WATSONVILLE — Mary Bannister led the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency for nearly a decade before her retirement in 2016, and is still deeply involved in the Watsonville community.
Harry Wiggins is a U.S. Army veteran who came home to lead hundreds of Boy Scouts. Like Bannister, he keeps himself busy by participating in numerous organizations.
They were named this year’s woman and man of the year by the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.
Pajaro Valley Historical Association was named organization of the year, and Pajaro Valley Printing is business of the year.
Fire in the Sky, one of Watsonville’s newest happenings, was named event of the year.
Agricultural History Project CEO John Kegebein received the organization’s lifetime achievement award.
All will receive their awards at the “History in the Making” awards dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.
The event is in the JJ Crosetti Building at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Tickets are available by calling the Chamber office at 724-3900 and are $100 each. The event sells out every year, so calling early is recommended.
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Mary Bannister
Woman of the Year
Mary Bannister retired as general manager in 2016 after 17 years with the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.
Bannister was a certified engineering geologist when she started at PVWMA in 1999, and helped the organization weather a storm of controversy, trouble and lawsuits.
This included financial difficulties and groundwater supply issues.
Bannister stabilized the agency even as she oversaw the adoption of a Basin Management Plan update and fee structure to support it, in advance of the state’s new laws regulating groundwater.
In addition, she worked with the City of Watsonville to develop a Recycled Water Facility that provides more than 4,000 acre-feet per year of irrigation supply to coastal growers.
This project, and the 20-plus miles of delivery pipeline and other facilities, were constructed with the help of more than $50 million in state and federal grants won during Bannister’s tenure.
When she announced her retirement, Bannister said she wanted to spend time with her family, grow dahlias and help at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Bannister is involved with the Santa Cruz County Fair, and leads the Clydesdale horses with the Agricultural History Project during the fair and at special events.
She is also active in the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society.
Bannister called the honor “fantastic.”
“I’m so honored,” she said. “I’m in disbelief. I’m honored and humbled.”
Bannister said the award is in part a validation of the importance of protecting the water supply, particularly in the agriculture-rich Pajaro Valley.
“That can only be supported if there is water available,” she said.
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Harry Wiggins
Man of the Year
A Boy Scout leader for 17 years, Harry Wiggins has mentored dozens of young men, many of whom have become Eagle Scouts.
A lifelong Eagle Scout, Wiggins began Troop 505 for the Boy Scouts of America in 1994 as a response to escalating gang violence in Pajaro, which culminated when three young people were shot to death.
He is an organizer of the Pajaro Emergency Response Board. For 15 years, he has been a member of Pajaro/Sunny Mesa community services.
Wiggins is a member of the Pajaro Citizens Action Committee, which promotes safety improvements and sponsors a cleanup day.
He is a member of Friends of the Pajaro Park, and a member of the Oversight Committee to the Successor Agency of the Monterey County Redevelopment Agency.
Wiggins serves on the Pajaro Valley Water Management ad hoc Basin Management Committee.
He was named Veteran of the Year in 2012, and was named to the Watsonville High School Hall of Fame in 2005.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by the chamber,” he said. “There are hundreds of people who are deserving of the honor. I’ve truly been blessed in this community. It’s way beyond what I expected.”
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PV Historical Association
Organization of the Year
During its 77-year history, the Pajaro Valley Historical Association has served as a repository for Watsonville’s memories.
The organization’s volunteers spend hours categorizing and storing memorabilia such as photos, vintage clothes, newspapers, yearbooks and hundreds upon hundreds of other items; the flotsam and jetsam that tells the story of South County.
Now, the PVHA has been named Organization of the Year.
PVHA Board chair Judy Doering-Nielsen said she was “shocked and amazed” when she learned of the award.
“I said, ‘Thank you so much,’” Doering-Nielsen said. “‘This is wonderful news, this is terrific.’”
“It’s a fabulous community organization, and it’s wonderful that it’s being recognized,” she added.
Doering-Nielsen said the award is a testament to the people who work there.
“The thing that makes PVHA work is the fabulous volunteers that put in countless hours,” she said.
Volunteer Louis Arbanas said that people come from as far away as Virginia and Croatia to delve into PVHA’s archive.
“After 77 years of being unknown in the community, our presence is being picked up,” he said. “It’s been a period of positive growth for us, and it’s unique because we are a community museum and archive.”
Doering-Nielsen noted that the organization is always looking for new volunteers.
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Pajaro Valley Printing
Business of the Year
For more than 25 years, Pajaro Valley Printing, located on the corner of Freedom Boulevard and South Green Valley Road, has provided a variety of digital printing, offset printing and other services.
Essentially, “anything on paper,” said Sean Parker of Pajaro Valley Printing.
The full-service printing and copying center also provides services for a number of local nonprofits, such as giving permanent signage to Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services, printing out the local Veterans Day program pro bono, and providing sandbags for seniors in Bay Village.
The business has served major corporations such as Granite Construction to students in elementary school working on their school projects.
“It is super exciting,” Parker said on Pajaro Valley Printing receiving the business of the year award. “We were surprised to find out. We are excited for the opportunity, and it will be a fun event.”
And they do it all with just three employees: owner Dan Carrillo, Nanette Nelms and Parker.
Carrillo, a Watsonville native who was named the Chamber’s Volunteer of the Year in 2010, purchased Pajaro Valley Printing in 1989. He is a longtime Rotarian who is involved in many local causes, too numerous to list here.
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Fire in the Sky
Event of the Year
Fire in the Sky began as an idea city officials had to get the public to the Watsonville Municipal Airport and highlight the role it plays in the region.
Watsonville did not have an official fireworks show in many years, and city officials did not know how the community would react.
As it turned out, the response was overwhelming.
More than 6,000 people attended the inaugural Fourth of July event this year, and about an hour before the fireworks began, officials had to shut down the airport to vehicles, as the parking area had reached capacity.
“We are thrilled to receive the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce award for event of the year for the Fire in the Sky Airport Open House event,” Assistant City Manager Matt Huffaker said. “The whole community came together to make this event a success, with over 6,000 people in attendance.”
In the hours leading up to the 20-minute fireworks show, Fire in the Sky included formation flyovers, a screening of the film “Angry Birds,” food trucks, aircraft displays and more.
“Airport and city staff did an excellent job organizing the event in short order, and we’re excited to make this an annual event for the community,” City Manager Charles Montoya said.
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John Kegebein
Lifetime Achievement
The Kegebein name is almost synonymous with the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
When John Kegebein was laid off from a job at Marinovich Cold Storage in 1963, he applied for a maintenance job at the fairgrounds, marking the beginning of a more than 50-year career.
Later, Kegebein served as fair manager for several years, a position his son, Dave, now holds.
Kegebein, who grew up on a dairy farm in Crystal Lake, Ill., now serves as the CEO of the Agricultural History Project, and was one of the founding members of the organization more than 30 years ago.
He said he was “totally surprised” when he found out he was chosen for the Chamber’s lifetime achievement award.
“I just do what I have to do,” said Kegebein, who was also named Man of the Year by the Chamber in the mid-1990s. “The community has been good to me, and I try to give back in any way I can.”
He praised his family and fellow volunteers, saying they make everything he does worthwhile.
“I try to keep busy and keep healthy,” Kegebein said.
