Seniors talk turkey at holiday luncheon

The Laguna Beach Seniors holiday luncheon was no turkey.

Pledges of more than $140,000 toward the construction of the proposed senior center on Third Street were made at a festive feast of turkey and trimmings, held Monday at Tivoli Terrace.

“What a Christmas present for the seniors,” Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider said.

Daryl S. Kling pledged $60,000 on behalf of the Kling Family Foundation, for which the computer room at the center will be named. His mother, artist Donalyn Kling of Emerald Bay, separately pledged $50,000 -- the cost of one of the two art studios in the center.

Anne Morris, who was formally introduced by Lee Anderson as the seniors’ new executive director, upped her previous pledge of $1,000 to $5,000.

Anderson described Morris as a proven fundraiser and a valued member of the Seniors Inc. board for a year and a half.

Debbie Santoro, who worked with Morris South County Bank for the previous couple of years, credited Morris with establishing the bank in Laguna Beach. And then she announced a donation of $15,000 from the bank.

“I challenge all Laguna Beach businesses to donate as well,” Santoro said.

PIMCO, a Newport Beach firm that specializes in bond funds, gave a $10,000 grant to the center’s operating fund.

“I wrote the application, but it was really Mark Porterfield who made it happen,” Chris Quilter said.

Porterfield, a Laguna Beach resident, is president of the PIMCO Foundation.

“That will help pay Annie’s salary,” Pearson-Schneider said.

The mayor shared the microphone to thank luncheon supporters and distribute donated opportunity prizes with senior group President Pauline Walpin and past presidents Louise Buckley and Skipper Lynn. Former President Virginia Schott also attended.

The first prize went to Barbara Merlatt, senior services coordinator Sharon Olney’s grandmother. Other prize winners included Waste Management’s Michelle Clark, Cheryl Post, Roger Carter and Sande St. John, who returned her prize to the drawing.

Prize donors included Waste Management and Albertsons Market.

About 150 people attended the luncheon.

“It just gets bigger every year,” said Buckley, who has attended 13.

Pearson-Schneider observed that the crowd that packed Tivoli Terrace had almost as many under 55 as over 55.

“We are all going to get there,” she said.

Among the notables Pearson-Schneider introduced: Mayor Pro Tem Steven Dicterow, who the mayor said deserved thanks for working with former Councilman Paul Freeman to acquire the land for the city on which the center will be built.

Pearson-Schneider also introduced council members Cheryl Kinsman, long-time friend of the mayor, and Toni Iseman, a more recent friend and “partner in crime on the Village Entrance.” Also among the notables: Police Chief Mike Sellers, Fire Chief Mike Macey, City Treasurer Laura Parisi, former City Clerk Verna Rollinger, city Community Services Director Pat Barry and Olney.

“Everybody here is a VIP,” Pearson-Schneider said.

Councilwoman Jane Egly could not attend the luncheon but sent regards. City Clerk Martha Anderson also missed the luncheon -- her husband is in the hospital for surgery.

Laguna Beach architects Morris Skenderian, Mark Singer, Kimberly and Ernest Stuart, Kirk Saunders, Brion Jeannette and Geoff Sumich were among the Architects Guild members who occupied two tables at the luncheon.

LagunaTunes performed. Their repertoire included “The 12 Days After Christmas, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and an original lyric by Bree Burgess Rosen, who opened the luncheon with her perfected a capella rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Arts Commissioner Pat Kollenda, a founder of LagunaTunes, donned red reindeer antlers to conduct the chorus.

Pearson-Schneider said the pledges made at the luncheon took a couple of options off the naming opportunities, but more are available and the donations can be doled out over three years. The $300,000 center kitchen would be a mere $100,000 a year on the installment plan.

“We also have two dance studios, a conference room and the staircase,” Pearson-Schneider said. “The stairs will go for $15,000.

“Hey, Toni, you could leave that in your will,” she said. “Then everybody who climbs the stairs could think of Toni.”

Pearson-Schneider has remembered Laguna Beach Seniors Inc. in her will, as well as devoting time to their cause and they absolutely adore her.

Another option is the Founders Wall -- patterned after the one at South Coast Medical Center -- where donors’ names can be inscribed for a $1,000 donation.

Boys and Girls Club Director Kim Maxwell, Marge Adams, former Mayor Kathleen Blackburn and Planning Commissioner Anne Johnson are names that will adorn the wall. Pat Thomas pledged $1,000 at the luncheon for her husband Jim’s father, Miles. Lee Winocur-Field, whose name already was to be inscribed, donated $1,000 in memory of the anonymous donor of her husband Frank’s heart.

Also at the luncheon: Beautification members Cossie Mechling and Ed Drollinger, Chamber of Commerce board member Dave Sanford, Pottery Shack owner Joe Hanaeur, Friends of the Library mainstay Magda Herliscska and Betty Swenson.

*

The Laguna Presbyterian Church will sponsor a Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27, in Tankersley Hall.

Donor criteria: minimum age of 17, minimum weight of 110 pounds and general good health.

All participants will receive a coupon for a Cold Stone Creamery creation.

For more information, visit the Red Cross website at www.givelife.org, sponsor code “lagunap,” or call Sandy Grim in the church office, (949) 494-7555.

*

The Laguna Beach High School Class of 1996 has begun planning for its 10-year reunion, to be held in July.

Graduates and their guests are invited to attend.

To ensure that the reunion organizers have current contact information, e-mail LBHS96@gmail.com.

*

Jan Fritsen, who was a counselor at the high school for 20 years and a professor and counselor at Saddleback College for 10 years, recently published her first book.

“The Art of Relationships: How to Create Togetherness That Works” was launched Sunday at Fritsen’s Top of the World home.

Now retired from academia, Fritsen still maintains a private practice as a family therapist.

Visit www.insightfulpublishing.com for reviews and more information.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 22 in the Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.

20051216gzgnhtkeNo Caption20051216iriqwjkn(LA)Jan Fritsen signs copies of her book, “The Art of Relationships,” during a launch party at her home.