Carolyn B. Przekurat, a Relief Society spiritual living instructor in the Bear Canyon Ward, Albuquerque New Mexico East Stake, has been appointed chief dietitian officer in the United States Department of Health and Human Services by U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders.
Sister Przekurat will serve a four-year term. Among her duties, she will represent the Surgeon General and the Public Health Service (PHS) as the chief dietitian in contacts with public and professional groups and will advise PHS agencies in development and training.Currently a captain in U.S. Navy, Sister Przekurat earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah. She completed an internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and earned a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. She is a registered, licensed dietitian.
She has vast experience through her career as a dietitian, first in the Army, then in the Navy. Her experience in the PHS has been with the Indian Health Service. It has included chief dietitian at hospitals in Shiprock and Albuquerque, N.M., and dietetic training officer at the Nutrition and Dietetic Training Center in Santa Fe, N.M.
Along with awards as outstanding dietitian of the year in Wisconsin and New Mexico, Sister Przekurat has recieved other honors including the Army Commendation Medal, the U.S. Public Health Service Outstanding Service Medal, and three Unit Commendation Medals.
Government
Bette Worthen of the Visalia 4th Ward, Visalia California Stake, has been named the 1994 Woman of the Year in the 29th Assembly District in California. She was honored in the state Capitol in Sacramento at a special ceremony on the Assembly floor. She has served in the office of Assemblyman Bill Jones for 12 years.
Broadcasting
Bruce L. Christensen, dean of Fine Arts and Communications at BYU received in June the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Ralph Lowell Broadcasting Medal, the top award given in public broadcasting. Brother Christensen began his broadcasting career in Salt Lake City with KSL News, worked for BYU University Relations and then as director of broadcast services before taking a post as general manager of KUED-TV and KUER-FM at the University of Utah in 1979. He left Utah to become president of the National Association of Public Television Stations in Washington, D.C. before spending nine years as president of the Public Broadcasting Service.
Education
David Rickey, counselor in the Young Men presidency of the Fairview Ward, Henderson Nevada Lake Mead Stake, has been selected by the Jewish Labor Committee in New York to study the Holocaust and Jewish resistance. He is one of 46 teaches selected nationwide to participate in the study this summer in Poland and Israel. Brother Rickey is a middle school English teacher. He has been teaching for 10 years.
David R. Jackson, bishop of the El Cerrito Ward, Corona California Stake, was appointed president of the National Independent Private School Association at their Washington, D.C., meeting this year. He owns Fairmont Private Schools of Anaheim, Calif., which was awarded the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1991 by President George Bush and Secretary of Education LaMar Alexander.
Professional
David R. Webster of the Bridlewood Ward, Bountiful Utah Orchard Stake, has been named general manager of Hotel Temple Square Corporation, which oversees operations of the Inn at Temple Square, the Lion House social center, and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Webster, 39, is a University of Utah graduate and earned a master's degree from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz. He has also worked for the Marriott Corporation.
Scholarships
Robin Hoban, a Laurel in the Brooksville Ward, Tampa Florida Stake, is the winner of the 1994 Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program Scholarship. She will spend the next year attending high school in Munich, Germany. She will live with a host LDS family. Robin has been attending Central High School in Hernando County, Florida.
Military
Dennis Rider of the Tokyo 2nd Ward, Tokyo Japan South Stake, is serving as the air attache to Japan, the U. S. Air Force's top diplomatic representative to that country. Brother Rider, a colonel in the Air Force, graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in metallurgical engineering from the University of Utah. He received his pilot wings in 1976. In 1987, he was named the top graduate from more than 400 officers at the Air Force Air Command and Staff College in Alabama. In 1990 he was selected to command a flying squadron of more than 100 instructor and student pilots in Mississippi. He served a mission in Japan.
Royce E. Eves, a U.S. Air Force captain, was recently named the Air Mobility Command's KC-135 Instructor Navigator of the Year. Brother Eves is a counselor in the bishopric of the Plattsburgh Ward, Montpelier Vermont Stake. Competition for the award included members from the Twenty-First and Fifteenth Air Force. Brother Eves is currently serving at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York.
Music
Elma Peine Evensen, 83, has served continuously as a Church organist since 1926 when her family joined the Church in Paola, Kan. Sister Evensen has been branch, ward and stake organist. At present, she is ward organist for the Durango 1st Ward, Durango Colorado Stake. Sister Evensen's husband, Clifford, serves as stake patriarch.
Lindsey Tintle of the Tigard 1st Ward, Tualatin Oregon Stake, won first place on the concert grand harp in the Oregon State Solo Music Contest at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Lindsey is an accomplished pianist and harpist and provides music at many social and civic events. She won with a seven-page memorized rendition of a French song titled "Guitare." She also maintains a 4.0 grade point average at Tualatin High School.
Speech
Erin Calrson of the Beatrice Branch, Lincoln Nebraska Stake, recently won the State Optimist Oratorical Contest in Kearney, Neb. To reach the state competition, Erin won district and zone contests. Her topic was: "Optimism, the Right Stuff." Her award included a $1,500 scholarship. Previously, Erin won fourth place in the Nebraska State Forensics Meet sponsored by the Nebraska State School Association. She will be a junior at Beatrice High School where she is an honor student.
Academics
Brenda Marie Groberg and Michael Andrew Groberg, cousins who served as president and vice president, respectively, of their senior class at Idaho Falls High School last year, were co-valedictorians at graduation. They each also went to the state tournament after winning a district tennis championship. Brenda is a member of the Taylor View Ward, Idaho Falls Idaho South Stake, and Michael is a member of the Idaho Falls 31st Ward, Idaho Falls Idaho Central Stake.
Tania Whitney of the Baker Ward, Denham Springs Louisiana Stake, joined youth from around the nation in Washington, D.C., for the Rural Electric Youth Tour in June. She earned the honor by becoming a finalist in an essay contest sponsored by the rural electric company in her area. Of 372 entries, 12 semifinalists were chosen. They competed in oral presentation, a written test and an interview for four positions as finalists. Tania's essay was titled "Values in Homes."
Centennarian
Mabel E. Parry of the Anaheim 6th Ward, Anaheim California East Stake, celebrated her 100th birthday on June 12. Sister Parry was born in Salt Lake City to Frederick and Elizabeth Beesley. After moving to southern California, she played the violin professionally with several musical groups. She developed a small business selling baby clothes she crocheted. She continues to crochet and sells her handiwork in several stores. She married LeRoy Parry in 1915 in the Salt Lake Temple.
