The Orion/Oxford Community Coalition held its annual Unsung Heroes Awards Banquet on March 31 at Addison Oaks.
The keynote speaker was State Senator Michael Bishop, with music provided by a combined chorus of Lake Orion and Oxford High School students. The coalition honored 19 individuals, including 16 nominated from Lake Orion.
The coalition also honored three individuals from Oxford: John and Iva VanderVoort, nominated by Pam Molik and Jack Gray; and Andy Vascassenno, nominated by Patrick Ball. John VanderVoort is retired, while Iva is head of Special Education Monitors for the Oxford School District bus department. She takes care of the needs of these children as they are transported to and from school, and trains other new employees to be monitors.
Vascassenno has been the football equipment manager for Oxford Schools for 37 years, and supports the Oxford Athletic Department at all sporting events, doing setup, ticket collection, cleanup and anything else that needs to be done. In the spring, he runs the pole vault area at track meets as an official judge.