A Community Affair

The Leona Valley Sertoma St. Patrick’s Day Dinner is a long standing tradition and only one of the many good memories from my time as a Leona Valley Sertoman. As with most, if not all, of their events, the St. Patrick’s Day dinner is a fundraiser with funds going to support the community, the most significant of which is their scholarship program. This event, like all their events, brings people together giving them the chance to better know and, hopefully, care for each other. Isn’t that what a community is?

And you thought you were just getting a good meal for a good price.

Why I Like Sertoma

This didn’t just happen, it took planning, prepping, and work on the part of the members of Leona Valley Sertoma. The members volunteer their time and their talents to make this event, and everything they do, as successful as possible. This group of people with varying skills, life experience, and interest all have one interest in common; they love their community. That’s one of the things I liked about being a Sertoman. It gave me the opportunity to become a part of the community, to volunteer, to make new friends, and to contribute to the betterment of my new community. The name Sertoma is an acronym taken from the phrase, “SERvice TO MAnkind”, and through service the members work to “make a difference” in their community. That was another thing I liked about being a Sertoman.

Being a Part of a Community

Growing up I was a boy scout, I’m an Eagle Scout, so team work and community service is something I knew. As an adult, my career took me in a different direction and my ‘making a difference’ became writing a check for this or that charity, or fundraiser. Sertoma let me to go from being on the outside looking in to being a part of the team that made a difference with sweat equity. (I still write checks!) For me, that was a pretty good feeling. The video is from the 2004 St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and if you watch it you will see all the elements I’ve been talking about. People coming together to prepare the food, the community coming out and enjoying themselves and the clean up afterwards. All these things helped me become a part of the community and let me help make a difference. You will also see folks who may have moved away or are no longer with us, as well.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner 2022

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner will be hosted a different way. Sertoma has had less physical manpower since the pandemic, so it has required being creative in order to continue their scholarship program. This year’s event will be held at Jack’s Place, the local restaurant on 90th street, in Leona Valley, (see the flyer below) thanks to the generosity of Dave and Bob, the owners of Jack’s Place.

The St. Patrick’s Day Dinner tradition continues bringing with it some much desired normalcy after the disruptions of the last two year. I hope you will be supportive and come out to spend time with your friends and neighbors, while enjoying a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. you will get a delicious meal and time with friends, but you will be giving so much more.

I hope you enjoy this video as much I did as I watched it again. If Sertoma sounds interesting and you would like to be involved in making a difference through community service, then I urge you to seek out a member to find out more. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, at 8:00am, at Jack’s Place.

The Sunday our daughter was killed our world changed.Laurie Millard (Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Sertoman)

Who am I? I am Laurie Millard and I am all those things you see above, but I am also a survivor. In 2014, my oldest daughter Brianna Smith was killed walking along the shoulder of Highway 138, near Llano, CA. A semi-truck struck her when it veered onto the shoulder of the road striking her and killing her instantly. The Sunday our daughter was killed our world changed. Since the accident, I have raised my autistic, mentally ill, six-year-old grandson, Daniel, full time.

Two years after my daughter’s death, the Brianna Brandy Millard Smith’s Happy Children Memorial Scholarship Fund was founded by my husband David and myself. The fund helps families in recovery from addiction with food, toys, clothes and, when we can, a stipend towards rent.

Laurie Millard and Family Make a Move

In 2006, we moved from Valencia to Lake Elizabeth where David established his own heating and air company. Brianna helped David start the company with the DBA, business license, and various other things necessary to set up a business.  AC Dave Heating and Air was born fulfilling David’s dream to own his own business.

Not long after our move to Lake Elizabeth, we were introduced to Leona Valley Sertoma and soon were members. This lead to me becoming the editor for their newsletter, “Salutations”, something I enjoyed doing for many years.

A tragic event can bring out the best in people, as they will often reach out offering support. Sertoman do more than offer, they jump in to action. They are a force to be reckoned with. You don’t realize how much until you find yourself on the receiving end. Sertomans really know how to step up. Members picked up the food for Brianna’s service for us, and they set it up, and I think they helped serve, too. Honestly, I don’t remember as that day was a blur. I remember feeling overwhelmed at their support, generosity and love. It took my breath away what the members did for our family.

In Service to Others

Leona Valley Sertoma puts on a variety of events every year and one weekend, every year, my grandson Daniel and I join with other members of Leona Valley Sertoma in collecting toys, food and money. These items are distributed to families in our local communities that might need a little help. Daniel and I also help decorate tables at these events and I have often helped serve desserts at their annual Senior Dinner.

Leona Valley Sertoma continues to be there. From guiding my footsteps, helping with donations, and much more. With their help, BBMS Happy Children was able to help 11 families in 2020. We received turkeys, toys, canned goods along with other donations from our communities that we passed on to 11 grateful families. Sertomans are an amazing bunch of people. I should know, I have experienced it first-hand.

David, Daniel, and I are forever grateful to Leona Valley Sertoma for their support, leadership and, most importantly, the friendships we enjoy with the members. Going forward, my hope is to see the BBMS Happy Children Memorial Fund continues to grow and to make the Leona Valley Sertoma members proud of their efforts in helping to make that a reality.

For those who might not know, SERTOMA is an acronym for “SERvice TO MAnkind”, it’s what Sertoma is all about.

Laurie provided the information and photographs for this article. We look forward to bringing you more posts from our Sertoma members giving you the opportunity to know them better. If you haven’t already,  complete the sign up form in the right-hand column to be alerted to new blog posts from Leona Valley Sertoma.

– Tom Smith, Webmaster