Hedda Marosi’s 70th birthday on Feb....

Hedda Marosi’s 70th birthday on Feb. 2 was very different than her

$14,000 party 30 years ago that made the headlines of the Feb. 3,

1973, edition of the Daily Pilot. “Have you ever heard of a birthday

party that made the front page of the paper?” Marosi asked. She was

as shocked by the article as the party itself and none of it was

planned. Her husband had intended to throw a nice, small party for

her “and this fellow that did the party went crazy,” Marosi said in

describing the event that resulted in a lawsuit. Marosi said the man

who threw the party was a deli owner and that he, without giving any

notice or asking for approval, took all the furniture out of the

house, had a huge cake floating in the pool and champagne frozen in

ice, and then presented Marosi with a bill that stated the cost of

several items and $12,000 for incidentals. The Marosis won the

lawsuit without much argument and ended up paying only a portion of

the bill. This year, she celebrated her birthday at Bayside

Restaurant in Newport Beach. She enjoyed a meal with her family and

close friends, a party just the way she likes it ... Chief Master

Sgt. of the Air Force Douglas Zimmer of Costa Mesa is retiring after

a military career that spans three decades. Zimmer enlisted in the

Air Force in June 1972, and was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base

in Alaska for nearly five years as a radio communications analyst.

After his enlistment, Zimmer pursued a career with Mutual of New York

in Anchorage as a field underwriter, and also joined the Air National

Guard as a telecommunications operator. After moving to Southern

California with wife, Cherie, and son, Marcus, he joined the

California Air National Guard. In 1986, he began an active tour of

duty with the California guard as the communications manager for the

222nd Combat Communications Squadron in Costa Mesa. During his tour

of duty, he reached the rank of Chief Master Sergeant of the Air

Force, the highest enlisted military grade. Zimmer earned an

associate’s degree in information technology in April 2002 through

the Community College of the Air Force and continued his education

with night classes at Vanguard University, earning a bachelor’s

degree in business. Currently, he is finishing a teacher’s credential

program and plans to be an elementary school teacher in Orange County

... Jessica De Vlaming of Newport Beach completed 30 hours of state

mandated training for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program

or CASA. The program provides quality intervention and advocacy

services to abused children. De Vlaming was sworn in by Judge Corey

Cramin and can be an advocate for the interest of abused and

neglected children in court.

* NEIGHBORS spotlights achievements in the community. Please

direct noteworthy information to Coral Wilson by fax at (949)

646-4170, or send e-mail to coral.wilson@latimes.com.