The focus was on families during the June 6 Family Value Award Ceremony in Centreville. More than 400 attendees paid tribute to several local leaders. The Centreville Virginia Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regularly honors citizens and leaders in the community and government who work to protect and preserve the family in society.
Those so honored were Father Ramón Dominguez of the Don Bosco Center, Youth Apostles; Pastor Barry White of the Park Valley Church, Haymarket; and state Del. Tim Hugo.
Dominguez works with at-risk youth in Manassas through sports, academic assistance and mentoring. In addition to the Family Value Award presented to him by Centreville Virginia Stake President Jon Dionne, Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish also honored him with a mayoral citation commending him for his dedication and service to the youth in the Georgetown South area of Manassas.
Then, after accepting his award, White spoke of his personal family experiences. Raising a family with all the idiosyncratic challenges of a typical home is something he relished. He and his wife are soon-to-be empty nesters and White noted each family has it’s own characteristics but talks of personally missing the “sheer chaos of having kids in the home.”
A congregant said he was initially attracted to the Park Valley Church because of the way White interacted with his family using such love and respect.
In his tribute to White, Prince William County Supervisor Pete Candland related how he came to know the pastor when he worked to convince the VDOT management of the critical need to install a traffic light near the turn off to the new Park Valley Church needed because of the dozens of cars arriving for service there on Sundays.
In brief remarks Hugo expressed gratitude for being honored but said when he heard the kind words spoken to honor him that “they must be talking about someone else.”
In a video tribute, Supervisor Jeanine Lawson of the Brentsville District on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, lauded Hugo as a man who is a “real pillar in the community who is committed to family values,” and a man who has “lived up to that calling everyday.”