Pilot readers answer the Reading by 9 challenge

JIM DE BOOM

More than $2,000 in Reading by 9 donations have come into the Daily

Pilot office to partly match the $6,800 challenge that the three

Rotary Clubs of Newport Beach have made to purchase reading books for

children at Pomona, Whittier and Wilson Elementary Schools in Costa

Mesa.

The most recent check came from Melissa Johnson of Arlington, Va.,

who said, “Please apply this check to the Reading by 9 book program.

I saw the article in the Daily Pilot when I was home for Christmas

and would like to make this donation in honor of my parents, Mr. and

Mrs. James R. Johnson. Blessings... Melissa.”

The largest donation to date, when matched by the Rotary Clubs,

will buy 580 books for the three schools. It comes from Emma Alberta

School in Newport Beach, which is teaching English to 14 adults. The

Emma Alberta School was opened in 1991 as a private, nonprofit

school, with the mission of teaching English literacy free of charge

to American citizens, and to legal immigrants in order to help them

assimilate into our American culture, director and founder Marie

Eckess said.

Eckess is a 29-year survivor of a modified radical mastectomy, a

seven-year survivor of a double brain aneurysm, and a two-year

survivor of open-heart surgery. She is motivated to do good work with

children and adults. Students are from all races, ages and religions

and have come from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, China, El

Salvador, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru, Poland,

Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen, Eckess said.

“We are dedicated to helping parents learn English so they can

teach English to their children. We believe that parents are the

first teachers of a family,” she added.

Visit the school’s website at https://www.rainbowofhope.org. I

thank Eckess for the donation and motivation she and the school are

providing so adults and youths can become literate. We are thankful

for all the donations by Daily Pilot readers and will be

acknowledging them in future columns and even some display ads. You

still have time to make a contribution, to make a difference in life

of a child. Your $10 dollar donation will be matched by the Rotary

Clubs to buy 11 reading books. A $25 donation will be matched to buy

30 books, a $50 donation will be matched to buy 58 books and so on.

Your tax-deductible donation to buy Reading by 9 books can be made

payable and mailed to Rotary District 5320 Foundation, c/o Daily

Pilot, 330 W. Bay Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92627. Make your investment

and then watch the dividends grow.

SISTER CITY ANNUAL MEETING

The Newport Beach Sister City Assn. will hold its annual meeting

at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Newport Beach Yacht Club, 1699 Bayside

Drive. The guest speaker will be Newport Beach City Manager Homer

Bludau, according to Syd Stokes, association board member. Tickets,

at $30 per person, can be reserved by calling Stokes at (949)

675-9383 or Connie Skibba at (949) 650-0594.

WINE CELEBRATION AT THE SUTTON PLACE

Newport Beach resident Lee Healy has the fun job of chairing the

Napa Valley Vintners Assn. wine tasting with more than 90 vintners

pouring wines to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana 50th

anniversary on Feb. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event, to be held at the

Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd. in Newport Beach, includes

hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction with an exclusive selection of large

bottles, signed and vertical vintages, library wines and dining

packages. Tickets are four for $300 or $100 each, and can be

purchased by calling (714) 639-0056. Healy notes there is a special

VIP reception at 6 p.m. for private tasting with Anthony Dias Blue at

$250 per person. It includes entry into drawing for a 1999 bottle of

Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. If you like wines, you should be

there!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SERVICE CLUBS

Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva, sponsored by Bettie Moses, who

joined the Exchange Club of Orange Coast.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for Today, provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport

Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council:

“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help

others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for

me?’”

-- BRIAN TRACY

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

MONDAY

6 p.m.: The Harbor Mesa Lions Club will meet at the Golden Dragon

Restaurant in Costa Mesa

TUESDAY

7:15 a.m.: The 40-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will

meet at Five Crowns Restaurant to hear Kevin Useldinger “Solutions to

Reach Peak Performance.” (https://www.newportbeach

sunriserotary.org).

6:30 p.m.: The Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club will meet at

the Costa Mesa Country Club.

WEDNESDAY

7:15 a.m.: The 10-member South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet

at the Center Club (https://www.southcoastmetro rotary.org); the

Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club will meet at the University Athletic

Club.

Noon: The Exchange Club of the Orange Coast will meet at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club.

6 p.m.: The Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa will meet at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club to hear Capt. Rick Barbarossa, who will discuss

“Newport Beach’s Time Machine” the LYNX

(https://www.newportbalboa.org)

THURSDAY

7 a.m.: The 20-plus member Costa Mesa-Orange Breakfast Lions Club

will meet at Mimi’s Cafe.

Noon: The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club will meet at the

Holiday Inn to hear OC Registrar of Voters Ray Stewart

(https://www.kiwanis.org/

club/costamesa); the 50-member Kiwanis Club of Newport

Beach-Corona del Mar will meet at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club to

hear Lynn Morgan of the Blind Children’s Learning Center; the

Exchange Club of Newport Harbor will meet at the Nautical Museum to

hear the Rev. Leah Stout of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, “One

Nation Under God”; the Rotary Club of Newport Irvine will meet at the

Atrium Hotel for a program by Doug Jackson on Project Cure.

(https://www.nirotary.org).

* COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Saturdays in the Daily Pilot.

Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655

or by e-mail to jdeboom@ aol.com.