THE CROWD:Gala benefits senior services in O.C.

The Newport-Mesa crowd turned out for the seventh annual Captain’s Ball with a Polynesian Nights theme supporting South County Senior Services. Patrons raised more than $125,000 for Meals on Wheels, Adult Day Care Services and other projects in Orange County. The upbeat crowd of 500 guests delighted in the tropical setting, enjoying mai tais in tiki huts and dancing to Wayne Foster’s Orchestra at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel.

Monarch HealthCare hosted the gala event that honored Patrick Kapsner, chief executive, and Dr. Mark Schafer, medical director of Bristol Park Medical Group; Dr. Gwyn Parry, director of community medicine for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian; Edward J. Schrum, South County Senior Services board member; and Young’s Market Company.

Additional sponsors included Wells Fargo, Cox Communications, Langlois Fancy Frozen Foods, the Pimco Foundation, Jean Reinhardt, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center and so many more friends of South County Senior Services.

While thanking everyone for their support in attending, Marilyn Ditty, chief executive of South County Senior Services, said, “We are grateful to all of our sponsors and the dedicated community partners who assisted us with tonight’s celebration and throughout the year in our mission to provide resources for seniors to maintain their independence and quality of life.”

Co-Chairs Debra Alves and Bob Stegner and their committee provided a fabulous evening beginning with a cocktail reception, silent and live auction, gourmet dinner and dancing.

“The Captain’s Ball has become one of the charitable highlights of the community drawing more supporters each year and a mix of all ages from 20s to 90s,” Alves said.

Featured among the live auction items were a four-course dinner with wine pairings for 10 at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse; a personal guided tour of the U.S. Naval Academy along with the attendant celebrations and a walking tour of historic Annapolis for two; two Club 33 packages including dinner, limousine and Disneyland; a helicopter ride for five, plus a private lunch and tour of Thornton Winery in Temecula; and other exciting trips to New York, London, Cannes and Monte Carlo.

Spotted in the crowd were Neil and Lisa O’Connor, Cliff and Tami Harris, Jim Alves and Linda Gould, Eleanor and David Cassidy, Richard and Clarice Lehn, Tony and Joanne Scarabino, Erin Horta-Shinn and Richard Shinn. Also dancing the night away were Marcia and Will Manker, Robert Conrad and Michele Weinberger, Rob and Carla Myers, and Bob and Malu Brown, to name only a few.

Last week, the Costa Mesa office of Greenberg Traurig LLP hosted first-place winners and their families who competed in the 20th annual Astounding Inventions competition. The event was conceived by Irvine Valley College to promote creativity and interest in mathematics and science education among Orange County students. At a time when many schools are eliminating these valuable programs, the need to encourage young students to get involved in the sciences was fostered by the event competition.

This year’s winning student is third-grader Michelle Chow of Bonita Canyon Elementary School in Irvine. Chow’s invention, the Jell-I Dose, is a system that combines sugar, water and agar with a desired medication, forming a gelatin-like product that makes it easier and more pleasant for children to consume the medicine.

“Greenberg Traurig has offered to set up and provide a pro-bono patent search to help teach one of these talented local youngsters about the patent process,” stated Peter Gluck, one of Greenberg Traurig’s Orange County patent specialists. “Our view is that by participating in patenting early on, later contributions to society and Orange County’s ongoing technological superiority may well be enhanced.”

On view at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach is Turkish artist Kutlug Ataman’s large-scale video installation, “Paradise.” Filmed primarily in Orange County, the work presents interviews with 24 people who live in and contribute to the area’s personalities. With the international fascination of TV shows such as “The O.C.,” “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” and “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County”our area has come to represent a kind of paradise in the minds of millions of people who have never visited the region. Ataman seeks to portray, through this exhibit, paradise less as a concept and more as an environment where individual freedom and creativity thrive.

“Paradise” runs through June 3 at the Orange County Museum of Art. For more information, call (949) 759-1122 or go to www.ocma.net .

The Sound of Music Chapter of the Guilds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center gathered last week at the new Pacific Clubto celebrate the upcoming Water and Fire Masquerade Ball, set for March 24 at the Newport Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. The underwriters of the gala gathered for cocktails and dinner honoring corporate sponsors including Tiffany & Co., South Coast Plaza, Rodnick Vodka, and the Marbella Farmer’s Market and Pacific Ranch Market. Individual donors taking a bow for generosity included Sally Crockett, Harriet and Sandy Sandhu, Lori and John Loftus, and Kelly Hague. Also in the crowd were Kathie and John Porter, and Denice Tsujioka, chair of the Sound of Music Guild.

The masquerade ball is one of the big parties of the Newport social season. Organizers will create a party to remember at the Newport Beach Marriott. Gala Co-chairs Laura Baratta and Shawn Cunningham invite your participation, as a few tables remain at $350 a person. Proceeds benefit the Orange County Performing Arts Center. To make a reservation, call Kimberly Feinberg at (949) 644-5484.