On Oct. 2, 150 county residents came together at the 2009 Public Safety Employee of the Year Awards Dinner sponsored by the Rio Rico Rotary Club. Deputies Pedro Felix and Omar Rodriguez of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department were awarded this year's award. Public Safety organizations across the county were invited to honor one of their own. Several responded and as a result 10 individuals were introduced and honored at the dinner.

The Rotary Club would like to thank the following sponsors who made this year's event a success. The Esplendor Resort of Rio Rico, ABC Trading Co., Zoll Medical Corp., Simply Bits LLC, United Fire Equipment Co., ANA Compania de Seguros S.S. de C. V., and Frontier Emergency Products LLC, Dave E Shambach Architect, Lang-Wyatt Construction Co., Sedona Financial Insurance Services, and RCCI Carpentry INC.

Other event sponsors included Young Audiences of Santa Cruz County, Mike Borkowski, Marcos Bustamante Allstate Insurance, Spater-Mora Financial Services. Table sponsors included Lori Adamson Connect Realty, Tubac Fire District, Nogales Fire Department, Rio Rico Fire District, and Randy Glennie and Friends.

The Rotary Club also thanks the hundred plus area residents and businesses that donated items for the auction associated with the Awards Dinner. The proceeds from the auction and dinner will be used to fund the many community projects that the Club supports and add a significant amount to the Public Service Employee Benevolence Fund. This fund, administered by the club currently has $10,000 in it.

Jan Collins

Treasurer Rio Rico Rotary

Rio Rico