Around Town: Newport Dunes lights the bay Friday with help from Santa

Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort in Newport Beach will host the 27th annual Lighting of the Bay from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday.

At 5:30 p.m., Santa Claus will ride a stand-up paddleboard to flip a switch on tree-shaped lights that will illuminate the Back Bay. The event also will include live music, a movie screening, cookie decorating, holiday crafts and train rides, along with the opening of Newport Dunes’ Christmas tree lot.

The tree lot will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Dec. 21, offering hundreds of trees as well as wreaths, garlands and free coffee and hot chocolate. Santa will visit the lot from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, visit bit.ly/2znpZf3 or call (800) 765-7661.

Vanguard University debuts renovated baseball field named for former player

Officials at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa celebrated the debut of its newly renovated baseball field with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 11.

The field is named in honor of the late Dean Harvey, a Vanguard alumnus and former Nike executive who played second base and helped lead the school’s baseball team to the 1985 National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics World Series.

Harvey died in 2011 at age 42, less than a year after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare brain disorder.

The ceremony marked the completion of an $850,000 capital campaign to upgrade the Vanguard baseball field’s dugouts, backstops, irrigation system and infield and outfield grass.

Fairgrounds hosts gun show this weekend

The Crossroads of the West Gun Show, a two-day event featuring Western Americana and guns, accessories, tactical gear, ammunition, safes, personal protection products and more, returns to the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa this weekend.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

General admission is $18. Children 12 and younger are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is $8.

The Fair & Event Center is at 88 Fair Drive. For more information, visit crossroadsgunshows.com or email [email protected].

Herb garden class set for Saturday in Costa Mesa

Visitors to Centennial Farm at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa can learn to grow an herb garden during a class from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Leah Matsuoka from Laguna Hills Nursery will teach general identification, care and propagation techniques of popular herbs and present a workshop where guests can design and create herb container gardens to take home. Tools, pots and herbs will be provided.

The cost is $15. To register or pay for the class, visit ocfair.com/community-programs/centennial-farm/garden-classes by Thursday.

For more information, call (714) 708-1619 or email [email protected].

Partial closures scheduled on Arlington Drive in Costa Mesa

Arlington Drive in Costa Mesa will be partially closed to traffic from the western edge of TeWinkle Park to Newport Boulevard starting Monday as work begins on a project in the area.

Only westbound traffic will be allowed on that stretch from Monday through March 15, according to the city. Two-way traffic will be permitted between Fairview Road and Davis Magnet School.

Residents are asked to plan ahead and detour around the area during construction. The project includes roadway improvements, new landscaping and irrigation systems, a new concrete multipurpose trail and a bioswale that will filter urban runoff.

Town hall in Newport Beach to address JWA flight patterns

Newport Beach City Councilwoman Diane Dixon will present a town hall meeting Nov. 30 to address recent changes in flight departure patterns from John Wayne Airport that have brought noise and pollution complaints from many Newport residents.

The changes are the result of the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen project for Southern California airports, which the FAA says is designed to improve the safety and efficiency of the airspace.

The meeting will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. in the community center at Marina Park, 1600 W. Balboa Blvd.

City Manager Dave Kiff will discuss steps the city is taking in response to the changes and what community members can do to help.

Kiff, who works extensively with the airport and the FAA, told the City Council in September that the aviation agency would, in response to noise concerns, tweak its prescribed flight path for planes heading northwest.

He also said that the FAA in December would nudge a departure path for eastbound planes and possibly implement a new path that navigates Upper Newport Bay’s contours to minimize noise on both sides of the water.

Newport Beach, later joined by Orange County, sued the FAA last year, challenging the accuracy and efficacy of the agency’s environmental assessment of the flight path alterations, which concluded there would be no significant effects on surrounding communities.

For more information, visit newportbeachca.gov/jwa.

Fundraiser for Movember Foundation collects nearly $50,000

Almost 300 people attended a recent fundraiser in Costa Mesa that collected $48,968 for the Movember Foundation while giving guests a glimpse of the new Country Club dining and drinking establishment that is scheduled to open to the public Dec. 5.

The fundraiser was presented by Team Nuclear, a group dedicated to raising money and awareness for men’s health issues through the Movember Foundation.

Costa Mesa event raises $35,000 to fight diabetes

A recent fundraiser attended by more than 150 people collected more than $35,000 for the Orange County chapter of the JDRF Foundation for Type 1 diabetes research.

“A Night for Anna” was hosted by the new Country Club restaurant in Costa Mesa, which opens to the public Dec. 5.

The fundraiser was held in support of Anna Plotke, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in February at age 7.

Carousel of Possible Dreams raises over $217,000

The fifth annual Carousel of Possible Dreams, presented by the Costa Mesa-based Festival of Children Foundation, raised $217,757 on Nov. 15 to fund 12 Orange County children’s charities.

After six weeks of fundraising, representatives of each charity gathered at Disneyland’s King Arthur Carrousel before the Anaheim theme park opened to the public and rode the carousel up to 50 times around to complete their pledge drives for issues such as creating safe homes or supporting families of children with autism.

“We are grateful to the Disneyland Resort for hosting Festival of Children Foundation for the last five years as we’ve raised [a total of] more than $1.6 million for so many great children’s causes,” Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, founder and executive director of the foundation, said in a statement.

Applicants sought for Costa Mesa Animal Services Committee

The city of Costa Mesa is accepting applications to serve on a new committee tasked with reviewing issues related to local animal services.

Seven seats and two alternate positions are open on the Animal Services Committee, which the City Council created this month.

Five of the committee’s members must be Costa Mesa residents and two must have expertise in animal care.

For more information or to fill out an application online, visit costamesaca.gov/apply. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Dec. 13.