CAMARILLO : City Honors Man, Woman of the Year

A man who volunteers for virtually every civic group in Camarillo and a woman who began a Ventura County registry of bone-marrow donors have been named Camarillo’s Man and Woman of the Year.

The Camarillo Chamber of Commerce honored Man of the Year Rod Franz and Woman of the Year Lynnette Chandler along with winners in eight other categories at an awards banquet last week.

Chandler, 44, started the county registry for the National Marrow Donor Program 6 1/2 years ago, after her then 6-year-old daughter was found to have a rare form of anemia that interferes with her body’s production of bone marrow.

Although the registry now lists about 10,000 names, none of the potential donors has marrow that is a match for Chandler’s daughter, Amanda, who is now 13.

Doctors have so far been treating Amanda successfully with steroids, Chandler said. But there are about 80 other county residents, mostly children, who are seeking suitable donors for bone marrow transplants.

“I’d give up any award in the world if everybody would just register their bone marrow,” Chandler said.

Franz, who works in the quality-management office for the Port Hueneme Division Naval Surface Warfare Center, may be best known as president of the Camarillo Pageant Assn., which sponsors the annual Christmas parade and Fourth of July fireworks show.

But Franz, 59, is also past president of the Pleasant Valley Lions Club and the local Boys & Girls Club, and has served with more than a dozen other civic organizations.

Sometimes his volunteer work reaches beyond Camarillo, such as his helping to organize the annual countywide All Stars high school football game.

“I just love people,” Franz said. “I enjoy being with people working on a project.”

In addition to honoring the Man and Woman of the Year, the chamber gave the following awards for the best of 1993:

* Business: Spanish Hills Golf and Country Club.

* Educator: Judy Fessenden, third-grade teacher at Camarillo Heights School.

* Entrepreneur: Ron Vogel.

* Public Servant: Chris Spangenberg, helicopter pilot for the county Sheriff’s Department’s search-and-rescue team.

* Senior Citizen: Cris Bathke.

* Service Organization: Pleasant Valley Lions Club.

* Volunteer: Cathy Foxhaven.

* Youth: Kendra Gullickson, junior at Camarillo High School.