Volunteer Rescues Fernando Obelisk

 After civil unrest broke out in May, one of the unlikely targets of graffiti in Woodland Hills was the obelisk in Warner Center Park that honors recipients of the Fernando Award.Because the Fernando Award celebrates those who have provided civic service in the San Fernando Valley, Don Larson did not want to see the obelisk remain in disrepair.Larson, the founder of the Northridge Beautification Foundation, is also the recipient of the first-ever Fernando Impact Award in 2018 for his volunteerism.Over the summer, Larson appeared at the park each morning, working to clean the statue. In addition, he addressed a few structural problems as the marble had shifted.“I do it because I respect the names on it,” Larson told the Business Journal. “I do it because I love the Fernando.”As David Honda, a member of the Fernando Award Foundation’s board, put it: “He is the spirit of what Fernando really is on volunteerism.”