If the Santa Clarita Valley boasts a “Renaissance Man,” Dr. Alan Barbakow, D.D.S., fits the bill. Barbakow, the SCV’s first orthodontist, is known for his passionate support of causes as diverse as children, education, women’s issues, the arts and health.

He will be feted Friday, Nov. 6 as the honoree at the 25th annual Zonta Club of SCV Tribute Dinner to be held at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills.

“Alan Barbakow has made a significant difference for Santa Clarita Valley non-profits in the past 38 years,” said Cindy Kittle, current Zonta Club of SCV president. “He has always been an enthusiastic and generous supporter of nonprofits that make a difference in the quality of life of people in the SCV.”

Barbakow is the current president of the Betty Ferguson Foundation board, past board president of the Child & Family Center, a founding member of the Santa Clarita Arts Council and the Foundation for Children’s Dental Health.

He also has served two stints working on capital campaigns for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

In 1994 Barbakow and long-time SCV volunteer Pat Allen were named SCV Man and Woman of the Year — an honor reserved for individuals who have proved themselves with many years of community service to numerous organizations in the community.

“At the time we called ourselves the Alan-Allen Team,” Barbakow said.

Barbakow is a multi-faceted individual with interests ranging from architecture to dancing — and has earned himself a reputation as a “Renaissance Man.”

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Barbakow earned his dental degree in 1971 from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry with an advanced speciality in orthodontics.

Barbakow describes himself as a “city kid” who was raised in Los Angeles by his father, a shipping clerk and his mother, a secretary.
“I was the first one in the family to earn a college degree,” he said.

He came to the SCV to practice his specialty immediately upon graduation.

“I was the classic laughingstock of the USC Dental School. Orthodontists don’t go to communities that just had earthquakes (the Feb. 9, 1971 Sylmar earthquake),” said Barbakow. “The population was diminished by 25 percent in the first six months after the quake. So we were a downwardly mobile community at the time. The area was not just underserved it was nonserved — there were no specialists out here at the time.”

However, Barbakow saw the potential in the SCV as the small — but growing — master planned community of Valencia had seen its first residents move into Old Orchard I in 1967. As Valencia grew, the demographic of the SCV began to change and residents saw the need for an orthodontist.

“I’ve always been an optimist,” said Barbakow.

When Barbakow, a self-described “scavenger” saw a truck loaded with redwood timbers — debris from the 1971 earthquake that was being carted off to the dump — he saw an opportunity.

“I purchased the wood and had it stored at Montie Montana’s,” said Barbakow.

Montana was an actor who had appeared in a number of John Wayne movies. He was also a rodeo entertainer and trick roper and a fixture on the rodeo circuit in the United States and Canada. Montana appeared in more than 60 annual Tournament of Roses parades in Pasadena — waving to the crowd from his silver saddle.

Barbakow used the timbers to construct his suite of orthodontic offices on Lyons Avenue, after an intense effort to get the property along Lyons rezoned from agricultural to commercial.

“I wanted to make it a showplace,” he said.

During construction of the building, which also houses Sid’s Hair Salon and several other businesses, problems with his contractor forced Barbakow to become an “owner/builder.”

However, after all the challenges were met, his orthodontic practice moved down the street into his completed offices, on July 1, 1977.

Barbakow decorated his offices with frontier antiques he obtained from a closed frontier museum in Santa Rosa, N.M. The antique wagons he purchased from the museum he placed in front of the rustic, Western-themed building with the wooden facade.

The collection of tack and harness — and other frontier memorabilia — hangs from nearly every available space and high in the rotunda of his spacious office.

“I hired 10 docents from that museum to rent 10 cars and 10 trailers to bring the stuff back to the SCV,” Barbakow said. “I bought 10 horse drawn vehicles that used to line the front of the building. The horse drawn vehicles were placed on the trailers and in the horse drawn vehicles they stored all the things you see here. All of it got to delivered to Monte Montana, he restored all the wagon wheels and all the vehicles He delivered it here just before the grand opening.”

The grand opening of his new office became a huge event in the SCV.

“At the grand opening Montie Montana brought a black stallion in here and gave the kids rides,” Barbakow said. “Everyone had a great time.”

After living in Newhall for many years Barbakow built a home in Malibu where he now lives with his wife of more than 30 years, Rïse.

He is the father of five and grandfather of seven, “with an eighth on the way.”

Barbakow practices in Newhall two days a week, when he also attends board meetings and other social engagements.

He can often be spotted at weekend fundraisers throughout the SCV as well.

Barbakow said he is honored to be the Zonta Club Tribute Dinner honoree.

“The truth is I am being honored by women that I truly honor,” he said. “These are not just regular women — these are women that truly follow their creed, they are born to serve and honor ‘service above thyself.’ They have a focus on service... They want to make an impact.”

Kittle said the event will benefit the philanthropic programs of the Zonta Club of SCV including scholarships, grants to other SCV nonprofits, Healthy Woman’s Day (free breast cancer and other medical screenings) LifeForward workshops to foster economic and self-sufficiency for women in the SCV and the Virginia Wrage Memorial Fund which provides financial support for women in mid-life facing life changing challenges.

“Our auction committee had a wonderful brainstorming session and came up with many items that have never been seen before,” said Kittle.

Among the items up for auction will be a dinner hosted by Rïse and Alan Barbakow in their Malibu home, five books written and autographed by Tom Brokaw, Red, White and Blueberry 4th of July breakfast, dinner for eight created by Chef Chris New of Elite Dining & Catering and other unique and different auction items.

Attendees will also be able to sign up (for a small fee) on Barbakow’s dance card, for a special turn around the dance floor with the orthodontist who is known as one of the most gifted dancers in the SCV.

“Zonta is about real programs, hands on service and really making a difference in the community by both time and energy,” said Kittle. “We think our programs make the SCV a better place. We are careful stewards of the time and money the community has invested in Zonta.”

The Zonta Club of SCV now boasts 76 members and is always looking for dynamic women with a passion for volunteering, said Kittle.

Past Zonta Tribute honorees have included Michael Antonovich, Ruth and Scott Newhall, The Signal, Howard “Buck” McKeon, Jo Anne Darcy, Dianne Van Hook, Jack Shine, Sherman Block, Jim Ventress, Don and Cheri Fleming, Bob Kellar, Keith Richman, Mike Berger, Duante Harte and Mike Lebecki.

Chairwomen of this year’s Zonta Tribute are Cathie Kincheloe, Peggy Edwards and Michele Mann.

“I love women, I always have and these are really fine women — none of them take themselves too seriously,” said Barbakow.
“These are women that I truly, truly honor and to be honored by them is really more important than by being honored by anybody else. Working together is what they’re all about. It’s very supportive group, they’re really good women.”

Tickets are still available to the Zonta Club of SCV Tribute Dinner 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 Odyssey Restaurant, 15600 Odyssey Drive, Granada Hills. Tickets $100 per person, $125 at the door. Cocktail attire. Hors d’oeuvres, no-host bar, dinner, dancing, entertainment, tribute and auction. Event information: (661) 252-9351.