B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Community treasure Merle Hatleberg, founder of Someone Cares Soup

Kitchen, was overjoyed at the massive turnout for the ninth annual Summer

Solstice: A Festival of Fine Food and Wine. More than 1,200 people

attended the benefit for the kitchen and Second Harvest Food Bank of

Orange County, a private nonprofit organization that distributes food to

those in need.

Hatleberg has been at the forefront of the community hunger issue for

a long time. Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, run by Hatleberg

and a staff of dedicated and caring local citizens, is a member of a

network of some 300 local charities devoted to providing food for the

hungry in Orange County. Hatleberg’s kitchen alone serves more than 250

men, women and children each and every day of the year.

Summer Solstice has been a long-standing pet charity of Anton

Segerstrom and South Coast Plaza. The junior Segerstrom offers his full

support to Hatleberg and rallies his considerable resources to ensure the

success of the fine food and wine evening that transforms three levels of

the former Crystal Court into nothing short of a spectacular American

summer street fair.

Many local restaurants pull out all the stops to serve the crowd a

delicious taste of Orange County. The wine flows. Desserts are

beautifully and bountifully displayed, old friends meet new and,

ultimately, a handsome check is turned over to the Second Harvest Food

Bank.

This year, close to $40,000 was raised to help feed people not

fortunate enough to attend such a festival. While there are some who find

the concept of a wine and food feast designed to raise funds to feed the

hungry somewhat ironic, there are countless more who simply look to the

bottom line. To paraphrase the philosophy of Hatleberg, the important

thing is to feed the people. And that is all that matters.

* * *

Orangewood Pals, another fine organization providing assistance, love

and support for children coming from abused situations, is planning its

upcoming summer fund-raiser at Josh Slocum’s in Newport Beach. That’s

right, the former Minney establishment on the bay, now under the wing of

our very own Dennis Rodman, will be the site Wednesday for the Orangewood

Pals mixer.

The local crowd reports that Rodman’s establishment has excellent

food, and the party atmosphere is a new place on the coast to see and be

seen. Now I have to qualify this a bit, adding that the rave reviews are

coming from the decidedly younger crowd, of which I confess, I am not a

member.

The donation for the Orangewood event is $20 and goes directly to the

cause. Slocum’s, in association with organizers, will provide appetizers,

music and valet parking. The tattooed tall guy reports that he will be on

hand for the evening.

Reservations are required. Call the Pals hotline at (714) 741-9368 for reservations and or information.

* * *

The Big Canyon residence of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Green was the handsome

setting for a Sunday evening reception celebrating Ballet Pacifica’s

Choreographic Project for 2001. Over the past decade, this distinguished

local dance company has sponsored an innovative yearly event designed to

provide an artistic forum for choreographers to create and to display

dance works-in-progress.

Here’s how it works. Ballet Pacifica, over a period of three weeks in

July, supplies selected choreographers with both the space and the

dancers needed for the artist to “stretch the limits of dance and

themselves in a noncompetitive environment.” This season the company is

working with Susan Hadley, Jacques Heim, Manard Stewart and Dominic

Walsh.

These four talented choreographers join a roster of 36 American

artists who have, over the years, worked with Ballet Pacifica -- taking

18 original pieces into repertory performance.

This year’s showing will take place July 28 on the Mainstage at South

Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.