Irvine Man’s Work on Electronic Communications for Educators Honored

Irvine resident Steven Pinney was named Moderator of the Year for outstanding performance on MIX, the McGraw-Hill Information Exchange, a worldwide electronic communications network for educators.

Pinney teaches seventh-grade reading and writing at the Newport Mesa School District’s TeWinkle Intermediate School. He is also the district’s intercommunications mentor teacher and teaches at Chapman College and UC Irvine.

Pinney was cited for conducting electronic writing projects for students across the country, single-handedly editing and distributing published newsletters of student-composed news stories, poetry and fiction. He also conducted training sessions for fellow educators.

Saddleback High School dance teacher Brenda Blanchard has been named Team Head Adjudicator for the 1988 California State Super Bowl of Dance. The event will be held Oct. 8 in the Long Beach Convention Center.

Newport Beach residents Al Lehman, Alice Hawley, Matt Hall and Jim Wood will be recognized Sept. 6 by the Newport Beach Parks and Recreation Commission for volunteer community activities that enhance park and recreation facilities.

Lehman picks up beach litter; Hawley teaches wood carving; Hall serves as an Oasis Senior Citizens Center board member, and Wood has headed the Corona del Mar Scenic 5-Kilometer Run for the last two years.

Longtime Fullerton resident James H. Blake has been named by the city to be its representative on the Metropolitan Water District board of trustees.

Anaheim resident Jeff Buchbinder was one of about 350 recent U.S. high school graduates who participated in the recent six-day National Young Leaders Conference in Washington. Buchbinder and the others met with key leaders and news makers in government, the media and the diplomatic corps. The conference’s theme was “The Leaders of Tomorrow Meeting the Leaders of Today.”

Laguna Beach resident Michael L. Meyer, managing partner in the Newport Beach office of a national accounting firm, has been named to a one-year term as president of the Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Orange County. The foundation is the endowment arm of the federation. He succeeds William Weide of Fullerton.

Laguna Beach resident Thomas Gasper and Larry Silverstein of Santa Ana were named winners of the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival Fotomat Faces of the Festival amateur photography contest. Each received $50. Gasper won the “children” category, and Silverstein won the “entertainment” division.

Richard Cohen Landscape & Construction Inc. of El Toro was named winner of the President’s Award for best entry in any landscape installation by the California Landscape Contractors Assn. Besides the top award for its landscape installation at a Huntington Beach home, the company also won first place in residential estates landscaping and two outstanding achievement awards.

Former Orange resident Paul Stebelton, a retired FAA accident prevention specialist who also helped run air races for the Fullerton chapter of the Ninety-Nines, was installed in the Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., birthplace of famed woman aviator Amelia Earhart. The forest is maintained by the Ninety-Nines. Honorees are selected for their contributions to the advancement of aviation.

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