Spring has sprung up with charity

B.W. COOK

Spring events on the Orange Coast are coming up like wild flowers on

the coastal hillsides.

The fifth annual Captain’s Ball, benefiting South County Senior

Services, raised $150,000 to provide meals on wheels, adult day care

and transportation for needy Orange County seniors. Chaired by Debra

Alves and Ed Schrum, the event drew more than 500 guests to the Ritz

Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel.

The theme of the night was “Copacabana,” with organizers

transforming the hotel ballroom into a 1940s nightclub. Cigar girls

sold raffle tickets and gin martinis flowed from a Bafford bar. As

the Bob Gail Orchestra played swing music, guests entered the

palm-tree-laden ballroom to raise crucial funds that will provide

some 400,000 meals and provide transportation for 36,000 county

seniors.

The special guests of the evening were Tom and Eleanor Beckwith,

and Bob and Sue Stenger. Organizations lauded for their senior care

services were the Change A Life Foundation and Senior Care Action

Network, a not-for-profit health plan founded in 1977 by a group of

seniors frustrated by their lack of access to health service through

established channels.

For more information on South County Seniors, please call (949)

855-8033.

The 18th annual mother-daughter spring charity luncheon and

fashion show, benefiting the National Charity League Junior Chapter

of Newport Beach, will unfold March 12 at the Four Seasons Resort.

Organized by Carmela Phillips, Merrin Jones and Molly Davin, the

party will take the theme of “The Magic of Dreams.” Saks Fifth Avenue

at South Coast Plaza will produce the fashion show, featuring both

professional models and sixth-grade girls who are part of the

league’s juniors program.

Proceeds will support National Charity League-backed charities,

including High Hopes, the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and

the Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center at Orange Coast College.

For last minute information, please call Lisa McBean at (949)

640-2092.

The very chic Elaine Ornitz Stone of Newport Beach joined with

Eileen Garbutt, women’s division director of the Jewish Federation of

Orange County and a sold-out crowd at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in

Irvine for the annual Women’s Voices luncheon Tuesday.

More than 500 Orange County women came to hear guest speaker Joan

Nathan, an award winning cookbook author and host of the PBS

television series, “Jewish Cooking in America With Joan Nathan.”

The special event honored Newport Beach citizen Ruth Lobel, a

board member and past president of the Federation. Lobel received the

“Anne Entin Woman of the Year” award for her community service to the

Orange County Museum of Art, Heritage Pointe Senior Living, Friends

of the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter and many other charities.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.