The Crowd: Celebrating a special woman’s 100 years
Eleanor Reicher was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 16, 1916.
One century later and some 3,000 miles across the country, Eleanor celebrated her 100th birthday at Sapori, a charming little Italian restaurant in Newport Beach. Her life journey remains a very special and rare story, one blessed with loving family and a dedication to learning and sharing the fruits of education with others.
In addition, Eleanor has given of herself serving the community through charitable endeavors assisting those less fortunate.
Eleanor and her late husband, Art Reicher, were married on the East Coast in 1940. Their life together would take them to Los Angeles in the early 1950s with young children Robert and Cella in tow. Arriving in California, Eleanor began to pursue a master’s degree at USC in the teaching program.
This led to her first teaching position, with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her career in education with the LAUSD would last nearly two decades. The 1970s welcomed the marriage of both of their children, and the family eventually grew to include grandchildren Andrea, Mike and Christina.
Art and Eleanor would move from Los Angeles to Long Beach, and Art would retire, succumbing in 1989 to a heart attack. By 2000, son Robert encouraged Eleanor to move closer to the family in Newport Beach, where she lives and thrives today.
In Newport Beach, Eleanor joined the Assistance League of Newport Mesa and became a docent at the Orange County Museum of Art as well as an active member of the American Assn. of University Women. She was honored recently by the Assistance League of Newport Mesa with an event Feb. 8 recognizing her 100th birthday and her years of volunteer service.
Family and close friends of nearly 100 guests joined together at Sapori to blow out 100 candles on her cake. Special guests in the dinner crowd included James Selna and wife Harriet Selna, Amy Teresi, Julie and David Ball, Mark and Lettie Pivan, Peter Small, Marlisse Marcus, Phillis Sakioka, Bette Flick and Nancy and Jack Ross.
Family members in attendance included daughter Cella Baker from Florida and Jim Baker from Alaska, Robert and Suzanne Reicher, grandson Michael Reicher with Erika Borg, granddaughter Christina and Brent Ball, and granddaughter Andrea and Troy Falk, in from Florida.
Also attending the very special evening were extended family Mark, Jerry and Natalie Garber from San Francisco, Francie Weiss from North Carolina, Rob Garber from New Jersey and a host of cherished friends and family members from all over Southern California, including Rabbi Howard Laibson and his wife, Ellen Laibson, providing a special blessing for the celebration recognizing a remarkable life.
A Meeting of Culinary Giants
The Orange County Table for 10, benefiting charities including Vocational Visions and The Teen Project, brought together a massive breakfast meeting of many of the top chefs in Orange County on Feb. 8 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa.
The breakfast meeting was actually a giant tasting in advance of the March 6 Table for 10 event set to unfold at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott.
Attending the breakfast conference were chefs Steven Mary from Newport’s Fig and Olive, Franco Barone from Il Barone Ristorante in Newport Beach, Rachael Haggstrom from the Balboa Bay Resort, and Andy Arndt from the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.
Also participating in Table for 10 from Newport Beach will be chefs Yvon Goetz from The Winery Restaurant, Brian Doherty from the Fairmont Hotel and Colin McCain from Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille, among others.
On hand for the breakfast event were Joan McKinney, director of Vocational Visions, and Lauri Burns, founder and president of the Teen Project. To learn more about Table for 10, visit tableforten.org.
Changing Children’s Lives
The Todd Anglin Home For Children has an enormous mission — to feed homeless and underprivileged elementary schoolchildren in Orange County and support poverty-stricken children in Latin America. It does this through the Weekend Backpack Program.
A benefit, open to the public, is planned for March 5 at the Neighborhood Community Center in Costa Mesa to raise funds for the Todd Anglin programs. The evening will offer dining, entertainment and an auction. Admission is $45 per person in advance and $55 at the door.
For more information and to purchase tickets, call (714) 539-6863 or visit ToddAnglinHomeForChildren.org.
THE CROWD runs Fridays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
