Ready yourself for the summer social season

B.W. COOK

The clams are closing their shells and the lobsters are heading for

deeper waters to avoid organizers of the annual Crean’s Clambake as

they prepare the feast of the summer social season June 12 at The

Hyatt Newporter, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach. Underwriters of

the annual clambake will attend a reception Wednesday given by Tommy

Bahama Newport Beach at a special pre-party that will raise funds to

assist The Children’s Bureau of Orange County, a nonprofit

organization that provides various child abuse prevention and

treatment services.

South Coast Plaza will once again support Festival of Children, a

passion of Sandra Segerstrom Daniels of Newport Coast. May 16 will be

Volunteer Day for Festival of Children. Organizers expect more than

65 charitable groups to set up shop at South Coast Plaza in the

Carousal Court and provide local teenagers an opportunity to work

for community projects. Last year more than 1,000 students signed up

to assist local not-for-profit groups. For more information, call

Eileen Daniher at (714) 438-3286.

Women’s Wellness Day will be May 6at the UC Irvine Susan Samueli

Center for Integrative Medicine. The event will be a community-wide

symposium focused on scientific research and education in the field

of complementary and alternative medicine. Samueli and her

volunteers will bring a host of expert speakers on topics such as

brain health, nutrition, skin care, home remedies and menopause.

Featured speaker Dr. Daniel Amen will talk about his latest book

“Preventing Alzheimer’s.” Amen, who appeared recently on Oprah

Winfrey’s show, will join the luncheon keynote speaker, Dr. Tierona

Low Dog, an expert on herbal medicine.

The Orange County chapter of Women of Vision attracted more than

400 guests to its annual luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel, Newport

Beach. The Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury, deputy speaker of The

House of Lords, spoke about emergency relief for victims of war and

oppression. Baroness Cox serves as president of HART, a newly formed

humanitarian aid relief trust. Chaired by Becky Pollock and Marcia

Finley, the Women of Vision luncheon was served by a dedicated

committee that included Beverly Peters, Jill Hall, Karen Stockman,

Diane Sweet, Maria Forde, Betsy Tarbell, Lauri Facey, Mary Amundson,

Susan Anderson, Lauren May and Susan Champion, who reports that,

“Under the leadership of this year’s Women of Vision co-chairs

Suzanne and Kristin Paulson, the Orange County chapter has raised

$150,000 to assist World Vision projects aiding impoverished women

and children worldwide.”

The 11th annual Wild and Crazy Taco Night on behalf of Share Our

Selves, Costa Mesa, raised approximately $18,000 that will help

provide essentials for less-fortunate citizens in the community.

Hundreds of dedicated locals turned out last week, donating $40 and

more to share in the wild and crazy tacos prepared by 11 of Orange

County’s most celebrated chefs. This year, as in years past, the

culinary experts outdid themselves creating the most unusual tacos on

the planet. Karen Harrington, director of development for Share Our

Selves , reports that one of the taco creations featured octopus.

Funds raised will support services that will include food, clothing,

medical and dental care and financial assistance.

Two very important events unfolded this past week in Newport

Beach. The Bacchus Society of Newport Beach presented a “Rock and

Roll Wine Event” Thursday evening in memory of the much-loved local

celebrity Bobby Hatfield. The event at the Sports Club, Irvine,

featured premium wines from the Napa and Sonoma Valleys and the

Central Coast of California. The wine tasting was paired with a

silent auction that helped raise funds to benefit Lupus

International. Prior to Hatfield’s death, he had worked for many

years to support Lupus research, raising more than $1 million for the

cause. Hatfield’s passion was born out of love for his wife, Linda,

who has fought Lupus for most of her adult life. The second major

event this week was the 27th annual Humanitarian Awards Gala

presented by the National Conference for Community and Justice. The

evening at the Hyatt Regency Irvine Hotel honored Armando de la

Libertad, Pamela Iles, Frank Quevado and the local organization Human

Options for their work protecting battered women in the community. On

hand for the evening were National Conference for Community and

Justice board chair David Kinnear and executive director Marguax

Kohut. The goal of the conference is “to encourage American people of

all races, faiths and cultures to live and work together in the

spirit of justice and equality.”

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.