Chamber Honors San Ramon's Stars

From the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce

The San Ramon Chamber of Commerce presented the 28th Annual Night of the Stars Community Awards at the Bridges Golf Club last Thursday.More than 200 guests, including nominees, corporate sponsors and elected officials attended the event.

Terry Koehne, communications and community relations director at the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, served as the comedic anld entertaining emcee for the awards.

(Related: 2012 Community Awards: San Ramon Chamber Announces Finalists)

The San Ramon Chamber presented five awards:

Citizen of the Year

• Hermann Welm – Former City of San Ramon Mayor and Community Volunteer. Hermann has served the community in elected positions, including the San Ramon City Council and the Planning Commission. He has been a youth soccer coach for 24 years, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator at the Lindsey Wildlife Museum and at San Ramon Regional Medical Center. He is a member of the Blackhawk Chorus and the San Ramon Rotary Club.

Business Person of the Year

• Mary C. Whipple – Attorney at The Law Offices of Mary C. Whipple, focusing on family law.  Opening her law office in 2008, Mary is experienced in family law, which includes divorce, custody, support, prenuptial agreements, and domestic-violence restraining orders. In addition, Mary is a member of the Ambassador's Committee for the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce; a volunteer at the Contra Costa County Superior Court, where she assists self-represented litigants in completing their divorces; and a member of Divorce Angel, where she provides information regarding family law matters to members of the community.

Educator of the Year

• Mark Corti – Principal at California High School. Under Mark’s leadership California High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School (2006) and a California Distinguished School (2005, 2009). The school has been recognized numerous times by Newsweek as one of America’s Best High Schools. He was named the principal of California High School in 1999.  Before working at Cal High, he served as an assistant principal at San Ramon Valley High School for six years. Mark taught physical education and coached in the Fremont and San Ramon Valley Unified School districts prior to entering administration.

Employee of the Year

• Darlene Kittredge – Community Resources and Youth Service Unit at the San Ramon Police Department. Darlene works as a Crime Prevention Specialist, and facilitates many programs, including the Crime Free Multi-Housing, Neighborhood Watch, National Night Out, Coffee with the Cops, and Stranger Danger education for children.  She is a member of the Board of Directors for the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce.

Green Company of the Year

• Sunset Development Company/Bishop Ranch. Alexander Mehran, Jr., general manager and senior vice president of Bishop Ranch Development, accepted the award. Bishop Ranch excels in green business activities. The company has an award-winning transit program that eliminated 10,000 cars on the road by providing free bus passes to their tenant commuters. A majority of their buildings are Energy Star rated and in the final stages of LEED Gold Certification. Bishop Ranch has energy-saving initiatives, including: using only green-certified products in janitorial/cleaning, saving 200,000 pounds of waste annually by using microfiber clothes instead of paper towels, and they have a comprehensive recycling program.

“The Community Awards recognize individuals in our community who strive to make a difference,” said San Ramon Chamber of Commerce Chair, Laura O'Brien of the Summit Financial Group. 

In addition to the Community Awards, the Chamber of Commerce presented the Ambassador of the Year Award to D. Christian Claytor, attorney at Claytor Law Group for his volunteer work with the chamber.

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