Service Clubs

JIM DE BOOM The Rotary Club of Newport Beach Sunrise honored eight students from Back Bay and Monte Vista High Schools at Tuesday'smeeting at Five Crowns Restaurant. Five students received two-year scholarships worth $2,400 per student. Receiving the scholarships were Ricardo Barrera, Duy Doan, Maria Garcia, Sarah Hughes and Megan Yates. In addition, three of the honored students were sponsored by the club at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp held in March . They were Casey Kibin, Sean McGuire and George Alverez.

If your New Year's resolutions include getting more involved in the community, you might want to try the Exchange Club's "Stand Up for America" program, which offers a free 90-day trial membership in a local club without further obligation. You only pay for your meals when you attend the meetings during the 90-day period. Exchange is known as "America's Service Club," with its patriotic emphasis, support of police and fire departments and promotion of patriotism in schools and public places.

The Newport-Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council presented four Hearts and Hands for Service awards to individuals and groups who make a difference in our communities. Presenting the award certificates, created by Greg Kelley of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, were Lane Calvert of the Bahai faith and Jaimie Day of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All three are council board members. Among the honored was Ron Owens of Project Independence, a program that aids persons with developmental disabilities and creates services that expand their opportunities for personal freedom.

SISTER CITY/CLUB LEADER HONORED: On Tuesday, the Newport Beach City Council will honor Masao Kato of Okazaki, Japan, and recognize him for his work in developing a sister city relationship with Newport Beach. On Wednesday, the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa will honor Kato with an honorary membership for his efforts in making a sister club relationship with the Okazaki South Rotary Club. According to Rotarian and Sister City Committee member Wendell Fish, Kato played a significant role in the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa and Rotary Club of Okazaki South becoming sister clubs in August 1982; the cities of Newport Beach and Okazaki becoming sister cities in 1984 and in initiating the Okazaki-Newport Beach Junior High School Student Exchange program in 1982.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION? Want to get more fun out of life? Be more purposeful? Make new friends? Network? Give something back to the community? See the world? Show pride in America? Then consider joining a service club in 2000! There are USA-only clubs as well as service clubs that have members around the world. Rotary is the first of the services clubs, founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer. Today, Rotary has 1.2 million members in 29,000 clubs in 159 countries around the world and is the leader in eliminating polio as a disease as a childhood disease.