JIM DE BOOM -- Community & Clubs

Friends of the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter -- also known as FOCIS

-- will holds its ninth annual “FOCIS on Dining” gourmet dinner series

starting Nov. 13 and running through April 9, 2001. Guests will enjoy

specially prepared full-course dinners at five award-winning restaurants:

Gustav Anders, Five Crowns, The Ritz, Pascal and Scott’s Seafood.

“This year, Hans Prager, owner of The Ritz in Newport Center, has

given FOCIS his whole restaurant on a Sunday so we won’t have to turn

anyone away this year,” said event chairwoman Natalie Mandel.

According to Mandel, an underwriter subscription, at $700 per person,

includes dining at all five restaurants. Individual dining events may be

purchased separately at $100 per person. The series, which sells out

quickly every year, is the shelter’s largest fund-raiser.

Last year, the shelter provided 32,000 beds and 80,000 meals to more

than 1,800 homeless people at a cost of less than $15 per day, per

person, said FOCIS president Freda Warrington.

“The Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter’s temporary program is a model

for others nationwide in helping homeless families become

self-supporting,” she said.

For reservations for the dinner series, call Leslie Miller at (949)

645-5055.

GENDER BARRIER BROKEN: The Newport Harbor-Costa Mesa Lions Club,

a.k.a. Harbor-Mesa Lions, recently welcomed a new member. At the October

general meeting, Tom Mazzone of Costa Mesa was inducted into the formerly

all-women Lions Club. Past governor of District 4-L4 Mike Scheafer

officiated and president Darlene Shelley presented Mazzone with his

membership package and a gift. Members have expressed they would welcome

a male joining, as long as he was brave enough. Mazzone, apparently,

stood up to the challenge.

DONATIONS MADE: Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club president Joe Panarisi and

member Charlie Markel at a recent luncheon presented checks totaling

$4,000 to representatives of the Harbor Area Boys Club; Orange Coast

YMCA; Habitat for Humanity; Estancia High School boys’ and girls’

athletics; Girls Inc.; Girl Scouts; Costa Mesa Senior Center; and

Vanguard University. The donations were from the club’s annual

fund-raising activities, including the Orange County all-star basketball

game and the pancake breakfast.

VIVA LAS VEGAS: The Harbor-Mesa Lions will hold their annual casino

night, “Viva Las Vegas,” on Nov. 17 at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood

Community Center. The event will raise funds for the Lions Sight and

Hearing Foundation, which provides the mobile equipment and van to

conduct sight and hearing tests for local schoolchildren. Tickets for the

event are $25 per person and include a Mexican buffet dinner, live

entertainment, $100 in playing chips and a chance to win two nights in

Las Vegas. The event will run from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets may be purchased

from any Harbor-Mesa member or by calling (714) 962-0265. A limited

number of tickets will be sold at the door that evening. For more

information, or if you are interested in donating to the fund-raiser,

call Barbara Hayward at (714) 545-6126 or Marianne Allen at (714)

534-3791.

HELPING HANDS: Ray Stewart of the Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club notes

that through the Adopt A Social Worker program, the club helped a single

father with a 3-year-old child. The man had lost his job and the Kiwanis

provided him with Mobil gasoline vouchers and grocery store gift

certificates. The club also helped a single mother who is pregnant with

another child by paying for child care.

WORTH REPEATING: From Greg Kelley, president of the Newport Mesa

Irvine Interfaith Council -- “The biggest room in the world is the room

for improvement.’

THIS WEEK’S SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS: Want to get more involved in

your community, make new friends, network, or give something back to your

community? Try a service club! You are invited to attend a club meeting

this coming week. Many clubs will buy your first guest meal for you.

TUESDAY

7:15 a.m. -- The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at the Balboa

Bay Club to hear Bridgette Lindquest of the Newport Beach Conference &

Visitors Bureau.

WEDNESDAY

7:15 a.m. -- The South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at the Center

Club; the Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at the University Athletic

Club.

Noon -- The Orange Coast Exchange Club meets at the Bahia Corinthian

Yacht Club to hear Ray Guna relate his experiences as a member of an Indy

Car pit crew.

6 p.m. -- The Newport-Balboa Rotary Club meets the Bahia Corinthian

Yacht Club to hear Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Glass on the Harbor

Justice Center’s new drug court program.

THURSDAY

7:15 a.m. -- The Costa Mesa Orange Coast Breakfast Lions Club meets at

Mimi’s Cafe for a business meeting.

Noon -- The Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Holiday Inn to see

Bruce Coye present a slide show titled “30-year tour of the Sierras.”;

the Newport Beach-Corona del Mar Kiwanis Club meets at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club; the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the

Riverboat Restaurant to hear James Sievers speak on “An American in Love

with His Country.”; the Newport Irvine Rotary Club meets at the Irvine

Marriott Hotel.

6:30 p.m. -- The Zonta Club of Newport Harbor will meet at the

Clubhouse in Costa Mesa to hear Sal Torres, volunteer coordinator of

Friends In Service for Humanity.

* COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published every Saturday in the Daily Pilot.

Send your service club’s meeting information by Fax to (949) 660-8667,

e-mail to o7 jdeboom@aol.comf7 or by mail to 2082 S.E. Bristol, Suite

201, Newport Beach 92660-1740.