Encino Man Wins Fernando Award

The owner of an Encino real estate company was named the winner Friday of the 42nd annual Fernando Award, given to the Valley resident who best exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism.

During a dinner at the Warner Center Marriott, Rickey M. Gelb received a bronze statuette of Fernando, representing the Native Americans who first lived in the Valley. Gelb, 55, was nominated by the Agoura, Encino and Studio City chambers of commerce. The longtime Valley resident is vice president of the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan.

“I’m just delighted to be among the previous 41 honorees,” Gelb said. “I’ve known more than half of them all of my life. It’s hard for me to believe I’m on the same stage as them now.”

The three-time Fernando Award nominee owns Gelb Enterprises, a real estate development and property management company in Encino. He donated a Van Nuys building to the Los Angeles Police Department after the 1994 Northridge earthquake for its Mid-Valley Jeopardy Foundation.

The after-school program provides sports activities and art and computer classes for at-risk youth, as well as counseling to keep kids away from gangs.

The LAPD is “an organization we need to keep in the limelight, and we need to give them more moral support,” Gelb said.

His name will be etched into the base of the Fernando monument in Van Nuys Civic Center and on an obelisk at Warner Park in Woodland Hills.

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The other finalists, selected among 10 nominees, were:

* Ed Cholakian, 65, of Granada Hills was recognized for more than 40 years of service. He has been a member of law enforcement and public safety advisory committees throughout the Valley. He is vice president of the Foothill division’s Jeopardy program, an after-school program designed to keep at-risk youth out of gangs.

* Rose Goldwater, 69, of Woodland Hills is a longtime community advocate for youth programs. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Woodland Hills and United Chambers of Commerce and is a 14-time Fernando nominee.

* Bob Scott of West Hills is active with chambers of commerce and the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. Scott, 54, has supported local causes for 26 years. A lawyer, he co-founded the economic alliance, which brought together dozens of community groups to aid in the economic recovery after the 1994 earthquake.

* Marvin R. Selter, 73, of Studio City, chairs the board of the Valley Economic Development Center. He has been a leading Valley executive since 1968, consulting local businesses concerned with community issues.