JIM DE BOOM -- Community & Clubs

18TH ANNUAL OKASAKI EXCHANGE: Four junior high school students from

Okasaki, Japan, accompanied by two adult advisors, have participated in a

whirlwind week as part of the 18th annual Youth Exchange between Newport

Beach and Okasaki, sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Newport-Balboa and

Okasaki South and the respective Sister City Assns.

The four Newport students who went to Okasaki in July hosted the

Okasaki students this week, the same students who hosted them during

their visit. Bernadette Carroll of Ensign Middle School hosted Yuri

Narus, while Corona del Mar students Katrina Redelsheimer, Evan Hirsch

and Marcus Hoffman hosted hosted Aki Hayakawa, Hiryoyasu Homma and Atsuro

Yamada, respectively. Newport delegation advisors Gordon and Annie Marie

McNeill hosted Okasaki advisors Yoshikazu Uchida and Hiroko Fujita.

Gordon is a seventh-grade math and history teacher and basketball and

baseball coach at Corona del Mar High School, and his wife is a medical

student at UC Irvine.

The week has included visits to Ensign Middle School and Corona del

Mar and Newport Harbor high schools, and a day at Knott’s Berry Farm.

On Thursday, after a tour of the main Newport Beach Public Library,

the Okasaki students were met by Rotarians Steve Vickers, Wendell Fish,

Newport-Balboa Club President Wendell Sawyer, International Service

Director Thyme Hampton, Corona del Mar teacher Gordon McNeill and

translator Max Yamada for a day full of activities.

Driving a 15-passenger van on loan from Theodore Robins Ford, they

headed for a meeting with Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes and a tour of

the Balboa Peninsula. Officers Pat Douglass, Pat Fergus and T. Smith

provided a tour of the Sheriff’s Harbor Department, Bo Glover provided a

tour of the Environmental Nature Center and Ranger Dave supervised the

kayaking at the Boy Scout Sea Base.

The Okasaki students enjoyed a traditional American lunch of

hamburgers, French fries and malts on the top deck of Ruby’s at the

Balboa Pier. Thanks to the thoughtfulness of Jennifer Dorr, Ruby’s

marketing director, and Claire McMahon, Ruby’s marketing coordinator,

each Okasaki student received a souvenir Ruby’s T-shirt.

The day concluded with a good, old-fashioned American barbecue and

pumpkin carving at “Moe Hamill Park” on Private Road in Newport Beach. It

was attended by the students, their host families, members of the

Newport-Balboa Rotary Club and the Newport Beach Sister City Assn.,

headed by President Karen Everts. Hamill, wife Dorothy, daughter Teddi

Gold and their Private Road neighbors have hosted the event for a number

of years.

Rotarians Sawyer, Hampton, Vickers, Fish were assisted by Dick

Dickson, Bob Silver, Roger McGonegal, Ed Rennie, Moe Hamill, Rick

Williams, Bob Thayer, Elmer Biggerstaff, Danny Frankel, Dean Reavie, Bob

Wood, Bob Krone, Hunter Cook, their spouses and even their children in

setting up the site, preparing food and cleaning up after the barbecue.

The Okasaki students will return home Monday with many memories of a

great week in Newport Beach, new friends and new experiences.

HANDS ON SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES: The Wednesday luncheon meeting of

the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council will focus on hands-on service

opportunities for congregations, service groups and individuals in the

three-city area, said Greg Kelley, council president.

The noon luncheon meeting, set for the Orange Coast Unitarian

Universalist Church, will feature 10 to 12 local organizations that need

volunteers to build a house, mentor a student, deliver food to the needy

or help a senior citizen. “The groups won’t be asking for money, just

sharing community service opportunities,” Kelley said. The public is

invited to attend. Lunch is available at $7.50 a person, and reservations

must be made by 5 p.m. Monday by calling the Interfaith Council office at

(949) 660-8665.

SERVICE CLUB WEB SITES: Several of the local service clubs now have

their own Web sites that provide information on membership, meeting

location and time, future programs, listing of officers and directors and

community service activities.

Check out the new site for the Rotary Club of Newport Balboa, designed

by member Steve Vickers, at https://www.webworldinc.com/newportbalboa/ and

the site designed by member Tom Anderson for the Newport-Irvine Rotary

Club at https://www.nirotary.org.cnchost.com/.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SERVICE CLUBS . . . Jen Kelder, Nancy Kimes

and Tom Mazzone joined the Newport Harbor-Costa Mesa Lions Club.

WORTH REPEATING: From the Newport Beach-Corona del Mar Kiwanis

Club’s Scuttlebutt . . . “There is a great deal of difference between

knowing and understanding.”

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK: Want to get more involved in your

community, make new friends, network or give something back to your

community? Try a service club. You are invited to attend a club meeting

this week. Many clubs will buy your first guest meal for you.

TUESDAY

7:15 a.m.: The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will meet at the

Balboa Bay Club to hear Wayne Eggleston, director of the Newport Harbor

Nautical Museum.

6:30 p.m.: The Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club will meet at Skosh

Monahan’s for an “Adventure in Dining.”

WEDNESDAY

7:15 a.m.: The South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at the Center

Club; Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club will meet at the University Athletic

Club.

Noon: Orange Coast Exchange Club will meet at the Bahia Corinthian

Yacht Club for a program by Leopold Vansteenkiste on “Flax in Flanders.”

6 p.m.: The Newport-Balboa Rotary Club will meet at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club for a debate on Newport Beach ballot Measures S

(Greenlight) and T (Traffic Phasing Ordinance).

THURSDAY

7:15 a.m.: The Costa Mesa Orange Coast Breakfast Lions Club will meet

at Mimi’s Cafe for a program on Proposition 35 by Vic Opincar of Boyle

Engineering.

Noon: Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa will meet at the Holiday Inn. Newport

Beach-Corona del Mar Kiwanis Club will meet at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht

Club; The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor will meet at the Riverboat for

a business meeting; and the Newport Irvine Rotary Club will meet at the

Irvine Marriott Hotel.

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published every Saturday in the Daily Pilot. Send

your service club’s meeting information by fax to (949) 660-8667, e-mail

to [email protected] or by mail to 2082 S.E. Bristol, Suite 201, Newport

Beach, CA 92660-1740.