Ruritans honor students, responders, others

The Short Pump Ruritan Club held its annual community awards picnic June 25 at the Shady Grove Methodist Church, presenting checks to the Fisher House at McGuire VA Hospital and to seven high school seniors from Henrico. The club also recognized the Henrico Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, Henrico Firefighter of the Year, and the Short Pump Business Person of the Year.

Among college-bound students receiving scholarship checks of $1,000 each were Rishi Patel (Deep Run H.S./Va. Tech), Reilly Towns (Godwin H.S./Va. Tech), Yashodhara Varma (Maggie Walker Governor’s School/ Cambridge University), and Seth Forest (Freeman H.S./University of Southern California), Mariana Ritchie (Deep Run H.S./George Mason University), Emerson Collins (Tucker H.S./Carnegie Mellon University), and Ruohan Ding (Deep Run H.S./Va. Tech).

Bill Upton, owner and manager of Ballou Justice Upton Architects, was recognized as Business Person of the Year. A veteran and architect, Upton has served the Short Pump community for more than 40 years as a Boy Scout leader and through his church work. He and his wife, Grace, raised four sons, who all became Eagle Scouts, and as a Young Men’s leader he took the scouts on numerous adventure trips. Upton also is a long-time supporter of the Short Pump Ruritans’ golf tournament, which helps fund the club’s charitable efforts.

Firefighter of the Year Daniel Schwartz has served 31 years with the Henrico Division of Fire, on assignments that include the Tactical Rescue Team, Search & Rescue Dive Team, and training of new recruits. Schwartz currently heads the new Fire Station 19 off Kain Road and coordinates the Robotics Response Team.

Police Officer of the Year Ronald Graves is a 14-year veteran of the Henrico Division of Police.

Assigned to the School Services Unit for the last two years, Graves has worked with more than 60 Short Pump M.S. technology/forensics students after school to prepare them for the national TSA forensics challenge. As a result, the SPMS Law Enforcement Club, which had not been active since 2014, has been re-established. Graves also teaches classes about opioid abuse, alcohol awareness, tobacco and e- cigarettes, social media dangers, and bullying. He hosted a booth at the eighth-grade career fair and makes a point of attending after-school events and spirit nights.