Scotts Valley people of the year honored

The Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce will celebrate its 55^thyear by honoring its people and businesses of the year at the annual Scotts Valley Community Awards Gala.
All are invited to the gala, 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Hilton in Scotts Valley, 6001 La Madrona Drive.
The gala evening will include hors d’oeuvres, live and silent auctions, award presentations and an evening of dancing featuring live band, The Joint Chiefs.
Reservations must be prepaid by Monday, Oct. 29. They are available through the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, 438-1010 or

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The following will be honored at the dinner:
 
Woman of the Year: Jackie Maurer
An active member of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life 24-hour walkathon since 1999, Maurer worked to bring the relay to Scotts Valley three years ago.
The first year, the relay raised $18,000, the second year $38,000, and this summer, $65,000 under Maurer’s coordination.
Maurer is also an active volunteer with Jacob’s Heart, the Scotts Valley Rotary Club, the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Scotts Valley Senior Center, the Make A Wish Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House. 
She started a new project this year, purchasing bald dolls specifically made for children recovering from chemotherapy. She’s also a volunteer with Linda & Kids, a school backpack distribution that collected 350 backpacks this year.
 
Man of the Year: Konrad Baumert
Baumert, the owner and operator of Konrad Auto Haus in Scotts Valley from 1977 to 1999, worked on many community projects as a business owner. He sponsored youth sports teams and served as Scout Master for Troop 604.
In addition, he’s been a Scotts Valley Host Lions member for 35 years and serves as chairman of the club’s White Cane Day. He also leads a Highway 17 clean-up crew and is a liaison for the Boy Scouts.
His other volunteer work includes the South Bay Stand Down, which serves veterans in the area. Baumert is also an active volunteer with Valley Churches United Missions and the Scotts Valley Police Department, and plays a part of the Scotts Valley Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration each year.
Baumert is on the Valley Churches Board of directors and was named Angel of the Year in 2000.
 
Sharemi Ullestad Memorial Youth of the Year: Melissa McGee
Scotts Valley High School senior Melissa McGee joined the school’s Interact Club as a freshman and became the vice president her sophomore year.
As a junior, she served as the Area 10 director of the club and oversaw all the Interact Clubs in Santa Cruz County, raising money for charities and service clubs in the community.
McGee is on the school’s Mock Trial team and a member of the Model United Nations organization. She founded the Scotts Valley High School Key Club this year and serves as president. 
She is also vice president of the schools fashion club, and a talented designer. McGee plays tennis and swims, volunteers as a tutor and serves as president of the school’s Musicians club. She is a member of the Peer Advocacy Team and serves as the school’s student body president.
She has worked at the local homeless shelter and is co-chair of the Rotary Interact Harvest Council, which works to unite Second Harvest Food Bank with service clubs. In addition, McGee is an International Baccalaureate student and carries a 4.0 grade-point average.
 
Business of the Year: Zero Motorcycles
Founded in 2006 in Scotts Valley, the company is recognized as a global leader in the electric motorcycle industry.
The company has been inducted into the Made in the USA Hall of Fame, only the second motorcycle company to earn the recognition. The other is Harley Davidson.
Fully designed and manufactured in Scotts Valley, the company has donated motorcycles to the Scotts Valley Police Department and was recently awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission to quadruple its manufacturing capacity in the state.
 
Organization of the Year: Save Our Schools Scotts Valley
Championed by community members Derek Timm and Farah Theissen, Save Our Schools Scotts Valley is a community group made of Scotts Valley business leaders, community leaders, parents and educators seeking to help Scotts Valley Unified School District maintain quality education.
Founded by Timm in 2009, the organization lobbied the Scotts Valley Unified School District’s trustees to find a local solution to help offset the severe impact of state-driven financial cuts to Scotts Valley schools. 
The school board responded and placed Measure K, a parcel tax, on the June 5 ballot. A 100 percent volunteer campaign spent months going door-to-door, meeting with neighborhood groups, calling residents and executing a multimedia campaign.
Measure K passed with 76 percent voter approval and helped save several local teaching positions in Scotts Valley, according to its backers.
 
Beautification of Scotts Valley: Scotts Valley Artisans
The Scotts Valley Artisans Mural-in-a-Day project launched in April 2012 with support from the Scotts Valley Arts Commission. The one-day event focused on a large-scale outdoor mural on the side of Cinelux Scotts Valley in the Kings Village Shopping Center.
Scotts Valley Artisans solicited design ideas from Santa Cruz County artists — Scotts Valley resident and mixed media artist Ruth Poe was selected. The theme for the 1,700-square-foot mural was “Scotts Valley at the Movies.” 
The painting took place July 28, and volunteer artists were joined by community members to paint. The majority of the mural was completed in one day by more than 50 local artists and volunteers. More mural projects are planned for the future.
 
Outstanding Community Service Leader: Alvin Scarborough (In memorial)
Alvin Scarborough was a longtime supporter of the community of Scotts Valley until he died Nov. 18, 2011.
Scarborough supported many community projects behind the scenes.
Through the years, Scarborough helped with youth programs and sports as a sponsor. He helped fund the Scotts Valley Days Parades and Fourth of July festivities. Scarborough supported local schools by funding campaigns for bond measures and donated money and materials for school improvements.
Scotts Valley City Hall and the Scotts Valley Police Department building was completed with the work of local citizens, and many of the supplies and equipment were donated by Scarborough Lumber.
Scarborough also contributed money, supplies and labor to help build many local parks., and supported the Scotts Valley Drive improvement plan with significant monetary contributions.
Scarborough Lumber/Ace Hardware supplied Santa for the annual Poker Run, which Scarborough family has continued at the Community Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration.
He supplied Christmas trees for the ongoing Exchange Club holiday project for Valley Churches United Missions.