COMMUNITY & CLUBS:Rotary Club sponsors cross country meet

The first starter’s gun for the 27th running of the Woodbridge Cross Country Track Meet will fire at 7:15 a.m. Sept. 15.

The event, co-sponsored by the Newport Irvine Rotary Club and the school, will attract more than10,000 star athletes from 210 high schools in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to Irvine’s Woodbridge High School for a series of 3-mile races

George Varvas, Woodbridge coach, emphasized that for the second year, this event will be the largest one-day high school cross-country meet in the nation.

Many of the winners will advance to the CIF, then state championships. Eight of the top 10 California teams will participate.

The Newport Irvine Rotary Club has been the principal sponsor of this meet for 22 years. The schools receive $4 off each ticket for their athletic programs, then the balance will be divided between the club to provide community college scholarships for underprivileged students, and Woodbridge High School for expenses.

Daily Pilot hosts service club presidents luncheon

The presidents, president-elects and public relations chairs from 10 harbor area service clubs attended a luncheon this past Monday at the Daily Pilot offices, hosted by Brady Rhoades, managing editor.

The goal was to meet Rhoades and to see how the service clubs might get more coverage of their service and fundraising events in the Pilot.

The concerns of the service club leaders were similar, letting the public know of the service projects and their fundraising events along with attracting new, younger members.

Rhoades responded by providing attendees with contact information and areas of responsibilities for several Pilot staff members and encouraged them to be contacted.

Rhoades concluded the lunch with a tour of the Pilot offices that included introductions to the staff, and invited the group to return for another luncheon after the first of the year. All agreed, it was time well spent.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council, “No one can go back and change a bad beginning but one can start anything, anytime and create a successful ending.” — Author unknown