Violinist Wins to the Tune of $2,000

Violinist Chi-shin Pu of San Gabriel won second prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition recently.

Pu, 23, will receive $2,000 for his performance of works by Bach, Prokofiev and Sibelius. Born into a family of musicians--Pu’s mother, four of his aunts and seven of his uncles are violinists--Pu has won national and international competitions. In 1987, Pu left Shanghai to attend USC on a full scholarship and currently is studying under Robert Lipsett.

The annual string competition takes place in San Francisco and was founded seven years ago in memory of the late Irving M. Klein, a cellist, teacher and founding member of the Claremont String Quartet in New York. Seventy-one musicians ages 15 to 23 entered the competition and 12 semifinalists were chosen to perform.

Cellist Mark Andrew Kosower, 15, of Wisconsin won first prize. He will receive $7,000 and make solo appearances with several symphonies.

Betty Lowes, the former mayor of Baldwin Park, has been named Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce.

Lowes, a 30-year resident, is active in the Little League and a member of Kiwanis, the Woman’s Club and the Chamber of Commerce.

Other chamber awards went to Robert Benbow, director of the Baldwin Park Adult School; Mike Salas, program director of the East Valley Boys and Girls Club, and Elizabeth Serrao, director of the Administrative Student Body of Sierra Vista High School.

The county public library has honored 100 volunteers for service at 20 local library branches. The volunteers were honored at a lunch at Live Oak Park in Temple City.

San Gabriel Valley volunteers and their libraries:

* Rosemead: Sam Cohen, Ginny Gamache, Sylvia Vasquez, Daniel Barajas, Denise Murrietta, Mary Camacho and Leann Ortiz.

* Temple City: Kathryn Anderson, Ruth Dech, Betty Houke, Rosemary Kim, Doris Eldred, Maria Luna, Patricia Quan, Margaret Hudson, Samuel Chen, Leslie Krause, Jessica Kim, Mi Kyung Kim, Elizabeth Lemon and Susanna Campos.

* San Gabriel: Lesley Ann Medina, Hala Shonouda, Maria Varela and Jose Luis Varela.

Peter H. Ulrich, a member of the Arcadia Beautiful Commission, has been named a Melvin Jones Fellow by Lions Clubs International Foundation in recognition of his commitment to serving the world community.

Named for the clubs’ founder, the fellowship is the foundation’s highest honor. Ulrich is a member of the Los Angeles Host Lions Club.

Bonnie Brandolino has been named director of sales and marketing for the Pasadena Convention and Visitors Bureau. She will oversee the sales staff and assist the executive director.

She previously worked for the Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, and the Greater New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission.

Several new appointments have been made to Sierra Madre boards and commissions. Toni Moran and Earl Richey were named to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Pat Chipman, Bonnie Garner and Catriona Shafer have been appointed to the Commission on the Aging. Gurdon Miller has been appointed to the Planning Commission.

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