The Mexican American Committee on Education will honor two
long-standing public servants as the man and woman of the year at
its 33rd Annual Scholarship Banquet Saturday.
The Mexican American Committee on Education will honor two long-standing public servants as the man and woman of the year at its 33rd Annual Scholarship Banquet Saturday.
Hollister Police Capt., Richard Vasquez and former supervisor Rita Bowling will be honored Saturday at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club.
“They were chosen for the award because of their undying commitment to this community and many years of service,” MACE spokesman Ed Escamilla said.
With more than 24 years in law enforcement, Vasquez said he was not expecting any award for his work in the community.
“I was very surprised when I read the announcement saying that I had won,” he said.
For Vasquez, who worked his way up the ranks from a patrol officer to becoming one of the top administrators in the department, the award is a special one.
“It’s an honor to be recognized like this, and it means a lot to me because it comes from the community,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez, who was raised in and continues to live in Hollister, said community is a big part of what he has attempted to focus on throughout his career.
A firm believer in the principals of community policing, Vasquez has been credited with helping to revive Hollister’s Neighborhood Watch program; started the department’s Citizens Academy, which gives residents a chance to learn how the department operates and why police do what they do.
He is also credited with launching the highly successful Juvenile Impact program which works with at-risk youths and their parents to help youths find a positive direction in life.
Much like Vasquez, Bowling, who served four terms on the Board of Supervisors, has been a staunch supporter of youth sports and activities that promote self improvement for youths.
Bowling, who was the first woman elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1986, has championed the cause of improving Veterans Memorial Park for more than 15 years.
“That park just got under my skin and I had to do something about it,” Bowling said in an earlier interview. “It used to be just a dust bowl. When I first got on there 15 years ago it was just a dust bowl.”
Bowling did her best to get on the committee that oversees the park.
“It is a real nice park now and it’s only going to get nicer,” Bowling said.
The banquet, which has traditionally been held at the Veterans Memorial Building, is being held at Ridgemark because of the renovations at the Veterans Building. The banquet runs from 6 p.m. to midnight.
The proceeds from the event go toward college scholarships for local high school graduates. During the past 33 years, MACE has awarded nearly $260,000 in scholarships to 370 students.
In the past, the MACE scholarship banquet has included a list of famous and well-known keynote speakers, including director and playwright Luis Valdez, teacher Jaime Escalante and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros.
This year, MACE officials will present a special award to Graniterock “for its continuous support of MACE and its mission, and for the creation of the Pacheco Scholarship award,” Escamilla said.
The Pacheco scholarship is a $4,000 award and the 10 previous scholarship winners will be present to talk about how the award helped them in their college career.
“It’s amazing that 10 years have gone by and it’s great,” said Bruce Woolpert, president of Graniterock.
The scholarship was named after Romualdo Pacheco, who paid for Arthur Wilson, the co-founder of Graniterock, to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1895.
Woolpert said beyond the connection to Graniterock, Pacheco led an exciting life serves as a good example to young people.
“Here is a young man from Mexico who came to California and did all these wonderful things,” Woolpert said. “Most people think there was no Latin governor and he was. He was also a regent for the University of California.”
Although MACE has received corporate sponsorships from companies like PG&E and San Benito Bank, a large amount of the money still comes from local businesses placing ads in the banquet program.
Anyone interested in buying tickets should call 637-1342. No tickets will be sold at the door.
