Parents get together for grads

Calling all parents of Newport Harbor High School students. The

annual Grad Night Parent Party is set for Feb. 6 with the goal of

raising funds for Grad Night 2003.

The event is organized to bring together local families to enjoy

an evening of socializing and dining on spectacular cuisine prepared

by the Newport Harbor High Culinary Arts Academy. An array of live

and silent auction items will help to raise additional funds to

underwrite the graduation night affair on campus, which was

inaugurated many years ago to offer a sober and safe night to

remember for graduating seniors.

The parent Grad Night party, open to parents of all students, no

matter the grade level, is a significant event with the purpose of

bringing both people and the party for the kids together. Admission

is just $10 per person, and the party will be held in the lobby of

Sterling BMW on Coast Highway in Newport Beach. Please call Suzi

Anderson at (949) 650-8820 for reservations and information.

Political author Robert Caro graced the Newport literary scene

this week, addressing the local crowd on his book “The Years Of

Lyndon Johnson ... Master Of The Senate.”

The luncheon event, sponsored by Northern Trust of Newport Beach

and organized in great part by Mary Cook, features a wide range of

authors on all sorts of topics bringing many points of view to the

region.

Cook said that plans are underway for a March luncheon welcoming

Princess Michael of Kent.

“The princess is in the United States for a national speaking tour

with venues on the West Coast including our Literary Society here in

Newport Beach,” she said. “Her topic will be ‘Serious Pleasures:

Celebrations In History ... That Changed History.’”

Kim Beaudette, president of The Queen of Hearts Foundation in

Newport Beach, said that a third annual fund-raising event will be

held Feb. 1 at the Four Seasons Hotel. The Queen of Hearts Foundation

is dedicated to the research of and early detection of ovarian

cancer.

Beaudette and her sisters started the foundation after the death

of their mother on Christmas Day 1999 from ovarian cancer.

“Our mother was very courageous in her five-month fight,”

Beaudette said. “She provided so much warmth and love in our everyday

lives that it compelled us to start the Queen of Hearts Foundation to

raise funds to find an early detection blood test for ovarian cancer.

“There are 26,000 women in America diagnosed with ovarian cancer

each year,” she said. “Statistics tell us that 14,000 will die.”

To make a difference, the committee is throwing a Queen of Hearts

“Beach Blanket Boogie Party” calling for festive Hawaiian beach

attire. The formal Four Seasons Ballroom will be transformed into a

little bit of Honolulu.

Locals involved include Lori Hunter, Shelley Brose, Maryann

Huntsman, Corinne Morgenstern, Barbara Dove and Kathie Madden.

For more information, please contact Cathy Greinke at (714)

997-3101, ext. 223.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.