B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Newport’s dynamic duo, Catherine Thyen and Olivia Johnson, co-chaired

the recent third annual gala for the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center,

bringing together more than 300 local guests and raising more than

$200,000. The funds will be used to support the center’s operation and

the education mission of the science operation.

Rob Kent, Discovery board chairman, was on hand for the event, along

with the science center’s president, Karen Johnson. In the crowd were

Lido Isle’s Dee and Larry Higby, Bob and Peggy Goldwater Clay, Janet and

Walkie Ray, and Sen. Joe and Diane Dunn.

Guests in black tie were invited to participate in the interactive

science exhibits and to discover what children experience, usually in

less formal attire.

“It’s all about supporting the education programs in science for the

children,” Thyen said as she examined fellow board member Kent lying on a

bed of nails in his tux.

“No puncture wounds that I can see,” mused Thyen, a devoted supporter

of many local charitable endeavors.

Discovery Science Center has attracted more than 150,000

schoolchildren since it opened in 1998 in Santa Ana. Major support for

the center has come from locals John and Donna Crean, Orange County

edition of The Times, Boeing Co., Conexant Systems Inc., Varco

International, and the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, to name a

few.

And speaking of John Crean, the king of recreational vehicles

addressed the guests of Round Table West this week at The Balboa Bay Club

in Newport Beach. He presented his new autobiography, titled, “The Wheel

and I.”

Crean has been working on the very personal book for some time. The

handsome leather-bound story chronicles Crean’s rise from obscurity to

fame and fortune, sharing lessons learned, mistakes overcome, as well as

the power of personal values and experiences filled with both humor and

pathos.

This book is a great read for young people wondering how one might

find a future coming from very little. The quintessential American

Horatio Alger tale offers straight-ahead no-nonsense words from a guy who

knows the value of “telling it like it is.”

Donna and John Crean have been staunch supporters of the authors’

program known as Round Table West, produced by another pair of truly

unique Americans, Margaret Burke and Marilyn Hudson.

What an honor to have Crean at the lectern rather than at his reserved

front-row table. The crowd roared at his disarming wit.

* * *

More than 300 guests packed the new Louis Vuitton South Coast Plaza

Store for a midweek celebration to mark the expansion and reopening of

the venerable boutique. It was all planned by Vuitton and the local group

known as The Harvesters, supporting the Second Harvest Food Bank of

Orange County.

Coming off of the success of their recent fall fashion show and

luncheon held at The Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, Harvester

organizers pulled out all the stops to ensure a massive success for the

French luxury goods purveyor.

“This is certainly an impressive gathering to launch the store,”

commented local social observer John Wortmann of Lido Isle. “And besides,

everyone is having a great time.”

The event not only brought recognition and a sizable donation to The

Harvesters, it also introduced the new pret a porter collection of Marc

Jacobs, designing the line for Vuitton.

On hand for the gala opening was longtime Vuitton manager Bob Cielo

and representatives from South Coast Plaza, including Werner Escher,

Debra Gunn Downing and Billur Wallerich.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.