Silver Jubilee Brunch To Raise Funds for Troop 1 Scouts Affected by Eaton Fire

The twenty-fifth annual Silver Jubilee Women of Eagle Scouts Brunch, themed “Wind Under Their Wings,” will celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts who have guided young men and women on their road to earning the rank of Eagle Scout. The event will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at a private location in Pasadena, with a portion of proceeds benefiting scouts in Troop 1 affected by the recent Eaton Fire.

“The committee welcomes the community to attend and honor the Women Behind the Eagle Scouts,” said the organizing committee, led by Co-Chairs Vicki Elliott of San Marino and Suko Gutoh of Glendale.

The celebration will begin with a hosted reception at 10:30 a.m., where local Boy Scouts will greet guests. The brunch and program will follow at 11:15 a.m., featuring Scouts from troops throughout the San Gabriel Valley leading the pledge of allegiance. The event will conclude at 1:30 p.m.

Andrew D. Bernstein, renowned sports photographer and founder of Andrew D. Bernstein Associates Photography, Inc., will deliver the keynote address. Bernstein serves as the official photographer for several Los Angeles professional sports teams, including the Lakers and Clippers. Now in his 33rd consecutive season, he is the longest tenured NBA league photographer and has been the official team photographer for the Kings for twenty-two years. He was previously the team photographer for the Dodgers from 1983 to 1994.

Bernstein has also been the photographer for the United States Olympic national basketball team since the 1992 “Dream Team” and has extensively covered all USA gold medal-winning teams.

He is the director of photography for Crypto.com Arena and Nokia Theater LA Live and has been since the ribbon was cut in both buildings in 1999 and 2007, respectively.

He has worked commercially on numerous major advertising campaigns.

His work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and is on permanent display at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Bernstein was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and hosts “Through The Lens,” a regular feature on the Lakers channel featuring a unique perspective of Lakers history through his photos which Bernstein hosts with a famous guest.

The program will include musical performances by Mimi Bernstein, a junior at San Marino High School and chorister with the Grammy award-winning Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. She will sing selections from The Great American Songbook, accompanied by her vocal coach, Wendy Pylko. Mimi dreams of becoming either a vocal performer or a music therapist, as she wants to spread comfort and support through her love of music.

Pylko earned her M.M. in vocal arts at USC, is a former professor at Cal Poly Pomona, has taught artists in the LA Opera, and has performed in numerous musical theatre roles and voice over recordings.

Tyler S. Young, an Eagle Scout from Troop 359 San Marino, will present the Scout message. For his Eagle Project, Young chose City of Hope Hospital as a way of giving back for their care of his mother. He assembled over 700 patient information resource kits for breast cancer patients, distributed 500 QR codes to expand the AYA (Adolescent Young Adult) Community Toolkits’ digital reach, and raised $3,600 for the AYA Community.

A high school senior planning to study aerospace engineering, Young is active in student government, clubs, choir, school plays and musicals, the badminton team, and volunteers at Huntington Hospital. He also enjoys collecting Funko Pops and Transformers, and traveled to France in 2023 where he sang with his choir group at the Eiffel Tower, Meaux Cathedral, and Vaux Le Vicomte.

The Invocation will be presented by Mona Mapel, a San Marino resident, philanthropist, devoted volunteer, and the founding chairman of the Wind Under Their Wings Brunch.

The Silver Jubilee will recognize founding chairman Mona Mapel along with founding members Jeanine Cushman, Judy Davis, Sallie Determan, Joan Dietrick, Gwen Krogen, Sue Newton, Janet Orswell, and Valerie Gumbiner Weiss. Tinker Bayle and Jean Simpson will be recognized in memoriam.

This year’s committee includes Avery Barth, Janice Conzonire, Mary Falkenbury, Wendy Greenleaf, Ann Kunitake, Mona Mapel, Patricia Tom Mar, Valerie Gumbiner Weiss, Karen Wicke, and Julie Wong Tam of San Marino; Judith Din, Julie Foong, Jane Laudeman, Rhea Gonzaga, and Robin Puri of Pasadena; Ellen Chiechi of Arcadia; Vivian Chan of San Gabriel; and Cindy Sercel of Lakeview Terrace.

Tickets for the brunch cost $75 per person, which includes mementos and entry into an Opportunity Drawing.

Reservations, sponsorships, and underwriting opportunities are available at https://keeponscouting.org/wutw/.

For additional information, interested parties may contact committee member Robin Puri at (626) 673-7874.