Bali

I was in the Mentawaiis the day the quake hit. I was traveling throughout Indonesia surfing and doing humanitarian work. As with so many surfers who volunteer every year, the first part of my trip was to consist of a standard boat charter trip with friends through the Mentawaii Islands. After that I was scheduled to fly over to Bali and work, with Skills For Humanity ( www.skillsforhumanity.org ), on a humanitarian project for my new foundation — Waves For Water ( www.wavesforwater.

Surfers gathered at Rockpile on Tuesday for a paddle-out to remember “Jungle” Jack Denny, a legendary Laguna Beach surfer and clothing designer who died of cancer Sept. 9, 1998, at the age of 33. Denny founded World Jungle clothing, an early and ground-breaking surfwear company, which started out in 1990 with a $9,000 investment and grew to a $1 million enterprise in two years. Denny spent six years designing for Gotcha, and also worked for MCD and Bash clothing, before launching his own business.

The Boys and Girls Club fundraiser Saturday night at Montage Resort & Spa is a sell-out. "We are expecting more than 400 people," said Bali Thorn, club director of administration. Tickets were $300 each, proceeds from the Sixth Annual Art of Giving Gala will benefit the club on Laguna Canyon Road and TLC at Bluebird Park, now affiliated with the main club. Locally connected companies or residents who underwrote the event include PacifiCare, Philo and Diane Smith's Peppertree Lane, Donnie Crevier's BMW dealership, Impact Marketing Specialists' Milt and Barbi Naylor, dentist Joe Baker, Rick Balzer, Dan and Jennifer Burge, Tim and Lyn Carlyle, Dan and Judy Daniels, Bill and Mary Fischer, Judy and Keith Swayne, Tony French, Bob and Kirsten Whalen, Hearts of Montage and former Lagunans Mike and Laurie Hefty, who both grew up in town.

Does anyone know where the sun has gone? After a blistering June it seems that July this year has become more like the June of past years. Clouds and drizzle. Perhaps August might once again bring us sunshine. On Wednesday the swell was increasing, as another “southern hemi” (southern hemishere) swell is forecasted with expected overhead surf on its way. I would like to think the swell might be big enough and last through the weekend so we can once again run the Brooks Street surfing classic.

Three young people were honored as Youths of the Year on Jan. 21 by the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach during the club?s Annual Awards Ceremony at the Artists Theatre. Boys & Girls Club staff honored more than 80 young people from Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, and the surrounding communities for their outstanding citizenship and personal accomplishments in 2008. The Youths of the Year were Michaela Bryant, a member of the Main Branch; Kelsey Laroche, who belongs to the Teen Center; and Daylan Handel of the TLC Branch.

Tom Titus Lagunans -- most of them anyway -- have a pretty well developed sense of humor, as well as a thick skin, the result of enduring endless jibes about the Art Colony on subjects ranging from traffic to lifestyle. Some of them even enjoy poking fun at themselves, as writers Bree Burgess Rosen and Tim Dey began doing 10 years ago. They created an evening of skits called "Lagunatics" as a fund-raiser for Laguna Shanti. The event was a howling success, and it's gotten bigger every year.

The dream deferred can nag at you. Maybe you said you'd go to Bali and didn't. Maybe you always intended to jump out of a plane someday and here you still are, waiting till it lands. The task begun and left unfinished is worse. You were going to lose 10 pounds, but you lost four and then lost interest. You started to clean out the garage, but something came up and now every time you look in there you feel like a slacker. When you do manage to complete one of these endeavors, the boost in self-esteem is disproportionate --- you feel better than the achievement calls for, because it took so long.

2008 is Leap Year and today, Feb. 29, is Leap Day. Leap Day occurs every fourth year, to bring our man-made calendar in sync with the solar calendar. It takes the earth longer than 365 24-hour days to revolve around the sun — 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds longer, to be exact. Most historians agree that it was the ancient Egyptians who first discovered this discrepancy and added a 366th day to every year divisible by four, and the Romans later designated Feb. 29 to be this extra day. Historically, in English law, this day was not recognized and so it was “leapt over,” hence the term “leap day.” Since the day itself was disregarded, so were the social norms.

Paul Heussenstamm Sorry this is so long, but going to Banda Aceh was important for many of us interested in helping. Thank you to all of you who helped contribute generously to our trip. Everything went extremely well, considering, and together we made a significant difference in people's lives. We will also be sending more water purifiers, so let us know if you want to help. The following is my experiences and insights of this difficult journey to Banda Aceh.

Ryah Arthur and Eli Viszolay are heading into the U.S. Open of Surfing in different ways. The Laguna Beach athletes will be a part of the world's largest professional surfing competition, which begins its nine-day run at the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday. Arthur, 22, will go as a competitor; Viszolay, 18, as a contributor. The summertime classic is North America's only combined Assn. of Surfing Professionals Men's Prime and Women's six-star event. "No other surf contest compares to competing in the U.S. Open," Arthur said.

I was in the Mentawaiis the day the quake hit. I was traveling throughout Indonesia surfing and doing humanitarian work. As with so many surfers who volunteer every year, the first part of my trip was to consist of a standard boat charter trip with friends through the Mentawaii Islands. After that I was scheduled to fly over to Bali and work, with Skills For Humanity ( www.skillsforhumanity.org ), on a humanitarian project for my new foundation — Waves For Water ( www.wavesforwater.

It may take a village to raise a child, but women lead the way. Sexist? You bet, but still true. Girl’s Night Out was proof of what a group of women can do when they set their minds to it. 100 Women, a support group of the Boys & Girls Club, rocked at 100 Rockledge on Sept. 24 and raised $37,000 to enrich the lives of Laguna’s children, almost doubling the goal of $20,000. Club board member Carrie Reynolds came up with the notion that 100 women could achieve miracles with their contributions of time, talent or treasure, or some of each after grumbling to friends that she couldn’t get volunteers the way the PTA does for projects.

Taylor Pitz has had her driver’s license for less than a month. It’s a practical thing for Pitz, 16, more than most teenagers. She may enjoy cruising the town, but now she can drive to various beaches around Southern California. “It’s nice being able to drive yourself, especially to the beach and stuff,” she said. “It’s definitely different, though. I feel a lot older.” In terms of surfing, she’s been quite grown for some time now. Yes, Pitz should get better at driving, but when she hits the water it’s her chance to really show off. The Laguna Beach High junior-to-be and standout surfer is in the midst of a competition a weekend.

I?ve been doing research on Laguna Beach High School since 1993. The mascot background: The core of the existing school was built in 1927-28, opening for instruction for the fall 1928 term as the K-8 ?Laguna School.? The high school was added in the fall of 1934. Laguna teams went without a nickname until Dec. 7, 1934, when ?Breakers? was adopted by the high school. This was after the Fall 1934 sports season. Laguna Beach already had a reputation as an art colony even before the establishing of the Festival of Arts (1932)

Three young people were honored as Youths of the Year on Jan. 21 by the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach during the club?s Annual Awards Ceremony at the Artists Theatre. Boys & Girls Club staff honored more than 80 young people from Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, and the surrounding communities for their outstanding citizenship and personal accomplishments in 2008. The Youths of the Year were Michaela Bryant, a member of the Main Branch; Kelsey Laroche, who belongs to the Teen Center; and Daylan Handel of the TLC Branch.

Three area schools recognized for excellence Laguna Beach High School and El Morro and Top of the World elementary schools have been named to the California Business for Education Excellence/Just for the Kids-California Honor Roll for 2008. This recognition by the California business community was awarded for exceptional success in elevating student academic achievement. The Honor Roll is made up of two different awards: the Star Schools Award, which went to 214 schools and Scholar Schools Award, which went to 697 schools.

Surfers gathered at Rockpile on Tuesday for a paddle-out to remember “Jungle” Jack Denny, a legendary Laguna Beach surfer and clothing designer who died of cancer Sept. 9, 1998, at the age of 33. Denny founded World Jungle clothing, an early and ground-breaking surfwear company, which started out in 1990 with a $9,000 investment and grew to a $1 million enterprise in two years. Denny spent six years designing for Gotcha, and also worked for MCD and Bash clothing, before launching his own business.