B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Two recent celebrity golf tournaments brought out the local crowd for

sport, fund-raising and community spirit.

Pelican Hill hosted the 18th annual Childhelp USA/Angels Care Celebrity

Golf Classic, with local hotelier Medhi Eftekari serving as honorary

event chair.

Eftekari, the executive in charge of the Newport Beach Four Seasons Hotel

(and who also runs the facility at Pelican Hill), was joined by two

sports stars: Rich Saul, formerly of the L.A. Rams, and Mark Langston,

recently retired from the Anaheim Angels. They championed the day, which

raised close to $300,000 for kids.

The golf event, featuring foursomes paying between $3,000 and $10,000 to

participate, was a sell-out. Coordinated by Newport’s Childhelp patron

extraordinaire Patti Edwards, the generous sponsors for the day included

Beatrice Foods, Coca-Cola, Continental Yogurt, Edwards Theaters, Gary’s

of Newport Beach, The Irvine Co., Land O’ Lakes, Minute Maid, PLC

Commercial, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Leah Carroll was tournament chairwoman, with Debra Violette as the

co-chairwoman.

Childhelp members working with Edwards, Carroll and Violette were Pam

Arnett, Cleo Bluth, Christine Bren, Cathy Brouthers, Cathi Caporaso,

Nancy Cardin, Sandy Doniguian, Kim Doud, Mary Fitzgerald, Ro Frey,

Deborah Guibord, Sandra McConnell, Katherine Meredith, Carol Packard

(Orange County Childhelp chapter president), Dale San Filippo, Eileen

Saul, Ginni Valley, Nancy Whitlock, Susan Whitlock, Julie Whittington and

Gemma Wold.

Playing to raise money for the Childhelp housing programs for abused and

abandoned youth: Kermit Alexander of the San Francisco 49ers, actor Bob

Donner, singer Bobby Hatfield, Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler, San Diego

Chargers representative Ed Luther, Mike Mansford of the St. Louis Rams,

Tommy Mason of the Minnesota Vikings, Pascal Trepanier and John Davidson

of the Mighty Ducks and comic Wil Shriner.

Meanwhile, at the Santa Ana Country Club, Boys Hope/Girls Hope of

California, an Orange County-based nonprofit group dedicated to helping

children at risk, raised a remarkable $150,000 at its sixth annual day on

the greens.

The 18 holes of golf featured a $1-million shootout and a $10,000 putting

challenge. Fortunately for the holders of the insurance polices on these

challenges, there were no winners.

The children of Boys Hope/Girls Hope, however, were the real winners of

the tournament, which featured 135 local players. Newport support came

from Tim and Susan Stader, Bill and Vicki Booth, Roger and Gail Kirwan,

and Larry and Dee Higby. Also involved were Peter and Virginia Ueberroth

and Ben and Camela Du.

Following the golf, an auction helped raise more than $42,000, with a

full dining room enjoying the country club’s cuisine.

Boys Hope/Girls Hope assists children in at-risk environments by placing

them in homes and supporting their progress, including getting a quality

education through college. For more information, call Mary Ann Soden at

(714) 537-3211.

In other news on the social front, “Hoola For Moola,”benefiting Newport

Elementary School, attracted a major midweek crowd at the Newport Dunes.

More than 200 guests, including family, faculty and staff members,

converged on the Back Bay to raise $30,000 to buy library books, computer

software and materials for the school’s literacy room.

The evening’s co-chairwomen were Cathy Kinney and Kelly McKelvey. The

silent auction was an event highlight, featuring such creative items as a

sleepover at school for children who just can’t get enough of Newport

Elementary, pool parties and even the opportunity to ring the school bell

for a week. Now that’s something worth bidding on.

Bravo, Newport Elementary parents, faculty and staff! You are making a

real difference for the school, the community and, most importantly, for

the children.

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