Marking Thanksgiving across religious cultures

JIM DE BOOM

You are invited to join the seventh annual Interfaith Celebration of

Thanksgiving on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Newport Harbor Lutheran.

Speaking in the hour-long program will be Dennis Short of Harbor

Christian Church and the president of Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith

Council, which is sponsoring the event; Greg Kelley of Our Lady of

Mt. Carmel Catholic Church; Mrs. Jamie Day of Newport Church of Jesus

Christ Latter-day Saints, Cathleen Coots of Newport Center United

Methodist Church, Gary Collins of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in

Newport Beach; and Asha Knott, a member of Harbor Christian Church

Presenting special Thanksgiving messages will be Jim McCammon of

Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, Imam Sadullah Khan from the Islamic

Center of Irvine and Rabbi Mark Rubenstein of Temple Isaiah in

Newport Beach.

The Harbor Lutheran Chancel Choir will present two songs.

The price of admission is two cans of food per person to be

donated to needy families in the area.

“This is a great way to warm our hearts at the beginning of

Thanksgiving week, while we celebrate Thanksgiving Day with our

families and in our own religious traditions,” Short said.

HEART AND HANDS IN SERVICE TODAY

As you read the Daily Pilot this morning, there is still time to

join in Hearts and Hands Day sponsored by the Newport Mesa Irvine

Interfaith Council.

More than 500 people from several area congregations, including

Christian, Jews and Muslims, along with service club members will be

working on service projects to benefit our local community, as well

as the needy around the world.

The event will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the

Latter-day Sts. Church, at 16th Street and Dover Avenue.

“Besides collecting items for the ‘Support Our Troops’ project, we

will also have an area set up for writing cards and letters to our

military.

“We are working on a donation from Polaroid film to add photos to

the letters making them more personal,” Day said.

“Something we are also doing this year ... with the theme being

‘Families Together,’ is to offer family history research instruction

to our community volunteers. There will be four computers set up with

trained instructors ready to teach with the latest online information

for tracing your family roots,” she added.

SONS OF THE AMERICAN LEGION

The Sons of the American Legion, Squadron 191 of Newport Harbor,

will hold its annual awards dinner on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. with Orange

County Register columnist Gordon Dillow delivering the keynote

address, according to Commander Les Hunt.

Hunt will present a memorial service for our fallen comrades,

special awards and certificates and the Member of the Year Award.

James Blake, Area 5 chairman of the Sons of the American Legion’s

California commissioner staff, will address the squadron.

A full dinner buffet will be presented by Cigi’s Waterfront Cafe,

free of charge to Sons of the American Legion members. The Legion

Hall is at 215 E. 15th St., Newport Beach. For more information, call

Hunt at (714) 649-3315 or e-mail GuanoHappens@aol.com.

KIWANIS HONOR STUDENTS

The Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club honored local students with the Eagle

Pride Award at a recent meeting. Honored by club president Dee

Pritchard were: Sofia Leal and Alejandro Trancoso from Adams

Elementary, Frances Thorpe and Josh Vanderwal from California

Elementary. Rosa Martin and Jim Mendez from Rea Elementary, Tewinkle

School Upeka Keenawinna and Bryan Perez from Tewinkle Intermediate,

Christian Aguilar and Emma Milton from Victoria Elementary and

Francisco Alverez and Sueima Arroyo from Wilson Elementary.

Congratulations to each student.

THE FIRST JEW OR THE FIRST MUSLIM

Rabbi Reuven Firestone, a renowned scholar of Medieval Judaism and

Islam, will discuss “Abraham: The First Jew or the First Muslim” at a

Community Scholar Program Sunday from 7 to 8:45 p.m. at Temple Bat

Yahm. The series is co-sponsored by the temple and the Orange County

Community Scholar Program, chaired by Fred and Rosella Bernstein.

RSVP your attendance to (949) 644-1999 or by e-mail to

kmigdall@thy.org. Temple Bat Yahm is at 1011 Camelback St., Newport

Beach.

HARBOR MESA LIONS SPONSOR PEACE POSTER CONTEST

The Harbor Mesa Lions recently sponsored the Lions International

Peace Poster Contest at the Westside Boys and Girls Club and awarded

$50 to the winner, 11-year-old Lisbeth Cortiz.

Her poster will be submitted to District 4 L4 Gov. Barbara

Hayward, along with other winning posters from around the district.

More than 350,000 entries from all over the world will be

submitted in the contest, with the grand winner earning $2,500 and a

trip to New York with two family members for an appearance at the

United Nations.

Sixteen entries were submitted through the Boys and Girls Club

this year and Harbor Mesa President Sandi Scheafer said she was

impressed by the expression and creativity of the entries, which were

submitted by 11- to 13-year-olds. Joan Parks and Carol Van Holt, the

contest’s co-organizers, also presented the Boys and Girls Club with

a donation from the Harbor Mesa Lions to help with supplies for the

entries.

TURKEY OF THE YEAR

In next Saturday’s Daily Pilot, the Community and Clubs column

will honor Newport Mesa’s Turkeys of the Year in our third annual

awards program. Reminder to the nominating committee ... final

nominations are by 5 p.m. on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SERVICE CLUBS

David L. Bahnsen, sponsored by Huntington Beach Rotarian Harry

Selling, who joined the Rotary Club of Newport Beach Sunrise. Carol

Bernstein, sponsored by Maureen Coffey, and Sally Uhlin, sponsored by

Marian Perrin, who joined the Harbor Mesa Lions Club and were

installed by District 4 L4 Gov. Barbara Hayward.

WORTH REPEATING

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

Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council: “Our happiness depends on the habit

of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking every day. Cultivate

the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life will become a

continual feast.”

-- NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 48-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will

meet at Five Crowns Restaurant to hear Ralph Linhardt discuss movies.

(https://www.newportbeach

sunriserotary.org).

WEDNESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at the

Holiday Inn and the Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club will meet at the

University Athletic Club.

Noon: The Exchange Club of the Orange Coast meets at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club.

* 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.