Communities & Clubs

JIM DE BOOM

SOROPTIMISTS WIN TOP HONORS: President Dalia Lugo of the

Soroptimists International of Newport Harbor received two awards on

behalf of the club at the recent International Convention held in

Honolulu.

The club received a first-place fund-raising award for its annual

“Members of the Heart” event, chaired this past year by Victoria Gray and

underwritten by Northern Trust.

The club also earned a second-place award for International Goodwill

and Understanding for the sponsorship of the 1999 conference on “Issues

of Aging” presented for people with developmental disabilities, their

families and care givers.

The Newport Harbor club was joined by two clubs in Japan to produce

the conference.

For more information on Soroptimists International of Newport Harbor,

call Mary Regan at (714) 556-7139.

BACK HOME IN MINNESOTA: I spent the last seven days in St. Louis Park,

Minn., visiting my brother LeRoy and working around the longtime family

home.

This was the first chance since our father died in April for me to get

a few days to help LeRoy straighten up the family home. Dad was a

collector of stuff and he didn’t throw much away, especially in the last

10 to 12 years.

With the help of our cousin Gary and his wife Suzanne from Ashton,

Iowa, and a couple of neighborhood teenagers, we filled a 17-yard

dumpster with cut lumber, old pipes, broken lawn mowers and a whole bunch

of junk.

We had two station wagons full of reusable items we donated to

Goodwill. Dad had been active in the Boy Scouts for 50-plus years and we

had a collection of handbooks, Norman Rockwell Boy Scout calendars and

merit badge materials for leather crafting we gave to the Boy Scouts. We

even had one station wagon full of old paint cans and lawn and bug

poisons we took to the county hazardous-waste station.

We replaced the old stove and microwave and got bids for painting the

house and installing an emergency generator so LeRoy could continue to

live independently. We hired an attorney to get us through probate

because Dad didn’t want to write up his will, which would have simplified

things and saved us six to seven months of time.

Since 1952, when LeRoy got polio, Mom and Dad had served as LeRoy’s

care givers. As they got into their 80s that changed, and an agency

provided LeRoy with care givers.

Fortunately he has had two people with him for many years, Lynn and

Dave. Lynn’s claim to fame is that he was a classmate of Los Angeles

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson and he and his wife have traveled around the

world a couple of times.

Dave, who is married and has two teenage sons, works 40 hours a week

at Home Depot, then works with LeRoy for 38 hours a week and picks up

other clients from the agency as needed.

Lynn works with LeRoy in the mornings, Dave in the evenings and

weekends. With Minnesota’s unemployment rate at a record low of 2.3% and

the local Burger King offering a $3,000 starting bonus for management

trainees, LeRoy is fortunate to have Lynn and Dave, two care givers who

really care about their clients.

Though some 1,500 miles separate LeRoy and I, we remain in contact via

telephone and e-mail and face-to-face visits several times a year. Life

could be lonely for LeRoy, but it’s not, thanks to Dave, Lynn, dozens of

relatives and neighbors, and friends from church who show they care.

Who have you cared for today?

WORTH REPEATING: From Reflections at Sunrise, the newsletter of the

Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club: “Be kinder than necessary.”

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS COMING WEEK: Want to get more involved in

your community, make new friends, network or give something back to your

community? Try a service club. You are invited to attend a club meeting

this coming week. Many clubs will buy your first guest meal for you.

TUESDAY: 7:15 a.m. -- The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will meet

at the Balboa Bay Club for a club assembly. 6:30 p.m. -- The Costa Mesa

Lions Club will meet at Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club to meet District

4-L4 Governor Dan Mayer and key members of his administration.

WEDNESDAY: 7:15 a.m. -- The South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at

the Center Club. Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at the University

Athletic Club. Noon -- The Exchange Club of Orange Coast will meet at the

Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Soroptimists International of Newport Harbor

will meet at the Santa Ana Country Club for a business meeting. 5:45 p.m.

-- The Newport-Balboa Rotary Club will meet at Bahia Corinthian Yacht

Club to hear Pete McGehee, volunteer chaplain with the Orange County

Sheriff’s Department.

THURSDAY: 7:15 a.m. -- The Costa Mesa Orange Coast Breakfast Lions

Club will meet at Mimi’s Cafe for a business meeting. Noon -- The Kiwanis

Club of Costa Mesa will meet at the Holiday Inn to hear John

Digiantomasso of the Civil Air Patrol. Newport Beach-Corona del Mar

Kiwanis Club will meet at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club to hear

Clarence Turner, former mayor of Newport Beach, discuss the Traffic

Phasing Initiative. The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor will meet at the

Riverboat Restaurant. The Newport Irvine Rotary Club will meet at the

Irvine Marriott for craft talks.

Community & Clubs is published every Saturday in the Daily Pilot. Send

your service club’s meeting information by fax to (949) 660-8667, by

e-mail to [email protected] or by mail to 2082 S.E. Bristol, Suite 201,

Newport Beach, CA 92660-1740.