Redwoods to Recognize 'Celebration of Service Awards' Founder with Special Honor

Twenty-one years ago, Bob Canepa founded the Annual Celebration of Service Awards at the Redwoods Retirement Community to ensure the senior living facility maintained strong connections with the greater Mill Valley community.

Today Canepa — who retired from his involvement with the program last year — will receive one of its greatest recognitions: the Award of Honor.  With only five prior recipients, the award is a special acknowledgement of someone who demonstrates a long-term commitment to community service in Mill Valley, said program director Jim Sanchez.

“There was no question in any of our minds that at some point Bob would be given an award like this,” Sanchez said.

Canepa, also retired in 2006 as president of Mill Valley Market, created the awards along with then-Redwoods Executive Director Mel Matsumoto. It’s grown from honoring one teacher and one student, to recognizing a long list of community members who have made a difference in Mill Valley. There’s no doubt that the award ceremony fulfills its intent to ensure the Redwoods plays an important role in connecting people in the city, Sanchez said.

“I think it was really visionary of Bob,” he said.

Canepa is also the brains behind the annual Senior Prom at The Redwoods, that brings members of the Mill Valley Rotary Club and students from Tamalpais High School’s Leadership Class together with Redwoods residents for an evening of dancing and conversation. He’s an active leader in the Mill Valley Rotary Club, and also served on The Redwoods Board of Directors.

Last year Canepa handed the reigns of the Celebration of Service Awards over to Annika Miller, who felt a special connection to the event since her children have been honored in past ceremonies.

“We all thought this was the right time to send him into this part of his retirement with some fanfare,” Sanchez said.

Of course, Canepa is one of many that will be honored at the event. It’s being emceed by Mill Valley Mayor Andy Berman, and is expected to draw more than 150 people.

“It gives us an opportunity to publicly thank members of our community who do so much but often receive little recognition for the many incredible services that they perform,” Canepa said.

The 2013 Celebration of Service awards will go to:

• Richard O. Moore, recipient of the Grace Orne Award, which honors a resident of The Redwoods who has made a significant contribution of his/her time or effort to help others. A documentary filmmaker for public television, he was one of the founders of KPFA—the first publicly supported radio station in the United States. In 2010 he published Writing the Silences, a poetry collection representing more than 60 years of his work. He was a 2010 Milley Award recipient (Mill Valley Creative Achievement Awards). Moore has been heavily involved with the Mill Valley Seniors for Peace and has delivered more than 50 keynote addresses to the community on social justice issues of global, national and local significance. He has also been a leading voice on The Redwoods Wellness Committee that seeks to define the wellness needs of The Redwoods community and to strategically develop or refine programs in response to those needs. Moore is also Co-Chair of The Redwoods Revitalization Resident Committee that is working to gain support and funding for The Redwoods Revitalization Capital Campaign.

• Keith Van Hoff, recipient of the Bill Bacon Award, which honors a member of the community who has made a significant contribution of time and effort to The Redwoods and its residents. Keith began volunteering with The Redwoods in 2008 and quickly became a recognizable, friendly and familiar figure in the halls. Instrumental in the annual success of the CrabFest ($50K fundraising event), Van Hoff also volunteers to lead volunteer teams at monthly birthday dinner celebrations, annual holiday parties and other large events and he leads excursions for residents and nature walks on Mt. Tam and other areas of the county.

• Craig Sloan will receive the Public Safety Officer Award, which recognizes members the police, fire or paramedic department for outstanding service to the community. Born and raised in Mill Valley, Craig Sloan is a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq. Craig began serving as a volunteer firefighter with the Mill Valley Fire Department in 2002 and was hired as a Firefighter on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2011.

• Seven school teachers will be honored with The Elizabeth Terwilliger Award for excellence in teaching in schools serving Mill Valley. This year’s honorees are Sarah Stoelting, Erica Dowell, Erin Conklin, Cathy Cohen, Mary Whitney, Jeanne Temple and Christina Amoroso.

• Seven students will receive the Student Community Service Award for their volunteer service to the Mill Valley community. This year’s recipients are Finn Kalmbach, Kylie Frame, Kara Kneafsey, Lily Bogas, Paul Law, Sona Dolasia, Carlos Lopes-Alvarado.

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