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Two dedicated Pleasanton residents who have given so much of their time, energy and heart to supporting their community are set to be honored Monday evening during a ceremony at the Museum on Main.
The Make A Difference, Today & Always nonprofit foundation just recently revealed the 2023 recipients of their annual Ed Kinney Community Patriots awards program, and once again, they’ve picked two truly deserving community leaders: Ken Mano and Todd Utikal.
Being in the Tri-Valley news world, I’m very familiar with both men and have interacted with them countless times, in recent years especially, on local issues small and large. But for the readers who don’t recognize their names or recall their endeavors, here’s a quick recap…
Mano has been a volunteer leader in Pleasanton almost since day one when he and his family relocated in 1971 — he and wife Carolyn raised their six kids here, Dons all. The Manos contributed so much time to the Amador Valley Boosters, and Ken remains a devoted organizer for Special Olympics events locally.
An abbreviated list of his service experience includes the Twin Valley District Committee for Scouts, Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative, American Red Cross, Relay for Life and as a service missionary for the Pleasanton Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He helped with critical food distribution during the pandemic, and he recruited volunteers to assist with the storm damage cleanup at Sunol Glen School.
Mano is seemingly everywhere. And as the foundation put it, “Ken is very low-key, uses common sense, and expects no credit to himself for all the many activities he does to make Pleasanton become an even better community.”
After learning of his upcoming recognition, I emailed Mano for his reaction.
“It is an honor to receive an award in Ed Kinney’s name, he was a great community leader and Mayor in our early days in Pleasanton, one of the leaders in our city that I looked up to,” he told me. “For me there have been four important areas of focus in my life: family, church, community and work. Sometimes it’s been hard to keep them in balance; early on, work was often in the forefront to the detriment of the others.”
“There is a scripture which says ‘… when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God,'” Mano added. “We need to be helping others by serving those in need, which includes the needy, seniors, immigrants, homeless, abused, hungry, children, those with illnesses and special needs. And there are many groups and individuals in our community who are doing great things to help others.”
Utikal, a Tri-Valley native who picked Pleasanton as his home post-college where he and wife Erica are raising their daughters, had a long and varied professional career that eventually led him to downtown and co-creating SideTrack Bar + Grill.
His community service resume is just as diverse, but has become all the more prominent since 2020 when he spearheaded the founding of We Are Pleasanton, a group that raises funds to support local schools’ equipment and facility needs. Utikal also co-chaired the winning Yes on Measure I bond campaign committee last year.
“I am very honored to receive this award,” he told me by email about being named a Community Patriot.
“After 11 years in Rotary, I decided to focus my energy on teachers, students and schools. I love this town and I want our kids to feel pride in their schools,” Utikal said. “We Are Pleasanton was just an idea in March of 2020, and it took off. I believed people would donate to tangible projects that impact large groups of students, and they did.”
“Great people in our town helped raise $478,000 for projects at Amador and Foothill, without a single fundraiser event, and then even more people got involved with the school bond, Measure I, raising $395 million for future projects through the November election,” he added. “A big thanks to my co-chair Bill Butler. It was a lot of work, but the results will impact our kids and our community for decades to come.”
Congrats to both men.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
