The Thursday night dinner/dance is the final event of each conference. After everyone gathered to enjoy a tasty dinner, the crowd of “Greasers and Dolls” awaited the announcement of the 2019 recipient of the Peter Walsh Award, the highest award presented by the Maintenance Superintendents Association.
With the 2018 winner, Bill Copeland, unable to attend, Carl Valdez the 2017 honoree introduced all three nominees. He read bios of all three gentlemen, who were all deserving of the award. After some anticipation, Carl finally opened the envelope and announced the 2019 recipient. Congratulations to Xavier Mendez who has now joined an elite group of Peter Walsh Award winners!
Xavier was nominated by the Inland Empire /Desert Chapter and has been a very active member of the chapter for many years. He has held all the offices on the chapter level, along with also holding all the offices on the Executive Board, culminating with being the MSA President in 2018.
Following a rousing round of applauses, the always energetic “X-man” took a few minutes to thank everyone who helped him during his Public Works career and those that got him involved with the MSA. He also thanked his family for their support. He told everyone that he would proudly display the award at the City of Montclair and that the award has special meaning to him because one of his employees had built the display portion of the award several years ago, replacing the old stand which was a bit battered from traveling to each winners agency over the years. After his speech, all former Peter Walsh Award winners gathered for a group photo and to welcome him into the brotherhood of honorees.
The entire MSA is happy to add Xavier’s name to the list of previous winners, who are a who’s-who of the MSA. The Association is proud of all the members who work so hard to promote the ideals we are founded upon. A big thank you goes out to each nominee and all the members who dedicate countless time towards the success of the Maintenance Superintendents Association.
The nominees for the 2019 Peter W. Walsh Award were:
Central Coast Chapter
Nominates: Randy Carnahan, Santa Barbara County
Inland Empire/Desert Chapter
Nominates: Xavier Mendez, City of Montclair
North Central Valley Chapter
Nominates: Adin Selby, City of Galt