The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

The Orange County Performing Arts Center will welcome superstar comic

Jay Leno April 27 for a very special one-night-only performance that will

benefit the Center’s department of education and community outreach. The

NBC Emmy Award-winning host of “The Tonight Show” will generously donate

his time and talent to raise funds to support Orange County school

children in relation to a cultural connection with the Center.

Tickets range is between $45 and $85, with a special $250 VIP package

that will include prime seating along with a champagne reception with

Leno in Founder’s Hall. To reserve your seats call (714) 566.2787, Ext.

240.

* * *

The Celebrity Foundation for Children, championed by Newport’s Mike

Farah, held a wild and crazy night of boxing at Joe’s Garage in Tustin.

The scene was literally right off the pages of a Jacquelyn Susanne

novel as the Garage filled with buxom blond women wearing midriff-bare

black-leather bustiers and spiked heels. The gents were a little on the

older side, and the late Telly Savalas would have felt right at home. But

then again, they say that “bald is beautiful.”

When the bell sounded, the overflow crowd, which included more than

its fair share of cigar chomping “men in black,” gathered ‘round the

boxing ring as muscle-toned young Hispanic women put on the gloves to

beat each other to a pulp. To be fair, there was only one round of female

boxing, with the rest of the evening devoted to men beating each other to

a pulp.

All this and martinis too for a good cause. One gal in the crowd, Jan

Ahlman, visiting from Freemont commented, “This would never happen in

Northern California. I’m on another planet. We just don’t do this kind of

thing where I come from.”

Five-hundred-fifty people packed Joe’s Garage for the boxing benefit

to help fund a weekend retreat for foster families in Temecula run by the

Celebrity Foundation for Children. The Foundation has no payroll and

operates on a strictly volunteer basis, entertaining foster families and

their children free of charge to escape the seriousness of their

day-to-day life situations.

Horseback riding, wrangling, hiking, camp-outs and barbecues are all

part of the program that puts an emphasis on outdoor activities offering

some relief to these foster children and families. Chairing the boxing

evening with Mike Farah was Carlos Palomino.

Newport man-about-town Mike Russel was spotted in the crowd having

much too much fun along with generous underwriters John and Elizabeth

Agamalian.

* * *

Karen Harrington, director of development for Share Our Selves,

reports that the SOS “A-team” under the direction of President Kathy

Thompson of Corona del Mar, celebrated 10 years of service to the Costa

Mesa-based agency providing food, clothing, medical and dental care to

citizens of Orange County living in poverty.

A luncheon at the Irvine home of Elsa Ozibko welcomed Monsignor Joseph

Wadowicz, reading excerpts from his new book titled “The Now Testament.”

Shirley Hospers of Corona del Mar joined Marilyn Thompson in providing

the catered lunch for the crowd that included Newport’s Esther Behnam,

Catherine Emmi, Doretta Ensign, Lynn Newton, Beverly White, George

Wentworth, Jerry Mack, Mike and Erin Flynn, Tony Baran and Bernie Byrne.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.