The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

Tonight is the annual Clam Bake at the Hyatt Newporter to benefit the

Children’s Bureau of Southern California, specifically the Orange County

chapter. The Children’s Bureau is one of the oldest professional

children’s service agencies in the region dedicated to adoption, foster

placement and child abuse prevention.

Last week in Newport Beach, event organizers Lana Chandler, Eve

Kornyei and Peggy Goldwater Clay invited patrons and donors supporting

tonight’s Clam Bake to a dinner reception in the private dining room of

Villa Nova.

More than 100 guests converged upon the waterfront restaurant to share

stories of how being associated with the Children’s Bureau has not only

helped young people but also enriched the lives of the volunteers

themselves

A sumptuous Italian buffet was served as event chairs rallied the

guests in support of tonight’s affair. The Clam Bake has become one of

the big early summer parties on the Orange Coast, with guests instructed

to leave their black tie and glittering gowns at home in favor of shorts,

aloha shirts and summer shifts.

Tom Thumb and the Hitchhikers are practicing a few surf tunes as you

read this story in preparation for tonight’s party. Last-minute revelers

are welcome. Call Chandler at (949) 721-0475 to make a reservation.

* * *

Mary MacMakin spent 30 years in Afghanistan creating underground

schools for girls, vocational projects for orphaned young men and women,

income-earning projects for widows, and health clinics for mothers and

children that were all in direct violation of Taliban authority. MacMakin

was deported and charged by the Taliban as a spy and thrown out of Kabul.

She fled to Pakistan to continue her work under life-threatening

circumstances. With the fall of the Taliban, she has returned to Kabul to

continue her mission.

Last week in Orange County, MacMakin joined another individual working

in the war-torn region, Dan Simmons, to bring to the Newport-Mesa crowd

their perspective from the front line of war in Afghanistan. It was the

Women of Vision dinner, labeled as “Faces of Courage” and presented by

this support group of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian agency.

More than 500 local guests turned out to hear the emotional experiences

of the honored guests.

The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine was the setting for the Women of

Vision event, led by event chair Valerie Woodstra with support from the

dedicated Susan Champion and community advocates, including Nancy and Rod

Daley, Bobbi and Jerry Dauderman, Gail and Peter Ochs, Beverly and Jim

Peters, Judy and David Threshie, and Suzanne and Ted Paulson.

Women of Vision is a volunteer ministry of World Vision consisting of

individuals dedicated to the needs of impoverished and oppressed women

and children worldwide. Their belief, “is that God works through human

hands and hearts.”

* * *

The Alzheimer’s Assn. of Orange County held a lavish black-tie gala

recently at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, attracting 300

caring guests and raising a net amount of more than $75,000.

Co-chairs Julie David and Don Power welcomed friends and volunteers,

many of whom have helped serve the 50,000 or so individuals in Orange

County who are known to suffer from an aspect of Alzheimer’s. The event

was the fourth gala produced by the association, contributing to a tally

of nearly $500,000, which has been used to fund free care for suffering

individuals and their families in Orange County.

The association is presently working with Joyce Lowder to produce the

upcoming Crean Golf Classic, set for June 6 at the Pelican Hill Golf Club

in Newport Coast. To get involved with the tournament, call Lowder at

(949) 509-9452.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.