Spring

"Spring is God thinking in gold, laughing in blue, and speaking in green." -- FRANK JOHNSON Spring has certainly sprung where I live. Although it seemed like the sun and the warmth played tug of war with the cold, wind and the rain the last few weeks and months, it is officially spring, according to my calendar. As I write this column, the sun is playing peek-a-boo with the clouds and I've just came in from a brisk and refreshing morning walk.

AVIVA GOELMAN Most of us are well acquainted with the old spring saying: "Sweet April showers do spring May flowers." That the Costa Mesa Senior Center continues to bloom as an invaluable home of services and relationships for our community's seniors is directly due to our own "sweet April showers." They are our volunteers. What better time than Spring, the season of new life and renewal, to acknowledge the extraordinary service of the volunteers who serve the senior center.

B.W. COOK Benvenuto Primavera. Welcome spring. The Sophisticates, who support the Assessment and Treatment Services Center, raised an impressive net amount of $168,000 at their annual spring fashion luncheon held at the Hyatt Regency, Irvine. A runway fashion presentation produced by Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza entertained the most fashionable crowd. Big donors this season included Donna and John Crean, Julia and George Argyros, Newport's glamorous Zee Allred, Nora Hester and the Eric Jackson family.

"You make me feel so young, you make me feel like spring is sprung." Actually, you don't. It's a song. Music by Joseph Myrow, lyrics by Mack Gordon, 1946, if you care. But care or not, spring is sprung and that is that. Personally, I like it. I'm a big fan of the fringe seasons, spring and fall. Fall wins, but spring is a blast. It bursts on the scene with all that rebirth-revitalize- re-energized stuff. The trees and the flowers are what do it. It's amazing how fast it happens.

OCC’s enrollment will be in full bloom this spring with 25,174 enrolled for the upcoming quarter, one of the largest enrollments for a spring quarter in nearly a decade, school officials said. The most recent enrollment that topped spring 2008’s mark was in the fall of 2002, when the school’s enrollment hit 27,996. “This is the largest spring enrollment we have had in the last eight years,” said John Breihan, interim director of admissions, records and enrollment technology.

NEWPORT BEACH - Team Blue Lightning from AYSO Region 57 finished the Spring 2000 season Recreational Soccer season undefeated. Throughout the season, the Blue Lightning went up against teams from Irvine, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Long Beach. The offense, led by Allen Hardison, Jeff Larsen, Darek Larsen and Carl Waniek, scored a total of 30 goals in seven games. The midfield was controlled by Bix Halford, Joey Blackwell, Clay Knapp and Jeff Ruffalo, while the defense, led by Reid Vitarelli, Ryan Pawell, Christian Morabito, Jeff Livingston, Nock Groke and Ben Anshutz, allowed only four goals all season.

Around 40 players came out for Corona del Mar High's spring football practice and Dick Freeman was cool with the turnout. "You can put it that way," said Freeman, sounding relaxed until he was asked why the low numbers. "Some of the guys who played lacrosse [this spring] are not coming out. Maybe they're tired." The numbers were down 15 from what Freeman expected, but the long-time coach was just thrilled to see one player running again as the Sea Kings wrapped the final day of spring ball Friday.

Barry Faulkner COSTA MESA - Though there is no contact allowed, the Costa Mesa High football team is undergoing a bit of a crash course, as spring drills continue through June 7. The Mustangs, enjoying a greater comfort zone under second-year head man Dave Perkins, are learning on both sides of the ball, but focusing primarily on a return to the flex defense, which the team abandoned early in last year's 7-4 season....

Rick Devereux Trips to the CIF Southern Section Division VI football championship game don't come very often, but Newport Harbor High has been preparing for a return visit during recently completed spring practices as well as skeleton scrimmages against various opponents. The Sailors, who were division runners-up last year with a 12-1-1 record, lost 15 offensive and defensive starters, including CIF Division VI Co-Player of the Year Trevor Theriot as well as All-CIF selections Spencer Link, Kasey Peters, Steve Joslin, Alex Orth, Thomas Martin and Saami Khalifian.

Scott Matthews' wife didn't understand why he insisted on keeping a fire extinguisher in his car — until Sunday. While driving in Newport Beach en route to Costa Mesa — his wife and 13-year-old daughter also in the car — he thought he saw a house fire in the 1600 block of Irvine Avenue. But after getting closer to the scene, Matthews, a 32-year employee of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and his family soon found out it was a white Bentley on fire. Furthermore, the car, with five-foot-high flames coming from the engine compartment, was only a few feet away from the house.

Kids Potential, in partnership with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Orange County, is hosting its first-ever Spring Benefit from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday in Costa Mesa. The free event at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel, 686 Anton Blvd., aims to bring awareness about the Irvine-based nonprofit and its programs. Donations will be accepted. The benefit will feature cocktails, appetizers, speakers and networking. Speakers include: Gregory Koch and Kids Potential founder Shirin Ansari, who will both discuss "mindful parenting;" Paul Merage, founder and chief executive of Merage Foundations, who will speak on philanthropy; Gene Howard, chief executive of CASA Orange County; and Jean Mylen, a positive behavior consultant and former Irvine Unified School District principal.

The unseasonably hot weather has many people dressing, acting and thinking like it's spring. In fact, the season isn't all that far off — it's a little less than two months away, starting March 20, according to Farmer's Almanac. But some real estate experts are saying they're beginning to feel spring fever, with sellers and buyers expressing more interest in the housing market, ahead of the traditional spring and summer homebuying season uptick. Perhaps it's the weather.

CORONA DEL MAR — Most high school football coaches will not ask reporters for advice, let alone allow them to call plays on offense. Coach Scott Meyer is running a different type of program at Corona del Mar High. The last spring practice at CdM ran smoothly Thursday, even when Meyer gave two reporters the chance to play coach. For some odd reason, one reporter wanted to run the same play on every first down. The defense caught on during the Blue & White scrimmage. It was now Meyer's turn to play reporter.

Editor's note: This corrects the day Leeza Gibbons will be in Orange County. The Philharmonic Society of Orange County in association with Soka University hosted a Cherry Blossom Celebration at South Coast Plaza's Jewel Court. The traditional Japanese custom of hanami or flower viewing is held for a few very brief weeks when the petals of the cherry blossoms (sakura) explode on the trees and then gently float to the ground. This season the event carried very special meaning in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Ethel Travis knows fashion. The 96-year-old was a dress designer in Chicago for 15 years before retiring in Newport Beach. She and hundreds of others went to Fashion Island on Saturday to get up-close and personal with fashionisto Tim Gunn as he presented spring looks from Lucky Brand, Kate Spade and Juicy Couture. While some in the question-and-answer session asked Gunn how to dress up jeans (with a blazer) and who can pull off a calf-length skirt (no one), Travis just told the "Project Runway" host how much she adores him. She applauded him for celebrating femininity in women's fashion and encouraging young people not to show too much skin.

Newport Beach police on Wednesday announced that officers will enforce a nighttime curfew against juveniles throughout the upcoming Newport-Mesa Unified School District spring break. Starting Friday, police will be enforcing a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew against people under age 18 suspected of loitering in public streets alleys and other public places, Newport Sgt. Steve Burdette said in a new release. The enforcement of a Newport Beach curfew ordinance is in response to an increase in nighttime thefts committed by juveniles, the release said.

Corona del Mar High senior Shane Korber has made a verbal commitment to attend and play tennis at Georgetown University, he said Tuesday. Korber, No. 40 in the United States Tennis Assn. Southern California boys' 18 singles rankings, will be the top returning player for the Sea Kings this spring. He said he was looking at East Coast schools, including some in the Ivy League. "I wanted to go to an academic school I could play for," said Korber, who has a cumulative 4.3 grade-point average.

I do my best every year about this time to remind local gardeners of the importance of fall gardening. I can't say it much better than I did two years ago in this same column, so here it is again: Sit down. Don't get mad and don't turn the page quite yet. This isn't a misprint. For local gardeners the mantra is "fall is spring. " Those three words form the foundation of successful gardening in Southern California. Forget the calendar for a moment and read on. In Mediterranean climates, from a plant's point-of-view, there are really only two seasons: a cool season and a warm season.

NEWPORT BEACH — The high school boys' tennis season is some eight months away, but Andrew Kurzweil has already started making preparations. Kurzweil will be a senior at Sage Hill School, and he still feels the pain of losing in a super-tiebreaker to Rowland this past May in the CIF Southern Section Division IV semifinals. "It's making all of us work harder," Kurzweil said. "We're moving up to Division III next year and I'm going to be a senior. I want a CIF ring before I leave, so I'm just going to play a lot of tournaments and work hard.