May-June 2007, Volume 9 Issue 3

BALBOA ISLAND CALENDAR
FRI JUN 1 FRIDAY NIGHT STROLL—7 pm until 9 pm—MARINE AVENUE
SUN JUNE 3 CELEBRATE BALBOA ISLAND PARADE 11:00 am—12:30 pm
BRIDGE CLOSED BY 10:45 am
FRI JUNE 22 BIYC SIGNUPS—BEEK CENTER—6pm
Call Evan Fullerton for INFO—949.548.3229
SAT JUNE 23 PANCAKE BREAKFAST—BEEK CENTER PARK—7:30 am—10:00 am
MAY 3 & 4 2008 2008 ALL ISLAND GARAGE SALE Info. Call 949.422.8570

SHOOTING THE BREEZE. . . . . . . . . . .. . Carolyn L. Carr

What a great garage sale—the weather was awesome, the crowd was fabulous and everyone had a lot of good things to say. The only downside were a couple of petty thefts—make sure you keep your eyes on your items for sale—not everyone is honest.

For those of you who asked—and there were plenty—the dates of the 18th Annual All-Island Garage Sale are Saturday May 3 and Sunday May 4, 2008. Next year I will remember to print it on the program as suggested. I will also remember to change the time on the banner which reflects the times of garage sales past. You can always check for the date and time of the garage sale and other Island Events at http://www.balboa-island.com

A Balboa Island Town Hall Meeting was held on Saturday, May 12 by City Councilman Ed Selich. Both Residents and Realtors spoke out against the current 45-day moratorium on short-term rental permits. This has impacted the vacation rental owners who had not gotten their permits this year—since vacation rentals were included to prevent discrimination.

The consensus of opinion was that construction sites caused more traffic.

On my survey form, this editor also noted Junior Life Guards, the Fun Zone, the Ferry Line and just the jumble of trash trucks required now that the commercial areas no longer have city trash pick up, as creating traffic and parking problems at the Agate end of the Island—no vacation rentals.

A progress report from the questionnaire studies is to be posted May 16 at http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us & a public City Council Meeting on May 22, 2007 at City Hall.

On a more positive note—it is time for the Balboa Island Parade—the theme this year is BALBOA ISLAND AN AMERICAN DREAM—be there on Sunday June 3rd at 11 am.

BALBOA ISLAND ICONS . . Doris Lee, Coldwell Banker

You can tell Lenore Laraway is a very special lady with an eye for color when you step into her charming home at 1105 North Bayfront. She and her late husband, Charles Laraway, bought this home through Martha Anwiler (a Balboa Island ICON too) in 1964 for $95,000.
Lenore is from a creative, resilient Beverly Hills family who lost its wealth and lifestyle in the depression. Her father then created “foot gloves” (Now called Peds) and sold the business for
a profit.
Lenore majored in Interior Decorating at USC, graduated and went to business school which led to a high profile job as Secretary to an Air Force Wing Commander. She met and married Charles Laraway who served in WW2 overseas for 3 years. He was a building contractor who built them a wonderful home in Los Angeles.
In spite of hearing, “Balboa Island is terrible,” they bought on the Island and created their first shop, the Atrium, by remodeling a building at the corner of Marine and Balboa. Later, under Charles’ guidance, Lenore operated “Laraway’s Specialty Store, for 32 years. They called it a “women’s hardware store with thousands of buttons/beads/notions and customers. If Laraway’s did not have it—no one did!
The Laraway’s chose to remain in their Island home with their two children. One day a cat in distress had kittens under the Coldwell Banker’s office (where Abram’s Coastal Properties is now). Miraculously the cat got all the kittens onto Laraway’s roof to safety. Lenore called the Adoption company to take them, but kept the orange one and named her “Sally”. Sally even went on trips to their desert home with the Laraway’s.
Lenore and Charles enjoyed golf, cards, etc., at the Newport Beach Country Club. They now have 4 grand children and 8 great grand children. When Charles became ill, Island Home replaced Laraway’s, and Lenore now spends her time with friends and family in her Island home, Her philosophy is humble:
“What makes me happiest is making someone else happy!” What a Special Lady!!
Would you like to be saluted as a Balboa Island ICON—please call Doris Lee @949.280.0507 or e-mail dorislee@coldwell banker.com.

TO A FRIEND OF MANY YEARS

I keep having warm, good feelings about you today,
and so I guess I’ll drop you a note and let you know.

As the years go by, one after another, there seems to
be something uniquely special about certain oldtime
friendships. With you I have a sense of a continuing
deep, warm glow in spite of spaces between our letters
and visits. Whenever we do have contact, it is as if no
time has really elapsed, since we used to see each other
every day.

These certain special friendships are like a thread of a
definite and constant color running through an intricate
tapestry of life, a tapestry that is being continuously woven.

Faith Bowlus

BALBOA ISLAND BULLETIN BOARD
EAST BAYFRONT—LITTLE ISLAND
3 Story 3 Bedroom—3 Bath
Pier Use
Yearly Lease $5,500/mo. 323.876.2723

BIYC
BIYC signups are Friday, June 22, 2007 at 6 pm
at the Beek Center. BIYC starts the following Monday, June 25 at 9:00 am—you can still sign up on that Monday..
BIYC lasts for 8 weeks and is open to kids both on and off Balboa Island. This year’s Commodore is Evan Fullerton and he can be reached at 949.548.3229.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADVERTISE IN THE ISLAND BREEZE?
Balboa Island’s Most Popular Informative Newsletter. Hand delivered to Every Island Resident and Business. Copies also available at: Let’s Go Shopping, Island Flooring, Wilma’s, the Barkery and The Park Avenue Café. 2300 Flyers—copying available. Call Carolyn @ Island Breeze, Carolyn Carr Communications 118 Agate Avenue, Balboa Island 949.675.3456

YOU GROW UP THE DAY YOU HAVE THE FIRST REAL LAUGH— AT YOURSELF!!! . . .
Ethel Barrymore

DEE’s BALBOA ISLAND TALK . . . . DEE DAWSON
Summer is about to arrive on Beautiful Balboa Island!! As I continue my travels throughout California and neighboring states, I am convinced over and over again that this community’s brand of friendliness is unparalleled elsewhere. Even after all these years and all my traveling, I remain amazed. Most locals and visitors would agree—the community spirit is truly “Main Street USA” - a place stopped in time. What a joy it is to return to old friends and neighbors following time away!!
Speaking of old friends, I am sure you have all heard by now that the spirited and much-loved “Giorgio”, owner of Giorgio’s Italian Restaurant here in town, passed away quietly in his home early on the morning of April 24.
Giorgio succumbed to the persistence of his illness following its return last year. His wonderful wife, Sondra, will continue his legacy as she plans to run the restaurant alone. We at the Island Breeze would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to his family. His fun loving, good nature will be missed by all Islanders—That is for sure—”Ciao, Giorgio . . . . “
Once warm temperatures hit, you know what that means! Bring the whole family down to Persimmon Tree for the best swim and beachwear in town. The store, a Balboa Island tradition, carries only top swimwear lines such as: Le Tart, Pirate’s Gold, Vitamin A, Love-Surf-Love for the ladies. Quicksilver and rack upon rack of board shorts for the guys. Don’t forget to grab two or three pairs of comfy Havianna rubber beach thongs—lots of jazzy new styles have just arrived in every color imaginable!
For more great flip-flop ‘stylin” head across the street to The Foot Boutique where the fashionable Nomad line is featured. Owner Dawn carries some of the hippest new looks and at a reasonable $22.00 a pair.
As Summer approaches, so does Beach rental Season. Do stop by any one of our many fantastic and highly knowledgeable Marine Avenue realty offices. Your listing will be in good hands with whomever you choose.
Finally, all Island art collectors will love the splashy, summery look of the Sally Huss Gallery. Bursts of painted color on canvas are everywhere, as the store carries many popular local Newport-area artist’s work. Prominently featured are : Mike Zand (commemorative Balboa Pavilion poster), Lori Kerr (Fabulous watercolor of antique fire truck—BI Fire Station) and many more. Also an adorable line of novelty floor mats just in from Jelly Bean—beach scenes, waves, surfboards, classic woodies!
Machine washable and just $35.00
Next month—Annual Balboa Island Parade—See you There!

TIPS OF THE MONTH. . . . . . VACATION RENTAL SCAMS
I Have a small apartment rental—and recently I posted it for the first time to Craig’s List. This opened a can of worms that had it not been for a warning from Tom Stanton, my computer guru, I could have lost a considerable amount of money.
It started shortly after my posting with an e-mail from a young man who asked if I would rent my studio apartment to him and his new bride. The rental would be for two weeks and would be a present from his boss at the construction company where he worked. He was from England, but worked in Africa.
I e-mailed him back that he would have to send me a certain amount of money in a cashier’s check before he got here. Then, within minutes, I got another e-mail from Haiti, with a similar request—a present from a uncle for his honeymoon. That is when I got suspicious because Tom had told me about someone locally who had been almost caught by these scammers.
Here are the red flags:
The person will pose as a renter, agent or business contact from the United Kingdom, Canada or Africa and asks to pay by Cashier’s Check or a Money Order drawn from a US bank. The rental is a present from another person—relative, boss, etc. The amount they claim to send is much more than what the rental is worth and ask for the remaining amount to be wired via Western Union or through a money order.
If the unsuspecting owner sends the remaining balance before the check or fraudulent money order clears, the scammer has successfully taken your money and will not show up for the rental.
Deposit these checks in your bank—do not send any money before they clear. Odds are the check will be fraudulent.
Also, take note of the type of message being delivered. If the person corresponds with broken English, misspellings, and/or improper use of grammar and word choice take caution.
After remembering Tom’s warning, I found more information on http://www.findrentals.com/scam-emails.htm and was alerted by the fact that my first contact spelled his name differently in different parts of the e-mail.
I contacted both scammers and asked for scanned passport pictures of them and their wives—they would have had to have a passport for the time frame they were asking—and said my request was because we were having trouble with scams locally. I never got an answer—which was my answer. Tom told me they have computers that scan the internet looking for postings and when they find someone who answers they rope them in—just check your source when you are renting—to anyone. The scammers will always come up with a new angle!!

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May-June 2007, Volume 9 Issue 3