Balboa Island

Though she had badly burned her hand just days before, Sally Jordan said she just couldn't miss painting on a bright afternoon on Balboa Island. "It's too much fun to miss," the Pauma Valley resident said from behind her easel, where she was painting one of the island's several frozen banana businesses. "In all my years here, I've never had anyone be anything but pleasant to me. " Jordan was one of 13 landscape oil painters invited by the Debra Huse Gallery to paint life on the island for one week in the beginning of August.

Chardonnay and cucumber, sorbet and cotton candy, basil and white tea. The ingredients sound like something off a bizarre grocery list. Rather, these are just a few of the thousands of possible scent combinations available at Sinfulicious Bodycare, a natural and organic bath and body store that recently opened in Newport Beach. "We're more of a store where you can come in, get creative and have fun with the scents," owner April Cox said Thursday. Sinfulicious opened in a 1,100-square-foot location on Marine Avenue on Balboa Island in August.

NEWPORT BEACH - Among the frozen bananas, bustling stores and multitude of languages spoken by tourists from around the globe, Balboa Island summers bring another perennial: the Brush Off. Plein air artists, who do their work outdoors, come from across the country to paint island scenes. Canvases capture the intimate community from many angles, from a neighbor's white picket fence topped with sunflowers to a view of the island as seen through a hazy green lens. The plein air artists have been out and about on the island since Tuesday, but at 4 p.m. Saturday, they will gather along Marine Avenue and compete against one another in the annual Brush Off. At 6 p.m., the paintings will be taken into the nearby Debra Huse Gallery for judging by Jean Stern, director of the Irvine Museum.

Editor's note: This adds the fifth through seventh paragraphs. BALBOA ISLAND — The street was empty Tuesday as James Palmer went back to the last place where his 6-year-old daughter's pet bird was seen. Walking down a sunny Garnet Avenue toward South Bay Front just before noon, Palmer pointed to different trees that Banana Split — a bright, ice blue-colored Pacific parrotlet — liked to frequent. During the stroll, he also signaled toward neighbors' houses the tiny bird enjoyed visiting.

When Dr. Burns R. Eastman built his house on Balboa Island at 206 Coral St. in 1928, the island was mostly unoccupied sand. And as the island’s first doctor, who came down from Pasadena in the summers to take care of injured surfers, he got some special privileges. His office, for instance, was attached to the fire station on the main drag, and he had it written into the city’s laws that he and his family (listed by name) were allowed to park out front, according to his grandchildren.

As the waters in Newport Beach slowly rise, the City Council decided it could wait a little longer to replace the Balboa Island seawalls. Councilman Ed Selich, who represents the island, asked that the council delay its scheduled vote Tuesday on a contract to design new seawalls and prepare construction documents. After the council meeting, he said he had dozens of questions about the project, but generally supported it. Balboa and Little Balboa islands, which are four feet above sea level in some spots, have 1930s-era seawalls that are cracking in places.

When 12-year-old Corona del Mar Middle School student Jordan Pratt asked his parents for a trendy new skateboard, he was told that he'd have to work for it, but not by mowing lawns. Jordan could have his skateboard if he helped Diane Pratt, his mother, sell them. "Orange County is such an entrepreneurial breeding ground," said Pratt, owner of Crush Clothing on Balboa Island. "There are so many kids here that have that potential and ability, why not start with my own son?" Jordan selected the merchandise for the first order - an array of popular, brightly colored Penny skateboards - set up shop and waited for customers to roll in. And they did, often asking for Jordan by name and wanting customized specialty boards.

RESIDENTIAL SWEEPSTAKES WINNER Jim Busby, 111 E. Bayfront, Little Balboa Island BUSINESS SWEEPSTAKES WINNER The Balboa Pavilion, 400 Main St., Balboa Peninsula BEST HUMOR & ORIGINALITY First Place: Bill and Gay Wassall-Kelly, 409 E. Edgewater Ave., Balboa Peninsula Second Place: Lester Hale, 417 Edgewater Ave., Balboa Peninsula Third Place: Joi Hurd, 304 S. Bayfront, Balboa Island ...

RING OF LIGHTS CONTEST WINNERS Best Humor and Originality First place: Bill and Gay Wassall-Kelly, 409 East Edgewater, Balboa Peninsula Second place: Bob and Marcy Cook, 538 South Bayfront, Balboa Island Third place: Lester Hale, 417 East Edgewater, Balboa Peninsula Best Theme First place: Scott Sarkisian, 630 Via Lido Nord, Lido Isle Second place: Dennis and Pat Vitarelli, 140 South Bayfront, Balboa...

Juanita was born on January 20, 1906 in Garber, OK and died on October 30, 2010 at her home on Balboa Island.  She was 104.  She lived on Balboa Island since 1934 with her husband, Willard, who died March 8, 1992. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2010 at 10 am at St. John Vianney Chapel on Marine Avenue, Balboa Island, with a reception to follow at the residence at 330 Onyx Avenue, Balboa Island.