Greenlight leader’s other side

At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa, Phil Arst spoke about organ transplants for a program called Donate Life. Arst, a leader of the Greenlight movement in Newport Beach, is a person with whom I have disagreed on local growth issues. In fact, he was named co-turkey of the year in November in this column.

The other side of Phil Arst is that he is a 12-year member of the Rotary Club of Newport-Irvine, president of the club in 2001-02 ? and a liver transplant recipient.

Through Arst’s efforts, Donate Life has become a Rotary District 5320 service program.

At the meeting, Arst talked about how the process works and how we all can participate. The most com- mon organs donated are kidneys, but lungs, hearts, pancreases and bone marrow are often harvested as well. Arst pointed out that a third of those waiting for organs die before they get one.

“Old organs are better than no organs,” Arst said.

With Arst at the Rotary Club meeting was Kathy Antonowitsch, mother of Mark Antonowitsch, whose organs were donated upon his death at age 31 seven years ago. Mark joined the military at 17 and served in Operation Desert Storm and Bosnia, where he received several medals for heroism. He was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after returning home. Mark’s donated organs saved six lives, including that of a doctor who was hours from death when he received Mark’s liver.

“He is my hero in life and in death,” his mother said.

Thanks to Arst’s awareness programs, I have signed up to donate my organs, and so have my wife, Barbara, and our daughters, Stacy and Jodi. We all have the pink dots on our driver’s licenses and Donate Life cards.

To sign up as a donor, go to www.donatelifecalifornia.org.

LEARJET SECRETS

A special guest program of the Newport Beach-Corona del Mar Kiwanis Club is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. April 13 at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Following lunch, members and guests will enjoy an animated presentation titled “Secrets Behind the Success of the Learjet.”

Bill Lear’s daughter, Shanda, will talk about her eighth-grade-educated, boundlessly creative father and her mother, a member of vaudeville’s Olsen family, famous for Broadway’s long-running hit, “Hellzapoppin.”

At dockside following the meeting, the latest Lear product, an electric harbor cruiser, will be on display. For more information or to make reservations, contact Bill Simons at whsimons@aol.com.

HONORING FIREFIGHTERS

The Exchange Club of Orange Coast honored members of the Orange County Fire Authority at a recent meeting. Nancy Swanson was named manager of the year, Darci Bodin professional staff employee of the year, Robert Diero firefighter of the year and Capt. Jeff Taylor career firefighter of the year. Recipients received a plaque from the club and framed resolutions from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 45-member Rotary Club of Newport Beach Sunrise meets at Five Crowns for a program by Sam Green, past Rotary International director, on “What’s New with Rotary” (www.newportbeachsunriserotary.org).

Noon: The 15-member Rotary Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Club House at South Coast Plaza.

WEDNESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 10-member Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at Denny’s Restaurant at the corner of Red Hill Avenue and Bristol Street.

Noon: The 27-member Exchange Club of the Orange Coast meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a business meeting.

6 p.m.: The 50-member Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program on the Panama Canal by Wendell Sawyer and Terry Rousselot (www.newportbalboa.org).

THURSDAY

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

Noon: the 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn (www.kiwanis.org/club/costamesa); the 45-member Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a special program on the Learjet; the 60-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Nautical Museum for a program by Tom Naughton on “Very Light Jet Aircraft for Personal and Commercial Flights” (www.nhexchangeclub.com); the 85-member Rotary Club of Newport Irvine meets at the Radisson Hotel (www.nirotary.org).