Spring

OUR LAGUNA Village Laguna welcomed spring with a potluck dinner Sunday at the home of Mary and Herb Rabe. The E-rated brown shingle home, with ceiling heights that vary from very low to lofty, is on the Historical Register. The rating is for the home, not the menu at the potluck, but is equally applicable. City Clerk Verna Rollinger contributed a couple of casseroles of her chicken chalupan to the Rabes' dining room table, which was barely large enough to contain all the pots of luck.

It's been a busy spring break for the Laguna Beach High School baseball team. Since school let out on April 14, the Breakers never went on holiday. Instead, they've been busy participating at the Anaheim Lions Tournament, where they played five games in a five-day period. The 24-team event, where teams are divided into pool play brackets, was played at various stadium sites throughout Anaheim and Fullerton. Laguna wrapped up the tournament Wednesday against La Quinta of Westminster, which is ranked fourth in Division III. The Aztecs (18-5)

Saturday and Sunday Acrylic & Oil Painting Instructor: Charleine Guy This two-day workshop is for beginners, intermediate and beyond. Students can expect to paint one painting each day: flowers the first day and a simple ocean scene the second. $165 class fee includes all materials needed. Oil Painting Instructor: John Eagle Also March 20, 21, 27 and 28 Learn the basic steps of creating a successful landscape painting.

Dancers will perform en pointe , or on the tips of their toes, for the first time in four years during Laguna Beach High School's spring dance concert this weekend, said Melanie Lewis, dance team booster president. Dancers will honor the high school's graduating class with their performance of "Thirteen," Friday through Sunday inside the Artists' Theatre. Five student and four guest choreographers will organize a variety of styles from hip-hop, ballet, lyrical, jazz and whimsical storytelling.

" I also like Drew because he makes the happy in Aunt Loretta more visible. " — From "The Girl Who Fell From the Sky," by Heidi Durrow The happy more visible. I feel this way about the coming of spring. It seems as though people should be able to see the happy in me that spring brings. I wonder. The tingling in the veins that I took to be early signs of spring in this column two weeks ago has surged and increased. The days have been fuller and richer.

The spring sports season gets underway next week for several Laguna Beach High teams. Below is a capsule look at the softball, baseball, boys' tennis and boys' volleyball teams. Previews for boys' golf, swimming and track and field will publish in the March 2 edition. * Softball Head Coach: Alan Ludloff (first year) 2011 record: 10-10, 5-5 in Orange Coast League (fourth place) Returning players: Haley Putnam (P, all-league, Jr.); Kennedi Gherardini (C, all-league, Jr.)

Like many, I’ve been surprised by winter’s desire to bring rain, wind and cold temperatures. But now, we all expect spring to march in, and with each passing day the odds of additional blustery weather are likely decreasing. Catharine, who has dedicated her weekends to tending to her apple and bulbs, between writing and surfing, is preparing a container for early girl tomatoes. Other garden fanatics, like Ann and Byron, have already planted lettuce and basil, and readied their garden for social gatherings.

"I'm going to New York with my parents to check out the college I'm going to. I'm going to Parsons School of Design." SARAH ELLIOT, 18 "Probably sit inside my room all day and study for economics." ED PROCTOR, 18 "I'm going to D.C., I'm visiting my brother and am going to the museums." ALEX ANDERSON, 17 "My friends and I are trying to make a pirate radio station -- it's going to be called KWURSTIN." URSTIN HARLE, 18 "I'm going camping at San Onofre."

Last week, the Coastline Pilot took a look at the recently concluded girls? sports season at Laguna Beach High. But the boys? programs also did well. In the spring alone, accomplishments included a Southern California regional championship in volleyball, a first-ever league title in swimming and a trip to the CIF finals in tennis. Here are sport-by-sport looks at the Breakers boys in 2008-09: ? FOOTBALL The Breakers finished second in the Orange Coast League after blowing a 22-point lead to Costa Mesa, but they also won their first playoff game in 21 years when they beat Santa Ana in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.

Just in time for the season's most notorious task, Waste Management has come up with a list of five tips to motivate spring cleaning efforts in natural and safe ways for the environment. Turns out, trading in the chemicals and expensive cleaning products for a little know-how will yield the same sparkling results without releasing potentially damaging toxins into the air, giving you more time to smell the flowers over the ammonia. So often people think that going green is an all-or-nothing decision, but the reality is that we can all make simple changes to our current lifestyles and habits that will make for a better tomorrow.