OUR LAGUNA: Hilltop clinic fundraiser wows guests

Guests at the second annual Community Clinic fundraiser Sunday at Kathy and Jim Conrad’s home said the only thing more spectacular than the house was the views — plural.

“You could see from Palos Verdes to San Diego,” said an impressed Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. President Martha Lydick, whose view from her Mystic Hills home is not exactly chopped chicken liver.

Clinic Medical Director and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Tom Bent welcomed the guests who were shuttled to the hilltop home from the parking lots of Kinsman and Kinsman CPAs’ and The Office Ally.

“Laguna Beach Community Clinic is indebted to the Conrads for their kindness in opening their home to us,” Bent said. “Our guests truly enjoyed the home, the location and our hosts. We consider Cinco de Mayo 2008 a most memorable event for LBCC.”

About 150 guests attended the Sunset Fiesta, considerably more than the 100 originally expected.

“People just kept calling,” said Shirley Lorenzo, clinic development director. “We raised more than $20,000 and we are still counting. “The Conrads have never even been to the clinic, so it was such a fabulous gift for them to open their home for us.”

The 8,000-square-foot Tuscan villa-style home sits on an 11-acre hilltop in Upper Three Arch Bay overlooking the California coastline.

Reclaimed timbers from a 200-year-old Virginia farmhouse and hand-carved stone fireplace mantels lend character to the home. The kitchen cabinets and island look like pieces of furniture.

“It is a huge home, but it’s so natural and blends in so well that you are not overwhelmed,” Lydick said. “And it is designed to frame all the view. From inside the house, you can look up and down the whole coast and the way the infinity pool is set, it looks like you can step right from it into ocean.”

Montage Business Center Manager Chris Loidolt said the house, its setting and the views are magnificent, but the diversity of the guests at the event really tickled her.

“What I loved was seeing such a cross section of Lagunatics,” Loidolt said. “Sometimes all the politics are set aside for a larger cause. It was wonderful seeing people sharing guacamole that probably will be on opposite sides in the next letters to the editor.”

The guest list included Judge Paul and Mayor Jane Egly, Council members Toni Iseman and Cheryl Kinsman, Tim Dillon, Arnold and Bonnie Hano, AIDS Services Foundation Founder Al Roberts and Splash Director Ken Jillson; Dr. and Mrs. James Daehnert, Andrew and Jeanette Harautunian, The Walk coordinator Harry Huggins, James Mills and Jennifer Walters, Brandy’s Friends Founder Cheryl Post, Carol Richardson, Wayne and Louise Wright, Elizabeth Kelly, Jody Billings, Mary Anderson, Frank and Joan Anderson, Laguna Beach Seniors Inc. Executive Director Beatrice Field and past seniors President Louise Buckley, Gene and Johanna Felder, Ilene Glassman, Robert and Sonia Meyerhof, Ginger and Tom Osborne, Herbert Dover, George Heed and Marty Conlon, John and Peggie Thomas, Patsy Tartaglia with Bob and Patsy Mars, Drs. Orson Dee and Cecile Dillon and board members Richard Kain, John J. Link Jr., Roya Cole and her daughter, Layla.

Guests sipped on special margaritas provided by Jackie and Peter McDougall — who contributed a bottle of special reserve tequila to the live auction — and savored Mexican treats, most of them from Olamendis and El Callejon restaurants and Fred and Pam Talarico, a member of the event committee, which provided the rest of the goodies.

Clinic board Chairwoman Debbie Mulligan and Secretary Madeleine Peterson co-chaired the event, assisted by Tom and Carolyn Bent, Glori Fickling, Sally Ojala, Lorenzo and board members Elaine Lawson, Jakki Tonkovich, Bill DeLand, Pam Lawrence, Vera Martinez and Dennis Myers.

Myers donated cooking lessons and dinner for eight to the auction, which included a two-night stay at the Montage Resort and Spa. Dr. Korey Jorgeson, former clinic medical director, staff member for more than 35 years and 2004 California Family Physician of the Year, served as auctioneer.

Floral arrangements were the gifts of Black Iris and The English Garden.

Special recognition was given to Eliseo Hernandez for his untiring volunteer efforts on behalf of the clinic and to Jamie Glaser of SG Wholesale Roofing Supplies, Bruce Nelson and Laguna Beach residents Patrick Petersen of McCarthy Building Companies, and Mark Curry of West Coast Roof Consulting, all of whom were instrumental in providing the just-completed new roof for the Clinic.

“It is a critical gift to LBCC and allows other funding to go directly to medical services and programs,” Lorenzo said.

The project entailed demolition and reconstruction of the 2,000-square-foot, nearly 20-year-old, sloped roof. Insulation and single-ply membrane was installed to comply with the state energy efficient standards.

“We are deeply grateful to McCarthy Building Cos. and their colleagues in the building industry for this wonderful gift to our clinic,” said Jorgeson, who spearheaded the project.

The clinic has offered heath care in Laguna for more than 38 years, starting as a free clinic when hepatitis was rampant in Laguna among the users of drugs. The original clinic was on the corner of Glenneyre Street and Park Avenue. It moved to Ocean Avenue in the late ’70s and to its present location, 362 Third St., in the early 1990s.

Eventually, economics forced the clinic to charge a sliding pay scale for services that include immunizations, well-baby check-ups and anonymous HIV testing; specialties such as women’s health, neurology, urology, podiatry, optometry and cardiology; and programs for chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension and HIV.

The clinic is one of two in South Orange County. More than 16,000 patient visits are recorded annually.

Ninety-eight percent of the patients report family employment, but 82% of them live below the federal poverty level. Educational programs and early diagnoses and treatments help them avoid costly emergency room visits.

Funding for the programs and services comes from fundraisers, such as the Sunset Fiesta, grants and private donations.

For more information, visit www.lbclinic.org or call (949) 494-0761. To inquire about donations, call Lorenz at ext. 134.

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, 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 22 in the Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.