On Thursday, Feb. 28, the Rotary Club of Royal Palm Beach honored its deputies of the quarter and advanced plans for the annual Rotary Tribute Dinner.
It has been a longstanding tradition for the club to honor deputies of the quarter, selected by the District 9 commander. Capt. Ulrich Naujoks introduced the two honorees.
Chris Padgett was the first deputy honored. He was selected for his creative approach to solving illegal activity that had been increasing at one of the village parks. Padgett solved the problem with minimal arrests and maximum education of the offenders, improving the safety environment at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park. In remarks made during the presentation to Padgett, Chief Deputy Mike Gauger pointed out that for Padgett, police work comes naturally. His father recently retired after a stellar career with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The second deputy honored was Ralph “Butch” Waller. Waller is one of the last of the Royal Palm Beach police force members who joined the PBSO when the sheriff took over law enforcement responsibilities in RPB. Waller has been on the force for more than 20 years and was chosen for honors by Naujoks because he always steps up and does his job in a positive and professional way. Naujoks said he has never received a complaint about Waller and, in fact, has received numerous calls from citizens praising Waller.
The Rotary Club of Royal Palm Beach will honor Royal Palm Beach schools at the organization’s annual Rotary Tribute Dinner, set for Saturday, April 27 at 6 p.m. at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center.
Rotary President Jeff Hmara has announced that this year, the club saw a unique opportunity to honor the schools of Royal Palm Beach for the tremendous job they do in educating children and partnering with parents to develop well educated and responsible citizens.
The Rotary Tribute Committee is chaired by Roland Amateis. He is being assisted by Jeff Hmara, Keith Jordano, Lynn Balch, Donielle Pinto, Lorna Kernizan, Steve Epstein, Sam Roman and Dan Splain.
Tickets are available from committee members at $50 per ticket or $400 per table of eight. Sponsorships and program advertising are also available.
For more information and tickets, call Roland Amateis at (561) 723-4427, Dan Splain at (561) 723-4427 or Lynn Balch at (561) 601-7297.
