NEIGHBORS / SHORT TAKES : Role Model : A Thousand Oaks teen-ager has been honored for her many hours of volunteer work.

Congratulations to 18-year-old Valerie Sugiyama of Thousand Oaks, who was named the 1992 Outstanding Teen Volunteer by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce.

A list of her past activities: co-chair of the Thousand Oaks Youth Commission; about 160 hours work at Los Robles Regional Medical Center; volunteer at the Thousand Oaks Library; service at a senior day-care center; sophomore class treasurer, junior class president and now senior class president at Thousand Oaks High.

Admit it, you got tired just reading that last paragraph.

But don’t feel too bad, Sugiyama didn’t get there over night.

“I started when I was around 5 or 6 years old and was taking Hawaiian dancing lessons,” she said. “My teacher did a lot of shows for the senior citizens day-care center, the Fitzgerald House, so we did a show every summer.”

So, is Sugiyama ever at home?

“I’m a rather studious person,” she said. “I spend a lot of my time studying.” But what about TV? “I do a lot of that too,” she said.

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Just about everyone has been put on telephone “hold” at one time or another, while a receptionist tries to track down the requested party. It is time-consuming and, at times, irritating.

We were treated to a variation on the theme last week when we called a Ventura business and asked to speak with a woman there. Instead of telling us she could put us on hold, the receptionist said, “I could park you on her line.”

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Now that the big race is over, let’s take a moment to reflect on our selection--the stamp of a thin Elvis. To help us better evaluate the outcome we went to an expert: Raymond Michael, the popular Elvis impersonator from Moorpark.

Early in the stamp contest, Michael seemed to favor the thin Elvis. He was hired by the U. S. Postal Service to appear at an event dressed as the earlier, slimmer version. Why was he the thin guy? “Because they wanted a fat guy to be the old Elvis,” he said. And Michael didn’t qualify.

In reality, Michael was confused about his position on the debate.

“I like the later (fat) Elvis as a performer, but I thought the artwork on the earlier stamp was a lot better,” he said. “And I do more of the concert Elvis in the late ‘60s and ‘70s.”

By the way, Michael picked up 400 Elvis stamps the day they were issued.

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Elvis epilogue: Michael will be swiveling his hips at Cal Lutheran University on Monday evening in a show called “Elvis: A Tribute to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” It will be his fifth annual fund-raising performance at his alma mater.

“You’ll see an Elvis concert of the 1970-71 vintage, with a 28-piece backup band,” he said. “There will be Vegas-style lighting and Vegas-style seating--with small cocktail tables up to the stage.”

Michael is in his 21st year impersonating the King.