Senator Tom Berryhill made a surprise visit in person to our office in April 2013 and we took this picture holding up the Senate Resolution signed by him, commending Surgical Artistry! Because we were totally surprised by the award, I was given this very nice explanation of the award: “This award was given because of what you and Dr. Wu have done for the people of Modesto! These awards are not given lightly. There is a process that must be gone through and certain criteria that must be met before an award of this type is even considered. You both earned this through all of the selfless, tireless hard work you do every day of the year. The Senator Tom Berryhill’s Sacramento staff did their research and felt you deserved this Senate Resolution.”

Bob Phelan gave me the award

while I was pigging out at the pasta carbo loading feast the night before the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon.  Bob is the District Director at the California State Senate and a great friend of ours.  We sat at the same table during the carbo loading dinner but he seemed a little too well dress and had a name tag on.  Well, I figured he was there to make a political appearance and I figured he had to work that night.  When he was called up to make a speech, I started chowing down at full speed.  I might not run fast, but I can eat fast. Then before you knew it he called my name to come up to receive an award.  Boy was I in for a surprise!   Thank you Bob for working that night.  What he didn’t know was that I was stifling some hiccups while up there on the stage while getting these picture taken:

Bob and his wife Alta also participated in the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon.  It was certainly a pleasant surprise.  Alta recounts the funny look on my face when I had to suddenly stop eating to go up on stage.  She thought it was worthwhile, but there was no picture of that – thank goodness.

Dr. Wu couldn’t be there because she had to rush off to a meeting in Sacramento, and then she was coming home later that night to get ready for the event the next day (The Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon).  But while she was driving home from Sacramento, I updated her on the exciting news of the award, and she was very impressed with the wording on the framed Senate Resolution Award.

A few days later: Dr. Wu and Senator Tom Berryhill

got a chance to meet and the above (on top of the blog) photo was taken.  And several of these other photos were taken.  It was very considerate and we were very honored to have Senator Tom Berryhill visit our office (yet another great surprise!) along with Bob Phelan too.

This is just the beginning

We are proud founders of the Gallo Center for the Arts, founding title sponsors for the Surgical Artistry Modesto Symphony Pops Series / Surgical Artistry Modesto Symphony Fat Cat Classics 2006-2009, and founding title sponsors for the Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon.

The award hangs up proudly at our office near the entrance and it serves as a reminder to us that this is just the beginning of what we set out to do.  We want to do great things for our community here in Modesto, California.  Thank you for the recognition and we hope to continue with our efforts which include performing surgery at a very high level.  And of course that includes a continued effort on continuing our life long learning in medicine.