LA HABRA : ‘Points of Light’ to Welcome Bush

When President Bush lands at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro Wednesday night, Antonio Valle Jr. will be one of six points of light guiding the President’s way into Orange County.

Valle, chairman of the special education department at Sonora High School in La Habra and board president of La Habra City School District, received a telephone call from the White House on Monday, inviting him to be part of the welcoming contingent for Bush. The invitation was Valle’s reward for being named one of Bush’s “1,000 Points of Light.”

“I asked the White House why (he was invited) and the representative said because I was a Point of Light, and I said, ‘Oh, that again,’ ” Valle said. “I thought it was nice.”

Valle, who was named the 17th Point of Light on Dec. 14, 1989, will be joined by five other “Points of Light” from the Southland at the airport greeting ceremony.

“I’m supposed to wear a suit and look nice,” Valle said. “They said they were going to take pictures of us with the President.”

According to a White House press release, the Daily Points of Light recognition program was started by Bush to honor volunteers “who successfully address our most pressing social problems through direct and consequential acts of community service.”

Valle said he was cited for his volunteer work on the National Advisory Council on Neighborhood Housing, which helps prospective homeowners rehabilitate low-income housing. But he is also involved in several other volunteer and community activities. Besides serving on the school board, Valle, an extraordinary minister of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in La Habra, delivers communion to the elderly and assists the local Fire Deparment in food drives for the needy.

Valle said that although he takes pride in his volunteer work, the recognition from the White House “is rather an awkward thing, because you’re sort of saying, ‘Hey, look at me,’ but I’ve found people appreciate (the work).”

Valle added that the White House call put him in an equally awkward position with his wife and children, who were returning from a visit with relatives in Maryland on Monday. The White House official, Valle said, told him that he could bring one guest to the airport--leaving him with the uncomfortable choice of having to choose among his wife, Connee, his son, David, 11, and his daughter, Laura, 14.

“They sort of caught me off guard because I had to choose,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if my wife would be able to make it, and I didn’t know what my son would be doing. So I just figured the safest bet would be to choose my . . . daughter, Laura.”