Jim Lentini and Lois Bauccio were named the 2016 Santa Clarita Valley Man and Woman of the Year at a dinner banquet held Friday, May 6.

Lentini was nominated for the honor by the Rotary Club of SCV, Bauccio by the Zonta Club of SCV.

The duo were presented with the prestigious awards by the SCV Man and Woman of the Year Committee, an organization made up of previous winners of the award.

The SCV Man and Woman of the Year are nominated by SCV nonprofits and are selected by a set of criteria that includes the length of volunteer service to the SCV, the impact of on the community, and the number of organizations involved.

The 2015 Man and Woman of the Year, Leon Warden and Sue Endress, served as chairs of the 2016 event and as event emcees.

Friday night’s program began with 1970 SCV Man of the Year, Ed Bolden, leading guests in the pledge of allegiance.

The 1998 SCV Man of the Year, Mayor Bob Kellar, struck a somber note by honoring three SCV Men of the Year who died in the past year: George Pederson (1997), Frank Kleeman (2002) and Duane Harte (2003).

The audience observed a moment of silence in their honor.

A record number of Santa Clarita Valley volunteers were nominated for the 2016 honor. In addition to Lentini and Bauccio, the honorees and nominating organizations included:

Cynthia Beals, Friends of Hart Park and Museum; Marianne Cederlind, Carousel Ranch; William Cooper, Child & Family Center Foundation; Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel, Community Hiking Club, Linda Hafizi, Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center; Moe Hafizi, Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center; Tom Hough, Boy Scouts of America and SCV Youth Project; Pam Ingram, Soroptimist International of Greater SCV; Taylor Kellstrom, Children’s Hospital L.A. and Circle of Hope; Dennis Koontz, SCV Fourth of July Parade Committee; Jonathan Kraut, Domestic Violence Center of SCV; Jessica Lee, SCV Search & Rescue.

Lost in the last year (from left): Frank Kleeman, Duane Harte, George Pederson.

Also: Mitzi Like, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation; Bill Lyons, Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley; Darleen Lyons, Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley; Cathy Martin, Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society; Ed Masterson, WiSH Education Foundation; Laina McFerren, Child & Family Center Foundation; Randy Moberg, College of the Canyons Foundation; Lorraine Murphy, Rotary Club of Santa Clarita Valley; Alan Pollack, M.D., Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society; Susan Reynolds, Boy Scouts of America and Domestic Violence Center of SCV; Deborah Rocha, SRD~Straightening Reins; Diana Sevanian, American Cancer Society; Nancy Starczyk, SCV Youth Project; Linda Storli, SCV Fourth of July Parade Committee; Eric Stroh, Carousel Ranch; Jeff Wheat, Friends of Hart Park and Museum and Doris Marie Zimmer, College of the Canyons Foundation.

Each honoree was presented on stage and received a plaque and an introduction that touted their qualifications for the award.

Following performances from the Canyon Theatre Guild’s production of “Hello Dolly,” Bill Lively, the 2014 SCV Man of the Year, “sang in” the winners as he roamed the banquet room until he found his targets and surprised them.

Lois Bauccio buried her face in her hands when she realized she had won. She was equality surprised when she discovered that members of her family she didn’t know were attending the event appeared and give her hugs and congratulations.

Jim Lentini broke into a smile and stood and hugged Lively when he was named the winner.

After dinner, the winners were brought on stage and presented trophies, plaques, gifts and certificates of recognition.

U.S. Rep. Steve Knight presented the pair with congressional certificates followed by Kellar and Dante Acosta representing the city of Santa Clarita, Kris Hough representing Assemblyman Scott Wilk and other state officials, and Rosalind Wayman representing Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

“Thank you to everyone who is nominated here,” said Knight. “Thank you to Lois and Jim and everything that you do for the community. Santa Clarita is truly built on beautiful hearts that work and give of themselves.”

Jami Kennedy, the 1989 SCV Woman of the Year, presented Lentini and Bauccio with a “new car” – in reality a small toy car – as well as license plate frames that each winner can place on his or her vehicle proclaiming, respectively, “2016 SCV Man of the Year” and “2016 SCV Woman of the Year.”

Lentini was presented with an award by his son, Nick Lentini, on behalf of the SCV Rotary Club.

Nick Lentini noted that many of the past winners were members of Rotary.

“Rotary’s motto is ‘Service Above Self,’ and I have seen my dad practice this time and time again,” he said.

Karen Maleck-Whiteley, president of the SCV Zonta Club, presented an award to Bauccio.

“Lois has been a mentor to me and to many in this room,” Maleck-Whiteley said. “I think every single Zontian is extremely proud to have (Lois) join this group of special people.”

The newly minted 2016 SCV Man and Woman of the Year also made a few brief comments.

“It just such an honor to be nominated,” said Lentini.

Bauccio said she was “gobsmacked to be selected.”

For more information visit http://scvmw.org.

About Lois Bauccio

For most of her life, Lois has been in service to improve the lives of young people both professionally and personally. She has worked almost exclusively for causes that support young or disadvantaged people. Lois and her two children have lived in Santa Clarita since 1983. She remained an active volunteer in Santa Clarita during her years working in the San Fernando Valley, creating relationships with the philanthropic community in the SCV that have fostered improvement in the lives of its fellow citizens. In addition to community service previously listed, she participated fully in parental projects for Meadows School PTA for a year; Placerita Junior High School for four years; and Hart Football for three years. She was named AFP Fundraiser of the Year, San Fernando Valley Region in 2004, Zontian of the Year in 2006, and received the 2012 Empowering Hearts Award by SCV Single Mothers Outreach.

Because of this involvement, her service to Zonta has had a strong impact since she takes responsibility for promoting the Zonta name in the community. Lois is a proud ambassador for the work that Zontians do with service projects and scholarships. She is regularly featured as a speaker to nonprofit organizations who seek to learn more about leadership, nonprofit management, fundraising, and volunteer manager. She has been asked to speak regularly at the College of the Canyons leadership forums, and she has helped numerous other organizations including the SCV Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy, the Girl Scouts, and the SCV Domestic Violence Center as a speaker, a workshop director, a grant writer, and a mentor.

About Jim Lentini

Jim was born in Chicago. When he was 8, his family moved to the San Fernando Valley where he was raised and educated. After two years at Valley College, he volunteered for the Army in 1960. He served in the Army Military Police with a tour of duty in Korea, serving in Panmunjom, site of the peace talks with U.N. troops and North Korea. After completion of active duty, Jim returned to Valley College and later entered the insurance industry. In 1964, he married and started his family: two sons, Nick and Jeff. Jim and his family moved in 1966 to the Santa Clarita Valley where he established his business. Wanting to immerse himself in his new community, he joined the Jaycees and became actively involved in all their local projects.

In 1986, Jim became a charter member of the new SCV Sunrise Rotary Club, serving as president in 1988-1989. In 1999, he transferred to the Santa Clarita Valley Rotary (noon) Club and was the Centennial president in 2004-2005. Jim has been on the SCV Rotary board every year since he joined. He was club president in the Centennial Year of Rotary International, and as a tribute to Rotary and to the community, he spearheaded the financing and building of a garden at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex. Upon its completion, the club gifted it to the City of Santa Clarita. The garden is not only a place of relaxation for the community but also serves as a memorial to the young SCV military members who died in service to our country during the Middle Eastern conflicts. In 2015, it became a memorial for SCV veterans of the Vietnam and Korean conflicts.

Jim formed the SCV Rotary Veterans Committee, dedicated to helping returning service men and women resume their lives. Among other things, this includes help with education, life skills, mental health and physical needs such as fitting homes with special accommodations for disabled veterans. He works with Harry Bell’s daughter, Janet Austin, in directing and leading the Harry Bell Memorial Veterans Fund for the needs and services of SCV veterans and families. He has also been actively involved in the Habitat for Heroes building site on Center Pointe Parkway as well as the development’s memorial to World War II veteran Harry Bell.