The Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the 2017 Garden Grove Man and Woman of the Year.
This year’s honorees are Charles W. “Chuck” Lake and Vickie Hanssen. They both have many years of volunteerism in the City of Garden Grove and Orange County.
The Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the 2017 Garden Grove Man and Woman of the Year.
This year’s honorees are Charles W. “Chuck” Lake and Vickie Hanssen. They both have many years of volunteerism in the City of Garden Grove and Orange County.
Chuck Lake grew up in Garden Grove and attended Evans Elementary, Lampson (now Ralston) Intermediate and Garden Grove High School. He graduated from the University of California, Irvine with BS and MS degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and recently retired after a 42-year career as a professional civil engineer.
His volunteer activities in Garden Grove include life member of the Garden Grove High School Alumni Association since 2005. He significantly contributed to the maintenance of the school’s on-campus Heritage Hall Museum. He has been a member of the Garden Grove Host Lions Club since 2008 and served as club president in 2011-2012.
He was responsible for the club’s donation and planting of a dozen oak trees in the center divider of Stanford Avenue between Euclid and Ninth streets. He has helped raise $25,000 through their annual Charity Golf Tournament the past five years in which the club donated that money to local community charities.
He was the recipient of the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce Women’s Division Silver Spoon Award for Community Service for his service with the Alumni Association in 2010 and again in 2012 for his service with the Lions Club.
Lake is a member of the Garden Grove Historical Society and his family ties to Garden Grove reach back to 1910 when his grandparents first moved to the community. His father, H. Louis Lake, was our first mayor in Garden Grove. The senior center in Garden Grove is named after his father.
Vickie Hanssen has called Garden Grove home for more than four decades. She volunteers her time with various organizations in the city. She is a board member of the Lamp Lighter Guild and has served as president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and has chaired multiple committees.
She serves on the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival as the associate director of student scholarships where she helps to coordinate and present scholarships for high school seniors within the Garden Grove Unified School District.
She also belongs to the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce Women's Division and currently serves on their executive board. Hansen is also active with Parent Teacher Association, having held multiple officer positions, including president, executive vice president, secretary, parliamentarian and numerous committee chairs.
She currently serves on the Executive Board with Bell Intermediate PTA and is also part of the GGUSD Parent Task Force, which is a committee of district parent leaders who provide feedback on information regarding district programs and parent involvement.
Additionally, Hanssen participates whenever possible with other organizations that include: Orange County Ronald McDonald House, Acacia Adult Services, H.O.P.E., Garden Grove Neighborhood Association, Box Project, and she previously helped to coordinate a book drive for Faylane School's library after it was destroyed by a fire in 2009.
Hansen was honored by Lamp Lighter Guild as a recipient of the Silver Spoon Award for her work with Children's Hospital of Orange County, has received an Honorary Service Award from Garden Park PTA and received the Golden Oak Service Award, which is the most prestigious PTA award in California that's given to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to children and youth in a school or community.
Chuck Lake and Vickie Hanssen will be honored at the annual Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce Gala Dinner and Awards on March 25.
If you are interested in attending, or would like more information, contact the chamber office at 714-638-7950 or visit the website at www.gardengrovechamber.com.
Editor's note: A photo of Vickie Hanssen was not available at press time.
