PARTNER OF THE YEAR AWARDS were presented to the above recipients by the East Aldine District, at their Holiday Reception held last Friday evening, December 13 at the District Headquarters. ABOVE, (Not in Order), recipients included Community: Brooke Riedeman, High Meadows Branch Library Manager; Public Health: Monty Northern, Harris County Emergency Corps; Public Safety: Adrian Dillehay, Chief of Westfield Fire Dept.; Governmental: Carmen Aguilar, Pct 2. Community Liaison; Business: Arturo Barragan, II Group; Volunteer of the Year: Coach Mervin Pellerin, Avalos P-Tech School, AISD; Education: Kaileigh Newman, Director of Visual Arts, AISD; Board Choice: Nataly Perez, Avalos P-Tech School, AISD; Chairman’s Award: Selina Valdez; Leadership Award: Deborah Foster (All photos courtesy ev1pro and East Aldine District)
By Gilbert Hoffman / Editor
EAST ALDINE – The East Aldine Management District held its second annual Holiday Reception and Partner Awards ceremony last Friday evening, Dec. 13 in their headquarters building at Town Center. It was a festive and colorful occasion, with beautiful and colorful table decorations, and a view outside of the immense 30-foot high community-lighted Christmas Tree.
Attending the reception were several hundred guests from Partner organizations, and community representatives of educational and civic groups. After welcoming remarks from District Executive Director Richard Cantu, board chair Carlos Silva made special opening remarks on behalf of the board of directors, and then introduced guests, board members, officials, and others present. Silva spoke about how the East Aldine District had helped create a sense of community to the area, and gave hope and direction to the residents.
Next on the program was a video, showing recent projects of the District, community events held at the Town Center, and comments from citizens of the District about how the quality of life has changed and improved over the 23 years of existence of the management district.
Following dinner, executive director Richard Cantu made the announcements of Partner Awards in various categories, with board member Rocio Witte presenting the awards.
The following Partners were thanked for their support through the year, and given Award recognition:
• Brooke Riedeman, High Meadows Library Manager for Community
• Monty Northern, Harris County Emergency Corps for Public Health
• Adrian Dillehay, Chief of the Westfield Fire Department for Public Safety
• Carmen Aguilar, Precinct 2 Commissioner Garcia’s Community Liaison for Governmental
• Arturo Barragan, International Group LLC for Business
• Mervin Pellerin, Avalos PTech – Aldine ISD for Volunteer
• Kaileigh Newman, Visual Arts Director at Aldine ISD for Education
• Nataly Perez, Avalos PTech – Aldine ISD for the Board Choice
• Selina Valdez, Green Forest Civic Club & East Aldine Arts Council Co-Chair for the Chairman’s Award
• The final award of the evening was dedicated with great pleasure to Director Deborah Foster for the Leadership Award. After 19 years of service, it was the board’s privilege to take this moment to thank and acknowledge the contributions she made to the community and board.
“We appreciate the opportunity to recognize the talent and achievements we have in our community. To all our award recipients, congratulations again, and thank you for inspiring us with your hard work and dedication. Thank you to the community for allowing us to serve you and to our sponsors for their continued support. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the East Aldine District Board and Staff,” Cantu said.
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