Danville Residents Honored as Hometown Heroes

Comcast and Bay Area News Group presented the Second Annual Hometown Heroes ceremony on Monday to honor 27 Bay Area community members who have worked to make a difference in their communities and internationally.

The Rotunda at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland was filled with the honorees, their families, friends, elected officials and community leaders as everyone gathered to celebrate the achievements of people who strive to make a positive change.

The age range of the recipients varied, with the youngest being only 13 years old, and the oldest 91 years old.

“What purpose are we helping to encourage by all of this?” Sandre Swanson, California assemblymember for District 16, asked during the ceremony.  

“All of these honorees tonight are touching young people.”

All of the people honored were selected from profiles written in a Bay Area News Group publication.

Hometown Heroes was started three years ago to focus on heroes in the community, with the first ceremony commemorating honorees from the first two years.

“They don’t do it for any special recognition,” Swanson said. “They do it because they passionately believe in helping the next generation. That is such a rewarding feeling.”  

Cecilia Vega, a reporter for KGO-TV and Henry Wofford, from Comcast SportsNet presented the Hometown Heroes.

Recipients were John Holland-McCowan, Amber Rich, Ed McClelland, Tyler Page, Dana Dornsife, Diane Gilfether, Sgt. Marty Neideffer, Jan Schilling, Bertha Cuellar, Lorrain Taylor, Sheilah Fish, Mona Walker, Lisa Busbee-Young, Benito Delgado-Olson, Nyeisha DeWitt, Neil Jacobson, Dee Johnson, Wendy Tokuda, Dotti Baker, Lorraine Peterson, Larry Wang, Fred Jackson, Larry Lewis, Vintage Foster, Elena Bicker, Linda Fodrini-Johnson and Agnes Moore.

The accomplishments each honoree achieved are all very different. Here are highlights from some of the recipients.

Dana Dornsife from Danville was honored for establishing the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, created to assist cancer patients who cannot afford the medical costs of alternative treatements.

Diane Gilfether, also from Danville, was recognized for founding the Blackhawk Chorus, a chorus that started out as a group of 12, and grown to140 members who travel the world sharing their musical talents.

“It’s a wonderful validation for the work of the members of the Blackhawk Chorus, because they’re such faithful, dedicated people to music in our community in the Tri-Valley area, and in Danville in particular,” Gilfether said.

Bringing retired workers to volunteer in elementary school classrooms, Mona Walker started the Seniors in Schools program in Newark. Walker is the program director and recruits and assigns volunteers to various schools and activities.

San Ramon resident Vintage Foster wanted to help encourage students to achieve in school by starting the Bay Area Leadership Foundation. Through the foundation, students from West Contra Costa County, Oakland, Pittsburg and San Jose are paired with a mentor and have the ability to earn scholarship money. Because of Foster’s work, 137 students graduated from high school, with 90 percent also attending college.

Dublin resident Sgt. Marty Neideffer is the founder of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League. Neideffer was honored for creating a program that provides free activities to around 3,000 K-12 members who participate. DSAL was created to help the children stay away from negative behavior.

As the executive director of Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, Walnut Creek resident Elena Bicker has devoted her life to protecting dogs and cats. Through her management, the organization has found home for more than 21,000 dogs and cats.

Linda Fodrini-Johnson, also from Walnut Creek, has provided assistance for hundreds of senior citizens by founding Eldercare Services. Her aim is to help maintain independence for victims of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and strokes. She also provides free community workshops and seminars for family members.

The oldest honoree of the night was Agnes Moore, a 91-year-old Walnut Creek resident. Known as ‘Rosie the Welder,’ Moore was honored as a volunteer for the WWII Home Front National Historic Park where she volunteers as a docent. She is respected for her knowledge and experience of working as a welder in a shipyard during WWII.

“I felt honored, and I really felt I don’t think I did anything special to get all of this honoring they do nowadays for people who worked in the shipyard, especially women,” Moore said. “I just felt like I was doing what needed to be done.”

The Hometown Heroes program can be viewed by Comcast customers on the network’s On Demand channel, and can also be found every other Monday in a Bay Area News publication.