* Send AROUND TOWN items to...

* Send AROUND TOWN items to the Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St.,

Costa Mesa, CA 92627; by fax to (949) 646-4170; or by calling (949)

574-4298. Include the time, date and location of the event, as well

as a contact phone number. A complete listing is available at

www.dailypilot.com.

TODAY

The Alzheimer’s Assn. of Orange County will host two workshops at

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Newport Beach. The first workshop,

which will run from 11 a.m. to noon, will deal with memory loss and

its signs, stages and symptoms. The second workshop will run from 1

to 2:30 p.m. and will focus on how to develop partnerships with

treating physicians. Free. The church is at 1441 W. Balboa Blvd. For

reservations, call (714) 283-1111.

The California Retired Teachers Assn., Harbor Division #77 will

host a program at 1 p.m. for retired educators, members and their

guests at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center. The program,

titled, “An American in Love With His Country,” will be conducted by

Bruce Siever, a Green Beret in the army during Viet Nam. The center

is at 1845 Park Ave. (949) 551-5082.

Speak Up Newport will host a Newport Beach City Council Candidates

Forum at 5:45 p.m. at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. Refreshments

will start at 5:30 p.m. The club is at 2601 Eastbluff Drive. (949)

224-2266.

THURSDAY

As part of National Depression Screening Day, Newport Beach

psychologist Paul Whitmore will provide free screenings at his office

from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a lecture at noon. Free. The office is at

4750 Von Karman Ave., Newport Beach. For more information, call (949)

751-7753, or for additional locations, call (800) 520-6373 or visit

www.mentalhealthscreening.org.

FRIDAY

The Achievement Rewards for College Scientists will hold its

scholarship awards ceremony at the UC Irvine University Club. The

reception will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Eight awards

will be presented, and National Medal of Science recipient Francisco

Ayala will be the keynote speaker. For more information, call Mary

Lou Furnas at (949) 644-6789.

SATURDAY

Jeffrey Michael, a film composer, recording artist and pianist,

will host the Piecemakers Harvest Festival from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

today and Sunday. Michael, who began composing music at age 11, has

scored a number of independent film projects and will begin scoring

music for the feature film “Dumping Ground,” starring Michael Madsen,

William Baldwin, Jeff Goldblum and Dennis Hopper, this winter.

Piecemakers is at 1720 Adams Ave., Costa Mesa. Free. (714) 641-3112.

The South Coast Fine Arts Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5

p.m. today and Sunday at the Newport Dunes. The festival, which will

benefit the South Coast Children’s Society of Costa Mesa, will

include more than 100 artists representing a variety of art mediums.

$5 for adults, free for children younger than 5. The dunes are at

1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. (949) 722-3492 ext. 25.

The Mesa Goathill Go-Getters, a 4-H club, will hold a 4-H week

display from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 380 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa.

For more information, call (714) 708-1612.

The Ballet Montmartre Charity Gala will be held from 5 to 9 p.m.

at The Village Crean in Newport Beach to celebrate its 30-year

anniversary. Tickets are $60 for adults or $50 for two or more

adults, $25 for children and $350 for a reserved table of eight. The

Village Crean is at 2300 Mesa Drive. (714) 241-7424.

SUNDAY

Concert pianist and chamber musician Sarkis Baltaian will present

a piano recital at 3 p.m. at the Newport Beach Central Library.

Baltaian, who made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1999, has performed

throughout the United States and Europe acquiring acclaim for a style

likened to that of George Gershwin and Oscar Levant. The Newport

Beach Central Library is at 1000 Avocado Ave. For more information,

call (949) 717-3801 or visit www.newportbeachlibrary.org.

OCT. 16

A bat-themed parent and child educational program will be held

from 10 to 10:45 a.m. at The Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center.

The program will provide hands on activities for 2- to 4-year-old

naturalists. Pre-registration and parent participation is required.

The center is at 2301 University Drive, Newport Beach. $3 per child.

(714) 973-6829.

Author and publisher Douglas Westfall will give a presentation on

two opposing prisoners of the Civil War that united in Orange County

and helped found the town of Orange. The program, hosted by the Costa

Mesa Historical Society, will begin at 7 p.m. Free, donations

accepted. The program will be held at 1870 Anaheim St. (949)

631-5918.

OCT. 17

The Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce will host a 90-minute breakfast

boost from 7 to 8:45 a.m. at the Costa Mesa Country Club. $12 if

prepaid, $17 at the door. The country club is at 1701 Golf Course Drive. For reservations, call (714) 885-9090.

The Newport Garden Club will hold its monthly meeting at 9:30 a.m.

in the Harbor View Club House. The guest speaker will be Rex Yarwood,

horticulturist and manager at Haster Grove in Laguna Beach. The club

house is at 1900 Port Carlow Place, Newport Beach. (949) 720-1552.

OCT. 18

The Costa Mesa Women’s Club, a 92-year-old club, will hold their

monthly meeting, with entertainment and a luncheon. Free admission,

lunch $7.50. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. in the clubhouse at 610

W. 18th St. (949) 548-7242.

OCT. 19

The Harbor Christian Fellowship Church in Costa Mesa will host a

Mammogram-a-thon from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event, sponsored by

YWCA Encoreplus and The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will

provide freebreast cancer screenings. The church is at 740 W. Wilson

St. For more information, call (714) 935-9720 or (714) 806-2037.

The UCI Arboretum and Orange County Fine Arts will host the annual

Art of Flowers Fall art and flower show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the

UCI Arboretum. The event will include a fine art show and sales by

artists and the arboretum. Admission is $2 per person and free for

children under 12 and members of the Friends of the UCI Arboretum.

The arboretum is just south of the corner of Campus Drive and

Jamboree Road on the UCI North Campus. (949) 824-5833.

The Mariner’s Elementary School Foundation will host a fundraiser

from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Newport Dunes Tent. The event will include

food, music and a silent and live auction. Tickets are $80 per person

and all proceeds will be donated to Mariners Elementary School. The

dunes are at 1131 Back Bay Drive. (949) 650-4187.

The Costa Mesa Senior Center will host a Monte Carlo night from 7

to 11 p.m. at the center. The evening, which serves as the center’s

annual fund-raising event, will include entertainment provided by the

Bob White Trio (a former lead singer for The Platters), gaming,

blackjack, craps, poker, a silent and live auction, and a gourmet

Chinese dinner. The center is at 695 W. 19th St. Call for

reservations. (949) 645-2356.

Bjorn Again, an Australian band that dresses and sounds like ABBA,

will perform at the Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre at

8 p.m. The band is world famous and has glitter-laden Swedish charm.

For ticket information, call (714) 432-5880.

OCT. 20

The 14th annual United Interfaith CROP Hunger Walk will begin at

1:30 p.m. at the St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach.

Registration will begin at 1 p.m. The 5- or 7-kilometer walk along

the Upper Newport Bay is sponsored by the Newport Mesa Irvine

Interfaith Council and the Church World Service. The church is at

2100 Mar Vista Drive. For more information call Rev. Dennis Short at

(949) 645-5781 or Bob Johnston at (949) 644-4949.