B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Local celeb Kathy Thompson has been passing out her sweet Imperial

County onions again. It’s time again for the Thompson harvest that the

insiders supporting Share Our Selves (SOS) wait for every year. Well, at

least for the past seven years since Thompson and friends founded the SOS

“Star Team” supporting the food kitchen serving those in need in our

community.

This year organizers hosted the annual luncheon featuring Swiss-born

chef Hanspeter Haas, the former chef of the Jonathan Club who has

recently retired from his own restaurant business in Colorado Springs.

The luncheon unfolded at the traditional Five Crowns, Corona del Mar,

where Haas did a demonstration using Thompson’s succulent onions.

There was plenty of slicing and dicing as SOS Star Team members

enjoyed the afternoon supporting SOS. The Star Team includes local givers

Carolyn Clarke, Chloe Blom, Mary Jane Brown, Alison Baker Frenzel, Ellie

Faber, Barbara Venezia, Lois Shafer and Jean Warren.

The Star Team event raised more than $22,000 for SOS.

* * *

Tina Sinatra, the youngest daughter of the late Frank Sinatra, drew an

overflow crowd last week at the St. John Home Store in South Coast Plaza,

as the Orangewood PALS threw an in-store benefit to introduce Sinatra and

her recently published memoir to the local crowd. The book, which is a

very personal romp into the life of the daughter of the most famous

crooner in the world, takes direct aim at some of the myths surrounding

the late legend. There is also plenty of personal feeling expressed over

Sinatra’s last wife Barbara and her relationship with the family.

Sinatra signed and sold more than 200 copies of the book, “My Father’s

Daughter” as guests nibbled on hors d’oeuvres catered by Neff Neff. Funds

raised benefit Orangewood’s programs for abused and neglected children in

the community.

* * *

The prominent Orange Coast couple Ygal and Sheila Sonenshine were

honored Saturday evening at the Four Seasons Hotel with the Spirit of

Life Award by Temple Bat Yahm, Newport Beach. Some 250 citizens assembled

in black tie to celebrate the community involvement of the philanthropic

couple.

The Sonenshine children produced the affair for their parents, with a

special tribute to the couple offered by Newport religious leader Rabbi

Mark Miller. Proclamations came from Gov. Gray Davis, U.S. Rep.

Christopher Cox and other elected officials.

In the crowd were Jonathan and Sharyn Grant, Barbara and Mark Johnson,

Joyce and Tom Tucker, and Pat and Alan Rapinski.

* * *

The Newport Beach Spring Antiques Show drew shoppers from all over

Southern California to share in the visual and decorative arts. It was

staged on Lido Isle by Marion Palley and Diana Miner, with enormous

support from the ladies and gents of the sophisticated island. The army

of volunteers worked through the organized efforts of the Lido Isle

Women’s Club and the Lido Isle Charitable Foundation, an offshoot of the

women’s organization designed to raise funds for worthy local causes.

This year, the second year of the show, proceeds will go to three

local concerns: Childhelp USA, The Harvesters in support of the Second

Harvest Food Bank and The Decorative Arts Society in support of New

Directions for Women, an alcohol and substance abuse recovery program.

The opening night of the show featured a marvelous buffet supper

catered by Bristol Farms and sponsored by Cartier. The champagne flowed,

the conversations sizzled and the eyes wandered in the tents erected on

Lido Isle in search of the perfect items for the home assembled by an

array of dealers from times and places far and away.

Also featured were a number of estate jewelry dealers showing off

their magnificent collections. Of particular note was a handpicked

selection of early 20th century jewelry designs by Cartier displayed

under glass. The rubies, emeralds and diamonds were blinding and no doubt

rich with history and incredible tales of the people they have been worn

by and the places they had been. There was one necklace in particular

that really needed to talk.

* * *

More than 400 dedicated guests converged upon the Hyatt Regency Hotel,

Irvine, recently to honor 20 years of caring for Orange County victims of

domestic violence through the work of Human Options. The evening, chaired

by Ann Sim and Meredith Khachigian raised more than $160,000 net for the

organization.

Attending the affair were board members Steve and Cinda Churm, Beth

Krom and Raymond Novaco. Also on hand was Vivian Clecak, co-founder and

executive director of Human Options.

“We are a circle of caring,” commented Clecak. “We all stand together

against the terrible destruction wrought when violence ravages a family.”

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.