Manion named Arts Ambassador of Month for December

Debbi Manion (right) talks with Menifee 24/7's Kristen Spoon at Santa's Workshop in 2018. (File photo)

By Jim T. Gammill

Longtime Menifee resident and volunteer Debbi Manion has been named Arts Ambassador of the Month for December by Arts Council Menifee.

Manion has called Menifee home since 1991 and has been an active member of the community ever since. She moved with her four children from the Diamond Bar area and noticed right away that there were no places for her girls to play softball. Manion had always been into athletics and had quite the youth sports career, which included her making the varsity teams in both softball and volleyball during her freshman year.

She couldn’t stand the thought that her own children would not be given the opportunity to have the same joyful experience with youth sports, so she did something about it. Just one year after moving to Menifee, she had succeeded in creating a girls’ softball league with the help of her brother and Bobby Sox Softball. By its third year of its existence, the league had 480 players.

Her work within the community continued to grow; with more people choosing to call Menifee home, the needs of the city grew in proportion. Manion was part of the committee that helped get Paloma Valley High School built and once it was established, it was the high school that all of her children would come to attend in its early years.

As her children grew older, they found themselves more drawn to music and ended up participating in the band program at Paloma Valley. The problem was that with only 31 participants, the band was too small to be considered official. It was then that Debbi acted as part of the Band Booster Club. She succeeded in filling the ranks and remained on the booster club in some capacity for 14 years, remaining even after all of her children had graduated.

“It was clear during my first year as head of the booster club that I was not a music buff. One time during the Christmas concert I announced halftime instead of intermission!” Manion recollects. “I was just trying to do whatever was needed for the band and the kids.”

She wore many hats and served many roles while working in the booster club and was even asked one time by a janitor at the school if she would be returning the following year. He thought that she was a teacher because she spent so much time at the school and was shocked to learn that she was just a parent volunteer.

More recently, Manion has held positions in the Lake Menifee Women’s Club, in addition to being the chairperson for the Menifee Santa’s Workshop (for Spark of Love) that is sponsored by The Rotary Club (in which she is the 2020 President Elect). Debbi has been a part of the program for over a decade and is happy to be a part of the cause, which provides a Christmas experience for over 1,200 underprivileged children every year.

Manion has been a part of numerous local events over the years and always thinks to include local artists and Arts Council Menifee. Whenever she finds herself or one of her clubs in need of fliers, painting, or any other sort of artistic input, ACM is always her first stop.

Last year featured an exceptionally fun bit of collaboration between the Rotary Club and Arts Council Menifee that resulted in an ACM painted pinewood derby car that was piloted by one of Manion’s grandsons. One of her other grandsons is former Artist of the Month Joshua Brady, who clearly is continuing her spirit and passion of service to the community. John Tribilhorn of Arts Council Menifee had the following to say of Debbi Manion:

“I have known Debbi since Menifee Valley Middle School band boosters, circa 1997. She has always been the leading voice in middle school and high school to promote and grow the band programs. She’s the one that convinced me to be Paloma Valley band booster president.

“Ever since, I’ve tried to promote music in our community with the enthusiasm I learned from Debbi. Congratulations Debbi, you deserve this recognition for the many years you put into promoting the band programs in Menifee.”

Manion has been an important part of the culture and arts in the City of Menifee for the past three decades and it is for this reason that Arts Council Menifee is pleased to name her as its Arts Ambassador of the Month for December. When she is not busy serving the community, Debbi prepares taxes and helps run a local tree and firewood service with husband, Jim Schultz. They have a large family which includes their six children and 12 grandchildren.