B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

World-renowned fashion designer Kenneth Cole will be in Newport Beach

next Tuesday to celebrate the opening of his new namesake store at

Fashion Island. The handsome 3,000-square-foot Cole emporium will

celebrate a grand opening with a cocktail party at sunset supported by

local advocates of AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research).

Cole has instructed the store to donate 25% of the evening’s proceeds

to the organization, as well as offering opening night shoppers a 20%

discount on his merchandise. The new store actually opens tomorrow to the

public. It is Cole’s first West Coast outlet and only one of four shops

nationwide that will carry both his men and women’s lines.

For more information on the opening night festivities and to support

AmFAR, contact Jane Gillespie at (949) 733-2198.

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The Founders Plus in support of the Orange County Performing Arts

Center are organizing their September gala honoring longtime Newport Mesa

charitable activists Nora Hester and Carol and Kent Wilken. The 2001

Gala, called “September Song,” will star vocalist Dean Regan, named

Artist of the Year by the Professional Artists Contact Service.

The Sept. 23 dinner and concert will unfold at the estate of David and

Darrellyn Melilli. The party is being co-chaired by Ruth Ding and Tom

Moon with assistance from Barbara Johannnes. Organizers have set the

ticket price at $101 per person, with proceeds going to support the

Center.

Founders Plus is an organization comprised of charter members of the

Orange County Performing Arts Center. The evening is open to everyone in

the community wishing to support the cause.

Call Ruth Ding at (909) 734-6252 or Tom Moon at (714) 633-4681 for reservations and information.

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The ladies of the 1221 Club, a support wing of the Newport Mesa

scholarship foundation created by the Balboa Bay Club to provide

financial assistance to deserving high school seniors bound for college,

recently held a summer gathering and fund-raising event on the grounds of

Barbra Streisand’s compound in Malibu.

Some years ago, the legendary star donated her Malibu acreage and

collection of homes to the state to create a refuge. The property is open

to the public with reservations, and a contingent of some 40 Newport Mesa

women traveled into the Malibu canyons by van to check out the Streisand

touch.

Prominent local real estate agent Marcia Saunders joined Big Canyon’s

elegant Barbara Bowie and Corona del Mar’s glamorous Cerise Feeley for a

sneak peek of the former Streisand digs.

The diva now resides in a waterfront mansion on the Malibu shoreline

with her husband, James Brolin, who happens to be a native son of Corona

del Mar.

Also spotted on the trip were Martha Green, Cathy Lowden, Eve Kornyei,

Olivia Chami, Catherine Thyen, Marilyn Wooten and Beverly Ray.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.