Birthday Party

A group of Marines with Newport Beach's adopted battalion plans to wash cars Saturday to raise funds to attend the Marine Corps' birthday party, which is mandatory for all Marines. Members of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will wash cars from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot behind Pacific Coast Imaging, 3300 W. Coast Hwy. The city adopted the battalion in December 2003. During the past decade, the unit has been deployed to Afghanistan and has done multiple tours in Iraq.

IRVINE — Silkscreened on their matching green T-shirts was a photo of their friend at a birthday party. It was taken just hours before a car crash that led to her untimely death. Krista Merassa, Parisa Ghaemi and Alison Rivas, all 15, wore the shirts in memoriam of Ashton Sweet as they stood together Monday afternoon in front of the packed, brightly lit Chinese Baptist Church of Center Orange County. A crowd of some 300 attendees, dressed in green and white, was with the trio at the memorial service for Sweet, the 14-year-old Irvine cheerleader killed in a May 29 car crash in Irvine.

Stefanie Frith The birthday cake, a special peanut butter mix, was a big hit. And those in attendance were lapping it up. Literally. On Sunday afternoon, The Barkery on Balboa Island played host to a birthday party for Tequi and Becky, a Havanese and toy poodle who both turned one Sunday. Eleven people and 12 dogs in attendance were decked in party hats and bearing gifts. The cake, of course, was for dog guests only. "I just thought it would be very fun to have a party at The Barkery," said Newport Beach resident Christie McClaire, Tequi's owner.

The Daily Pilot asked seventh-graders at TeWinkle Intermediate School in Costa Mesa what they will do over Memorial Day weekend. "I am going to Arizona like I do every year to see my grandparents. I will probably swim while I am there." IAN LAMB, 12 Costa Mesa "Sleeping in, all I want to do is sleep a lot." ELIZABETH ARMSTRONG, 12 Costa Mesa "I am going to celebrate with my family and then go to my friend's birthday party and have fun."

Marisa O'Neil They couldn't have planned it better if they'd tried. When organizers scheduled an event at Victoria Elementary School for Costa Mesa's 50th birthday, they didn't realize they would have twice the reason to celebrate. As luck would have it, Friday was also the mayor's birthday. "They sent me an e-mail telling me they wanted to have it that day," Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan, 44, said. "I said, 'Wow, what a coincidence. That's my birthday, too.'" Students, the mayor and school officials gathered in the Victoria Elementary quad on Friday morning for the tandem celebration.

Claudia Figueroa NEWPORT BEACH -- Elizabeth Brown and Edythe Smith, like most people, celebrate their birthdays every year. But Tuesday they were treated to something special -- an event commemorating them on the actual day they were born. The two Orange County residents gathered with family and friends Tuesday at Newport Dunes for the resort's second-ever leap year birthday party. "We wanted to do something fun for them because they only get to celebrate their birthday every four years," said Michele Buttersworth, director of activities for Newport Dunes Resort.

A collection of the best quotes from recent news stories. "If you think you're important, stand up." -- Pepe Serna, a local actor, addressing students at last week's Latino Youth Conference. "I need to focus my energy on something positive. We are just beginning the first stages of the foundation, but it's something we are very determined to do." -- Pam Wiener, who has started a foundation in the memory of her son, 3-year-old Brandon, who was killed in May in the tragedy on the day-care center playground.

Deirdre Newman Myrtle White never had a birthday party as a child. Her 101st birthday party made up for that void in spades as family members and fellow residents of the Seaside Villas residential care facility showered her with love and attention Tuesday. "You would think it wouldn't make any difference, but their attitudes and the ambience is different when they know people are here [celebrating]," said White's daughter, Colleen Gifford, 76. Mickey Wade, who owns Seaside Villas, threw the party, with help from live-in caregivers Mila Lacson and Joy Grospe.

After nearly a year's worth of centennial events in Newport Beach, on Friday it will finally be time for the cake. The city's actual 100th birthday will be celebrated in front of City Hall with a ceremony honoring some of the city's "oldests" — oldest restaurant, oldest resident, oldest school — and a cake-cutting by City Council members. The birthday party isn't quite the final event of the centennial celebration. It began in October with "Let's Do Launch," an all-day beach party at Newport Dunes that drew more than 10,000 people to see the Beach Boys perform.

Deepa Bharath SANTA ANA -- The Orange County district attorney charged Dennis Rodman with three counts of criminal misdemeanor Thursday, alleging he used amplifiers illegally during his May 12 birthday bash on the beach. The charges state that Rodman violated the Newport Beach Municipal Code by disturbing the peace and causing "loud, raucous noise" in a public place by possessing and operating sound amplifying equipment without a permit. If convicted, Rodman could face 18 months in jail and a $3,000 fine.

About 250 people gathered at the OASIS Senior Center last week to remember famed ukulele player Bill Tapia in a celebration of his life that had originally been planned as his 104th birthday party. "This is his kind of party," said John McDonald of San Clemente, who took lessons and played with Tapia. "He was always the first one to start playing at a party, and the last to stop. He just loved to sit down and jam with people. " Tapia died in his Westminster home on Dec. 2. Born on Jan. 1, 1908, in Honolulu, he received his first ukulele at age 7 and began his career three years later, entertaining World War I troops at USO shows.

I got a kick out of Joanna Clay's article regarding the newly turned 99-year-old woman who once played the drums during the second World War ("Still jazzing it up," Nov. 27). Marie Kolasinski, 90, threw a birthday party for her cousin Viola Smith, the birthday girl, at Piecemakers Country Store in Costa Mesa. Smith said she pretty much had the field to herself during the war years, due to very few women with the ability to handle the sticks on a drum. I don't remember ever seeing a female drummer in any of the more-modern bands, unless of course it was an all-girl band.

IRVINE - A green tent and a table lined with dozens of cupcakes was set up alongside the skinny sapling planted in memory of 14-year-old cheerleader Ashton Sweet, who died after a car crash on Memorial Day weekend. Friday would have been Sweet's 15th birthday, and friends and family gathered at Irvine Boulevard and Culver Drive to honor the memory of the Northwood High School freshman who prosecutors assert was killed by a suspected drunk driver. "We feel so connected to this spot.

NEWPORT BEACH - Twelve years ago, he began patrolling parking lots, distributing crime alerts and checking homes while families were away on vacation. That was back when Earl Fusselman was only 81. Now, more than a decade later, Fusselman continues to serve as volunteer with the Newport Beach Police Department. On Wednesday afternoon, NBPD members quietly waited in a conference room to surprise him with a birthday party in advance of his 94th, which is Saturday. As Fusselman walked in, staffers hushed.

A group of Marines with Newport Beach's adopted battalion plans to wash cars Saturday to raise funds to attend the Marine Corps' birthday party, which is mandatory for all Marines. Members of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will wash cars from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot behind Pacific Coast Imaging, 3300 W. Coast Hwy. The city adopted the battalion in December 2003. During the past decade, the unit has been deployed to Afghanistan and has done multiple tours in Iraq.

IRVINE — Silkscreened on their matching green T-shirts was a photo of their friend at a birthday party. It was taken just hours before a car crash that led to her untimely death. Krista Merassa, Parisa Ghaemi and Alison Rivas, all 15, wore the shirts in memoriam of Ashton Sweet as they stood together Monday afternoon in front of the packed, brightly lit Chinese Baptist Church of Center Orange County. A crowd of some 300 attendees, dressed in green and white, was with the trio at the memorial service for Sweet, the 14-year-old Irvine cheerleader killed in a May 29 car crash in Irvine.

Jeantine Aalbertsberg says the secret to a long life is staying strong. Aalbertsberg’s life has not been an easy one. Her determination and strength have kept her fairly healthy at 103 years old. Aalbertsberg’s strength comes from a source of great sadness, the memory of a hardship  that she had to endure in her 30s. In the 1940s, this woman of Dutch origin, who was born and raised in Indonesia, then a colony of the Netherlands, was...

COSTA MESA — Jay Weil had two goals in mind when he mounted his bike at the starting line of the Tour de OC Saturday morning — to ride 100 miles for the first time in his life, and to prove his doctors wrong. The financial planner, who lives in Mission Viejo, was diagnosed with a brain tumor 13 months ago and underwent surgery in August. The doctors told him it would likely take two years to recover completely, but Weil — who had been training for a 100-mile ride when he was diagnosed — bounced back sooner than expected.

If you Google “kids are scared of clowns,” you will find several links to a study done in England and reported last month. The study showed that contrary to popular belief, many kids are afraid of clowns. Many adults are also afraid of clowns. But what made me laugh harder than the images of the clowns (I am not scared of them, you see), were the “tower” ads on the Google page, the ones listed to the right of the results. Of the three ads, the first two were links to companies providing clowns for kid’s parties.