Scenic Nevada Hall of Fame — Scenic Nevada Heroes!

On this page Scenic Nevada honors outstanding community, environmental and governmental leaders for their untiring dedication in protecting our quality of life, and preserving, protecting and enhancing the scenic beauty of Nevada. Biographical information is also provided for each of this outstanding community leaders.

• LeRoy Pendleton — On a beautiful sloping hillside in southwest Reno, you can find a commemorative plaque attached to a boulder. Next to the boulder is a bench that allows any passerby to sit and enjoy a magnificent view facing south towards the Sierras. By reading the plaque mounted on the boulder, you can also see the difference that one person can make.
  
  LeRoy Pendleton's generous donation of eleven and a half acres of land, designated to remain open space, is an excellent example of why Scenic Nevada established its Hero's Award Program. Through the years, Scenic Nevada has had the opportunity, as well as the honor, to recognize a number of unusually gifted, uniquely talented individuals from Northern Nevada. (Read more about LeRoy)



• Marilyn Newton — Marilyn Newton has been with the Reno Gazette-Journal since 1963. But she started her journalism career six years earlier when at the tender age of 12 she was hired by the Carson City Nevada Appeal as a papergirl making her among the first paid papergirls in the country.( Read more about Marilyn)

• Ron Hunter of Patagonia — Ron has a special affinity for river and wilderness issues. He has worked on successful campaigns to protect the Tatshenshini River in Canada, the Clavey River outside of Yosemite, and continues to work on increasing wilderness in both Nevada and California. Ron currently sits on the board of Friends of Nevada Wilderness and is on the advisory council of the California Wild Heritage Campaign. (Read more about Ron Hunter)



• Jeff Nicholson — Jeff has been painting the life and landscape of Nevada for over 30 years and is considered by many to be the consummate Nevada realist painter. His work is in the permanent collections of the Nevada Museum of Art, the Governor¹s Mansion and the University of Nevada, Reno. (Read More about Jeff Nicholson)



• Shayne Del Cohen — Shayne has forty years of community development, public relations and program management experience in international and cross- cultural settings. Shayne has a PhD in International Law from Columbia Pacific University (California). (Read more about Shayne)

• Chuck Swezey, Treasurer, Scenic Nevada — Chuck has provided outstanding service to Scenic Nevada as a volunteer par excellence,who not only "talks the talk but walks the walk". (More About Chuck Swezey)



• Steve Walther, Esquire, Attorney — Mr. Walther has been active in protecting the environment in Northern Nevada for many years. In 1992, he co-founded the Washoe Parks Foundation, now known as the Nevada Land Conservancy, and served as Chair of its Board of Trustees for six years. Over the last several years, Mr. Walther has been dedicated to preserving the integrity of the Southwest Truckee Meadows Land Use and Transportation Plan, the plan adopted by the Washoe County Commission in the early 1980s. (More about Steve Walther, Esquire, Attorney-at-Law )

• Christi Cakiroglu, Executive Director, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful — Christi has provided outstanding work to keep our highways and byways clear of debris and organizes the recycling of Christmas trees and phone books. (Read more about Christi)



• Scott Gibson, Professional Engineer — Scott is a local civil engineer who has made Reno his home since 1995. He was a founding board member and has served three terms as president of Scenic Nevada. (More about Scott Gibson)



• Phil DeManczuk, Professional Wild Life Photographer, Protect our Washoe — Phil is an award winning, internationally published, wildlife landscape and expedition photographer. (Learn more about Phil's work)



• Stacey Crowley, Architect — Stacey helped design a Power Point presentation on "Sprawl in the Truckee Meadows" and has made many presentations to many service clubs, Neighborhood Advisory Boards, environmental groups etc. Stacey is also serving as Vice-Chairman of the Truckee Meadows Growth Task Force (TMGTF) and is helping forge public policy regarding "Smart Growth" in the Truckee Meadows. (Read more about Stacey Crowley)

• U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader — Senator Reid, was recognized by the Conservations League's National Environmental Score Card with a rating of 92% for his votes for environmental legislations in the 107^th Congress (More about Senator Reid)

• Sunny Minedew, Film Producer — Sunny filmed, edited and produced a pro bono video tape on "Scenic Nevada" goals, objectives and activities. She is also a long time volunteer for PBS Channel 5, and Sierra Nevada Community Access Television, and has won a number of awards for her productions. (Read more about Sunny's work in film)



• Peter Chase Neumann — Mr. Neumann is a past president of Nevada Trial Lawyers Association (NTLA) and of the Reno Chapter of American Bd. Of Trial Advocates. He has taught at law school and trial lawyer seminars, and the National Judicial College in Reno, was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for a term of four years and serves on the board of Scenic Nevada and Scenic America. (Read More about Peter Chase Neumann)



• Renate Neumann, Artist — Renate was born and raised in southern Germany. She studied in Stuttgart and earned a Masters of Arts degree from the university in Munich. She moved to New York City in 1964 and worked as a commercial artist in Manhattan for five years before coming to Reno (Read more about Renate)



• Doug Smith, Chairman, Board of Directors, Scenic Nevada — Doug formed Citizens for a Scenic Reno in January of 2000 along with concerned citizens who desired to limit the proliferation of billboards and wanted to assist in rewriting a new Billboard Ordinance. Smith has served as Chairman of Scenic Nevada for the past two years. He received the W. Clark Santini Cup in May 2002 because of his work leading a grass roots petition effort that helped usher in a law to curtail billboard advertising in the Truckee Meadows. In 2004 Doug was awarded the Pine Cone Award for his work with Scenic Nevada. (Read more about Doug Smith)



• Member, Scenic America, Board of Directors — About the board

• W. Chris Wicker, Esquire, Attorney-at-Law — Mr. Wicker is Scenic Nevada's legal counsel and is currently involved in representing the legal interests of the organization. He defended Scenic Nevada when the billboard industry filed a SLAPP (Strategic Litigation against Public Participation) lawsuit, resulting in their unsuccessful attempt to remove the organization's initiative from consideration on the November 2000 ballot. (Read more about Chris Wicker)

• Toni Harsh, Former Reno City Council person — Toni Harsh was elected to the Ward 1 seat in November 2000. Harsh's business experience includes ownership of several family businesses; She has demonstrated immense support for Scenic Nevada by consistently defending the results of the 2000 ballot initiative R-1. (Read more about Toni's accomplishments)



• Marilyn Melton, Artist — Marilyn is a third generation Nevadan. Her great-grandparents came to Virginia City from Ireland in 1863. She is an accomplished artist and has been involved in many community activities and has served on numerous civic boards. Her honors include an Honorary Doctorate from UNR. (Read more about Marilyn's accomplishments)



• Jessica Sferrazza, Reno City Council person — Jessica Sferrazza was elected to the Ward 3 seat in November of 2000. Sferrazza has demonstrated immense support for Scenic Nevada by consistently defending the results of the 2000 ballot initiative R-1. (Read more about Jessica)

• Buffy Jo Dreiling, Esquire, Attorney-at-Law



• Jim & Sherry Pilzner, Nevada Office Machines — The Pilzners have been the owner of Nevada Office Machines in Reno for 12 years and have sold office equipment for over 25 years. The Pilzners are an active members in the community (Read more about their contributions)



• Walt Roskoski, Micasa Too — Walt is a proud co-owner of the local restaurant chain Micasa Too that specializes in fine Mexican food. Micasa Too has two locations in Reno and one in Carson City and has been voted "Best Mexican Restaurant" in the Reno Gazette-Journal and the Nevada Appeal readers' polls. (Read More About the Walt and Penny)

• Vivian Freeman, Former Nevada Assemblywoman — Vivian Freeman is Reno's senior Assemblywoman in the Nevada Legislature. She sponsored legislation that allows people who wish to circulate petitions in front of public buildings to do so without any legal barriers. She also introduced this legislation in part to ensure that organizations like Scenic Nevada could get petition signatures just as they did in 2000 for their billboard initiative petition. (Read more about Vivian)



• W. Chris Wicker, Esquire, Attorney-at-Law — Mr. Wicker is Scenic Nevada's legal counsel and is currently involved in representing the legal interests of the organization. He defended Scenic Nevada when the billboard industry filed a SLAPP (Strategic Litigation against Public Participation) lawsuit, resulting in their unsuccessful attempt to remove the organization's initiative from consideration on the November 2000 ballot. (Read more about Chris Wicker)