Susan Kay Firth joined the Costa...

Susan Kay Firth joined the Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau

as sales manager last month. The bureau believes that Firth, who has

more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry, will be

beneficial to the development of the group travel business for Costa

Mesa’s seven luxury hotels as she was for other hotel properties in

Orange County and Los Angeles ... Newport Beach resident Robin Preiss

Glasser will be honored by the Orange County Regional Ballet on

Sunday for her contributions to the betterment of children’s lives.

Glasser, one of the two recipients of the Sugar Plum Award, is the

illustrator of an award-winning book series by Lynne Cheney and a

former soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet Company ... Scott

Williamson, recreation coordinator for the city of Newport Beach,

received the Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation Spirit

Award last month for embodying the mission of the federation and

demonstrating a career of service. Williamson, who was chosen from

1,200 members, also received the Mark Feldman Spirit of Orange County

Award at a separate luncheon last month ... Newport Harbor Exchange

Club President Rick Harris and former president Bill DeMeulle

presented Kathy McCarrell, director of the Orange County Child Abuse

Prevention Center, with a donation check for $29,000 to the center.

The Newport Beach club said it felt that because of the numerous

budget cuts conducted by the state and the effect they have had on

many social and child abuse programs that the center would greatly

benefit from the donation ... Navy Petty Officer First Class Russell

O. Walker, son-in-law of Bonnie Arrigo of Costa Mesa, departed on a

six-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf while assigned to the guided

missile destroyer USS Milius, based in San Diego. Walker is one of

more than 8,000 Pacific Fleet Sailors aboard one of the ships ready

to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom ... Deborah Newquist,

founder and president of Senior Care Resources in Newport Beach,

received the Adele Elkind Award from the National Assn. of

Professional Geriatric Care Managers for her distinguished service in

geriatric care management at the national and local level. Newquist

founded Senior Care Resources in 1987 to provide a center for

families to find consumer-oriented assistance with eldercare

challenges ... Michael E. Martinez, associate professor of education

at UC Irvine, has joined the Educational Research Board of the

M.I.N.D. Institute, a nonprofit corporation that has evolved an

innovative music-math education program for elementary school

students based on brain research. Martinez conducts research on the

nature and modifiability of intelligence. He received his doctorate

in educational psychology from Stanford University and joined the

Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., where he developed

new forms of computer-based testing for assessment in the fields of

science, architecture and engineering.

* NEIGHBORS spotlights achievements in the community. Please

direct noteworthy information to Christine Carrillo via fax at (949)

646-4170, or send e-mail to christine.carrillo@latimes.com.