Success

The waiting game came to an end last weekend and the 2010 Brooks Street Classic surf contest is in the books. Encouraged by sunny skies and increasing swells in what has been a mostly otherwise bleak-looking summer, the much-anticipated annual contest concluded Sunday with champions crowned in 12 divisions, ranging from paddleboard through Pro/Am. The two-day event started Saturday. "I thought the competition was great," said Brandy Faber, who was the contest director.

The Laguna College of Art & Design netted $105,000 at the annual Collector's Choice fundraiser, held Saturday at the campus on Laguna Canyon Road. A crowd of about 400 college supporters attended the event, which included an art raffle, silent and live auctions of works donated by professional artists, and an al fresco dinner. Students at the college directly benefit from the funds raised at Collector's Choice, which provides financial assistance via scholarships, and pays to upgrade the campus facilities where they strive to fulfill their dreams of a career in the arts.

Goal one: win a CIF Southern Section championship. Check. Goal two: win a CIF Southern California Regional championship. Check. In a week's time, the Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team accomplished the two goals it had aspired to at the beginning of the 2010 season. By winning a section and regional title, the boys' volleyball team became the second Laguna sports team in school history to win two postseason titles in the same school year. The boys' cross-country team first accomplished the feat in the fall by winning a CIF and State title.

I feel the need to point out that I did not say chain stores would be more successful so we should change our rules to support them (?Survey shows shopping statistics,? Feb. 19). Be advised that I only analyzed the data that residents provided the Business Task Force via the survey. Those ?opinions? were those of the Task Force, not mine. Any references to chain stores, or for that matter anything else in the survey, was your fellow residents speaking their minds. My contribution was purely getting the survey published and putting the data in an organized presentation.

Laguna Beach will again be part of national Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week. The City Council issued a proclamation at the April 20 meeting designating Nov. 1 to 7 National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week in Laguna Beach, and it will contribute $500 toward the printing costs of the week’s activities. Activities will be sponsored by the city’s Housing and Human Services Committee and organized by the Relief and Resource Center. Events will include a weeklong food drive, with the goal of doubling last year’s 25,000 pounds of donations and the “Hunger Bowl.

Passports will be offered in Laguna this summer — no shots required — to the world of art. The passports provide unlimited admission to all three art festivals. The collaborative promotion, started last summer by the Festival of Arts, Art-A-Fair, Sawdust Festival, the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau and the city, is credited with increasing attendance to the festivals, drawing attention to the arts in Laguna and increasing the number of tourists who spend money in town.

LAGUNA BEACH — It was a sunny day Saturday, in so many ways besides just the weather. Former high school cross-country and track teammates from nearly 40 years ago meet again, and it was like they had never left. Laguna Beach High’s track was officially named after Laguna legend Eric Hulst, maybe the best distance runner in Orange County prep history. And, oh yeah, the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational returned after a more-than-25-year absence for its 42nd incarnation.

LAGUNA BEACH — It was a sunny day Saturday, in so many ways besides just the weather. Former high school cross country and track teammates from nearly 40 years ago meet again, and it was like they had never left. Laguna Beach High’s track was officially named after Laguna legend Eric Hulst, maybe the best distance runner in Orange County prep history. And, oh yeah, the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational returned after more than a 25-year absence for its 42nd incarnation.

At the end of the year, the Laguna Beach High girls? cross-country team was peaking at the right time. The Breakers proved it by making the CIF State Cross-Country Championships in Fresno after a year absence. Then, they proved it again Saturday at Woodward Park, finishing fifth in the state in Division IV. The team time of 1 hour, 39 minutes is believed to be the fastest time the Breakers girls have run at the state meet, breaking the previous mark of 1:40:47 two years ago. ?