Newsmakers

The Thanks Badge was awarded to Val Nesci of North Las Vegas and Francis Ortiz of Moapa. Both women have served as volunteers for the Girl Scouts in several capacities and have provided leadership opportunities to girls in Southern Nevada and across the United States. Both are members of the Girl Scout travel committee.

The following volunteers also were honored at the luncheon: Debbie Kelly of Las Vegas, Priscilla McAvoy and Leah Zeldin of Henderson (Volunteer of Distinction Award); Vickie Davis of Henderson (Frontier Silver Award); Wendy Hagman of Henderson and Bonnie Karch, Kathleen Meehan and Lori Stapleton of Las Vegas (Meritorious Services Award); Beth Chase of Boulder City (Distinguished Service Award); and the group of volunteer troop leaders of Centennial Hills Service Unit (President’s Award).

Honor and Appreciation awards were given to the following recipients: Bill Carey, Cheryl Ghirlando, Shannon Lawton, Allison Lewis, Tim Stolar, Faye Williams, David Wolin, Angela Best, Holly Carratelli, Beatrice Gomez, Patti Menjivar and Sammy Jo Thirtyacre, all of Las Vegas; Karen Ferguson and Michelle Taylor of North Las Vegas; Heather Duvall of Henderson; Pamela Gove of Boulder City; Charissa Horton and Shannon Moore of Pahrump; and Leslie Nowack of Round Mountain.

The 2011 Nevada Plus America Pageant took place April 15-16 at Texas Station. The winners are scheduled to compete from today through Saturday in the Miss Plus America Pageant in Dallas. They are: Lisa Reed (Mrs. Nevada Plus America), Ronisha Guyton (Ms. Nevada Plus America), Chandra Patterson (Miss Nevada Plus America) and Constencia Buchanan (Nevada Plus America Princess Ambassador).

The Jewish Family Service Agency honored Everyday Heroes at its annual Tzedakah (Charity) Brunch June 5.

Those honored included Volunteers in Medicine founder Dr. Florence Jameson for her contributions to health care; registered nurse Shirley Linzy, director of the Adelson Clinic, for her educational outreach; Jack Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer of S2 Art Group, for his contributions to art and culture; and Rachel and Sam Ventura for their philanthropic activity.

Las Vegas bartender J.R. Starkus’ "LOVE" cocktail was voted the Russian Standard Vodka Facebook "Consumer Choice" winner by the public as part of the "Emotion In A Glass" Bartender Competition. The cocktail was one of the top 25 finalists in the competition, which was won by Alexander Velez of Santa Fe, N.M. Starkus, of RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, was awarded a complimentary trip to the spirit industry’s Tales of the Cocktail scheduled for July 20-24 in New Orleans.

Do you know an individual adult whose achievements are worth a mention? If so, send us a brief description of his accomplishment, including name, the city where he lives and a photograph to: Newsmakers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070. Photos cannot be returned.