Around Town: Lobster lovers unite Sunday at annual Newport feast

Draw the butter — Lobsterfest is back.

The feast, in its ninth year, will return Sunday to Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, featuring whole Maine lobsters — flown in the morning of the event — plus a buffet of New York strip steak, corn on the cob, red potatoes, salads, sourdough rolls and dessert, plus a full bar, raffles and live music.

The festivities will run from 3 to 8 p.m. at the resort, 101 N. Bayside Drive, Newport Beach. General admission tickets are $60 in advance and $80 at the door. Tickets for children younger than 12 are $20 in advance.

VIP tickets are $150 in advance and include all-you-can-eat lobster, complimentary beer and wine, valet parking and reserved stage-side seating.

Tickets are available at lobsterfestatnewportbeach.com.

Proceeds will benefit Make-A-Wish Orange County & the Inland Empire, which grants wishes to young people with life-threatening illnesses, and Leadership Tomorrow, a program intended to help businesspeople, residents, community activists and public employees learn more about their community.

Actress Jane Lynch goes musical for Festival of Arts show

Actress Jane Lynch, best known for her role as Sue Sylvester in the TV series “Glee,” will show her musical side by performing a comedy cabaret show from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday as part of the Festival of Arts’ Concerts on the Green series in Laguna Beach.

Concerts on the Green are free with festival admission at 650 Laguna Canyon Road.

The series also will feature Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band on Aug. 19.

For more information, call (800) 487-3378 or visit foapom.com/events/concerts-on-the-green.

Newport Elementary gets new principal

Amanda Estrada has been named principal of Newport Elementary School.

Estrada comes to the Newport Beach campus after serving as assistant principal for College Park and Mariners elementary schools. Her appointment is scheduled to be ratified by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board Aug. 22.

She will replace former Newport Elementary principal Rich Rodriguez, who was transferred to College Park Elementary in Costa Mesa.

“I look forward to continuing the great work at Newport Elementary while collaborating with students, staff and the school community to further improve learning opportunities for students,” Estrada said in a statement.

Corona del Mar High grad honored by Newport council

Mary-Christine “M.C.” Sungaila, a Corona del Mar High School graduate and a partner at the Haynes and Boone law firm in Costa Mesa, recently received a certificate of recognition from her hometown.

City Councilman Will O’Neill gave her the certificate, which recognized her professional achievements and humanitarian work.

Earlier this year, Sungaila received an Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations to recognize her accomplishments in the legal field.

In a news release, Haynes and Boone noted her legal win last year in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a transgender woman from Mexico who was seeking asylum in the United States.

Decorative Arts Society gives $175,000 to Costa Mesa nonprofits

The Newport Beach-based Decorative Arts Society recently gave more than $175,000 to local nonprofits during a luncheon at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.

Recipients included the Costa Mesa-based Down Syndrome Assn. of Orange County, Project Hope Alliance and Youth Employment Service.

Mother’s Market grocery bag sales to help wildlife sanctuary

Costa Mesa-based natural and organic foods retailer Mother’s Market & Kitchen is donating a portion of funds collected from grocery bag sales through Sept. 30.

The money will benefit the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in Modjeska Canyon. Funds will be collected from all seven Orange County Mother’s Market locations.

Newport interim fire chief to be guest at Speak Up Newport event

The Newport Beach Fire Department’s interim chief, Chip Duncan, will be the guest speaker at the Aug. 9 Speak Up Newport meeting.

The event at City Hall will start at 5:15 p.m. with a reception. Duncan, a Newport Beach firefighter since 1987, is scheduled to talk from 6 to 7 p.m.

Admission is free.

UCI professor publishes surfing philosophy book

A UC Irvine philosophy professor has written a book about surfing.

Aaron James’ book from publisher Doubleday is titled “Surfing with Sartre: An Aquatic Inquiry into a Life of Meaning.”

“Written as a conversation with a variety of well-known philosophers, James, a surfer-philosopher himself, finds his main opponent is Jean-Paul Sartre … the French philosopher whose dark existential world views are rebuffed by the surfer’s intrinsic harmony with the state of things.”

“Surfing with Sartre” will be available Aug. 8.

Julie Colgan wins Costa Mesa city award

Costa Mesa City Manager Tom Hatch has given the City Manager Leadership Award for July to Julie Colgan, development services administrative secretary for the city.

Colgan, who started with the city as a temporary employee in April 2012, has been full time since November 2015.

Colgan’s duties include serving as the recording secretary for the Planning Commission, making sure public notices occur on time, and ensuring that agendas and staff reports are ready and copied.