Michael Dockery, owner of Celebrity Travel in Roseville, was named this year's "Outstanding Rotarian" by the Rotary Club of Roseville.
Dockery is among 37 recipients to receive the prestigious honor, which recognizes Rotary members for their longtime contributions, said John Freitas, past president of the club.
Dockery moved to Placer County with his family in 1989. He immediately expressed interest in joining the Roseville Rotary Club and became active in the Home Start program, which helps homeless families move into permanent housing.
Dockery has served as chef at annual charity seafood dinners. He helped distribute more than 400 wheelchairs to people in need in Mazatlan, Mexico. It was in Mazatlan that Dockery was inspired to help the Rotary Club donate a ambulance to the Mexican Red Cross.
"Since joining our club, his footprints are on every Rotary activity," Freitas said.
Dockery, a former medic in the Air Force Reserve during the Vietnam War, was born to a family of doctors in Wisconsin.
He has a wife, Carol, and two sons, Sean and Kevin. He loves cars, has a pilot's license, has driven a produce truck and New York City bus and ridden a Norton Commando 750 motorcycle, Freitas said.
Drexel University is drawing a record number of students from the Sacramento area to its Philadelphia-based campus, as it prepares to open a new campus in Sacramento.
Richelle McGhee of Rocklin will be among 11 students from the Sacramento area going to Drexel in Philadelphia, according to a news release. McGhee, a graduate of Rocklin High School, recently attended a send-off event with other students and Drexel alumni in Sacramento, which featured the university's dragon mascot, named Mario the Magnificent.
McGhee this fall will pursue a master's degree in psychology at Drexel in Philadelphia.
Drexel recently announced plans to offer nine master's programs at its Sacramento Center for Graduate Studies, with five programs beginning in January and another four programs beginning September 2009. The university has established a $10 million fund for student fellowships in Sacramento.
Several Placer County students attending the University of California, Santa Barbara, have been recognized for achieving excellence in their academic work for the spring 2008 quarter.
Area students who attained a grade-point average of 3.75 (an A-minus) on a program of 12 or more units in the College of Letters and Science or a 3.50 grade-point average in the College of Engineering include:
Auburn residents Scott Gerald Ball, Brandon Charles Coakley, Melissa Michelle Gross, Molly Ann Holveck and Christopher Steven Kindell, Jessica Lynn Roeder and Evan Haacs Walpert .
Grass Valley students Benjamin B. Elias and Sarah Jeanelle Schultz.
Lincoln residents Zulema Martinez Balderas, Danielle Marie Mayorga and Connor Richard Worden.
Trevor Cabrera of Roseville was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the California Grocers Association Education Foundation.
Cabrera, who graduated fourth in his class from Jesuit High School, will major in biology this fall at University of California, San Diego, according to a news release.
The foundation's California Shopping Cart Retrieval Corp. Scholarship is awarded to students who are employees or dependents of employees of CGA member companies, such as Safeway. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit, evidence of outstanding character and leadership potential.
The association this year awarded 260 scholarships, totaling a record $314,000.
Call The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee, (916) 773-7630.
