Legion Honors 3 Fullerton Policemen for Valor

The 29th District of the American Legion honored Fullerton Police Department senior officers Bill Wallis and Steve Bair and Sgt. Dave Stanko for bravery and exceptional performances in the line of duty.

Bair, 30, a seven-year veteran, received the Legion’s Award of Valor for his role in rescuing three people from a car fire on New Year’s Eve.

Stanko, 42, a 13-year veteran, and Wallis, 37, a 15-year veteran, received Awards of Valor for capturing a gun-wielding bandit after a chase and shoot-out.

Robin Gurien of Fountain Valley, Michael D. Mason of Fullerton and Cynthia J. Wygal of Orange were named winners of Cal State Fullerton’s 1990 outstanding student Awards.

Gurien won the President’s Associates Award recognizing scholarship and student activities; Mason received the Friends of the State University Service Award, and Wygal was named the Cal State Fullerton Alumni Outstanding Senior.

Jennifer Joyce Butland, who holds a 4.0 grade average at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point and plans to study sports medicine at UC Davis and later provide sports medicine services to Olympic athletes, was presented a $600 scholarship by the Pacific Island Villages Kiwanis Club in Laguna Niguel.

Santa Ana resident James A. Garcia, a student at UC Berkeley, was given the prestigious 1990 Truman Scholar award in ceremonies held in the Truman Library & Museum at Independence, Mo.

Garcia will receive a maximum of $7,000 a year for up to four years of education leading to a career in public service, according to Elmer B. Staats, board chairman of the Truman Scholarship Foundation.

Garcia was one of 91 promising students who were challenged at a weeklong conference in Independence to follow in public service footsteps of the late President Harry S. Truman.

Irvine resident Jean N. Pond, 71, founder of Adult Careers Inc. of Irvine, has been named “Citizen of the Year” by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.

Humanities teachers Jewel A. Kamita of Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo and Daniel J. Meylor of La Quinta High in Westminster were selected by the Council for Basic Education as 1990 National Fellows for Independent Studies in Humanities.

Both English teachers will receive $3,000 grants to pursue six weeks of independent summer study on a humanities topic of their choice and both of their schools will receive $200 to buy books for their libraries.

Kamita will study feminist writings of the later 19th Century and Meylor will look at studies of myth.

Laura Longwill of La Habra, with 12,500 hours; Marjorie Gillilard of Yorba Linda, with 11,200 hours, and Myrt Reno of Fullerton, with 8,100 hours, were the top contributors of volunteer time to Brea Community Hospital and were honored at a recognition luncheon at Los Coyotes Country Club.

The hospital has 70 volunteers who range in age from 4 to 84.

A dozen scholarships worth a total of $18,000 were awarded to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center employees Irene Barker and Stephanie Dearinger, both of El Toro; Stacy Colburn, Debbie McCarthy and Ellen Montalbano, all of Mission Viejo; Suzanne Hayosh, Rancho Santa Margarita; Suzanne Holt, Orange; Andrew Mleynek, Laguna Hills; Molly O’Hanlon, San Juan Capistrano; Nancy St. Croix, Irvine, and Robin Plevney and Tina Stewart, both of Dana Point. All will use the money to continue their college education in the health-care field. The money was donated by individuals and medical center staff members.

Yorba Linda resident Linda Smith, foster parent to 24 children, a worker for the Orange County Foster Parent Auxiliary, a census worker and host to foreign exchange students, has been named Woman of the Year by the Catholic Charities Auxiliary.

Bishop Norman McFarland presided over the awards ceremonies at the Irvine Hilton Hotel, where Smith was presented a gold medallion emblazoned with the Catholic Charities Auxiliary logo.