El Toro Man Receives National Award for Managing Roadside Vegetation

Bill H. Tidwell, an El Toro resident and county Department of Public Works supervisor for roadside vegetation, has received the 1988 national award for county excellence in roadside vegetation management.

The award was presented to Tidwell in Dallas at the annual meeting of the National Roadside Vegetation Management Assn. to recognize his leadership and contributions to roadside vegetation management. The award is based on such merits as safety, economics, aesthetics, environmental compatibility and innovative techniques.

In presenting the award, judges cited Tidwell’s use of innovative vegetation management techniques to keep county roadsides safe and aesthetically pleasing. His department was also given high scores for maintenance of flood control channels.

Sachiko Tanaka, 15, a Mission Viejo High School sophomore and violinist with the Saddleback College Chamber Players, was awarded the 1988 Barbara Throop Memorial Scholarship. The award is given by the college’s music department for performance skills on the recommendation of three music faculty members.

Fullerton resident William Weide received the 1988 Endowment Achievement Award from the Council of Jewish Federation in New York for directing a successful endowment growth program for the Jewish Federation of Orange County. He is the current past president of the county group. In his 2-year term, the council doubled its assets to $3 million.

Larry Overman, a Corona del Mar resident and professor of chemistry at UC Irvine, has won the American Chemical Society’s Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, which recognizes excellence in organic chemistry and includes a $20,000 unrestricted research grant.

Calligrapher-illustrator Sam Schweitzer, known as the “scribe” of Laguna Beach, was selected Citizen of the Year by the Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade Assn. for his behind-the-scene work for the parade group. He is preparing the program cover for the 23rd annual parade scheduled March 4.

The Volunteer Center of Orange County West named Mary Urashima of Humana Hospital-Westminster as its recipient of the Marilyn Bockting Memorial Award.

The award acknowledges someone who “demonstrates a vigorous and active devotion to the ideals of volunteerism.”

Urashima, the hospital’s marketing director, is president-elect of the Greater Westminster Chamber of Commerce, president of Senior Meals and Services Inc. and a member of the board of directors for the Volunteer Center.

She is also active in Soroptimist International of Westminster and the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster.

Brian Hudson, senior class president at Brea Olinda High School in Brea, was appointed one of two state delegates to the 1989 Senate Youth Program in Washington. Participants will observe federal government operations and the U.S. Senate from Jan. 28 to Feb. 4.

Erica Rowe of San Diego is the other delegate. Each received a $2,000 college scholarship to study American government, according to Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, who made the appointments.

General Manager/Postmaster Hector G. Godinez of the Santa Ana division was honored Thursday by the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America for his service to the community. He is a former county district chairman for the Scouts.

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