Westlake celebrates special residents




Drew Nora

Drew Nora

Civic engagement involves more than just voting. It’s about attending city meetings, engaging with leaders and volunteering to help in the community

Every year the City of Westlake Village recognizes three residents for their efforts to improve the quality of life within the community. These are this year’s winners.

Youth of the Year

Drew Nora, 18, is a member of the Boys Team Charity, a volunteer service organization, through which he has tutored for over 100 hours at Many Mansions. He has volunteered extensively at Casa Pacifica.

For five years, Nora has been a youth referee for the American Youth Soccer Organization. He was captain of the Agoura High School junior varsity soccer team and was on the honor roll for three years.

He was also involved with the city’s Cultural Recreation Advisory Board.

“I just like helping out the community. I really enjoy giving back to Westlake. The city is my home, and I really enjoy giving back to the city that’s given me so much,” Nora said. “I never worried about the amount of hours or which places I was volunteering at. I was happy to do something fulfilling, whether it was cleaning the beach or tutoring at Many Mansions. It made me happy to put a smile on someone else’s face, making someone else’s day. It gave me a lot of joy.”

Don Meyer

Don Meyer

Nora received a $500 scholarship that he will put toward his education at North Carolina University, where he will major in business and music.

Older American of the Year

Don Meyer has lived in Westlake Village since 1976.

Meyer, 92, is an Army veteran who was stationed in Japan in the aftermath of World War II. He has been a member of the Westlake Yacht Club since 1977. He serves on the Cultural Recreation Advisory Board and is a member of the Community Service Fund Advisory Committee, which he has been involved with for many years.

Michael Lang

Michael Lang

“I feel that all the civic work I’ve done and the work I’ve done with the yacht club contributed to them deciding to give the award to me. I feel very humbled and very pleased the city chose me,” Meyer said. “I figured at 92 I want to keep active as much as I can.”

The Older American of the Year program was started by Los Angeles County, and cities within the county can participate, if they choose.

Meyer was awarded a plaque commemorating his service to the city. In any other year, he and a city official would be taken to lunch at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles as part of the program, but that event has been suspended due to the pandemic.

Citizen of the Year

Graphic designer Michael Lang, 55, received the 2020 Citizen of the Year award for his ongoing involvement with the city.

Lang moved to Westlake Village as a teenager in 1980. He graduated from Westlake High School and then left the area for college and work. He returned in 1998 to raise his family.

Lang has coached community youth basketball and volleyball teams. He’s volunteered with the Foundation for Las Virgenes Schools, a parent-led volunteer organization that helps the Las Virgenes Unified School District, and he’s spent the last 15 years using his graphic design skills to help the city.

“It’s something I can give back that’s just time. I was trying to find something to give back. There’s a freedom—it’s not someone leaning over my shoulder. People are more thankful for getting a design done for free. I think it’s some of my best work,” Lang said. “In Westlake Village I think I’ve been the only designer for the last 15 years. I’ve designed the monthly newsletter, banners around town, events and I’ve worked with Agoura Hills, too.”

For the past three years Lang has designed and installed gallery exhibits for Agoura Hills’ annual Reyes Adobe Days festival, and he’s designed all the marketing materials for White Oak Elementary School’s fundraisers for the last four years.

Lang has served on Westlake Village’s Cultural Recreation Advisory Board for the past five years.

He said he was surprised and pleased to be named Citizen of the Year. The city donated $500 to the charity of his choice, and Lang chose Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank.

Follow Ian Bradley on Twitter @Ian_ reports.