A Golden reward for those who serve

B.W. COOK

The Golden Truffle Restaurant’s wine room was the setting for a

special midweek luncheon, honoring local doctors and dentists who

volunteer their professional services to community members through

Share Our Selves, Costa Mesa.

Local celebrity chef Alan Greeley, who has made Costa Mesa’s

Golden Truffle one of the sought-after bistros in Southern

California, hosted the luncheon in his wine cellar, serving a

Sardinian swordfish escabeche with a wild herb salad and smoked

tomato wontons, followed by an entree of veal tortellini with

house-cured pancetta, mushrooms, peas and rosemary chicken broth.

Some 100 medical professionals came together for the Greeley

luncheon, which was also organized as a tribute to Hoag Memorial

Hospital for its ongoing support of the Costa Mesa nonprofit agency

that serves the needs of people living in poverty in Orange County.

Attending the luncheon were Matthew Clark, Duc Do, Warren Fong,

Steven Gausewitz, Pierre Giammanco, Richard Graves, Richard Haskell,

Irwin Kempler and James Kloss. Also in the crowd were Jeffrey Lauber,

Parkson Lin, Homeira Mehrabian, Marilyn Pais, Gerald Sinykin, Jack

Skinner and Angela Stafford.

Karen Harrington, director of development for SOS, shared that all

services rendered are free to community members in need, including

food, clothing, financial assistance and medical and dental care.

“Most direct service at SOS is provided by volunteers, such as the

doctors here today at the luncheon,” Harrington said.

The Newport-Mesa community is elevated to a higher standard by men

and women such as these volunteer professionals, who make a

discernible difference one life at a time, one day at a time. For

more information about SOS, please call (949) 642-3451.

“Moonlight Over Maui”, the Hawaiian-themed evening presented by

the Newport Beach Rotary, will take place Aug. 21 at John and Donna

Crean’s Village Crean on Newport’s Back Bay. John Hedlund, event

chairperson for the Rotary, reports that organizers are planning a

festive, island-themed evening that will include a hosted bar, live

tropical music and auction items galore. Advance tickets will be sold

at a $100 donation per person, going up to $125 after Aug. 17. For

more information, please contact Hedlund at (949) 673-5854.

Newport’s lovely Lana Chandler reports that Anaheim Angels owner

Arte Moreno will attend the second annual Boys and Girls Club Orange

County Alliance fundraiser, dubbed “Field Of Dreams.”

Moreno will bring Angels players for the Aug. 27 luncheon at the

Grove of Anaheim. Moreno, the third owner in franchise history, is

very involved, along with his baseball players, in an organization

called “Reviving Baseball In Inner Cities.”

Also known as RBI, the effort places volunteers and pro players in

inner-city communities, teaching children how to play baseball, form

leagues and clean up city baseball fields that have been left to

decay.

Tickets to the Field of Dreams luncheon are priced at $125 per

person. More than 600 guests are expected to attend. For more

information, please call Matt Bennett, community relations manager

for the Angels, at (714) 940-2174.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.