The Crowd

B.W. Cook

Deborah Harrington chairs the upcoming 1999 Women of Excellence awards

and luncheon in Orange County. On Sept. 15 at the Irvine Marriott Hotel,

nine exceptional local women will be praised for their community service.

“It is the mission of learning for life to instill values through

education that enhances the self-esteem, motivation, and personal

responsibility of America’s youth.” This is the motto for the

organization set to honor Newport’s Judie Argyos for philanthropy, Lynne

Pierson Doti for education, Ruth Ko for arts and entertainment, Pat

McCormick for sports, Trina Roberts-Rosen for social services, Haydee

Velazquez Tillotson for government and law, Julia Ellen Weaver for

business and Betty Teller Werksman for health.

A steering committtee of local responsibility with support from

Chapman University, The Geneva Companies, Northern Trust Bank and the

Warsaw Sports Marketing Center is helping to make the event possible. To

participate, call Brett Beck at (714) 546-4990.

The popular Share Our Selves Annual Holiday Cooking Series is back for

a fourth year. Outstanding local chefs will share with the public their

culinary tips to make Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday

dinners extra special.

Chefs including Celso Razo of Carmelo’s, Paul Jacobsen of The

Riverboat, and John Sharpe of Aysia 101, join the fabulous chair Kathy

Thompson of Corona Del Mar to put on three classes beginning Sept. 19,

followed by Oct. 19, and finally Nov. 15.

Razo will produce an international Thanksgiving feast. Jacobsen will

demonstrate how to do a Christmas dinner New Orleans-style. And Sharp

will prepare a Chinese New Year celebration for the millennium. The $200

cost will benefit the A-Team support guild of Share Our Selves, a

nonprofit organization that provides food, medical, dental and financial

aid for those in need in our community.

Tickets may be purchased for the individual events at $75 each. Call

Verna Degenhardt at (949) 721-1660 and reserve your spot.

The Oaks International Equestrian Show and Jumping Competition returns

to Orange County Sept. 18. The late-summer event for the horse set

attracts a who’s who of Southern California society supporting a number

of worthwhile causes ranging from children’s charity to drug abuse

prevention to land and water conservation to assistance for the the

Reeve-Irvine Center at UCI.

Several years ago, Oaks benefactor Joan Irvine Smith teamed up with

actor Christopher Reeve, injured and paralyzed due to a fall from his

horse. The association, which in part was solidified at a previous Oaks

event and benefit, has produced and funded a research center at UCI to

aid victims of spinal paralysis. That event was instigated by a man named

Kent Waldrep, who became a quadriplegic as the result of a football

accident and founded the National Paralysis Association.

Irvine Smith has become a very involved donor in the pursuit of

answers and a potential cure for those suffering from spinal cord injury.

Funds raised at the Oaks make a difference. Every dollar brings an

eventual solution that much closer. Experts have made tremendous strides

in recent years. The severity of Reeve’s injury, as an example, would

have killed him if it had occurred a decade earlier.

Tickets to the Oaks are $100 per person. Call George Chatney at (818)

997-0002 for reservations and information.

Newport-Mesa’s internationally recognized designer Fari opens his

Costa Mesa studio today for a very special event celebrating his unique

work in the region.

The Previews Estate Specialists of Coldwell Banker will share in an

intimate reception with Fari discussing the design and architectural

future of the Newport Coast and Orange County at large.

“I could live anywhere in the world,” said the private and soft-spoken

designer of multimillion dollar estate homes. “This is the best of all

the world; I could never live anywhere else.”

Fari came to Costa Mesa some 20 years ago to establish his business.

Today he works with his pretty and bright wife, Melinda, along with a

very professional staff, on a select number of important local projects.

“She came into the studio and wanted to buy two chairs,” Fari mused on

how he met his wife. “She got the chairs, I got her.” The couple has a

teenage daughter and an infant son that they bring to their studio daily

(with nanny, toys and, necessary childhood paraphernalia).

“We converted a construction trailer into a nursery,” Fari said. “We

work so much together we wanted our son to be with us.” Some 100 of the

top-selling Coldwell Banker agents in the region will join the Fari

family for an inside look at his very intimate world of design.

Following the afternoon champagne reception in studio, the entourage

will be transported to the Newport Harbor for the ultimate real estate

tour of the summer. As dinner is served on board the yacht Electra, the

Coldwell Banker family will explore the waterfront properties that have

made Newport Beach a world-class resort city.

Now that’s the way to see a house.B.W. COOK’S column appears every

Thursday and Saturday.