys & Girls Club was founded in 1968 and currently has it’s main facility in Newhall. A smaller satellite facility serves Val Verde. The Canyon Country satellite facility is scheduled to be replaced by the new 27,000 sq. ft. Canyon Country clubhouse currently under construction on the grounds of Sierra Vista Junior HIgh School and scheduled for completion in 2003.

Tom Dierckman, Governing Board president, said the Canyon Country facility will be a building of which to be proud. It is scheduled to house a full-size gym, craft center, computer center and classrooms to be shared with Sierra Vista Junior High. “This is a statement we are making,” Dierckman said. “We are only as good as our kids. There is no better way to spend your time.”

Don Fleming, a fund-raising team captain, told Foundation members the new Canyon Country club is important to the SCV. “This club will save a lot of kids,” he said. Fleming also extolled the virtues of community service. “I promise you, the best thing you can do is give back to the community. It comes back ten-fold,” he said.

Hogan said the Canyon Country club will be an asset to the SCV. “You can look at the history of the SCV and see what a difference the Newhall facility (of the SCV Boys & Girls Club) made for the Newhall area. I think the Canyon Country clubhouse will have a similar impact. I think the timing is perfect for the kids in the community and I think it is a great asset for the whole valley,” he said.

Directors of the new Foundation include: Sheldon Allen, Attorney at Law; Greg Amsler, GM, Salt Creek Grille; Neill Anderson, Consultant; Lisa Burke, CEO, Santa Clarita Concessions; Gary E. Condie, Condie and Wood, CPAs; Wayne Crawford, Santa Clarita Concrete; Tom Dierckman, Senior Vice President for Newhall Land; Jennifer Dinardo, General Manager of the Hilton Garden Inn Valencia; Dale Donohoe, President, Intertex Companies; Tony Eichers, General Manager of the Hyatt Valencia; Scott Evans, Evans and Son, Inc.; Don Fleming, General Manager of Valencia Acura; John Gedney, CEO, GG Industries; Kiza Stratton Hilton, Impressions; Michael Hogan, CEO, Hogan Communications; Jocey Hogan, Hogan Communications; Del Holland, Vice President of Six Flags California; John Hoskinson, President of Gruber Systems; Geri Jacobs, The Travel Bug; Carl Kanowsky, Hacker, Kanowsky & Braly, LLP; Bob Kellar, City Councilman, Kellar-Davis Real Estate; Greg Kincaid, Sage Staffing; Jeff Kreitzman, CEO of China Manufacturers Alliance; Mary Ellen Lubow, Kathryne Beynon Foundation; Monty Lunde, President of Technifex, Inc.; Kevin Malone; Karl McCarthy, Blue Barrel Disposal; Ron Murphy, Magic Maintenance; Ethel Nakutin, Editor, The Signal; David C. (Dave) Nichols, President-Los Angeles, SBC Pacific Bell; Anna Ott, Import Stone; Sue Ostrom, Registered Nurse; Thomas Petersen, CIF, Petersen International Underwriters; Craig Peters, CB Commercial Realtors; Richard Sandnes, President of Mr. Stax, Inc.; Will J. Staats, Staats Construction Company; Tom Schrey, CEO of Ideal Pet Products; Murray Siegel, Writer; Tom Veloz, President & CEO of UVDI; Roberta Veloz, CEO of Aquafine; Connie Worden-Roberts, Transportation Management Assoc.

The Governing Board of Directors is led by President Tom Dierckman, Senior Vice President, The Newhall Land & Farming Co. Other officers include: Vice President for Operations Rick Putnam, Retired Deputy City Manager; Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Doug Sink, Remo, Inc.; Vice President for Board Development Connie Worden-Roberts, Transportation Management Assoc.; Vice President at Large Sheldon Allen, Attorney at Law; Vice President at Large Carl Kanowsky, Hacker, Kanowsky & Braly, LLP; Secretary Clyde Smyth, Former Mayor, City of Santa Clarita. Directors are Barbara Dore; Art Donnelly; Tony Eichers, General Manager, Hyatt Valencia; Richard Gould, Director of Parks & Recreation City of Santa Clarita; Sue Harrison, Principal, Newhall Elementary School; Bryan Haserjian; Robert C. Lee, Superintendent William S. Hart School District; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. Captain Don Rodriguez, Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station; Glen Rollins, Realty Executives; Gary Saenger, President, Saenger Associates; Tom Veloz, President & CEO, UVDI and Jack Wasserstein, DDS. Jim Ventress continues as the executive director of the SCV Boys & Girls Club.

The Foundation’s new office is located in recently remodeled space at the Club’s Newhall facility.

For information on contributing to the SCV Boys & Girls Club contact Judy Belue at 254-3063.

Courtesy of The Signal. Reprinted with permission.

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