Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany A. Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) =

Kevin Summers, a public safety officer = with the=20 Ione and Jackson police departments, directs traffic near Ione = Elementary=20 School Friday. He has been named the Public Safety Performer of = the Year=20 by the Amador County Peace Officers' Association.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Tom Sage, Amador County attorney = investigator,=20 will be recognized as Peace Officer of the Year for 2008 by the = ACPOA=20 during a special awards ceremony Oct. 25.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Tracey Towner-Yep, pictured here as the = emcee for=20 the "Trucks, Tractors & Tricycles" parade in Plymouth in 2006, = has=20 been named Citizen of the Year for 2008 by the ACPOA.

Photo by: Ledger Dispatch file=20 photo
Three Amador County residents will = share the=20 spotlight during the Amador County Peace Officers' Association awards = ceremony=20 next weekend.

The association will recognize Tom Sage, Amador = County=20 District Attorney investigator, as Peace Officer of the Year for 2008; = Tracey=20 Towner-Yep, executive director of the county's recreation agency, as = Citizen of=20 the Year; and Kevin Summers, a public safety officer, as Public Safety = Performer=20 of the Year.

"Everyone who wears a badge or a uniform (or = provides=20 public service) should be recognized," Mark Estey, the association's = treasurer,=20 told the Ledger Dispatch Thursday. "We like to look at somebody who goes = above=20 and beyond their job," he added, noting that the association has been = awarding=20 peace officers for about 34 years during its annual awards ceremony.=20

What's unique about these awards, Estey said, is that they are = based on=20 nominations from people in the community who write letters to the = association=20 about people they feel are deserving of recognition.

"We ask for = a brief=20 summary of why people should be nominated," Estey said. "And then a = committee=20 sits down and reads the letters and decides which are the best = candidates." Each=20 year, the committee gets three to 11 letters of nomination from the = community,=20 he said.

This will be the first year the association has = recognized a=20 public safety performer.

"(Kevin Summers) has been nominated a = couple of=20 years," Estey said. "And we felt his contribution to the community - to = Jackson,=20 Ione and several other areas in the county - should be recognized."=20

"Kevin is absolutely adored and loved by the community here," = said Ione=20 Police Chief Michael Johnson. "Probably his most significant function is = that he=20 directs traffic at the (Ione) junior high and elementary schools. =

"His=20 service is invaluable, especially with all the congestion; it gets = really bad,"=20 Johnson said. "It can be a really dangerous situation for parents and = children.=20 Every morning Kevin gets out there and makes a pretty well manageable = situation=20 out of a mess."

Summers said the best part of his job is that he = gets to=20 be with his friends. "It's more like another family," said Summers, who = is also=20 employed by the Jackson Police Department, where he does traffic control = for=20 special events.

Sage, an Amador High School graduate, told the = Ledger=20 Dispatch Thursday that he felt honored that the association chose him as = the=20 Peace Officer of the Year.

Before joining the county DA's office = about 11=20 years ago, Sage worked for the county's sheriff's department for about = seven=20 years. He got his training at the San Joaquin Delta College Basic Peace = Officer=20 Academy in 1989.

The best part about his job?

"Just = working with=20 everyone ... all the people I get to work with on a daily basis," he = said,=20 mentioning the fact that he gets to work with several county agencies. = "I get to=20 work with extraordinary people."

In a phone interview Friday, Kim = Praverso, an ACRA recreation aide, said that her boss, Towner-Yep, is = fun to=20 work with. "It doesn't seem like work," Praverso said. "It's just a good = time=20 all week."

Towner-Yep was "out in the field" Thursday and Friday = and was=20 unable to be reached for comment.

"I thought it was great," = Praverso said=20 when asked what it was like to hear her boss had been named ACPOA's = Citizen of=20 the Year. "She definitely deserves it."

She said her boss was = pretty=20 excited when she heard the news. "I don't think she expected it," = Praverso=20 said.

Praverso said she's learned a lot in the three years she's = worked=20 with Towner-Yep.

"I've learned: Don't be shy and just work hard = and then=20 you can play hard."

The awards dinner will be held at the = American Legion=20 Hall at 12134 Airport Road in Martell on Saturday, Oct. 25. No-host = cocktails=20 will begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets for the = dinner are=20 $25. Call 267-1820 for more information.

For more information = about ACPOA=20 an organization dedicated to funding projects that help women, orphans = and=20 children, as well as other people in need, visit=20 http://groups.msn.com/AmadorCountyPeaceOfficersAssociation.

Bethany A. = Monk