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Dana Point Relay for Life kicks off with Paint the Town Purple

The Dana Point Relay for Life kicked off this morning with Paint the Town Purple, an open invitation for the community to decorate their businesses, cars and even themselves purple in honor of those who have lost their lives to cancer and to celebrate the survivors.

Tomorrow, May 2, the Dana Point Relay For Life will bring together at least 15 teams and more than 100 walkers for a 24-hour fundraiser event at Lantern Bay Park. For the complete story, check out our feature story.

Pictured above, Dana Point mayor Lisa Bartlett presents a proclamation to Relay chairperson Kathy Martino. Below, a large group of Relay organizers and participants gathered at Plaza Park on Friday morning to kick off the 2009 festivities.

Taste of Dana Feeds 800, Brings in $24,000 for DHHS Grad Night

Nineteen restaurants moved into the Dana Hills High School mall area on March 26 and fed 800 hungry patrons, but in the end it was the class of 2009 who came out the biggest winners. The event is the Dana Hills High School Grad  Night’s biggest fundraiser and event chairman Mark Leeds said the $24,000 raised at Taste of Dana will pay for a big chunk of the post-graduation celebration come June.

Alan Wicktrom of SOCSA fame did us a favor on March 26 and shot photos at Taste of Dana, the annual grad night fundraiser at Dana Hills High School that invites local restaurants to serve up tastes of their favorite dishes to the crowd. Check out his photos below.

DHHS sophomore Geoff Kaufman wolfs down a mini-burger from Salt Creek Grill.

Servers from Bad to the Bone serve up grub to some of the 800 folks who attended the event.

DHHS senior Sindre Karevoll sips a blended ice coffee drink prepared by the Coffee Importers.

DHHS Principal Robert Nye, standing alongside his wife Kelly, holds his son Matthew

Taste of Dana included a silent auction, with the proceeds going to Grad Night 2009.

Palisades PTA Raises $10,000 at SpringFest 2009

SpringFest 2009 brought in an estimated $10,000 for the Palisades Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association on March 28, but the kids will likely remember the festival for the carnival games, face painting and food. Below are photos from the event.

Rhett Colbert, 4, of Capistrano Beach gets this face painted by Palisades parent volunteer Dena Murphy.

Kaitlyn Simon, 4, checks herself out in the mirror after having her face painted.

Charley Waggoner, 3, tries her luck at the fishing contest. 

Kendall Snow, 10, tosses a ring in the always popular ring toss. The prize? The 2 liter bottle of soda.

VFW Serves 414 at Pancake Breakast at Dana Point Harbor

The Veterans of Foreign Wars served 414 hungry folks attending the Festival of Whales at a pancake breakfast March 15 at the OC Sailing and Events Center, one of many events held at the Dana Point Harbor in the two-week event.

Frank Tucker of the VFW reports that the stacks of pancakes, bacon and sausages garnered $1,113 for the veteran’s group. Not to be outdone, the Ladies Auxiliary raised $1,457 from raffle ticket sales.

Other money came in for neither. “We did have some people who just donated money, but did not eat or take tickets,” said Tucker. “I know one lady donated $50 and said “thank you.” I was there for that, don’t know why, but I always get stoved up when that happens.”

Another highpoint for the VFW during the breakfast? “The Coffee Importers was great,” said Tucker. “Jim Miller just brought and set up everything for us. Many, many thanks to him.”

The breakfast was so popular that lines extended out the doors, and Tucker said the VFW will add another griddle next year and ask that the student volunteers to take orders, sit the customers and then deliver their plates of breakfast to them. The veterans are also planning to pile on whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. “Don’t miss next year’s Whale of a Breakfast!” said Tucker.

First Annual Grunion Run Attracts More Than 200 Runners

Eric Walters of Huntington Beach won the first annual Grunion Run on Sunday, March 15, finishing the 5K race at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point in 19 minutes, 43 seconds. Walters, 27, finished first out of a field of 178.

 

Danielle Simpson, 22, of Lake Forest was the first woman to cross the finish line at 23 minutes, 21 seconds.

 

Of the dozens of Dana Point runners, Stuart Glick, 50, finished first amongst the men (fifth overall) with a time of 21 minutes, 3 seconds and Meghan Devaney, 25, finished first amongst the woman (23^rd overall) with a time of 34 minutes, 43 seconds.

In the kids' 1K race, Max Kamper, 10, of Aliso Viejo finished first overall and Lauren Rose, 11, of San Clemente was the first girl to cross the finish line.

 

Event organizers estimated more than 200 runners participated in the 5K run and the 1K kids run. The first annual event was run by Golden Legs Racing out of Laguna Niguel and is expected to become a regular event at Dana Point’s annual Festival of Whales two-weekend celebration.

 

The event attracted a diverse field of participants ranging from elite athletes to moms pushing strollers. One racer even ran in a kilt.

 

Proceeds from the event-more than $3,000-benefited the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association, funds that will help support interpretive events in Doheny State Beach and to refurbish the park’s Visitor’s Center, the county’s largest public aquarium.

 

For a complete list of finishers visit here.

For more information on the event visit www.festivalofwhalesgrunionrun.com.