2021 Heroes Of Oceanside & Camp Pendleton Awards - RECAP

OCEANSIDE, CA — The 2021 Heroes of Oceanside and Camp Pendleton Award Ceremony was held last week at the Arrowood Golf Course.

The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce hosts this yearly event that honors representatives from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside Police Department, Oceanside Fire Department, Oceanside Lifeguards, Healthcare Workers and Teachers from the local school district for their outstanding contributions to the well-being and advancement of the City of Oceanside.

Scott Ashton, CEO of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce was the host for the 2021 Heroes of Oceanside and Camp Pendleton Dinner. Scott's welcome expressing how nice it was to see everyone in person was greeted with enthusiastic applause.

"When we had our Meet the City event back in January of 2020, we had no way of knowing that we would not have another major in-person event for almost a year and a half." said Scott. "This has been a very special week, as two of our most important partners have also celebrated reopening events... Visit Oceanside had a well-attended tourism summit on Tuesday and MainStreet Oceanside re-opens their sunset market."

"This year marks the Chamber’s 125th year of serving the Oceanside business community. I have had the honor of being on staff at the Chamber for the last 25 years, and I can tell you that we have never been more needed by the business community than we have over the past year and a half. I consider it a great privilege to work for a Board of Directors that is bold and passionate about serving our business community. They understood how important it has been for the Chamber to be a strong voice for our businesses. I will recognize our board members in just a few minutes."

"I want to acknowledge the great team we have at the Chamber, a group of people that are always eager to serve the needs of our business community… Kristi Hawthorne, Hana Gilbert, Victoria Carlborg and Margery Benkaci."

I also want to acknowledge our City Leadership for going above and beyond in their service to our business community during the pandemic. I really believe that Oceanside is one of the most business friendly cities in Southern California. We are fortunate to have a Council and City staff that understands the importance of helping businesses prosper. I will acknowledge our City leadership by name in a few moments. And I would be remiss to not mention Supervisor Jim Desmond and the strong and consistent pro-business voice that he provided at a County level."

"We are here this evening to honor and recognize our Heroes from Oceanside and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. We are pleased to recognize top performers from our Police and Fire Departments, as well our Healthcare Providers, Educators and Marines and Sailors from Camp Pendleton."

Before we move into our program, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for helping to make tonight’s event a possibility!

Presenting Sponsor

Tri-City Medical Center

Gold Sponsors

Genentech
Frontwave Credit Union

Silver Sponsors

Arrowood Golf Course
AT&T
Cal State San Marcos
Cox Communications
GK Asset Management
Kaiser Permanente
MiraCosta College
Oceanside Community Foundation
San Diego Gas & Electric
Waste Management

Flag Sponsor

FlagKeepers

"At this time I would like to introduce our elected officials and community leaders and thank them for their support of tonight’s event."

From our Oceanside City Council

Mayor Esther Sanchez
Deputy Mayor Ryan Keim
Councilmember Peter Weiss
Councilmember Kori Jensen
Representing Councilmember Christopher Rodriguez – Debbie Mikulay

City Staff

City Manager Deanna Lorson
Deputy City Manager Jonathan Borrego
Fire Chief Rick Robinson
Police Captain Kedrick Sadler

Elected Representatives

County San Diego

San Diego County Supervisor, District 5, Jim Desmond

Board of Trustees of MiraCosta College

Dr. David Broad, MiraCosta College Board of Trustees
George McNeil, MiraCosta College Board of Trustees
Dr. Sunny Cooke, MiraCosta College Superintendent/President

From the Tri City Medical Center Board of Directors

CEO, Steve Dietlin

Oceanside Unified School District

Dr. Julie Vitale, OUSD Superintendent

Camp Pendleton

Col. Dan Whitley, Commanding Office of Headquarters and Support Battalion
Sgt. Major Eric Darmstadt, Sgt. Major Headquarters and Support Battalion

Oceanside Chamber Board of Directors

Debbie Allen
Marva Bledsoe
Daniel Butler
Robbie Calderon-Hass
Nazeli Dertsakian
Maria Mingalone
Ernie Prieto
Katie Scanlan
Joshua W. Van Orden
Bob Waite
Kevin Witowich

Advisors

Jonathan Borrego
Leslee Gaul
Col. Daniel Whitley
Dr. Julie Vitale

At this time we would like to recognize all of this year’s deserving honorees.

I would like to note, that while time doesn’t permit for me to read the bios for each of our awardees, they are included in tonight’s event program. Please be sure to grab a copy of the program and read about the amazing work our Heroes are doing in Oceanside.

2021 Heroes Of Oceanside & Camp Pendleton

Honorees for the Oceanside Police Department

Officer Gary Alexis - Oceanside Police Department Officer of the Year
Graziella Fenesy - Professional Assistant, Oceanside Police Department Employee of the Year

Honorees for the Oceanside Fire Department

Ron Owens - Oceanside Fire Department, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Team Leader Safety Specialist of the Year
Lynne Seabloom - Oceanside Fire Department Medical Service Officer/EMS Manager, Oceanside’s Designated Infection Control Officer for COVID-19. NOT IN ATTENDANCE

Honorees for the Oceanside Unified School District

Alyssa Schrom - 4th Grade Teacher at Del Rio Elementary School, Oceanside Unified School District Teacher of the Year
Xye Sanders - 7/8th Grade Education Specialist at Chavez Middle School, Oceanside Unified School District Teacher of the Year
Regina Basañes - Special Education Paraprofessional at Foussat Elementary School, Oceanside Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year
Allen Sanders - Lead Day Custodian at Oceanside High School Oceanside Unified School District Classified Employee of the Year

Honorees for the Healthcare Providers from Tri-City Medical Center

Chara Cote - Tri-City Medical Center Leadership in Meeting Reporting Standards
Jeff Gregory - Tri-City Medical Center Excellence in Customer Service
Josh Mueller - Tri-City Medical Center Excellence in Customer Service
Tricia Guerra - Tri-City Medical Center Creation of a Best-in-Class Vaccination Clinic
Melissa Terah - Tri-City Medical Center Creation of a Best-in-Class Vaccination Clinic
Information Technology Department - Tri-City Medical Center Shepherding a New Network Installation and EMR Conversion

Honorees for the Military

Sgt Jacob F. Balderas - Marine Corps Installations-West Meritorious Sergeant, 2nd Quarter, Fiscal Year 2021
LCpl Kristopher Woodard - Marine Corps Installations-West Marine of the Quarter, 2nd Quarter, Fiscal Year 2021
HM1 (FMF) Spencer D. Martin - 1 MEF Senior Sailor of the Year, 2020
HM1 (FMF) Jonathan L. Jacobs - Marine Logistics Group Independent Duty Corpsman of the Year, 2020

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