In honor of some stand-out women

BARBARA DIAMOND

The Laguna Beach Foundation of the American Assn. of University Women

snookered Carol Reynolds Monday at the annual Leadership Dinner.

Reynolds, perennial mistress of ceremonies for the dinners, was

upstaged by chapter President Carol Redford, who rewrote Reynolds

script. Redford waited until the close of the dinner to honor

Reynolds for founding the event that recognizes local women who have

made a difference in our community. It was a complete surprise to

Reynolds.

“I wondered why there was an extra flower,” said Reynolds after

the presentation by Redford.

A bouquet is traditionally presented at the dinner to the

honorees. There aren’t enough flowers in Laguna to recognize all the

women whose good works enhance our lives or even just the ones who

attended the dinner.

But the association is doing its best. By the end of the fifth

annual dinner, 40 women had been publicly acknowledged for their

contributions. Honored this year: Vivian Clecak, Dee Challis-Davy,

Lola Gillebaard, Nancy Lawrence, the dynamic duo of Pat Jamieson and

Peggie Thomas and Reynolds.

Clecak founded the Human Options shelter for abused women in

Laguna Beach at a time when domestic abuse was a nasty secret of

which most people were unaware. Association member Cindy Prewitt

introduced Clecak.

They met in 1974 when they started a counseling service for women.

“We kept getting calls for a shelter,” Prewitt said. “Vivian did

something about it.”

Planning Commissioner Anne Johnson, a 1999 honoree, introduced

Pageant of the Masters director Challis-Davy, who was honored for her

contributions to art and culture.

“DeeDee is a Laguna kid,” Johnson said.

She and her brother attended school here. They both were Festival

of Arts Scholarship winners, fitting for the children with such a

strong local arts tradition. Her father, Richard Challis, owned an

art gallery in Laguna for 40 years. Her mother, Carlene Challis, is

an artist. Even her former stepmother, Patricia Turnier, is an

artist.

Challis-Davy’s husband, David, is a maker of violins. Her son, a

Laguna Beach High School student, is a jazz musician.

“This is a great honor, especially with so many excellent people

in the audience,” Challis-Davy said. “They say it takes a village to

raise a child. It took a village, my parents and the Festival of Arts

to raise this child.”

Challis-Davy shared a pageant secret that could not have had a

more receptive audience.

Roy Rop, the first pageant director refused for 10 years to

identify the person who portrayed Jesus in the “Last Supper” finale.

It was a woman.

Almost every woman in the audience smirked.

Smirks turned to outright guffaws when Gillebaard took over the

microphone. The association’s Legal Advocacy Fund co-chair Karen

Dennis introduced her. Karen said what Reynolds couldn’t, the V word.

Gillebaard starred in the Woman’s Club of Laguna Beach first

presentation of the “Vagina Monologues” and will be om the cast again

in February.

“I am getting this award for quality of life advocacy,” Gillebaard

said. “When I got the letter, I e-mailed Carol and said thank you,

but what is it. Three days later, she e-mailed me that she had to do

some research. Five more days went by. Then I got an e-mail saying

[the committee] made up a special category for me.”

Excerpts from Gillebaard’s “You Know You are Growing Older When “

comedy routine had the audience in stitches.

“We could have charged $50 a ticket if we had know she was this

good,” said event chair Reynolds. Uh huh.

Proceeds from the dinner benefit association programs in Laguna

Beach, including after school mentoring at El Morro Elementary

School, Laguna Beach High School Scholarships, Even Start, the

Community Clinic and the Library.

Educational opportunity for girls and woman is probably the major

goal of the association.

Recipient Lawrence qualifies on several fronts. She was a teacher,

but locally she is best known as a founder of Designing Women a

support group of the Laguna Beach School of Art and Design -- long

before it was an accredited art school, and Color It Orange, a

county-wide, juried art show.

“When Color It Orange started, 450 students entered,” said

Madeleine Peterson, president of the Laguna AAUW foundation, who

introduced Lawrence. “In 2002, there were 4,500. Students from every

school in Orange County are encouraged to participate.”

Lawrence invited everyone to join the Friends of Color It Orange.

Association members Jamieson and Thomas were honored specifically

for their volunteer contributions to education. El Morro Principal

Joanne Culverhouse made the presentation.

Jamieson and Thomas organized and guide the after school program

at the school. The program’s success is measure by the improvement in

the students’ academic performance and in their self-esteem.

The two also organize field trips, which includes taking 90 kids

to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.

“We have received more than we have given,” Thomas said.

The program operates with 30 volunteers.

“It as much a pleasure for us as for the students,” Jamieson said.

Reynolds thought the presentations were over. Not quite.

Redford still had her little surprise package.

“There is one more to be honored,” Redford said. “But if we had

told her, she wouldn’t have come. Carol Reynolds started this program

five years ago. Now she has to stand here and take it like a woman.”

Her contributions to the community include serving on the Arts

Commission and participating in Laguna Vision 2030. She plays in the

Laguna Beach Community Band. She is a past president of the local

chapter of AAUW and now serves as vice president of the AAUW Laguna

Beach Foundation.

“If there is a problem I want to fix things,” Reynolds said. “I

don’t even mind getting caught in traffic. I figure I am where things

are happening.”

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot written by Barbara Diamond.