The Crowd: ‘Excellence earned and deserved': annual 1221 Balboa Bay Club scholarships given new grads
Grandparents, parents, teachers, counselors, friends and well-wishers arrived to celebrate the presentation of the annual 1221 Balboa Bay Club scholarships to a formidable group of students from all of the Newport-Mesa public high schools who are destined to reach their higher academic goals. A total of $200,000 in grants would be awarded on this night to 24 young people following their dreams.
Over some 25 years, more than $2 million has been awarded in 1221 Balboa Bay Scholarships, the largest private/public scholarship fund in the Newport-Mesa community.
John Wortmann, chairman of the board of governors of Balboa Bay Club, served as master of ceremonies and event coordinator, working with Melanie Hertrick and club staff members along with an executive committee of judges selecting the winners from a large pool of applicants.
Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton was front and center, joining special guests and major donors and judges from the scholarship committee including Devon Martin, Carole Pickup, Michelle Barto, Heather Dickerson, Char Armstrong, Noel and Kathy Hamilton, Bill Blaine, Mark Larson, Jane and Art Riviera, Catherine Thyen and Mary Roosevelt, to name only a few.
The scholarship awards are divided into several categories. Wortmann emphasized that every student was deserving. 'These grants are not awards,' he said. 'They are recognition of excellence earned and deserved. We are the fortunate ones to be able to give the recognition.'
The first segment of scholars accepting the $2,000 1221 Club scholarships and the $3,000 Care scholarships totaling $5,000 per student included Landy Harder, Joseth Zarate Groth and Angel Romero, all from Estancia High School; Addison Goldwasser and Kimberly Sales, recent grads of Newport Harbor High School; Kurt Mateo, Sophia Winters and Jorge Antonio Puga Jimenez, all from Costa Mesa High School and lastly, Corona del Mar High School grads, Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, Emily Hands, Jordan Lum and Theodore Lee all accepted awards.
The second segment of awards, called the Governor's Scholarship, saw $10,000 grants presented to Aubrey Spallone from Costa Mesa High School, Aiden Ghorishy and Naiya Sapru from Corona del Mar High School and, from Newport Harbor High School, Kaleb Wood, John (Jack) O'Brien III and Henry Nielson Koch.
Balboa Bay Club scholarships in the amount of $13,000 were granted to India Howerton and Luke De La Jara, both from Costa Mesa High School. Also taking home awards in the same category Estancia High grads Charlie Sabori and Joseph Harbs.
Pinnacle scholarships in the amount of $15,000 went to students achieving the highest honors in both academics and athletics. This year they went to Marcos Kohoe from Estancia High School and Caitlin Stayt from Newport Harbor High School.
Each of the 24 awardees shared a moment at the microphone to express their appreciation for parents, teachers, counselors and mentors. Impressive goals were announced with great enthusiasm and expectations as the crowd enjoyed a lavish dinner buffet created by the Balboa Bay Resort. The annual scholarship event is a year-long funding effort by the women of Balboa Bay Club's 1221 Club making the grants possible.
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Los Angeles Times
18-06-2025
- Los Angeles Times
The Crowd: ‘Excellence earned and deserved': annual 1221 Balboa Bay Club scholarships given new grads
The grand ballroom at Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach, filled with families on a recent evening. Cellphones flashed photos in succession as multiple generations of families gathered in the pre-function foyer. Hugs were in major supply and a wonderful, nervous kind of energy permeated the massive room. Grandparents, parents, teachers, counselors, friends and well-wishers arrived to celebrate the presentation of the annual 1221 Balboa Bay Club scholarships to a formidable group of students from all of the Newport-Mesa public high schools who are destined to reach their higher academic goals. A total of $200,000 in grants would be awarded on this night to 24 young people following their dreams. Over some 25 years, more than $2 million has been awarded in 1221 Balboa Bay Scholarships, the largest private/public scholarship fund in the Newport-Mesa community. John Wortmann, chairman of the board of governors of Balboa Bay Club, served as master of ceremonies and event coordinator, working with Melanie Hertrick and club staff members along with an executive committee of judges selecting the winners from a large pool of applicants. Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton was front and center, joining special guests and major donors and judges from the scholarship committee including Devon Martin, Carole Pickup, Michelle Barto, Heather Dickerson, Char Armstrong, Noel and Kathy Hamilton, Bill Blaine, Mark Larson, Jane and Art Riviera, Catherine Thyen and Mary Roosevelt, to name only a few. The scholarship awards are divided into several categories. Wortmann emphasized that every student was deserving. 'These grants are not awards,' he said. 'They are recognition of excellence earned and deserved. We are the fortunate ones to be able to give the recognition.' The first segment of scholars accepting the $2,000 1221 Club scholarships and the $3,000 Care scholarships totaling $5,000 per student included Landy Harder, Joseth Zarate Groth and Angel Romero, all from Estancia High School; Addison Goldwasser and Kimberly Sales, recent grads of Newport Harbor High School; Kurt Mateo, Sophia Winters and Jorge Antonio Puga Jimenez, all from Costa Mesa High School and lastly, Corona del Mar High School grads, Karissa Beltran-Jimenez, Emily Hands, Jordan Lum and Theodore Lee all accepted awards. The second segment of awards, called the Governor's Scholarship, saw $10,000 grants presented to Aubrey Spallone from Costa Mesa High School, Aiden Ghorishy and Naiya Sapru from Corona del Mar High School and, from Newport Harbor High School, Kaleb Wood, John (Jack) O'Brien III and Henry Nielson Koch. Balboa Bay Club scholarships in the amount of $13,000 were granted to India Howerton and Luke De La Jara, both from Costa Mesa High School. Also taking home awards in the same category Estancia High grads Charlie Sabori and Joseph Harbs. Pinnacle scholarships in the amount of $15,000 went to students achieving the highest honors in both academics and athletics. This year they went to Marcos Kohoe from Estancia High School and Caitlin Stayt from Newport Harbor High School. Each of the 24 awardees shared a moment at the microphone to express their appreciation for parents, teachers, counselors and mentors. Impressive goals were announced with great enthusiasm and expectations as the crowd enjoyed a lavish dinner buffet created by the Balboa Bay Resort. The annual scholarship event is a year-long funding effort by the women of Balboa Bay Club's 1221 Club making the grants possible.
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Newport Harbor grad who had Broadway wish granted, continues moving forward
Gabriella Earnhart attacks life with vibrancy. She describes herself well in a single sentence: 'I'm constantly creating something in whatever capacity I can.' Her home in Costa Mesa is close to her alma mater, Newport Harbor High School, where Earnhart works as a brand and community coordinator for the performing arts program she participated in before graduating in 2023. Earnhart faces a threat that's not always outwardly apparent, Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue all over her body. The 6-foot-1 Earnhart has an enlarged aorta, and the syndrome leaves her at increased risk for emergencies such as her lungs collapsing or retinas detaching. She sometimes needs to use a wheelchair to get around. 'I'd say that probably the most pervasive aspect of the illness is just chronic pain and chronic fatigue,' said Earnhart, 20, who had spinal surgery in 2018 for scoliosis that is often associated with Marfan syndrome patients. 'Something always hurts all the time.' Still, Earnhart tends to look on the positive side of life. She has met some of her best friends through nonprofit the Marfan Foundation. Her family moved from Chicago to Orange County when her father, David, got a new job while Gabriella was in high school. Settling into her new surroundings, Earnhart started seeing David Liang, a Hoag Hospital doctor who specializes in treating Marfan syndrome. Liang recommended her for Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire. Her wish itself wasn't very specific. 'I wanted something where I could travel to a cool place, and I wanted something that is theater related,' Earnhart said. 'Something that I can dress up and enjoy the fun things.' The theater kid's wish was granted by Make-A-Wish in June 2024. Earnhart and her mother, Heather, were treated to a trip to Broadway. The reveal was special to her, as it happened in front of the bell tower on campus as she was preparing to direct junior actors in a production of 'Alice In Wonderland.' Her mom, coworkers, high school students and theater camp kids were all present. 'That was the first time in my life that I've ever actually been surprised by something,' she said. 'I was not expecting it all. It was a beautiful moment. Sometimes the kids will run into me at the grocery store and they're like, 'Miss Gabriella! I remember when we had cupcakes for your wish!' It's fun to have those memories in that place.' She saw two musicals on the New York trip, 'Merrily We Roll Along' and 'The Great Gatsby.' Earnhart also got to attend a theater awards show, plus the after-party. 'We just had the best time going to the Met, trying new restaurants [and] shopping for jewelry for the awards show at midnight in Times Square,' she said. She remains involved with Make-A-Wish. Earnhart spoke at the foundation's 'It's In The Bag' fashion show and luncheon, held April 27 at the Waterfront Resort in Huntington Beach. 'It really is inspiring to see how our wish kids take so many challenges and turn them into positives, and to see how the wishes that we grant really have an impact on the trajectory of where their future takes them,' said Anne Grey, Make-A-Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire's president and chief executive. 'It gives them the feeling that anything is possible. It's so wonderful, and Gabby really embodies that, which I think is amazing.' Though Make-A-Wish is often associated with children with terminal illnesses, Grey said about 70% of the organization's kids live on to adulthood. 'What can be so deceiving is that they can look healthy on the outside by all appearances, but the highs and lows of dealing with a critical illness throughout your life do have those valleys where it's really a struggle,' she said. 'Having the ability to look forward to a wish or look back on your wish, how that was a great time, getting through the hard times and staying strong is something that a wish makes possible.' Earnhart, who has taken two gap years since graduating from high school, has focused on working both at Newport Harbor and the Sunflower Design Co., a hand-lettering and painting business. She is now taking the next step, leaving Newport Harbor and enrolling at Pepperdine University, where she'll start studying musical theater and marketing in the fall. She knows that her Marfan syndrome will likely affect her life in the performing space, but she's still making that choice to pursue the arts. Experiencing her Broadway wish come true no doubt gave her inspiration. 'It was just really lovely to be able to combine the arts and this wish,' Earnhart said. 'It felt like a very culminating moment for me.'
Los Angeles Times
25-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Estancia drama students host final off-site production before new theater opening
The Estancia High School spring musical 'Little Shop of Horrors,' the final production of the 2024-25 season, is gracing the stage of Costa Mesa High School in a three-day run that ends with a matinee Sunday. And if all goes according to plan, the performance will be the last time the EHS drama department will have to perform on a substitute stage, as the long-held vision of a new performing arts complex on the Costa Mesa campus is finally coming into crystalline focus. Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials confirmed this week the $42-million building project is humming along and anticipated to complete by the time classes return in the fall. The opening will fulfill a 20-year promise to the Eagles community and create parity between Estancia and other NMUSD schools, like Mesa, that got new theaters years ago. Amber Reyes, who heads the school's theater program, said students are excited at the prospect of the upcoming move after years of hosting shows in the much smaller on-campus Barbara Van Holt Theater and traveling off site to perform. 'Next year, we won't have to bring the whole set, bring all the costumes in our cars to get everything situated; we'll actually have a scene shop,' Reyes said. 'It's going to make life easier and make our program better.' The reality of having a new, 18,270-square-foot complex, complete with a 350-seat main theater and a black box theater along with classrooms, a dressing room and staging areas is beginning to sink in for junior Keila Mendez, who will get to perform there next year. 'It feels so surreal. I'm just, like, 'Wow, it's actually happening.' I thought it would take forever to build,' says the 17-year-old Costa Mesa resident, who plays Audrey in this year's musical. 'I love drama and being a part of Estancia history — I'm so excited to perform in it.' Senior Asher Dennee, who plays the lead male character, Seymour, plans to continue acting at Orange Coast College after graduation but will miss out on staging productions in the new building. Still, he's glad for his colleagues and proud of what they've accomplished so far. 'It definitely is a bummer,' Dennee, 17, said Tuesday. 'I'm a little sorry I'm going to miss the grand opening [of the new complex], but I'm happy my friends here are going to get to experience it. And I'm obviously going to come back and attend their shows, so I'll still get to experience it in a way.' With emotions running high, this particular production of 'Little Shop' is sure to round out the season with a bang. Reyes said she selected the play based on the particular talents and attributes of this year's advanced production drama students, after seeing South Coast Repertory's version during a class trip. 'Some schools pick the season one year in advance, but I always make sense of who I have and then pick a show for them,' she said. 'My kids are really strong actors, and 'Little Shop' is an acting-heavy show. It's really grounded in the characters' journeys, and I felt all the characters really fit our kids.' That level of consideration is one more hallmark of a rich tradition begun by drama department founder Barbara Van Holt, the Estancia teacher who built the program in the 1960s and for whom the campus' original theater is named. The beloved instructor died in 2022. Now that the program's classes and productions are scheduled to transition next school year into the new performing arts complex, an effort is afoot to continue honoring Van Holt's legacy by naming the new building after her. The campaign further seeks to name the main theater in the complex after Estancia teacher Pauline Maranian, an alumna of the drama department who took over its leadership from Van Holt in 1996 and oversaw its theatrical endeavors for 26 years, before passing the mantle to Reyes, another Estancia grad. Memorializing the contributions of the two instructors is a possibility but would require the blessing of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees, who are inviting community members to submit their recommendations, according to district spokeswoman Annette Franco. Officials in a post Wednesday on NMUSD's website said board policy allows for the memorialization of individuals, living or deceased, who have contributed to the betterment of society or the local community, as well as places with geographical significance or those whose standout accomplishments in a particular field make them a role model for students. Reyes said that, in her mind, honoring the legacy of Van Holt and Maranian just makes sense. 'They are legends,' she said. 'The whole community is rallying behind it.' Estancia High School's 'Little Shop of Horrors' opened Thursday and runs through Saturday at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, at Costa Mesa High School's performing arts complex, 2650 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. General admission is $15, student admission is $10. To purchase tickets, visit or pay cash at the door.
