The Crowd: Crowd gathers for county’s premiere of ‘The Bourne Legacy’

The 1,300 supporters of the Hoag Hospital Foundation fastened their seat belts last week for the Orange County premiere of”The Bourne Legacy.”

Regal Entertainment Group and Universal Pictures generously donated the film for a foundation event chaired by Mark Hardtke, senior vice president and managing director of Northern Trust.

Hardtke shared the credit for the event’s success with his honorary chairs Patti and Jim Edwards, calling the movie and dinner gathering a “summertime tradition on the Orange Coast.” The Edwards family inaugurated the movie fundraiser some 25 years ago.

The enormous crowd began to arrive at dusk to a parking lot that had been transformed into a dining exhibition featuring 31 of Orange County’s finest restaurants that served tastes of their specialties.

Among the exemplary restaurants were Royal Thai Cuisine, Muldoon’s Irish Pub, the Bluewater Grill & Oyster Bar, Newport Rib Co., HoSum Bistro, Newport Landing and Picante Martin’s Mexican Restaurant. Even the Newport Beach firefighters, known for their firehouse cuisine, set up a food station.

Royal Thai joined Sabatinos Sausage Co. in celebrating 25 years of participating in the Hoag fundraiser.

But we mustn’t leave out the newcomers, including Andrei’s Conscious Cuisine, Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen, ‘lette Macarons, Pita Jungle and Plums Café.

Spotted in the crowd were Hoag President and Chief Executive Dr. Richard Afable, foundation President Flynn Andrizzi, generous donors Ronnie and Byron Allumbaugh, Robert Adams, Roger Kirwan, Karen and Tom Linden, Ron and Sandra Livingston, Hoag 552 Club President Ilona Martin, and the super-dedicated Sandi and Ron Simon.

Also front and center for Hoag were Amanda and Bob Hogan, James and Pamela Muzzy, Ralph and Sue Stern, and Maralou and Jerry Harrington.

*

Right designs

The Interior Designers Institute of Newport Beach celebrated its class of 2012 Commencement and Awards Ceremony on July 14 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa.

The institute’s newest bachelor’s and master’s degrees graduates displayed their portfolios and websites during an evening of interaction and professional feedback from an audience filled with interior design experts in Orange County.

Commencement speaker and alumna Lisa McDennon was presented with the IDI Excellence in Design Award for 2012. McDennon has been featured in House Beautiful as one of the next wave of top 20 designers to watch in America.

*

Aquatics center hosting fundraiser luau

Get out your aloha shirts and flip flops and join the Polynesian luau dinner fundraiser for Newport Beach aquatics Aug. 25. Organizers are calling the summer evening A Soirée by the Bay, and it will feature Polynesian entertainment by Island Inspirations.

Christopher Roman, hands down one of Newport’s best and most creative caterers, will gather his team known as Fork, Knife + Spoon to prepare an incredible dinner experience for the crowd.

The event is designed to bring awareness to water polo and swimming in Newport Beach, both of which are extremely important youth sports for local athletes and their families.

Robert Lynn, the U.S. men’s water polo Olympic team assistant coach and Newport Harbor High School head water polo and swimming coach, will be welcomed home from London.

The evening promises to be a wonderful event, helping to raise needed funds to support the water polo and swimming programs.

The party starts at 5 p.m. at the Newport Aquatic Center, with the dress code being luau chic and tickets reasonably priced at $50 in advance. Visit https://www.newportbeachwaterpolo.com or call Alewa Olotoa at (949) 646-6124 for reservations and information.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.