Community & Clubs:

During the first week of school, first-graders at Whittier School received shoe boxes filled with all the necessary supplies to use for their new school year. Pencils, crayons, rulers, scissors, paste, marking pens, pencil sharpeners and other essentials were included in the plastic shoe boxes for each child.

Teachers provide the list of needed supplies to the Harbor Mesa Lions club each year.

“We raise the funds for this project with several events such as our upcoming Casino Night on Nov. 6.” said Sue Seager, president of the Harbor Mesa Lions. “We work hard at these events but seeing the smiles on these kids faces when they receive the boxes makes it well worth our efforts.”

For more information about this project or the Harbor Mesa Lions Club, call (714) 962-0265.

THE NATION’S LAREGEST CROSS COUNTRY TRACK MEET

The first starter’s gun for the 29th running of the Woodbridge Cross Country Track Meet will fire at 7:15 a.m. Saturday. The event, co-sponsored by the Newport Irvine Rotary Club and the school, will attract more than 12,000 star athletes from 220 high schools in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to Irvine’s Woodbridge High School for a series of three-mile races.

Coach George Varvas emphasized that “this event will be the largest one-day high school cross country meet in the nation.”

Many of the winners will advance to the CIF, then state championships.

The Newport Irvine Rotary Club has been the principal sponsor for 25 years, providing volunteer officials to run the races plus payment of major meet expenses. Jerry Rekers, Rotary coordinator, announced that the club is administering a program for the 220 high schools to sell an estimated 15,000 $5 tickets in a raffle to win a free week in Hawaii. The selling schools receive $4 of each ticket for their athletic programs, then the balance will be divided between the Rotary Club, to provide community college scholarships for underprivileged students and Woodbridge High School for their expenses.

WORTH REPEATING

Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council. “We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”

— Longfellow

There are several service club meetings scheduled this week.

TODAY

7:30 a.m.: The 10-member Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at Denny’s Restaurant, 290 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

Noon: The 20-member Exchange Club of Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a business gathering.

5:30 p.m.: The 30-member Soroptimist International of Newport Harbor Area meets at the Club House at South Coast Plaza for a program by Soroptomist International Director Dawn Marie Lemonds and Sandie Morgan, director of the OC Human Trafficking Task Force.

6 p.m.: The 65-member Rotary Club of Newport Balboa meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program honoring the Newport Beach Fire Department. Speaker is Chief Steve Lewis. For more information go to www.newportbalboa.org.

The 15 member Rotary Club of Costa Mesa meets. Call (714) 914-1078 for this week’s location.

THURSDAY

Noon: The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn, Costa Mesa. For more information, visit www.CostaMesaKiwanis.org.

The 45-member Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Visit www.newportbeachkiwanis.org.

The 85-member Rotary Club of Newport Irvine meets at the University Club for a program by Gus Valdespino, chief executive of Big Brothers Big Sisters Orange County. For information, visit www.ni-rotary.org.

The 95-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program by Arnie Maddox titled “Creation Mythology.”

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at Five Crowns for a club assembly. For more information, visit www.newportbeachsunriserotary.org.

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Saturdays. Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655 or by e-mail to jdeboom@aol.com .