NOTES AND QUOTES for a Saturday in the Napa Valley:

The Anthony Gee Project handed out fifth-grade awards to students at its May graduation ceremonies at elementary schools in American Canyon.

The award was an all-expense paid trip to an Oakland A’s game on a luxury bus. The students qualified by earning recognition for citizenship, best improved, best grades, and the “Anthony Gee Award,” meaning a helpful and kind student.

The Anthony Gee Project, named after the late Anthony Gee, took 34 people to the Chicago White Sox-Oakland A’s game last month. The kids were treated to a luxury bus ride, snacks, an Anthony Gee Project T-shirt, Oakland A’s baseball cap, game tickets, pizza, hot dogs and drinks.

The Project is a nonprofit organization, supported by grants and donations. Coca-Cola, the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Willie McGee and the family of Dontrelle Willis are some of the Project’s major sponsors.

Cooking classes, high school community service credits, and job skill training for school credits are future events that the Project has planned. The organization’s next major fundraiser will be an adult day trip, to and from Reno on a luxury bus. All proceeds from the casino trip will go toward funding cooking and job skills programs.

All programs are run in American Canyon to benefit local youth.

Gee played baseball in the Napa Valley, starting out in Little League in Calistoga, where he was raised. He was voted to All-Star teams. In addition, he played fall ball in St. Helena during the offseasons and by age 13, was recruited to play on three traveling high-level teams.

One of the travel teams made it to a national tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., where Gee pitched.

In 2003, he was selected to participate on a national touring team representing the U.S. in Puerto Rico.

In 2004, Gee won a prestigious Dusty Baker Award at a state baseball camp held in Sacramento and attended by players from California and other states.

In 2006, at the age of 15, he pitched an impressive no-hitter in Reno as part of a traveling team’s state tournament.

Gee enrolled at Fairfield High School his senior year and was a member of the varsity baseball team.

Gee’s former pitching coach, Anthony Wadley, is the vice president and co-founder of the Anthony Gee Project, a youth service organization formed to offer and promote healthy wholesome experiences in sports, education and job skill training.

The goal is to continue Gee’s legacy for sports and service to others.

More information is available at www.

anthonygeeproject.org.

———

The U.S. Auto Club and Calistoga Speedway will honor the overall points champion in the midget division at this weekend’s Vermeil Classic with the Rick Arata Memorial Midget Championship Award.

Arata was a life-long Napa resident and was actively involved in California sprint car and midget racing for over 40 years.

With encouragement and assistance from Louie Vermeil, Arata and racing partner Bill Crowley started their open wheel racing careers in 1966 at Calistoga Speedway with the Northern Auto Racing Club.

Over the next decade, Arata built several race cars and supported NARC at tracks throughout the state.

In the 1990s, Arata and his sons, Jeff and Anthony, formed Arata Brothers Racing, campaigning in both the midget and midget lite divisions of the Bay Cities Racing Association.

The award will be presented following the midget main event Sunday.

———

Justin-Siena graduate Gabby Pecora led Dominican University of California with 10 kills, 17 digs and three assisted blocks in a 3-1 nonconference volleyball loss Wednesday night to host Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock.

———

A team from Eagle Vines Vineyards & Golf Club finished 24th in the Northern California Golf Association Zone Championship, which was played Monday and Tuesday at Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills on the Monterey Peninsula.

Mark Morris, Tim Cullen, David Pennycook and Bernie Zipp represented Eagle Vines.

The 42nd annual tournament received more than 1,400 individual entries this year, with the top two teams in each of the 14 NCGA zones making it to the championship.

———

Lindsay Brown of Napa played well for the Sonoma State volleyball team in wins Thursday over BYU-Hawaii (3-0) and Seattle Pacific (3-0) during the CWU Invitational in Ellensburg, Wash.

She had 33 assists, five kills, two service aces, two digs and three assisted blocks against BYU-Hawaii.

Against Seattle Pacific, the Napa High graduate had 33 assists, five kills and four solo blocks.

At 6-0, the Seawolves are off to their best start since the 2001 season.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.