Honored by the Mulas Award

As a writer of many genres, it’s such a special and fulfilling feeling to be recognized for creativity and purpose in your art form, and for the past 24 years my regular writing position has been as the former sports editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune, which gave me the opportunity to live and work in the Valley where I grew up.

A big part of my job as sports editor was also being a columnist and main sports writer – which I’m still temporarily serving as in a freelance capacity during the medical leave of managing editor and now sports editor Bill Hoban – and I closely observed and covered the Valley’s sports scenes and athletes.

What helped me in this capacity, besides a passion for creative writing, is being a serious and dedicated competitive life-long athlete who learned and played a multitude of sports on Valley youth teams in CYO basketball and baseball, including Little League and Babe Ruth, and Pop Warner football.

Following my grammar school and junior high-school years in Sonoma I attended and graduated from St. Vincent High School in Petaluma, where I was fortunate to have had a distinguished athletic career playing multiple sports –

I then competed as a collegian in three sports and went on to reach a high level in soccer before an injury ended my career, after-which I continued my athletic endeavors in adult sports.

So my combined writing and athletic passions served me well as a newspaper sports editor and athletic advocate, who over the years has been fortunate to win numerous awards for Valley sports coverage, and back in 1998 I was very honored to be part of St. Vincent’s Athletic Hall of Fame’s first class of inductees.

Now I’m on the threshold of receiving another cherished athletic honor, this time as a sports editor, writer and supporter of Valley sports, having been chosen to be inducted into Sonoma Valley High School’s Dragons Hall of Fame as the recipient of the esteemed Mulas Family Recognition Award.

When SVHS alumnus, former principal and current HOF committee member Bob Kruljac, also a country neighbor of mine, recently drove to my house to give me information about the ninth annual Dragons Hall of Fame set for Saturday, May 7, 2016, at Hanna Boys Center, he gave me the news about my induction.

Bob told me that the Mulas family had chosen me for the award honoring its late beloved patriarch Mitch Mulas and asked how I felt about it and if I wanted to accept it.

At first I was stunned by the news and balked with my answer because, like I said to Bob, I’ve just always been doing my job as the Sonoma Index-Tribune Sports Editor, writer and columnist, so I wasn’t sure if that met the high standards the award represents and what past honorees have done beyond their everyday lives.

But when Bob reiterated that I was the top choice to be the award recipient and HOF inductee of the Mulas Family, it was only moments before I accepted the truly treasured honor.

Really, I’m touched to be so fortunate to be receiving the Mulas Family Recognition Award, especially when you read that it honors those people, families or businesses who have contributed time and/or resources to ensure our Valley’s students, athletes and coaches have the additional support necessary to have successful seasons and experiences.As I wrote in a past column, Mitch always represented a reminder of how lucky I and many others were to grow up in the Valley as off-springs of a hard-working, pioneering generation which established good family ways of life for all of us to follow.

So, again, and with more gusto, I’m humbled and very thankful to the Mulas family for this most treasured honor in helping serve up strong support for the Valley’s students, athletes and coaches, and the rare opportunity to be elected to a second high school athletic hall of fame in my lifetime – such gratification for a sports-lifer.

For Dragon HOF ticket information, to make donations or for more details, contact Kruljac at 483-1856.

Ciao!