B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

The Orange County chapter of ChildHelp USA welcomed a large and

enthusiastic field of golfers to its 19th annual Celebrity Golf Classic

at Pelican Hill Golf Club, Newport Coast. The midweek event was hosted by

local sports legend Rich Saul, formerly a member of the Los Angeles Rams

football team. Saul is the husband of dedicated ChildHelp sponsor Eileen

Saul.

Man about town, sophisticated hotelier and top Four Seasons, Newport

Beach management executive Mehdi Eftekari served as honorary chairman of

the event. The golf roster included comics Jack Carter, Wil Shriner,

Bobby Herbeck and actor Bob Donner. The lineup of sport stars included

Kermit Alexander, Vince Ferragamo, Dennis Harrah, Merlin Olsen and Ron

Yary.

A lively dinner and auction followed the tournament in the Pelican

Hill Clubhouse. The auction raised more than $20,000 for the children of

ChildHelp USA. The event was co-chaired by Leah Carroll and Patti Edwards

with help from ChildHelp USA board members Diana Miner, Carroll Packard,

Nancy Whitlock, Pam Butler, Tami Smith, Cathi Unvert, Barbara Ganahl,

Dale San Filippo, Corky Winters, Libby Werner and Jana Shuler.

* * *

UC Irvine is in the social news this week with recent back-to-back

events promoting culture with content and health with humanity in our

community. More than 300 people joined together at the Sutton Place

Hotel, Newport Beach, to celebrate UC Irvine Extension’s Women’s

Opportunity Center. The annual event has been named the Amelia Earhart

Awards Luncheon and this year Patty Oslinker-Moore, executive director of

the Mariposa Women’s and Family Counseling Center, received the Earhart

nod for her role in assisting women afflicted by various addictions.

The event was sponsored by a consortium of involved local business

leaders including representatives from Allergan Foundation, Nordstrom, OC

Business Journal, Experian, Rohl Corporation, Goodwill Industries,

Northern Trust Bank, ProCare One Nurse Staffing Agency, Eastwood

Insurance, Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger and Combined Jewish

Philanthropies.

One of the most inspirational charity dinners on the calendar is

without question the UCI Silver Medal Award Presentation, benefiting the

UCI Brain Imaging Center. This annual event is a gathering and a report

on the state of mental health in our nation attended by some of the

leading researchers, scientists and educators devoting their lives to

both the understanding of and the elimination of a plethora of mental

disorders and diseases.

Last week, this distinguished group gathered at the Sutton Place,

Newport Beach, under the direction of dinner chair Mara Eyer-Hube.

Several hundred guests shared in information about the Brain Imaging

Center provided by respected Dr. Steven Potkin. Additional comments were

made by Dr. Willim Bunney, a much loved and long standing advocate of

mental health issues vis a vis his association with UCI.

Bunney was joined by a Brain Imaging Center committee led by Peggy

Goldwater Clay and consisting of Sandra Brodie, Alpha Hahn, Eric Nelson,

Robert and Margaret Sprague, Ron Norick, Howard Charlop, Dee Harvey,

Sharon Pfister, and John and Dorothy Belanger.

Peggy Goldwater Clay joined Dr. Thomas Cesario, Dean of the UCI

College of Medicine, in graciously welcoming the crowd who had come to

pay special tribute to two outstanding Newport Mesa citizens -- James

Warsaw, recipient of the 2001 Silver Ribbon Award, and Carmelita Moffatt,

recipient of the 2001 Outstanding Volunteer Award.

Proceeds from the event, which are expected to exceed $50,000, will be

directed to the Brain Imaging Center’s research programs at UCI.

Additional donors and underwriters include Walter Schroder, Jean Aldrich,

Sharon Lynch, Sheldon Rubin, Michelle Rohe, Dorothy Gray, Carl and Mary

Raymond, Aram and Margie Keith, David Rubinstein and Matthew and William

Witte, to name only a few.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.