COMMUNITY & CLUBS:

For the better part of its half-century of service, the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor has given its Book of Golden Deeds award in recognition of people who make our community a better place to live.

These people give their time and talents for our benefit with no thought of seeking compensation or recognition. This year the club named the award in honor of its late, longtime member, John Crean.

At Thursday’s meeting, program chairman Garry TeWinkle noted that it was particularly appropriate, considering Crean’s many charitable contributions.

Keynote speaker Jay McCullough, regional vice president for the Orange County Region of the American Cancer Society, detailed the accomplishments of Corona del Mar resident and six-time Rams Pro Bowl center Rich Saul in fundraising for the cancer society.

Saul has served as honorary chair for Orange County’s Corporate Challenge Cup golf tournament for the last 16 years.

During this time the tournament has gone from raising four-figure to six-figure sums for cancer. Congratulations to Rich Saul.

LIONS CHARTER CLUB IN IRAQ

The Iraq Host Lions Club was chartered by Lions Clubs International President Jimmy Ross on April 5 in a solemn ceremony in Amman, Jordan.

According to Ross, “This is a historic event for Lions clubs, but, more importantly, it is a sign of hope for the people of Iraq.

“I commend the 20 charter members of this new club for their personal courage in stepping forward at a time of great insecurity in their homeland and for their desire to work to improve the lives of people in their war-torn country.”

Most of the new club members are young professionals. Charter President Akeel is a contractor.

Other members include a poet, a civil engineer, a jewelry merchant and other business leaders. Lions International is the largest service club in the world with more than 1.6 million members in 200-plus countries and geographical areas, including clubs in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

OPERATION ONE FAMILY

As a follow-up to December’s Snowball Express that saw 900 children and widows of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan come to Orange County for a weekend that included visits to the Crystal Cathedral and Disneyland, and a Ducks game, Rotary Clubs in Dist. 5320 are organizing a new event called Operation One Family. Kim DeBroux, past president of the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa and chair of Operation One Family, reports the event will be held at Vanguard University from Aug. 3 to 5.

The focus this year is on the long-range future of the families. The activities include life skills workshops and visits to Orange County Fair, Newport Dunes and Knotts Berry Farm. The Rotary Club of Costa Mesa, Newport-Balboa and Newport-Irvine are among the 10 host clubs for the event. Check out www.operationonefamily.org for more information.

MAY IS MILITARY MONTH FOR EXCHANGE CLUB

May is National Military Month for Exchange Club and the Newport Harbor Club will have Gen. Jim Combs, commanding officer of the Joint Forces Training base, as its Memorial Day speaker.

In the past, club members have come to at least one meeting a year, Veterans Day or Memorial Day, dressed in as much of their old military uniforms as would fit them, said Nick Berger, the club’s program chairman.

At the May 31 Ladies Day Luncheon, all club members are asked to dress up in their uniforms when they come to the meeting at noon at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Exchange Club member Gil Lukosky, who owns Nikki’s Flag Shop, will bring the service flags for each table at the meeting.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for the Day as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council:

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

— Abraham Lincoln