Volunteers, Firms Win Goodwill ‘Well Dones’

County residents and companies will be honored in May for their achievements and contributions in connection with Goodwill Industries of Orange County. They include Melanie Conatser of Mission Viejo and Thanh Vien of Garden Grove, who will be honored as Graduate of the Year and Achiever of the Year, respectively.

Ethel Coffman of Santa Ana, 92 and still active, will be honored as Volunteer of the Year. Fred Cantrell of Placentia will receive the Walter Knott Goodwill Service Award for a lifetime of helping others.

Target has been named Company of the Year; the Anaheim Marriott Hotel, the Large Employer of the Year, and Shipley’s Clothing of Huntington Beach, Small Employer of the Year.

Bob Williamson, president of the Irvine-based civil engineering firm of Williamson & Schmid, has been presented with the 1987 Engineer of the Year award by the county branch of the American Society of Civil Engineering.

Irvine resident Greg Upham was taking a leisurely drive with his wife and young daughter when he saw a car becoming engulfed in flames after it had struck a tree. Upham forced open a car door, pulled out the semiconscious driver and administered first aid until paramedics arrived.

Upham, a county deputy sheriff, was given the Outstanding Citizen Award by Villa Nova Restaurant in Newport Beach, which honors individuals who perform good deeds in the community.

“By risking his life to save someone he didn’t even know, Upham went beyond what many people would do in this same situation,” Villa Nova owner Charlotte Dale said.

Deborah Corsaut of Irvine, a junior at the University of San Francisco, was crowned Miss San Francisco and will compete in the June Miss California Pageant in San Diego.

While living in Irvine, Corsaut performed at Disneyland in Anaheim and spent eight months in Japan, where she played the roles of Snow White and Cinderella at Tokyo Disneyland.

She is majoring in mass communication, with special emphasis on broadcasting, and maintains a 3.45 grade-point average. After graduation, she plans a career in broadcasting.

Corsaut recently played the lead role as “Annie” in the USF production of “Oklahoma!”

Robert Gaskins, 72, of Mission Viejo, a director of Eiki International in Laguna Niguel, an audio-visual equipment manufacturer, was presented the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Communications Industries Assn., its highest honor. The award recognizes his leadership and activities with the association.

John F. Thompson Sr. of Santa Ana, a retired technical writer for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corp., was named Elk of the Year by Garden Grove Elks Lodge No. 1952 and honored at a lodge party.

A recognition dinner April 21 will honor Casa Youth Shelter founder Myldred Jones for her 10 years of unflagging dedication to the temporary haven for young people.

But true to form, the Los Alamitos resident said she also wants the party to recognize those who have contributed funds, time and material to enable the center to provide runaway youths a safe shelter in Los Alamitos.

The party, to be held at the Lakewood Country Club and sponsored by Ayudantes de Casa, will also recognize the center’s 10th year of existence. Ayudantes provides meals and personal supplies to center residents.

La Palma police officer Dominick Castro was presented the American Legion Valor Award at the Police Department’s annual Law Enforcement Award Dinner for his work in clearing an area of employees and talking a distraught woman out of shooting others and herself.

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