APTOS — The Aptos Chamber of Commerce recently named Cabrillo College President Matt Wetstein and Lifespan Founder Pam Goodman its Man and Woman of the Year.
Wetstein took over as the Superintendent/President of the county’s lone community college in 2016. Under his leadership, Cabrillo strengthened its partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank to double the number of Fresh Market food distributions at the college.
Also, Cabrillo this spring had a record number of graduates, and new programs have been established like the Cabrillo College Promise Program, which provides free tuition to full-time students for two years to any graduating senior from the Cabrillo College District service area. The Cabrillo College Promise eliminates financial barriers to higher education, making a college degree a reality.
Wetstein serves on the board of a number of local community organizations, including the Santa Cruz Symphony, Agri-Culture, the United Way, Santa Cruz County Business Council, Santa Cruz Criminal Justice Council and Sutter-PAMF Community Advisory Board.
For the last 36 years, Lifespan has provided various forms of care for the elderly, including dementia and hospice services, as well as medication management and placement assistance. Goodman said she moved to the area in the early 1980s and started Lifespan with Becky Peters. Together, they’ve pushed to keep the quality of service at a high level, while continuously adding different useful tools.
“It’s such an honor,” Goodman said. “I was surprised they chose me, of course, but I’m happy that people recognize the work we’ve done in the community.”
Goodman has also volunteered with numerous community organizations and boards which serve older people in the greater Santa Cruz Community. As a 24-year member of Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club, she expanded her philanthropy to less-developed areas of the world including Guatemala, Ghana, Peru and Tanzania.
She currently serves as the Chairperson on the Grey Bears Board of Directors, and is also on the Cabrillo College Women’s Educational Success Committee. As part of serving the elder community, every year the Lifespan Cares team fundraises for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
Goodman said she is most proud of the connections she has made in the community.
“That’s what means most to me, the relationships,” she said.
Wetstein and Goodman will be honored at the 92nd Aptos Chamber of Commerce annual awards dinner and auction on Oct. 25 at the Seascape Beach Resort.
For information or to make reservations visit aptoschamber.com/ad or call 688-1467.
Other awardees include:
Business
Seascape Foods is the area’s leading source of fresh, organic, locally sourced foods and goods.
Owners Julie Kellman and Dan Hunt have a mission to use local food, celebrating the richness of our community’s resources. At Seascape Foods, Kellman and Hunt do this on every level — from local coffee roasters to local fishermen. This translates to the freshest ingredients possible. They even have a local produce grower in La Selva Beach and eggs from Aptos farmer Glaum Egg Ranch.
Both pride themselves in connecting with their customers and the local Seascape residents, whether greeting them on a first-name basis or making up a custom dish in their incredible kitchen. Seascape Foods also contributes their time and money to many local fundraisers.
Organization
Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services exists to improve the quality of life for children with cancer and support their families in the challenges they face.
Jacob’s Heart provides family-centered care that addresses the emotional, practical and financial struggles for families of children and teens during treatment, families experiencing anticipatory grief and those who are bereaved.
Jacob’s Heart envisions a community where every child with a serious or life-threatening condition has a strong, supported and informed family empowered to fully participate in their care.
For information: jacobsheart.org or 724-9100.
Outstanding Achievement
For the second time in three years, Aptos High School’s Robotics Team, Seal Team Scalyr, won the International Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle (MATE ROV) competition.
Through a whirlwind three days of piloting, demonstrating and presenting their underwater ROV, the Aptos team won both ROV ability and marketing display categories, placing them first overall against 45 teams from 19 different countries, including Newfoundland, Egypt, India and Japan. The second-place team was from the Center of Robotics Development in Vladivostok, Russia.
Teams were also judged on their technical report and sales presentation. Additional points are given for community outreach, which involves spreading interest in technology and awareness of environmental issues.
The team’s latest robot, the Argo VI, solves simulated tasks that real industrial ROVs perform in oceans and lakes, from restoring a broken dam, identifying underwater wildlife and recovering sunken artifacts. The team created solutions to their mission, using custom-designed tools like a 3D-printed, infinitely-rotating claw, a deployable micro-ROV and original image recognition software.
Community Hero
Denise Ward of Community Reads has lived most of the past 20 years in Aptos. She arrived in 1999 with her husband and two sons. After living most of her adult life overseas she was looking for a small town where she could get involved with the community and her husband could begin his startup. Her professional life has been diverse and includes conducting intercultural training workshops for UCSC Fulbright Scholars and Humphrey Fellows, teaching cooking classes and working as an interior designer for architectural firms in San Francisco, NYC and Manila.
Three years ago, she was inspired to create a One Book One Read type of program in Aptos after learning of one in Lake Oswego, OR that had found successful. After approaching the Friends of the Aptos Library with the idea, she left the meeting as the Steering Committee Chair for “Our Community Reads.” With the help of volunteers they held 12 events over a six-week period in 2018, their inaugural year.
In 2019 the project received a California Humanities grant and they were able to expand the program and host an author visit.
Now in their third season, they are excited to build on what they have begun with the goal of creating strong community through exploring themes from a single book each year.
Lifetime Achievement
Larry deGhetaldi, M.D. is Chief Executive Officers of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s (PAMF) Santa Cruz Santa Cruz division. PAMF Santa Cruz coordinates with Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center to provide integrated health care for thousands of Santa Cruz County residents.
Dr. deGhetaldi is a board-certified family medicine doctor who has served in a number of leadership positions within the Santa Cruz Medical Clinic and PAMF since he began practicing in 1984. He represented the clinic in its affiliation negotiations with Sutter Health and additionally chaired the Clinic Management Board.
Dr. deGhetaldi has served on several boards of directors including the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the California Medical Association, Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center and the Central California Alliance for Health. He was appointed to the California Financial Solvency Standards Board (FSSB) whose task is to address the implications of federal health care reform and how it will affect the California health care landscape.
He is also a member of the Integrated Healthcare Association’s (IHA) Pay for Performance governing committee. He chairs the Sutter Medical Network’s Quality Committee which focuses on advancing the quality of ambulatory care for millions of Sutter Health patients.
PAMF is one of the country’s largest multi-specialty physician organizations with more than 1,300 physicians. It has received the Integrated Healthcare Association’s award for “Top Overall Performance” multiple times. The 30-bed Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center is a nationally-recognized and award-winning acute care hospital and has received the Press Ganey Summit Award for top industry performance multiple times.
