Around Town: Carnival, walk to benefit epilepsy research
The Epilepsy Support Network of Orange County will present a carnival, barbecue lunch and noncompetitive quarter-mile walk on Saturday in Costa Mesa.
“UnSeize the Day” will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at TeWinkle Park, 970 Arlington Drive. More than 650 people are expected to attend and help raise funds for epilepsy research.
“Epilepsy is strongly misunderstood and so much more prevalent in Orange County than anyone realizes,” said Jennifer Gunther, president of the Epilepsy Support Network’s board of directors. “It is imperative that our community be made aware of this so those that are braving uncontrolled seizures can be properly diagnosed and treated. We think that everyone deserves to live a life to the fullest and free from seizures.”
For more information or to register for the walk and lunch, visit EpilepsyWalkOC.Kintera.org.
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Arbor Day celebration Saturday
Costa Mesa will celebrate Arbor Day on Saturday with tree plantings.
The ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. at 1957 Sanderline Circle. Residents and city staff will plant up to 30 trees on residential parkways.
For more information, call city arborist Doug Kokesh at (714) 327-7492.
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Costa Mesa CEO named Executive of the Year
Costa Mesa’s chief executive, Tom Hatch, received the Executive of the Year Award from the Assn. of California Cities-Orange County in a ceremony April 8.
Hatch has been the city’s CEO since December 2010.
“We have always enjoyed working with Tom,” Lacy Kelly, the association’s chief executive, said in a statement. “He is a true entrepreneur in local government, and it’s time that he is recognized for being a fabulous executive leader. In addition, his staff respects him as a leader and wants to work for him, and that is the biggest impressive factor of all.”
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DMV employee seeks bone marrow donor
Lonnie Clausell, a supervisor at the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Costa Mesa, is looking for a bone marrow donor.
Clausell, 65, is on a donor waiting list with City of Hope, which says the ideal donor would be a healthy black male of mixed ethnicity between the ages of 18 and 44, according to Kathy Clinkenbeard of BlackBoneMarrow.com. Clausell was diagnosed with a progressive form of cancer and congestive heart failure two years ago.
Clinkenbeard said that Clausell is known as a father figure to some of the homeless people who congregate around the DMV’s office on West 19th Street.
Clausell, a former Coca-Cola Co. driver and salesman for 27 years, commutes to Costa Mesa from his home in Watts. He has five children, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
For more information, visit blackbonemarrow.com/lonnie-clausell. Potential donors can call City of Hope at (800) 826-4673 or visit cityofhope.org.
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Costa Mesa wins award for financial report
The city of Costa Mesa recently received an award for its 2014 financial report.
The Government Finance Officers Assn., which has nearly 18,000 members from various government agencies in the United States and Canada, gave the city its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
The association also recognized Costa Mesa’s assistant finance director, Colleen O’Donoghue, who was the primary preparer of the 2014 report.
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Wedge Preservation Society awards scholarships
The Wedge Preservation Society, a community group composed of bodysurfers who frequent the Wedge surf spot in Newport Beach, awarded scholarships to three Ensign Intermediate School students this month.
The scholarships for Nicolaas Baljeu, Holden Clarke and Ashley Salem will go toward their participation in the city’s Junior Lifeguard program. The funds, which range from $175 to $400, are designed to encourage ocean safety among local youths, according to a news release.
“Being so close to the beach, the Wedge Preservation Society hopes that all kids from grade school through high school are able to learn to swim, understand ocean currents and riptides and experience all the fun the ocean has to offer,” the release states.
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Diaper donation drive set for May 1
Orange County residents are being asked to take diaper donations to the first Builders for Babies Diaper Drive on May 1 in Costa Mesa.
The drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the former offices of the Los Angeles Times and Daily Pilot at 1375 Sunflower Ave. The event also will feature food and entertainment.
The drive is sponsored by homebuilders including William Lyon Homes and FivePoint Communities. The diapers will go to nonprofit organizations in Orange County and the Inland Empire.
For more information, visit buildersforbabies.com.
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Costa Mesa man to rappel at cancer event
Costa Mesa resident Brian Leedom, a survivor of esophageal cancer, will rappel down the 24 stories of the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City hotel in a cancer awareness event May 2.
The event, called “Stories to Save Lives,” is organized by the Esophageal Cancer Action Network to raise funds for research of the disease.
“I ran a half-marathon the day before I was diagnosed,” Leedom, 53, said in a news release. “Get checked even if you have the slightest symptoms. There is so much that can be done these days if [it’s] caught earlier than later. Who knows? A couple of years earlier and I may not have had to have surgery.”
For more information, visit storiestosavelives.com.