THE CROWD:Festival of Children receives award

The Festival of Children — a major exposition of organizations dedicated to child welfare, enrichment and growth that is the passion of Newport Beach activist Sandy Segerstrom Daniels — has been honored with the Maxi award.

The recognition comes to Segerstrom-Daniels and her family of South Coast Plaza partners for the excellent community outreach provided by The Festival of Children, a month-long event held at the Costa Mesa retail empire during September.

Started by Segerstrom-Daniels in 2002, the festival “raises awareness for youth charities and presents over 100 family friendly activities and performances, all free to the public,” offered Segerstrom-Daniels.

Actor Debbie Reynolds will accept Chapman University’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the at Chapman’s Nov. 4 American Celebration gala, which marks the university’s 25th annual fundraising spectacular.

Chapman has made national headlines lately with its major expansion and the creation of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Big donors — including Larry and Kristina Dodge of the Newport Coast, and Marion Knott of Newport Beach, whose name will grace a new state-of-the-art studio at Chapman — have made this growth possible.

American Celebration is one of the grand parties on the O.C. social roster, attracting a who’s-who crowd in support of Chapman, the small university with a very big heart. Its motto is “Building Character, Transforming Lives.”

The local design crowd converged on Stonemill Design Center in Costa Mesa for a wonderful day of exhibition and conferencing under billowing white tents sheltering fabulous furniture, textiles, art and accessories provided by the multi-faceted Stonemill designers .

The entire day was created as a benefit for Adult Day Services of Orange County, a Hoag Health Partnership that assists people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Front and center for the event — which included an auction of all the donated design items raising funds for Adult Day Services — was Cordula Dick-Muehlke, director of the highly respected Alzheimer’s Center. Muehlke was joined and supported by ardent Hoag activist Lin Auer of Newport Beach and a host of talented designers, including Steve Francis, Sue McGraw, Susan Wesley, Barbara Segal, Judy Hastings, Pamela Green, Candace Donnell and Beth Phillips.

The highlight of the day was the appearance of New York designer and author Lyn Peterson of Motif Designs. Peterson presented her new book “Real Life Renovating.” She was a spellbinder, absolutely charming the crowd.

The wonderful Bungalow restaurant in Corona del Mar will support a wonderful cause Nov. 6 in Corona del Mar. The Free Wheelchair Mission Charity dinner will bringtogether local citizens paying $150 per person to assist people desperately in need of wheelchairs.

The organization’s celebrates 10 years of service with this gathering. A dinner of lamb, lobster, sea bass or filet will be served. To make a reservation or for more information, call Peggy Fort at (949) 675-0501 or e-mail her at peggyfort@aol.com.

The YMCA of Orange County honored Marge Hearn, the widow of legendary sports broadcaster Chick Hearn, at a recent inaugural dinner for the Chick Hearn Legacy Memorial Fund, under the YMCA of Orange County Community Services branch.

It was all part of the celebration highlighting the 31st annual YMCA Reach Out Awards, held at the Costa Mesa Hilton. Hearn presented a check for $50,000 to seed the fund, which will provide scholarships to deserving youth as well as fund various YMCA sports programs.

More than 375 dedicated locals gathered at the Hilton to remember the “Voice of the Lakers” and to applaud his widow for her generosity and community spirit.

Also honored at the Reach Out Awards were Lido Isle’s David Lamb, vice-chairman of The YMCA’s O.C. board, and Arnold Kleiner, president and general manager of ABC-7 television, Los Angeles.

The Reach Out Award has also been generously underwritten and supported through the years by Newport philanthropists John and Donna Crean. Oh — and if all this giving and spirit was not enough — the Laker Girls turned out just to give the party a little kick!

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