Children Today returns to '80s for charity

People who don’t like costume parties don’t know what they’re missing! It’s part of the fun to see the creativity engaged by people you wouldn’t suspect of having an artistic bone in their body.

The enforced dress code also becomes a way to be involved in the event. On Feb. 13, Children Today held their aual fundraising event. This year instead of the traditional Christmas gathering, they had an 1980s Prom Valentine Night. The event raised approximately $215,000 for the early education and child development services of Children Today, which is directed to homeless and abused children.

You should have seen the costumes! More than 300 people were in a party mood and displayed their take on the ‘80s and their memory of a prom, complete with bouffant hair dos, pony-tails to the side, bouffant skirts, leotards, tight pants, and leg warmers.

The men were mostly dressed like Don Johnson from “Miami Vice” days, also seen were a couple of Members Only jackets. Under the direction of Masy Buel, the Cal State Long Beach gymnasium was in a time warp from the 1980s as well. Throughout the venue were neon colors, iconic of the era, bright pink tables and chairs, a bar painted with bright-colored over-sized cassette tapes. Graffiti-decorated eye-catching oil barrels were the stand for food bars. The dance floor hopped to lots of tunes by Madoa, Prince and Michael Jackson.

The crowd bid on some fabulous vacation trips to Italy, Hawaii, and the Caribbean, as well as vintage wine, tickets to the Long Beach Grand Prix, including getting a ride in one of the driver’s cars. Big bidders included: Marsha Naify, Jerry and Jan Maize, Philip and Pam Mazzacco, Mimi and David Mercado, Steve and Pilar Dobbs and Mechelle Maier.

Seen at the scene: Founder of Children Today Theresa Bixby, Board Chair Boie Lowenthal, Supervisor Don Knabe, Civil Service Commissioner Robin Perry (a board member), Brad and Marjorie Hooper, Dave and Su Ericson, Jan and Jerry Maize, Matt and Briana Knabe, Chris and Ellen Pook, Joshua and Ericka Lowenthal, Diana Fisk.

Founder’s Day

A “Legacy of Inspiration – 100th Aiversary of Founders Day,” was the theme of the P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Long Beach Reciprocity Bureau’s Founders’ Day luncheon Jan. 23 at Old Ranch Country Club.

Reciprocity President Janet Brubaker, welcomed almost 240 women, and compared circumstances of today to those of the founders in 1915, most of whom possessed no real rights or economic power despite their education.

Founders Day Committee chairman, A Lamar Harrington, introduced special guests including 50-plus- year members of P.E.O., Reciprocity Past Presidents and the speakers. She and president Brubaker also paid tribute to the seven founders.

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Phyllis Goodwin provided nostalgic musical entertainment – piano medleys of Cole Porter, Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin, before and during lunch. Also featured were handmade floral arrangements, quilts by Nancy Eriksen, memorabilia from the P.E.O. History room and a timeline of “P.E.O.-centric” events.

The highlights of the program were the speeches of USC Robotics iovator, vice dean for Research at the Viterbi School of Engineering – Maja Mataric, Ph.D., and Noelle Stiles, Ph.D., P.E.O Scholar, of Caltech and USC.

Professor Maja Mataric is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers, “half of whom should be women,” and received a Presidential Mentoring award from President Obama in 2009. She is also passionate about sharing her experiences and providing constructive advice to women and girls.

Mataric was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Technology and one of the top 25 Women in Robotics, and featured in 10 up-and-coming L.A. iovators to watch out for, (L.A. Times).

Noelle Stiles, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar studying the restoration of visual perception to the blind with retinal prostheses, and her mentor, Armand Tanguay, Ph.D., USC, discussed current research, testing an intraocular camera to be used in forming a retinal prosthesis for blindness induced by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Professor Tanguay has also been successful in establishing conferences for women in physics and is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, and Biomedical Engineering at USC.

Nancy Elmore, President of P.E.O. Chapter XZ, San Luis Obispo, talked about growing P.E.O. one chapter at time and how to effectively raise money to help the community and raise awareness of P.E.O.

Education continues to be the most important philanthropy of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, which has provided more than $264 million in scholarships, grants, awards and loans since its organization in 1869. It has a membership of almost a quarter of a million members in chapters in the United States and Canada,

Seen at the scene: past presidents of Reciprocity, Norma Kober, Virginia Osmera, Lu Knutson, Linda Shepard, Betty Bliss, Judith Hunsaker and Haah Gough.

Also Shirley Williams, Evie Belisle and 72-year member Marilyn Osbo of chapter FQ: Lorie Merrill, Ellie Johnson, Helene Fasnacht, Kathy DeSilva, Melva Miller, Wendi Vodhanel, Pam McCredie, Claudia Thompson, Nancy Higginson, Fay Dey, Judy Swaaley, Marion Beckman, Betty Hagman, Linda Shepard, Jean Engelbach, Pat Pinckney, Sharon Pleshek, Linda McCarley, Beth Morse and Allison McGuire.

News of social events with charitable purposes may be sent to Shirley Wild at [email protected] or by fax to (562) 594-9668. Please include a contact phone number. Send high-resolution jpeg photos, by attachment, to [email protected] and include group name and identification of individuals from left. Call Shirley at (562) 594-9468 for more information. Please check the website for coverage of additional events: wwwpresstelegram.com/social.

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