Centreville Stake honors local leaders for commitment to families

While there were distinguished honorees and guests at the event, the focus was on families in Saturday’s 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 high place of the family in society.

Those honored on Saturday were Father Ramón Dominguez (of the Don Bosco Center, Youth Apostles), Pastor Barry White (of the Park Valley Church, Haymarket) and Virginia Delegate Tim Hugo.

“Each of these great leaders has in his own unique way worked to serve, bless and protect families in our area,” said Jon Dionne, President of the Centreville Virginia Stake.

Father Ramón Dominguez works with at-risk youth in Manassas. He is described as a beloved Priest who spends countless hours on the front lines of our society trying to help and encourage these youth through sports, academic assistance and mentoring. In addition to the Family Value Award presented to him by President Dionne, Manassas Mayor Hal Parrish also honored him with a mayoral citation commending him for his unfailing dedication and service to the youth in the Georgetown South area of Manassas.

Father Ramón, as he is affectionately known, was surprised at the podium when two young men whom he had helped to “get their lives in order” asked to speak a few words of tribute to their beloved friend and spiritual mentor. Father Dominguez, visibly moved, said: “I am not one who enjoys such attention, but I feel truly humbled today by this great honor.”

After accepting his award, Pastor Barry 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 Pastor White noted each family has its 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 Pastor White interacted with his family using such love and respect.

In his tribute to Pastor White, Prince William County Gainesville District 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. Evidence of his success at blessing and keeping families together is the sheer growth of his church. “Pastor White’s is one of the fastest growing churches in the county,” noted Candland.

In brief remarks Delegate 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, Prince William County Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson lauded Delegate 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 every day.”

In her tribute, Congresswoman Comstock spoke of her friendship with Delegate Tim Hugo. “Over the years we’d speak often by phone and I could always hear his children in the background,” she noted. “It was an early indication to me of his commitment to his own family.”

And Tim was “absolutely instrumental in passing legislation to help prevent human trafficking,” said Lawson.

The legislation raised the penalty for abducting any individual for the purposes of prostitution or abducting a minor for child pornography.

“Tim Hugo had the wisdom to see early on that human trafficking, especially of children, was not some issue relegated to far off places but one that affects us all, and is particularly detrimental to the place of the family,” added Lawson.

She noted how Hugo worked tirelessly to put in place the legislation that helped change the trajectory of this crime in our state.