Around Town: The sun sets on sold-out Orange County Fair this final weekend

After a month of fair food, amusements and home-grown community fun, the 2021 O.C. Fair will close this Sunday, ending a run of sold-out days that resulted from the first-ever capping of daily attendance to 45,000 fairgoers.

Michele Richards, executive director of the OC Fair & Event Center, confirmed no more spaces are available for the final weekend, after all pre-registered tickets and concerts have been completely booked. She said limiting attendance was part of a plan to help give attendees more space to move throughout the Costa Mesa fairgrounds.

“We’re disappointed more people couldn’t come, but we felt it was really important to stick to the plan and to manage the fair responsibly,” Richards said in an interview Friday. “We wanted to create an exceptional guest experience, and we feel we have achieved that.”

Newport-Mesa Unified teacher named California’s ‘History Teacher of the Year’

Lindsey Charron, a teacher at Ensign Intermediate School, was recently selected from among 8,500 nominees nationwide as the 2021 California History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, school district officials announced Thursday.

Charron has taught U.S. history for 17 years, including 15 years with Newport-Mesa Unified School District. She also serves as a national oratory fellow with Ford’s Theatre and is a master teacher with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.

“Student voice is a priority,” Charron said in the district’s news release, “and my goal is for students to walk out of my classroom as informed, engaged, energized citizens.”

Since 2004, the award has honored exceptional K-12 American history teachers. Finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year award will be announced Sept. 7 with the winner to be named later that month. Nominations for 2022’s Teacher of the Year may be submitted online by students, parents, colleagues and supervisors by March 31.

OC Community Foundation aims to raise $200K for 14 area Boys & Girls clubs

As students countywide begin to return to classrooms, amid a global pandemic that has disrupted lives and created more challenges for youth than ever before, an online philanthropic event hopes to raise $200,000 in support of area Boys & Girls clubs.

On Aug. 18, the Orange County Community Foundation will host its Greatness Amplified Giving Day when visitors can learn more about, and directly contribute to, clubs that help members develop healthy relationships, improve academic skills and more.

An estimated 486,179 were separated from their peers and largely relied on remote learning until many schools reopened in March. During that time, more than 25% of high schoolers reported a decline in their emotional and cognitive health as a result of isolation, a Kaiser Family Foundation study reported.

Clubs participating in “Greatness Amplified,” part of OCCF’s iheartOC Collaborative Giving Days initiative, include the Boys & Girls clubs of Laguna Beach, Huntington Valley, Fullerton, Placentia-Yorba Linda, Capistrano Valley, Garden Grove, Greater Anaheim-Cypress, La Habra, Stanton, Tustin Westminster, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast and Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast.

The Boxing Club hosts fitness event Aug. 21 at SOCO + The OC Mix

For anyone looking to get back to their pre-pandemic bodies, or just looking for a fun way to work up a sweat, the Boxing Club on Saturday, Aug. 21 will host a free outdoor boxing fitness event at SOCO + The OC Mix in Costa Mesa.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. in the complex’s courtyard area, an instructor will lead participants in a 45-minute full body workout that will cover proper boxing stances, footwork, and techniques. The class will include shadow boxing, interval training, mitt work, and body weight exercises. Gloves, mats and wraps will be provided free of charge.

Space is limited, so attendees are asked to RSVP in advance by calling the studio at (949) 447-5400. SOCO + The OC Mix is located at 3313 Hyland Ave. A18, in Costa Mesa. For more, visit titleboxingclub.com/fountain-valley-ca.

Girls, Inc. of Orange County names two businesswomen to its board

Girls Inc. of Orange County, the Santa Ana affiliate of the national nonprofit recently announced area residents Daisy Esparza and Carrie Strom would be joining the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Esparza serves as a risk and financial advisory manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP. She became involved with Girls Inc. first as a Eureka! Summer program participant, before becoming a high school college bound graduate and Girls Inc. scholarship recipient in high school and college.

Strom, a longtime supporter of the organization, serves as senior vice president of AbbVie and president of Global Allergan Aesthetics. She also serves as a board member for Octane, is a member of the Komen Leadership Council and is executive chair of the PRIDE Employee Resource Group at AbbVie.

“Daisy’s connection to our organization and passion for our cause is so special,” Girls Inc. of Orange County chief executive Lucy Santana said in an Aug. 12 news release. “That, paired with Carrie’s expansive experience and relations to a variety of organizations, will help us to reach and inspire even more girls in our community.”

Laguna Beach Composting Workshop

There will be a free composting workshop for Laguna Beach residents at Bluebird Park, 798 Bluebird Canyon Drive, on Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m.

The workshop will educate those in attendance on how to recycle food and yard waste into organic fertilizer.

A raffle will also provide an opportunity for workshop participants to win a compost bin.

Performances at the Promenade on Forest

The scheduled performances at the Promenade on Forest in downtown Laguna Beach this weekend will include local artist Jason Feddy on Saturday night from 6 to 8 p.m.

Zach Churchill will step onto the performance deck on Sunday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. Churchill is known in town for his appearances at the Sawdust Festival and on Laguna Beach’s radio station KX FM 104.7.

Laguna Beach city manager to speak at Business Club breakfast

The featured guest for August in the Laguna Beach Business Club’s speaker series will be Laguna Beach City Manager Shohreh Dupuis.

The breakfast meeting will take place at Seven-Degrees, 891 Laguna Canyon Road, at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19. There is a non-member guest fee of $30 to attend.

Dupuis plans to talk about her priorities as the city’s top executive, which includes listening to and working with all the voices in town. Engagement and satisfaction surveys will also be a topic of discussion.

The surveys are distributed to residents, local businesses and city staff, which are geared toward helping in the process of setting goals in the years to come.

Dupuis has led projects such as the Village Entrance, the Wildfire Safety and Mitigation Plan and the Neighborhood and Environmental Protection Plan.

The Latin Jazz Syndicate coming to Laguna Beach

The Latin Jazz Syndicate will be in concert at the Woman’s Club of Laguna Beach, 286 St. Ann’s Drive, on Thursday, Sept. 23 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Adonis Puentes will provide the vocals, and Bijon Watson is the featured trumpet player.

The show will run without intermission, but there will be a cocktail hour preceding the show. Seating will be limited to accommodate social distancing guidelines.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $30 at lagunalive.org. Admission at the door will be $35.

Fountain Valley — A City of Kindness

Fountain Valley Mayor Michael Vo plans to declare the local town a “City of Kindness” at the upcoming meeting of the Fountain Valley City Council on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

A news release noted that the nation has seen civil unrest and hate crimes against the Asian community amid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The City of Kindness movement aims to emphasize the importance of spreading kindness through action and recognizing acts that do so. The Dalai Lama, whom Vo met with four years ago, is a supporter of the cause.

Bingo returns to Fountain Valley

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, Fountain Valley community services staff welcomed back the city’s bingo players for a morning of games at the Center at Founders Village, 17967 Bushard St., on Friday.

Marcia Bill, a volunteer for the senior center, said that a moment of silence was held for those that had been lost while bingo was forced into an intermission by the virus.

“It was really nice, and then it was back to bingo,” Bill said of the moment of silence. “I’m so happy to see all the regulars coming back, and some new people, too. We have some new people, which is nice, so we’re excited.”

Bingo will be offered on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. More days of play could be added down the road.

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