The Tea House Gang rides again for Kidworks

They call themselves “The Tea House Gang.” The gang, a

confederation of real estate professionals that takes its name from a

long-gone structure on Coast Highway resembling a “tea house,”

gathered together for its 2002 Tea House Party.

Chairman Bob Howard reports that the event raised more than

$100,000, all of which will be donated to the gang’s charity of

choice, Kidworks. This Orange County-based organization is

headquartered in Santa Ana. Its mission is to provide inner-city

youth with a positive living environment. Kidworks uses funds to rent

apartments and transforms them into learning centers to help youth

with schoolwork and to teach leadership skills.

Kidworks President Larry Acosta and Executive Director Ava

Steaffans, of Newport Beach, gratefully accepted the donation, which

has become an annual financial “breath of life” for the organization.

More than 200 young people benefit every week from these learning

centers during the school year, Howard said.

“A primary goal of Kidworks is to challenge youngsters to think

‘bigger than the barrio,’ he continued, “and to motivate them to say

‘yes’ to school and a values-based lifestyle.”

Tea House member Richard Dick planned the recent fund-raising

event with assistance from John Parker and Dan Donahue, who served as

underwriting co-chairs. Major support came from Fremont Investment

and Loan, represented by Sarah Branigan. Other sponsors included

Marion Montopert, CT Realty Corp., Stewart Title of California,

Parker Hansen, LLC, and Ranney and Priscilla Draper. More than 63

individuals and businesses contributed $1,000 or more, with 350

guests attending the annual picnic held in Bommer Canyon.

Spotted in the crowd were loyal Tea House supporters Terry

Rousselot, Gorden Griffith, Mike Marr, Jim Wood, Dick Cramer, Greg

Brown, Bob Campbell, Michael Cargile, Clark Cunningham, Reza Etadeli,

John Francis, Erik Hansen and John Shumway.

CELEBRATING HOPE

Local leaders gathered their resources to support work in the

fight against Huntington’s disease. A “Celebration of Hope” dinner

held at The Hyatt Newporter raised funds for research about the

disease and for the development of “a center of excellence” for the

care of patients and their families.

Thomas Tierney, chairman and CEO of Body Wise International Inc.,

joined Leslie Thompson, assistant professor of psychiatry at UC

Irvine; Marian Bergeson, retired California State Senator; and Tom

Cesario, dean of the UCI School of Medicine to advance the word in

fighting Huntington’s, a disease that slowly diminishes the

individual’s ability to walk, talk and reason. Huntington’s is fatal,

with no effective treatment or cure presently available.

Also in the dinner crowd were Marilyn Brewer, Barbara Boyle,

Margaret Burke, Peggy Goldwater Clay and Lana Chandler.

SCIENCE AWARDS

The distinguished Achievement Rewards for College Scientists

Awards were presented at a dinner at UC Irvine’s University Club.

Some 160 guests joined forces to welcome eight scholarship

recipients, each collecting a $12,500 grant from the ARCS Foundation.

The national organization supports outstanding American students

in the science and engineering fields. This year, two of the eight

scholarships were donated by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation

and one award was generously granted by Conexant.

Newport-Mesa support for the awards came from Mary Lou Furnas,

president of ARCS Orange County Chapter; Kathy Kerrigan and Corona

del Mar’s Ann Rowe. The scholarship recipients included Peter Dillon,

Lauren Billings, Karen Matsukuma, Eric Dashofy, Christopher Douglas,

Lisa Gerhardt and Eric Vogler.

Also in the crowd was Mary O’Conner, national president of ARCS.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.