The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

It’s car wash day today at the Mariners Elementary School parking lot.

Local citizens, the young and the young-at-heart will be washing away

from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with all proceeds going to the Mariners Library

in Newport Beach. The car wash is hosted by the Newport Beach Public

Library’s Young Adult Advisory Council.

* * *

Community service might also be a primary motivation for the

super-dedicated locals who turned out recently to support Taller San

Jose, St. Joseph’s Workshop offering young adults in the community “the

tools needed to rebuild lives.”

Some 200 guests joined Taller San Jose’s Sister Eileen McNerney,

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Bishop Jaime Soto and Newport-Mesa

citizens Bernard Schneider, Barbara Kenady and Joe Querriera to dedicate

a new building in Santa Ana housing that is being called Taller San Jose

Tech.

The organization, which has a Catholic base, was created by the

Sisters of St. Joseph as a working center to offer job skills to those in

need of guidance.

“It is a place for under educated and unemployed 18- to 28-year-old

adults working on rebuilding their lives,” said Allison Olmstead,

representing the Taller San Jose sisters.

* * *

Orange County Sheriff Michael Corona was among the recipients of the

inaugural “Beacon of Light” awards presented by the nonprofit Orange

County Friendship Center. The event was produced in conjunction with

National Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

Antonello Ristorante at South Coast Plaza Village was the setting for

the emotional confab in support of the needs of the mentally ill in

Orange County. Antonio Cagnolo, owner of Antonello, was on hand for the

affair, offering that his own life has been touched by the needs of a

person suffering from depression and mental illness.

* * *

Lido Isle’s exuberant Linda Giannini hosted the annual Spring Mentor

Luncheon honoring the mentors and students of the Shakespeare Academy at

Newport Harbor High School. Members of the faculty joined the overflow

luncheon crowd in the high school social hall this week to share

experiences relating to the mentor program.

“I am told that this program at Newport Harbor is considered one of

the best, if not the best in the state of California,” said one of the

proud faculty-parent sponsors.

A deli luncheon was served as Giannini passed the microphone and

students as well as their adult mentors recounted the positive aspects of

the program. One man in the audience was particularly impressed by the

involvement of local police and fire officials. His words of praise on

our local heroes were echoed by students wishing to follow in their

footsteps.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.