The Crowd: Balboa Bay Club’s 2026 scholarship winners feted at ceremony
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Since 1993, high-achieving Newport-Mesa graduating high school seniors have been the recipients of scholarship grants presented by the Balboa Bay Club. An auxiliary known as the “1221 Club” (named for the Coast Highway address of the Club), in addition to significant fundraising from the Club’s Annual Men’s Smoker and Auction, has raised and donated in excess of $2 million to date.
This graduating season, 24 young men and women accepted grants totaling more than $200,000 at a dinner reception and awards presentation held May 13 in the grand ballroom of Balboa Bay Resort. An emotionally charged evening welcomed some 400 guests, mostly comprised of family, friends, teachers and counselors of the scholars.
The 2026 Student Scholars are graduates from all of the Newport-Mesa public high schools. They are listed alphabetically with awards ranging from $5,000 to $15,000. Congratulations to Lila Ancone, Owen Clark, Melissa Cruz, Zachary Antoni Drag, Julia Getter, Davis Gruebel, Isabella Im, Gabe Johner, Veronica Kehoe, Sophia Lin, De Mayo, Abigail McIntyre, Bennett Molica, Juliette Moreno, Thuc Nguyen, Van Nguyen, Riley Ogo, Chase Ott, Xia Owen, Tyler Pence, Leilani Quero, Darwin Palma Ruelas, Savanah Rodriquez, Owen Saukkola, Andrew Waiis and Sharon Wang.
The crowd offered rousing ovations as each student accepted their award and shared heartfelt appreciation for the grant. Beyond the applause, rapt silence in the ballroom during the acceptance speeches spoke volumes about the importance of this momentary life passage. Plenty of silent tears were shed as hopes and dreams were shared. This was a hug-fest, above all else.
John Wortmann, chairman of the Board of Governors for Balboa Bay Club, served as master of ceremonies. Gushing with a pride-filled introduction, the self-effacing leader offered insight into the accomplishment and the diversity of the students.
“In this group we have swim team, soccer team, marching band, volleyball, basketball, track, tennis, crew, water polo, sailing and football student athletes. They are captains, all league 1st team and MVPs.
“Many have endured family turmoil, endured tragedy, and some have been raised by single parents facing tough circumstances. We have first generation Americans from all over the globe, they earned 4.76 GPA’s, ACT 35’s, 1470 SAT’s, straight As, 10+ AP classes, became Capstone Scholar, and some students never got anything but an “A” on any subject. All of that plus students with up to 700 hours of community service helping many important causes and needs.
“And they work part-time at stores such as Pavilions. They babysit, serve by helping the German Shepherd Rescue, intern at Deloitte, the Orange County Fair, and many tutor and coach kids.”
Among the destinations of higher learning accepting the Newport-Mesa graduates are University of Southern California, Purdue, Texas A & M, University of California, Los Angeles and Irvine, Chapman University, John Hopkins, Texas Christian University, Princeton University and Notre Dame, among others.
Donors and judges attending the event responsible for the comprehensive interview process were Bill Blaine, Balboa Bay Resort and Club General Director Cindy Racco, Balboa Bay Club General Manager Tyler Hathaway, Catherine Thyen, Char Armstrong, Heather Dickerson and Madelyn Martin.
Spotted in the crowd were Newport City Councilmember Michelle Barto, reading a dity of Newport Beach proclamation from Mayor Lauren Kleiman. Joining Barto were Daniel Yanni, M.D., Mike Granja, Noel and Kathy Hamilton, Mary Roosevelt, John Wortmann III and Becka Wortmann, Mark and Michelle Larson, Cory and Kim Cosenza, Sharon Blaine and Art and Jane Rivera.
A special tribute was paid to the Pickup-Martin family, ownership of Balboa Bay Resort and Club, for their generous underwriting support of the scholarship program. Family matriarch Carole Pickup joined in the celebration, offering a special thank you to all the students.
