FROM THE NEWSROOM:Teeing up for Junior League of O.C. event

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I have a tough assignment coming up this Friday. I’ll be undercover at the Monarch Beach Golf Links, cleverly disguised as a bad golfer, in a quest to find out more about the Junior League of Orange County.

OK, I admit that’s all a joke. I don’t need any disguise to hide my bad golfing skills and everyone probably knows about the Junior League of Orange County already.

Well, if they don’t, they should.

Just for background, the Newport Beach-based Junior League of Orange County is comprised of some 700 women who volunteer their time, efforts and money to assist those in need.

The list of beneficiaries from their work include Casa Teresa, a home for homeless pregnant women who have chosen to keep their babies or give them up for adoption, and Girls Inc., a nonprofit group aimed at helping young girls avoid violence and abuse. They also help with the Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center, the Orange County Bar Foundation, Impact Orange County and Bear Hugs.

The Orange County Junior League dates back to 1956, with the creation of the Newport Harbor Service League, which later morphed into what it is today.

Since 1956, the Junior League has contributed some $6.8 million to the local community, and in the 2005-2006 period alone it contributed $35,000 in grants, $15,000 in scholarships, trained 800 member volunteers and raised more than $300,000.

I was invited by Mara Hampton to spend Friday, er, working at Monarch Beach Golf Links www.monarch beachgolf.com/.

Mara is a big fan of the Daily Pilot, as is her husband George, a local attorney whom I met a couple years ago when he was the Editor of the Day.

Apparently, he won that Editor of the Day prize in a charity auction. Who knew being editor was such a sought-after gig? Personally, I think being Lawyer for the Day would be more fun, but that’s a different subject.

Back to the Junior League and all they do.

“It really comes down to our mission, which is about promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women and improving the community,” said Erin Stone, the Junior League of Orange County’s communication director and future president. “We truly would not be able to make an impact without the strength of our members.”

Stone pointed out that the Junior League of Orange County founded the Volunteer Center of Orange County, an organization I know well.

“In fact, there are a lot of nonprofits that wouldn’t exist if not for the Junior League of Orange County, and I think that’s pretty cool,” Stone said.

I think that’s pretty cool, too.

So if you are interested in becoming a member of the Junior League of Orange County, just pop onto their website at www.jlocc.org.

Reminder: A couple weeks ago, I wrote a column about our reader commenting and imploring readers to be civil, otherwise they won’t be published.

Since then, there have been some well-publicized cases of newspapers that don’t police their reader comments and the pitfalls of a policy such as that.

Even such great papers as the Washington Post are grappling with the issue. See this link here for an example: www.mediabistro.com/ fishbowlDC/online_media/ posties_weigh_in_on_ comments_55704.asp.

Everything from racist comments to curse words can make it right on the site with the only policing being done by the readers themselves.

We don’t have that policy. Every reader comment is approved by an editor before it appears on the site, and we will continue that practice indefinitely.

The downside is that reader comments don’t appear auto- matically, but to me the upsides greatly outweigh the inconven- ience of having to wait a bit for the comments to appear.

So if you are itching to spread some bad will or bad facts, don’t waste your breath — or keystrokes — on the Daily Pilot.