Search begins for the next Miss Costa Mesa

JIM DE BOOM

The Harbor Mesa Lions Club is looking for contestants to participate

in the Annual Fish Fry Miss Costa Mesa and Baby Contest.

Entrants in the Miss Costa Mesa contest should be between 16 and

25 years of age; must live, work or attend school in Costa Mesa; and

be available throughout the year to make appearances at ribbon

cuttings and other city and Lions Club activities. The contest will

be held June 4 at 2:15 p.m. and the winner will receive a $500

scholarship.

The baby contest will be held June 5 at 2:15 p.m. for babies

between 6 and 24 months of age. There are no restrictions on

residency.

For information and entry forms for the Miss Costa Mesa contest,

or if you are interested in being a sponsor, call Arlene Schafer at

(714) 546-1429; for the baby contest, call Sandi Scheafer at (714)

549-4961.

SISTER CITY LUNCHEON

Leonardo Flores’ home on the Newport Coast will be the setting for

the Newport Beach Sister City Assn. Mayor’s Luncheon on Friday at

1:30 p.m.

The speakers will be Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg and Cesar

Mancillas, mayor of Ensenada, Mexico. The luncheon will mark the 2005

Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race.

Reservations are limited. For more information, call Connie Skibba

at (949) 650-0594.

POLIO AND ROTARY

Making the e-mail rounds with Rotarians this past week was the

following Wall Street Journal article, titled “Polio and Rotary,”

that was published April 12:

“Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine.

Poliomyelitis, also known as infantile paralysis, used to be one of

childhood’s most feared diseases. A few years after Dr. Jonas Salk

announced his vaccine on April 12, 1955, nearly every child in the

U.S. was protected. Today polio has disappeared from the Americas,

Europe and the Western Pacific and is nearly gone from the rest of

the world.

“A too-little known part of this feat is the role played by

Rotary, the international businessman’s club, which 20 years ago

adopted the goal of wiping out the disease. Rotary understood that

medical breakthroughs are worthless unless people aren’t afraid to

immunize their children and efficient delivery systems exist to get

the vaccine to them. And so it mobilized its members in 30,100 clubs

in 166 countries to make it happen.

“In 1985, when Rotary launched its eradication program, there were

an estimated 350,000 new cases of polio in 125 countries. Last year,

1,263 cases were reported. More than one million Rotary members have

volunteered their time or donated money to immunize two billion

children in 122 countries. In 1988, Rotary money and its example were

the catalyst for a global eradication drive joined by the World

Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

In 2000 Rotary teamed up with the United Nations Foundation to raise

$100 million in private money for the program. By the time the world

is certified as polio-free -- probably in 2008 -- Rotary will have

contributed $600 million to its eradication effort.

“An economist of our acquaintance calls Rotary’s effort the most

successful private health-care initiative ever. A vaccine-company CEO

recently volunteered to us that the work of Rotary and the Gates

Foundation, both private groups, has been more effective than any

government in promoting vaccines to save lives. It’s become

fashionable in some quarters to deride civic volunteerism, but

Rotary’s unsung polio effort deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.”

To which I add, Amen!

WORTH REPEATING

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

Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council:

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your

attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be

mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”

-- BRIAN TRACY

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Help your community and the world through a service club. For

many, service club membership is an extension of our religious

beliefs and congregation affiliation.

You are invited to attend a service club meeting this coming week

to learn more about opportunities for service. Most clubs will buy

your first meal for you as you get acquainted with them.

MONDAY

6:30 p.m.: The Harbor Mesa Lions will meet at the Golden Dragon

restaurant in Costa Mesa.

TUESDAY

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

at the Five Crowns restaurant to hear Orange County Register

columnist Gordon Dillow, who was embedded in Iraq with the Marine

Corps (https://www.newportbeachsun riserotary.org).

Noon: The Rotary Club of Costa Mesa, now in formation, meets at

the Holiday Inn.

6 p.m.: The Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club meets at the

Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club.

WEDNESDAY

7:30 a.m.: 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 for a program by Orange County Register

columnist Gordon Dillow.

6 p.m.: The 50-member Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa meets at the

Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (https://www.newport balboa.org).

THURSDAY

7 a.m.: The 20-member Costa Mesa Orange Coast Lions Club meets at

Mimi’s Cafe for a program on the Environmental Nature Center.

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

Special Olympics (https://www.kiwanis.org/club/ costamesa); the

85-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Nautical

Museum for presentation of the Youth Awards (https://www.nh

exchangeclub.com); the 100-member Rotary Club of Newport Irvine meets

at the Radisson Hotel to hear about the Innovative Teacher Program

(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.