Around Town: Crystal Cove Alliance fundraiser collects $418,000
The 14th annual Crystal Cove Alliance Soiree welcomed 420 guests to The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast on Oct. 1, raising $418,000 to support the nonprofit’s mission to preserve cultural, natural and historic resources of Crystal Cove State Park.
“Our organization is gearing up for some very exciting initiatives, and these require the help of our wonderfully dedicated supporters,” Alix Hobbs, the alliance’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. “This dedication will enable us to ensure that this precious resource thrives far into the future, for all the generations to come.”
The event included a cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and a three-course dinner.
UCI professor nominated for Nobel Prize in literature
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a professor of English and comparative literature at UC Irvine, was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature — an honor that went to music legend Bob Dylan.
Thiong’o, born in 1938 in Limuru, Kenya, received his college degree in Uganda. He is a writer of novels, plays and essays.
During his career at UCI, he has published “Wizard of the Crow,” winner of a 2006 California Book Awards gold medal for fiction, and “Dreams in a Time of War,” a memoir of his childhood in Kenya.
Vanguard University 5K helps alumna with cancer
Vanguard University’s fifth annual Run for Mercy 5K on Oct. 1 welcomed about 100 runners and walkers who helped raise more than $2,000 for alumna Noel Taylor Miller and her family.
The event was created by the Costa Mesa university’s alumni relations office to raise funds for Vanguard graduates in need.
“Over the last five years, the Run for Mercy 5K has raised thousands of dollars for families like the Millers,” Joel Gackle, director of alumni and university relations, said in a statement. “It has been powerful to see what an impact we can make when our community gathers together.”
Miller, who lives in Temecula, endured months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment after a large growth in her uterus developed into cancer in the placenta and spread to her brain, according to a news release.
She suffered cerebral hemorrhages, which led to multiple brain surgeries. Her family said she is slowly recovering.
UCI Stem Cell Research Center to host open house
The Stem Cell Research Center at UC Irvine will host a Stem Cell Awareness Day open house from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the university’s Gross Hall.
The open house will give guests a chance to learn about scientific advances and the future of medicine through tours of the center, meetings with scientists and lab demonstrations.
For more information, email andreao@uci.edu.
Nonprofit to hold wine-tasting party in Laguna Beach
Tias Arms, a nonprofit founded by former Hoag Hospital nurse Joanne Baker, will hold a wine-tasting party from 3 to 6p.m. Oct. 23 at Mozambique restaurant in Laguna Beach. RSVPs will be taken until Sunday.
A selection of wines from South Africa and an assortment of hors d’oeuvres will be featured at the event, which will benefit children in South Africa.
Tickets are $75 and can be purchased at tiasarms .org/events or by mailing a check to Tias Arms, 3 Wild Goose Court, Newport Beach, CA 92663.
Mozambique is at 1740 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach.
OCC students get helping hand from Pimco founder and family
Pimco founder Bill Gross and his wife, Sue, donated $240,000 to the Orange Coast College Foundation to support programs for students pursuing career and technical education.
“Many of Orange Coast College’s [career technical education] programs fill a vital need in Orange County’s local economy for a skilled workforce and we’re excited to be a part of that,” said Sue Gross, president of the Gross Family Foundation. “However, for many students, limited financial resources hinder their ability to complete coursework and find employment.”
The donation will help establish a Sue and Bill Gross Scholars program at OCC.
LCAD to start two new degrees
The Laguna College of Art + Design plans to launch two new degree programs — a creative writing bachelor of fine arts in fall 2017 and a master of fine arts next summer.
Norm Leonard, a screenwriter, author and publisher, chairs the college’s BFA and MFA programs in creative writing.
“I’m excited to assist students and faculty to create rich, craft-driven explorations of writing that are as playful as they are earnest,” Leonard said in a statement.
Balboa Yacht Club to host annual CHOC Regatta
Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s Glass Slipper Guild plans its annual CHOC Regatta from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5 and 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar.
The event will aid the guild’s $1-million pledge to the Hyundai Cancer Institute & Complementary Integrative Medicine Center, according to a news release.
In addition to boat racing, the weekend will include live music and children’s activities.
For more information about the Glass Slipper Guild, visit choc.org/giving/guilds/glass-slipper-guild.
O.C. fairgrounds holding art contest
The OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa is sponsoring its #DrainsToOcean public awareness art contest seeking to remind people that because storm drains lead directly to the ocean, all should think about what they dump down the drain.
Individuals or groups of up to four can submit family-friendly works that reflect the “drains to ocean” message.
The top six entrants will be invited to paint their designs on a storm drain cover at the fairgrounds in December. The winning design will receive a 2017 OC Fair Super Pass.
Designs must be submitted online at ocfair.com by 11:59 p.m. Nov. 4.
Segerstrom helps schools get set for performance
For the third year in a row, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa has selected four Orange County elementary schools to participate in the Disney Musicals in Schools program.
The center has chosen Las Positas Elementary School in La Habra, Santiago Elementary School in Santa Ana and Riverdale and Mattie Lou Maxwell Elementary schools in Anaheim.
For the next several months, artists contracted with Segerstrom will work with each school’s students and teachers to help put on a Disney show at their campuses.
In March, the Segerstrom Center will host performances from the four schools’ musicals.
CdM High teacher nominated for national award
Corona del Mar High School English language and composition teacher Laura Holk was nominated by a former student for the 2016-17 national LifeChanger of the Year Award.
The national LifeChanger of the Year program, sponsored by the National Life Group Foundation, honors K-12 public and private school educators and employees across the United States, according to a release.
“Ms. Holk was my 12th-grade English composition teacher,” said Brian Dunn, who nominated Holk.
“On a daily basis, I watched her find the middle ground between authority and friend in a way that connected her to students.”
The LifeChanger of the Year awards will be given to 15 people and a National Spirit Award will be given to the school that demonstrates the most support for its nominee.
The winner will be announced during a surprise award ceremony at each of the honorees’ schools.