LIFE
ON THE TOWN: Lorranie D. Wilson
(Reproduced with permission from Santa Barbara News-Press)
Al Pizano, left, chairman of the Hispanic Achievement Council, and board member Ken Pettit, with Pauline and Frank Banales at the council dinner.
Lillian Pizano, seated with her daughter, Vibiana Pizano-Smith, and Ruth Schaffer, past honoree, right..
Paula Lopez is a ninth-generation Santa Barbaran, a news anchor for KEYT television and the leader of the Children First campaign. Frank Banales was founder of Zona Seca and an early sponsor of the Eastside Neighborhood Clinic. The Santa Barbara Hispanic Achievement Council honored each at a dinner held in the ballroom of the Four Seasons Biltmore.
Al Pizano, council chairman, introduced board members: Rodrigo Gonzalez, Marti Correa de Garcia with her husband, architect Gil Garcia, Ken Pettit, Claudia Lujan, Vivian Pizano-Smith, Judge Frank Ochoa (Paula’s husband), Santa Barbara City College President John Romo, Molly Carrillo-Walker and Fred Sweeney, chairman of the council’s scholarship committee.
The purpose of the council is to promote social, economic and political parity, honor the professional and community contributions of Latinos in society and provide positive role models for youth. Youth at the dinner who have received council scholarships were introduced and applauded: SBCC students Eli Villanueva, Maria Garcia, Antwanette Ramirez and Edgar Salazar.
Dignitaries introduced include: Mayor Marty Blum, Goleta Councilwoman Margaret Connell, UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and Vice Chancellor Michael Young, Eloy Ortega of Business First National Bank, there with Renee, Shirley Mutten, provost of Westmont College, with student Alexis Ortiz, and Luis Villegas, trustee for Santa Barbara City College.
Among sponsors at the dinner were: Emma Torres, vice president of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust; and Rod Brown, president of Montecito Bank & Trust, with his wife, Becky; and bank representatives Juana and Arturo Ruiz, Dolores and Steven Amenta, Steve and Holly Worthington, Zahida Carrera and Oscar Hernandez
Dr. David Bearman and his wife, Lily Maestas, were there as well as Arnoldo Gonzalez and his wife, Rosalina Palaceios, and Annette Cordero, Joanne Funari and her husband, Carlos Plascencia, plus Mark Martinez, Beth Rogers, Lisa and Scott Burns and Carlos Quintero.