THE CROWD:

Orange County is known nationally for a variety of reasons: the magnificent beaches, the weather, beautiful homes and beautiful people, and a business climate that thrives on entrepreneurship. Last week, the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine named O.C.’s Chapman UniversityChapman University among the top 10 universities in the country for its education programs in entrepreneurship. Chapman ranked No. 10 in undergrad and No. 9 in grad programs in a survey of 2,500 schools joining USC, Drexel, Temple, DePaul, UCLA and others in the prestigious lineup. The prominent Leatherby family has funded the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics under the Argyros School of Business and Economics.

O.C. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens will be the guest of honor Oct. 10 as the Girl Scout Council of Orange County gathers for an evening event at The Clubhouse at South Coast Plaza. Patricia Diaz Dennis, assistant vice counsel for AT&T;, and Lucy Dunn, chief executive of the Orange County Business Council, will host the event welcoming distinguished guests supporting Girl Scouts. Organizers are calling the gathering the 2008 Urban Adventure Badge Bash, a unique evening where adults will earn their Girl Scout badges participating in a variety of activities from sushi rolling to golf-putting to dance, blackjack and wine-tasting. All of this while raising funds for Girl Scouts. The party will be chaired by Susan Luehrs, Kim Shepard and Beth Caroll with a committee including Margit Allen, Becky Bailey-Findley, Elizabeth Cobb, Suzanne Huffmon-Esber, Betty Mower Potalivo, Elizabeth Stahr and Nella Webster O’Grady. For more information, call Gail Ellis-Olds at (949) 461-8828.

The fall events are lining up big time. Saturday will find the Discovery Science Center holding its annual gala. Organizers are calling the party “A Decade of Discovery” and it will honor much-admired O.C. citizens Donald Kennedy and son Parker Kennedy. The event is set to unfold at the center in Santa Ana with some 400 donors expected to join forces for dinner under the co-chairwomanship of Julia McDorman and Kristin Crellin. The Turnip Rose will cater the evening with silver dome dinner service. For ticket information, call Lucy Paunovich at (714) 913-5022.

Also on Saturday, the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa will welcome Cruisin’ For A Cure. It’s the nation’s largest one-day car show that will feature 4,000 cars and 200 automotive vendors and experts. This ninth annual event benefits UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Legend Motors Worldwide in conjunction with Guaranty Chevrolet have donated a 1933 Ford Roadster as a raffle prize. But the big prize is something quite different. Inasmuch as proceeds from Cruisin’ For A Cure in part benefit prostate cancer research and treatment at UCLA, along with the fact that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the car show will also offer free PSA screening to men older than 40. Last year, some 12% of men tested were advised to see their doctor.

Earlier in the summer social season, another very special event unfolded at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim. The fourth annual Mercy House gala, “Living With Heart,” attracted an enormous cross-section of community support. Mercy House provides shelter for homeless individuals and families in Orange County. Statistics report that an estimated 35,000 people experience homelessness each year in this county. This includes a large contingent of working people unable to make ends meet. In fact, a majority of O.C.’s homeless adults are work full time. Mercy House assists 200 people at a time, helping them transition back to full-time housing. Their success rate exceeds 85%. Also, Mercy House feeds more than 1,000 people each year through its food voucher programs.

More than $180,000 net was raised at the dinner, with generous support coming from Danny Pang, Lisa and Ray Bukaty, Erma Jean Tracy, the Dante family, Jill Senese, Sandi and Russ Aplin, Kimberly and Chris Fox, Mary and Walter Frome, Reed LeVecke, and Eloise and Phil Ramos.

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