Breakfast honors Toshiba official, students

Tony Dodero

Some 420 community members, volunteers, golf aficionados, business

executives and philanthropists gathered at the Marriott Hotel in

Newport Center Tuesday for an early morning $100-a-plate breakfast to

hear golf pro Ben Crenshaw discuss his career highlights as part of

this week’s Toshiba festivities.

Noshing on the customary seasoned sausage and scrambled eggs, the

guests were not only witnesses to Crenshaw’s speech, but to

ceremonies honoring 12 Orange County high school students with

scholarships and a special award to Deloitte and Touche executive

Hank Adler, who has worked behind the scenes to make the Toshiba

Senior Classic golf tournament happen.

The tournament, in its ninth year, raises money for Hoag Memorial

Hospital Presbyterian. This year’s $1.55-million event is considered

the most philanthropic of the tour, now called the PGA Champions

Tour, instead of Seniors Tour, and features the talents of 81

professional golfers.

“We have raised almost $6 million over the last six years

[counting this year],” Adler told Tuesday morning’s crowd. “We have a

great sponsor, a great product and an incredible community.”

A byproduct of the Toshiba tournament is the Toshiba Senior

Classic Scholarship Fund, now in its fourth year and co-funded by

Toshiba America Information Systems and the Hoag Hospital Foundation.

Each of the 12 students honored Tuesday received a $2,000

scholarship and a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer. In total, there

have been 38 scholarships and computers and $89,000 awarded in four

years, Toshiba executives said.

This year’s awardees included four Newport-Mesa Unified students

-- Patrick Ahearn of Corona del Mar High, Kellie Brownell of Newport

Harbor High, Hilary Havens of Costa Mesa High and Kelly Trettin of

Estancia High.

Also honored were Lauren Sherrell, Marina Mayer, Kyle Leingang,

Nick Jain, Vicki Chiou, Catherine Chu, Kelly Clarke and Tim Fullman

-- all of Irvine or South County high schools.

It as also announced that Adler had been awarded the Community

Impact Award by Deloitte and Touche. He was one of seven nationwide

to get the honor, which came with a $5,000 charitable donation to

Hoag.

Longtime Newport Beach resident Dorothy Gray attended the

breakfast with her friend, tournament volunteer Don Turner. Gray, a

life member of the Hoag 552 Club of fund-raisers and an original

member of the tournament site -- the Newport Beach Country Club --

said the Toshiba Senior Classic has been great for the community, and

she enjoys it because she recognizes all of the names of the golfers.

“I’m a golfer and I’ll be watching some of it,” she said. “It’s

been wonderful for the pros, for Hoag and the country club.”

A Texan, Crenshaw, who is best known for his memorable victory at

the Master’s Tournament in 1995, said he counts among his friends

President Bush. And he noted that the world events lately, especially

the impending war with Iraq, have him paying special attention to his

fellow Texan and the job he is doing.

“I say a prayer for him everyday,” he said, assuring the crowd

that the country is in good hands.