The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

Some of the best and the brightest of the Newport-Mesa community

turned out last week at the home of Mary Lou Furnas to support the

Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation. The Orange County

chapter of the foundation, which is only three years old, was founded by

Pat Beckman, daughter of the legendary scientist Arnold Beckman.

The gathering was organized around an afternoon tea featuring a

chilling address on a controversial scientific subject by Dr. Susan

Bryant, dean of UC Irvine’s school of biological sciences. Bryant’s

lecture was titled “Stem Cells On Demand and the Ability to Regenerate.”

The gathering included support from Sue Alexopoulous, Terri Carr, Mary

Y. Davis, Ann Rowe, Peggy Stemler, Eve Thompson, Joan Torres and Nancy

Whelan. Guests enjoyed the art-filled Furnas residence, including a

massive collection of African artworks collected over many years of

traveling to the continent to work on medical issues with the native

people.

Bryant’s talk on stem cell research was somehow even more appropriate

in the Furnas setting. Her message was clear. America must face the

scientific challenge of stem cell regeneration, lest it be mastered by

scientists in other nations and regions leaving us behind.

Also in the crowd were Diana Atkins, Rebecca Berge, Linda Elftmann,

Lynn Mosich, Susan Bonner, France Campbell and Amy Howard.

For more information on the foundation, please contact Peggy Stemler

at (949) 675-5441.

* * *

Costa Mesa-based Share Our Selves attracted an enormous crowd to a

midweek cocktail reception in store at Cantoni. The upscale purveyor of

modern interior lifestyles opened its West Coast showroom doors to the

local crowd in honor of Cantoni’s second anniversary in Irvine.

More than 300 Share Our Selves supporters responded to organizer Karen

Harrington’s call to show up at Cantoni to sample the catering of Pascal

and to share a martini underwritten by Bishop Wine and Spirits.

Michael Wilkov, president and founder of Cantoni Inc., joined with

Richard Pabon, West Coast vice president of the firm, to press the flesh

with local donors to Share Our Selves. Pabon underwrote an opportunity

prize drawing for a shopping spree in the showroom.

Karen McGlinn, executive director of Share Our Selves was on hand to

greet the crowd. McGlinn was joined by Kathy Thompson of Corona del Mar,

president of the Share Our Selves A-Team, a special support group of the

hunger mission.

* * *

Kudos to social activist Janice Johnson. Receiving the very first

Distinguished Alumni Award from State University of New York (SUNY),

Johnson has been honored for community service in Orange County and has

been elevated to membership in Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest national

honorary society created to celebrate both academic scholarship and

community service.

Yet another local activist, Renee Fleming, became the second honorary

member of Phi Kappa Phi, joining Johnson in this rarified circle. Fleming

is a graduate of SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

Janice Johnson and her husband Roger, well known in the community for

their civic and philanthropic endeavors, have generously endowed the

Brock McElheran Performance Series at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of

Music. Johnson’s local awards include the YWCA’s Woman of the Year for

the Arts and the Volunteer Center of America’s “Giving is Living” Award.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.