Neighbors

Orange Coast College’s culinary art students earned a gold medal last

month at the Culinary Arts Hot Food Team State Championship at the Los

Angeles Trade Tech School. Team members -- including Cheryl Helm, Abbe

Rich, Kasey Korpash, Sue Lester and Matt Sims -- competed against seven

teams representing community colleges, private schools and chef’s

associations within the state. Each team prepared a four-course meal for

four people within 90 minutes. OCC students prepared seafood consomme,

vegetable terrine with micro greens, and duck breast with vegetable

strudel. Dessert was chocolate mousse. Professional chefs from the

American Culinary Federation judged the contest on such criteria as

serving methods, presentation, portion size, nutritional balance, flavor,

organization and sanitation. The OCC team will compete in the Western

Region Culinary Competition on Jan. 21 in Kona, Hawaii ... Navy Petty

Officer 2nd Class Nancy K. Burney, daughter of Costa Mesa resident

William Hobbs, participated in Shadow-A-Student Day at Montgomery Middle

School in San Diego. The annual program paired Burney with a student, and

the pair discussed education, the Navy and other issues ... Sunwest Bank,

headquartered in Orange County, has added three local business leaders to

its board of directors: Roger T. Kirwan, chairman of the Orange County

Performing Arts Center; Jack H. Norberg, chief executive of Standard

Investment Chartered Inc.; and Jillyn Hess-Verdon, a Newport Beach

attorney and president of Hess-Verdon & Associates. Kirwan is a resident

of Newport Coast whose philanthropic endeavors include directorships of

Boys Hope/Girls Hope of California and of Caritas Corp. He is also a

member of the finance committees of the Diocese of Orange and Our Lady

Queen of Angels Church. He was previously a director of the Philharmonic

Society of Orange County. Hess-Verdon’s practice focuses on providing

estate tax and corporate legal services to high net-worth executives. She

has served as a member or director for UC Irvine’s Chief Executive

Roundtable, the Orange County Business Forum and other groups. Sunwest

Bank has a branch near John Wayne Airport in Newport Beach, which was

recently renovated ... Thomas V. McKernan Jr., representing the Southern

California Auto Club, presented the lead gift of $10,000 for the Costa

Mesa Senior Center’s annual fund-raising campaign. The Center’s goal is

$100,000.