B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

The nominations are coming in. As of Friday, Orange County women will

cast their final ballots for the ninth annual Clara Barton Spectrum

Awards, sponsored by the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Clearly, recent events give increased significance to this local

endeavor. Organizers are working nonstop to ensure a maximum fund-raising

effort locally. Lido Isle’s Joan Riach is chairing the awards luncheon,

set for Oct. 25 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. Proceeds from this event

will stay with the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross,

reports Riach. “Their mission is to assist people in the prevention,

preparation for and response to local emergencies,” added Riach, who will

share the chairmanship duties with Nancy Snyder. “The local staff and

volunteers have been working night and day, helping various groups put on

fund-raisers, collecting money to send to American disaster areas on the

East Coast.

“The Clara Barton Spectrum Awards for outstanding women in Orange

County is a very important opportunity to join together as partners in

community preparedness,” she added.

Riach, Snyder and fellow volunteers, including Marcia Adler, Hyla

Bertea, Peggy Goldwater Clay, Barbara Glabman, Janice Johnson, Donna

Phelps, Phyllis Shafer, Robin Turner, Billur Wallerich and Noddie Weltner

will present special guest speaker Kerry Kennedy Cuomo at the luncheon.

Kennedy Cuomo is the chair of the Amnesty International Leadership

Counsel and has worked on multiple human rights issues, ranging from

child labor and ethnic violence to theenvironment, women’s rights and

indigenous land rights.

She established the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, named

after her late father, to ensure the protection of rights codified under

United Nations declarations. The author of “Speak Truth To Power: Human

Rights Defenders That Are Changing Our World,” Kennedy Cuomo is a

passionate international spokeswoman on the commitment to basic human

values for all people.

The Clara Barton Spectrum Awards is a compliment to the life led by

Kennedy Cuomo. Award categories are humanitarian, health care, education,

environment, youth, arts, personal achievement and volunteer group. There

is also an Elizabeth Dole Glass Ceiling award.

Local women will be considered for each of these categories, and

awards will be made at the Oct. 25 event.

The awards are named for the founder of the American Red Cross, Clara

Barton, who rallied volunteers to help disaster victims in May of 1881 in

Michigan, which was being devastated by unchecked forest fires. Barton

and a group of friends assisted victims of the fire, collecting and

delivering food and clothing to the many in need.

The tradition continues today on a worldwide basis.

For more information on the Clara Barton Spectrum Awards, including

making a last-minute nomination, a contribution to assist the Red Cross

or to make a reservation, call Gayle Maehara at (714) 481-5366.

* * *

The Sophisticates of the Assessment Treatment Services Centerheld

their annual membership reception this week at the grand hillside estate

of Barbara and Bill Royster of Newport Beach.

The Roysters’ city and ocean view villa welcomed more than 100

Sophisticates and their guests for a sunset cocktail reception and dinner

created and served by Jason’s Catering. Jason turned the Royster kitchen

into a celebrity chef exhibition, as he prepared skillet dishes before

the crowd to their delight.

Chairing the late summer membership party were Lori Rudin and Lori

Contant. Spotted in the crowd were Sarah Corrigan, Penny Fox, Martha

Green, Ollie Hill, Barbara and Jay Magness, Fran Mulvania, Denice Mock

and Jean Moriarty. Also supporting the Sophisticates were Mary Pon,

Barbara Penrose, Murray Rudin, Richard and Lillian Torres, Jim and

Michelle Watts, and Anne and John Wortman.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.