Being positive and thankful on this day

B.W. COOK

“People are more powerful than the barriers they face,” said Dan

Rogers, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries, Orange County.

Today is Thanksgiving Day, and Rogers comments at the annual

Walter Knott Service Award luncheon held at the Four Seasons Hotel,

Newport are significant words of reflection on this all American

holiday.

Thanksgiving really is a universal celebration, its message one of

unity and that of reaching out to people of differing backgrounds

working together for the common good. It is a most appropriate day to

share the words and the feelings expressed at Goodwill’s Walter Knott

luncheon. A sold-out crowd in the Four Seasons ballroom celebrated

Thanksgiving early sending the universal message of the indomitable

spirit of mankind overcoming the worst that life can deal.

Four people put the important things in life front and center as

they accepted honors for their achievements. Jesse Billauer, Tracy

Broughton and Valinda Martin, who are in wheelchairs after being

injured in accidents, and Rachel Scdoris, who is blind, all received

standing ovations for their inspirational words.

Martin, a woman with a smile broad enough to light up the room,

confined to a wheelchair as the result of a boating accident, is the

owner of an art gallery and gift store on Balboa Island she has named

Art for the Soul.

“I feel blessed,” Martin said. “There are a lot of able-bodied

people who cannot say that.”

During a video of Valinda Martin’s story, the crowd of more than

500 Goodwill supporters wiped away a tear when Martin thanked her

father for his unflagging support through her ordeal.

“I don’t believe in disabilities,” she said.

Martin will open a second gallery in Laguna Beach this month.

The Walter Knott luncheon was guided by master of ceremonies Peter

Buffa, former mayor of Costa Mesa. A humorist with the later-day wit

of a Will Rogers, Buffa said on a serious note, “That the most

important thing we have is time.”

Billauer knows the meaning of Buffa’s words. At the age of 17, a

surfing accident destroyed his dream to become a professional surfer

and placed him in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. Now 24, the

handsome surf dude with a shaved head and diamond studs in his ears

made his way onto the Four Seasons podium in his chair to tell the

audience that “life rolls on,” and he’s rolling with it every inch of

the way.

Billauer’s mother, grandparents and cousin were in the audience to

support him. A video message from his dad, who was unable to attend,

was featured. It was evident that they were inspired by his

affirmative attitude toward life, and equally evident that he was a

young man fortunate enough to have a loving family behind him.

Broughton, a beautiful young woman put in a wheelchair as the

result of a car accident, refused to allow her situation to interfere

with her ambitions in life. Broughton became Ms. Black California in

2002, and shared her belief that the barrier of a wheelchair should

not reduce people from living productive and independent lives.

“I wouldn’t write my life this way,” Broughton said. “But I

wouldn’t change it, either.”

Powerful words from a person of tremendous inner strength.

Broughton is the mother of two young sons, and will let nothing get

in her way.

Scdoris is one of the world’s most accomplished athletes,

internationally recognized as a leader in the sport of sled-dog

racing. In March 2004, Scdoris will compete at the very highest level

of her sport, participating in the grueling Alaskan Iditarod. Scdoris

is blind.

She stepped up to the Four Season’s podium and shared her story

with the audience, not once mentioning her blindness. It was the

story of a young woman with a gift, a passion, and a will to succeed,

again lovingly supported by a family, and in particular her father

who has coached her since childhood in the sport she loves. Another

message of achievement against all odds.

Walter Knott, the late founder of Knott’s Berry Farm and an Orange

County pioneer remembered for his civic service, is often quoted with

the admonition, “Whatever we vividly imagine, ardently desire,

sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must eventually come

to pass.”

His words echoed throughout the Four Seasons ballroom in the

presence of his surviving daughter, Marion, and her husband, Tony

Montapert.

Also in the crowd were other Knott family members, including

Darrel Anderson of Newport Beach. Daniel Armstrong, chairman of the

Goodwill board of directors, joined renowned local artist Bob Schaar,

Rex Hudler, Betty Belden Palmer and Ronna Shipman, in handling the

presentations of the day.

The massive event was chaired by a most capable Janice Markley,

with support from an event committee that included Cecelia Knott and

her daughters Amy Knott and Tracy Gottlieb. Melanie Fitch, Gina

Ferguson, Ted Baker, Zoe Hadley, Ann Sullivan, Erin Trunel, Susan

Tierney and Heather Klein were also participating.

Rogers told the gathering that it was a day to celebrate

creativity, achievement and expression.

“We celebrate the human spirit and raise vital funds to provide

those with disabilities and other barriers, with job training

placement and the tools to achieve individual success,” he said.

It was a day to reaffirm the importance of self-respect. And to

put it bluntly, “The joy of earning a paycheck,” Rogers said.

“In America, a good part of our freedom is tied to the joy of

achievement, and the joy of independence,” he said.

Quite a message on this Thanksgiving Day. As you join with loved

ones to share the holiday meal, take a moment to share in the bounty

of blessings in your lives. Appreciate whatever you have, and know

that all things are possible if the dream is based on a foundation of

goodwill.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.