WHITE HOUSE HONOR: Homeless advocate Ray Castellani...

WHITE HOUSE HONOR: Homeless advocate Ray Castellani of Tarzana went from living on the streets to feeding those who live on the streets. For his efforts, Castellani on Thursday was honored with the President’s Service Award at a Rose Garden ceremony (B1). . . . “It’s a long walk,” Castellani said, “from Skid Row to the White House.”

KIDS HELPING KIDS: But Castellani isn’t the Valley’s only presidential notable. . . . Joshua and Andrew Kaye won similar recognition for their efforts following the Northridge earthquake. Joshua, 8, and Andrew, 6, enlisted thousands of schoolmates across L.A. to make and sell pipe-cleaner “Quaker bracelets.” They raised $7,000 for the Red Cross. “We wanted to do this to help others, “ Joshua said. “I felt happy that I won something from the President, I’ve never done that before.”

WHIRLING WONDERS: Got the blues? . . . Check out the latest California dancing craze and the best local clubs to display your swinging style in this week’s Valley Life! (Page 6). Heidi and Jeffrey Riego, above, demonstrate the West Coast swing. Other Life! stories highlight an Italian restaurant (Page 33) and gentler workout routines (Page 30).

WAR GAMES: If Nintendo is more appealing than a dance hall, Valley Life!’s Video Games Review is your chance to look before you buy. . . . Reviewer Aaron Curtiss says “Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf” for GameBoy is way cooler than the new Sega Genesis game “The Punisher” (See Life!, Page 5).

DAUGHTERS’ DAY: Thousands of girls--and some boys--marched through grown-ups’ boardrooms, sound stages and civic centers Thursday during Take Our Daughters to Work Day, a Ms. Foundation effort to give adolescent girls a boost. . . . In the Valley, girls visited KNBC, Burbank City Hall and Warner Bros., the Van Nuys Municipal Court and The Times Valley Edition in Chatsworth (D1).