Candlelight angels awarded by Valley Churches

Representatives of Valley Churches United Missions honored the group’s Angels of the Year with a candlelight dinner — but not by design.
With electricity out in downtown Boulder Creek because of last week’s severe windstorm, Scopazzi’s Restaurant lit the annual dinner with candles and lanterns Thursday, Dec. 1.
Many attended the event, which featured founder and Executive Director Annette Marcum leading the festivities.
The following people and businesses were honored for recent contributions to the organization’s mission.
Individuals
**Irene Wheeler, for computer input since 2007
**Megan Abbey, for work in the pantry since 2006
**Nancy Lambing, for client intake processing since 2007
**John Smith, for driving since 2007
Businesses
**Liberty Bank in Boulder Creek and Felton, for distributing 1,437 children’s stockings with Santa letters since 1992, featuring Valley Churches in advertisements and sponsoring annual report mailings
**Santa Cruz County Bank in Scotts Valley, for helping with the stocking project, sponsoring annual report mailings and selling the most raffle tickets for the 2010 tree raffle
Organization
**Scotts Valley Police Department: The department has participated in the children’s letter to Santa program since 1992 and collected 655 gifts over that time. The Scotts Valley Peace Officers Association has also cooked for Valley Churches and donated proceeds from the old Holiday Lights Cruise.
Church
**Universal Church of Baba’s Kitchen in Bonny Doon: The Rev. Jonathan D. Rosen met with the Rev. Bob McMurrin of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Boulder Creek in 2010 to explore serving a free cooked meal. The idea has flourished, and Valley Churches shares food and other supplies.
Media outlet
**Scotts Valley Times and Noel Smith: The Times has written many articles on Valley Churches’ behalf throughout the years
Holiday event organizers
**St. John’s Catholic Church in Felton: The church’s annual spaghetti dinner has raised $27,097 through the years. David and Linda Bustichi ran the dinner from 1998 to 2006, and Bob and Noli Farwell have run it since then.
**Patty Malone of Malone’s Bar and Grille: A tree raffle at four Scotts Valley banks, Malone’s brainchild, raised $3,272 last year. She has also been involved with the holiday light cruise and motorcycle Easter events.
Memorial recognition
**Cora Mason, volunteer from 1990 to 2005
**Bob Reif, 1989 to 2010
**Amanda Beyett, 1992 to 2005
**Peter Kouza, 2005 to 2011