Girl Wins Coloring Contest

Melissa Greytak of Olinda Elementary School was named first-place winner in the Brea Fire Department’s annual Second-Grade Coloring Contest.

The program was designed to recognize the department’s recent Fire Prevention Week, which had as its theme “Big Fires Start Small: Keep Matches and Lighters in the Right Hands.”

A total of 500 students from 10 schools participated and 45 awards were presented. Each student participating received a red plastic fire helmet.

Laguna Beach resident Don R. Laffoon, executive director of STOP GAP, a Santa Ana-based theater group that uses theater arts as a form of therapy, has been awarded the 1989 Alexis de Tocqueville Society of Orange County Award for “his lifetime of caring and devotion to others.

The society was formed in 1972 by United Way to recognize persons who have served as volunteers in their community or on a national level.

Senior Nadine Iskander of St. Margaret’s School in San Juan Capistrano was presented the prestigious Achievement Award in Writing by the National Council of Teachers of English.

The council also cited the school’s English department for “excellence in its instructional program.” And council members said Iskander “was among the best student writers in the country.”

The Saddleback/Irvine Forensics novice division team placed first in team sweepstakes at the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Assn.’s fall championship tournament at Pierce College.

The team finished with 62 points, twice as many as the second- and third-place teams combined. A total of 400 students from 40 colleges and universities competed.

“This was an exceptional finish to a very good first semester for the novice team members,” Saddleback Coach Paul Crary said.

Rolf Rudestam, Thomas S. Santley and Frank W. Wylie, all members of the Orange County chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, were presented with PRSA presidential citations “for truly distinguished and outstanding performances” in the public relations field.

Fountain Valley resident David A. Smith, a student at Cal State Dominguez Hills, was selected to study aboard in the 1989-90 school year through the International Programs sponsored by the California State University system.

He will follow a curriculum in Japanese and Asian studies at Waseda University in Tokyo.

John Hyma, who retired in July after 23 years as a Yorba Linda library commissioner and moved to Palm Desert, was honored for his years of service by the California Assn. of Library Trustees and Commissioners.

The South Coast Literacy Council presented graduation certificates to 19 tutors who completed its 18-hour training course, English to Speakers of Other Languages.

They are Blanche Bonell, Alice Campos, Kam Capik, Leslie Dinkel, Janice Donovan, Ann Maness, Helena Petersen and Bob Ulman, all of Irvine; Shirley Broz of Laguna Niguel; Evelyn Fractor, Shirley Levin, Ruth Siegel, Irene Steiner of Laguna Hills; Janice Larson of Rancho Santa Margarita; Patricia McCauley of Mission Viejo; Phyllis Phillips and Vernon Phillips of Laguna Beach; Shari Seiferheld of San Clemente, and Karen Werthe of Dana Point.

Active community workers Marcia Adler of Irvine and Sharon Paisley of Santa Ana were named junior and senior Woman of the Year by Central Orange County Panhellenic.

Adler, the junior winner, was nominated by the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. The Assistance League of Santa Ana nominated Paisley.