Chapman Universitys

Premier Opening Celebration

In honor of The Premier opening celebration of The Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University, Twyla Martin, premier event chairman and Eda Wong, ESCADA Boutique manager hosted a sumptuous luncheon chaired by Leslie Cancel-lieri, Eve Kornyei, and Donna Phelps at the ESCADA Boutique in South Coast Plaza.

Looking radiant and very fashionable, Martin graciously greeted the 60 plus guests and emphasized that The Premier Event celebrates Dodge Colleges rise to one of distinction and prominence as well as the opening of the Marion Knott Studios.

Alex Rose, assistant professor at the Dodge College and an Academy Award winning producer was most inspirational and articulate as a speaker. She combines a tremendous filmmaking background with teaching at UCLA, USC, and the American Film Institute, where she played a major role in the development of the producing program.

The director of sales and visual merchandising for ESCADA, Richard Gonzalez, presented the smashing ESCADA 2007 Collection modeled by gorgeous models. Spotted in the crowd and enjoying the fashions were Marion Knott, Zee Allred, Daranne Folino, Bette Aitken, Peggy Sprague (who had recently

returned from New York where she

attended a performance by Placido Domingo), Deborah Bridges, Felicity Sodaro, Victoria LeVasseur, Elizabeth Chapel (whose son is attending the film school), and also Trudy Durant, Mindy Stearns, Suki McCardle, Sandy Stone, Yolanda Loder, Dorothy Kennedy, Lynette Hayde, and Diana Martin.

Southland Goes Red

Over 600 women all dressed in red came together at the Hyatt Regency Irvine to learn about heart disease and stroke and what they can do to protect their health. The Go Red for Women luncheon is an educational program that encourages women to become champions of heart health.

The third annual event was chaired by Yolanda De La Paz. Exhibits and boutique booths featured a plethora of unique items and a tempting silent auction. Expert advice was offered at two separate panels by leading healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association. Proceeds from the day of more than $200,000 will go to fund critical life-saving research and educational programs of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Shalizeh Shokooh, medical director of St. Joseph Hospitals Womens Heart Center was honored with the Go Red for Women Medical Award for her many years of outstanding commitment to the health of women in Orange County. Guests enjoyed a heart-healthy delicious lunch prepared by Chef George and were inspired by heart-warming stories of Heart Heroes such as Gracie Anderson, Mary Salinas, Patty Rayburn, Vivian Dickerson, Shirlee Berry, Luvimin Pre, Sharon Crawford, and Peggy Diller.

OCHSA 20th Anniversary

Honoring the past 20 years and celebrating the future, the nationally recognized Orange County High School of the Arts current students and alumni came together for an outstanding and dynamic 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. A private reception in the Donor Room preceded the concert hosted by John and Sandy Daniels, Paul and Daranne Folino, and members of the OCHSA Foundation Board of Directors.

Many Orange County notables made the scene including Elizabeth and Tom Tierney, Carole and Robert Follman, Cindy and John Gates, Carol Green (former OCHSA Foundation Chairman) and her husband Ron, Barbara and Jim Glabman, Darby and Bill Manclark, Ray Sun (former student and now donor), Mary and Peter Tennyson, and Kate St. Clair (former chairman of OCHSAs Board of Trust-ees and former board member of OCHSA Foundation).

The concert included a mixture of music and dance numbers which certainly showed the exceptional talent of the performers and the great leadership and guidance of the schools faculty. A beautiful rendition of The Prayer was sung by Susan Egan and Matt Morrison, both former OCHSA students and Tony Award nominees accompanied by the Music and Theatre Student Choir and OCHSA Symphony Orchestra. Also, former OCHSA student, Sean Lee, and now a private student of Itzhak Perlman at The Juillard School gave an incredible violin performance on excerpts from Carmen.

John Daniels, current chairman and board member of the Foundation honored and recognized Dr. Ralph Opacic, founder and executive director of OCHSA for his leadership and his vision and realization of a dream that has been 20 years in the makinga dream to provide bright and talented students with a world-class arts and academic education. Because of the creativity, passion, tenacity, and vision of Dr. Opacic, OCHSA is without a doubt one of the leading arts and academic schools in the country and it was most evident by the excellence of each and every performance at the concert. It was truly a night to remember.

Hats Off To Volunteers!

A Volunteer Celebration was held at the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel by The American Cancer Society Orange County Region to recognize and honor its volunteers for their outstanding efforts in making the Societys mission a reality. Its mission is to eliminate cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering, and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Lori Smith, the region council chair, introduced guest speaker, Dr. Les Redpath, a professor and radiation biologist at UCI. The honorary guest speaker, Murray Corwin, a cancer survivor is a co-founder of the Prostate Forum of Fullerton whose mission is to provide medical information, support, and hope to men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their families.

Among the many volunteers honored were the Discovery Shop Volunteers, John Alder of Corona del Mar and Lynne Bern and Barbara Walker of Laguna Niguel. Special recognition was awarded to Debbie and Gary Douglas and Dianna Munro for chairing the gala which netted $425,000 for ACSs lifesaving patient services and educational programs. Steve Bell was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Rich Saul, former NFL great, garnered the Patient Cour-age Award for his exceptional courage with his battle with leukemia and for helping the ACS reach out and motivate others in the fight against cancer. Barbara Steinberg, a nominee for the Lifetime Achievement Award was enjoying the delicious lunch with Bobbitt Williams, Kay Burra, Kathryn Smith, and Jenny Gerard. Emcee Lori Smith thanked and acknowledged all the volunteers who were nominated for awards and extended a Hats Off! to all volunteers!

Super Bowl Mania

In honor of John Crean, Donna and the Crean family held their annual Super Bowl Viewing Party at the Village Crean to benefit the Childrens Bureau which is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. In-N-Out Burgers, barbecued hot dogs, pasta, salad, and drinks were offered as well as big-screen televisions for viewing, and a silent auction of one-of-a-kind treasures. The festive crowd was filled with familiar faces such as Barbara and Jay Magness, Anita and Gil Ferguson, Lisa and Les Fujimoto, Peggy and Bob Clay, Barbara Ven-ezia and hubby Stan Tkaczyk, Duffie Routh, Andrea Manes, and Phil Beukema.

Over at the Newport Sports Museum, Patty Lance from Prudential California Realty sponsored an outrageously fun Super Bowl Party with cheerleaders, lounge seating, a poker tournament, an outside cafe with cigars, a football pool, a childrens play center with babysitters, a coffee station, and loads of great food and drinks. Cyndi Tuma was so delighted to be the 1st prize grand winner of the football pool and went home with a flat screen TV. The poker tournament was won by Mike Orozco, son of Shelley and Dr. Michael Elam. Danni Good won a Cohiba Cigar from the live auction. All proceeds from the day were turned over to The Sound of Music Chapter of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Mingling in the crowd of 200 people were Norbert and Doloris St. John, Ilona Richmond, Bob and Bev Sandelman, David and Leann Benvenuti, Steve Sutherland (vice president of the Architectural Collection at Prudential), Carol and John Jacobs, Dan Sager and Sarah Abbott, Geoff Lance, and Ken Vance.

Life is better in Flip Flops, so say Janet and Mark Ledovitz, residents of the Lido Peninsula Resort who hosted a great party catered by The Spectrum Group. Deanann Dierks and Tim Tindell who live next door arrived in a cab! Among the 50 people there were Elaine Gordon, Bill Tobias, who starred in movies with Margaret OBrien, and his wife Cindy, Brenda and Scott Forward, and Sheryl Rader.

Sundance Film Festival

Have you heard that we have a potential movie star, producer, filmmakeryou name itin our midst? Maria and Ray Francis and their gorgeous daughter, Christina, who is a student at Chapmans Dodge College of Film and Media Arts recently went to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Yes, the one founded by Robert Redford.

Apparently, a group of students from the film school accompanied Bob Bassett, dean of the Dodge school, and his wife Janelle, to the Festival. Among the parties they attended was one hosted by Lawrence and Kristina Dodge in Deer Valley. They enjoyed the snow and all the celebrities especially at Deer Valleys Grappa Restaurant where they happened to sit next to Justin Timberlake.