Unnamed Donor Gives 8,600 Books to School

The Cornelia Connelly School of the Holy Child in Anaheim, Orange County’s only all-girls Catholic preparatory high school, is the beneficiary of an anonymous donation of an estimated 8,600 books from a seminary that closed its doors.

The books were originally part of the collection donated to the seminary by Carrie Estelle Doheny, a Los Angeles philanthropist. The book presentation will coincide with the school’s plan to renovate and expand its library.

Construction on the facility will begin next year at an estimated cost of $620,000, school officials said.

Rita Marie Baker, 68, of Anaheim was named “Adult Success Student of the Year” by the Private Industry Council of Orange County, a group of community leaders who assist and advise vocational training programs.

Baker, who trained in the Business Clerical Cluster Program of the North Orange County Community College District, was cited for her “constant positive attitude, smile, encouragement for others and stick-to-it-iveness,” program coordinator Cynthia Coad said.

Ron Offen has been named editor of Free Lunch, a poetry magazine published by the nonprofit Laguna Niguel-based Lunch Arts Alliance. Offen is director of the library at Niguel Hills Junior High School in Laguna Niguel and formerly was an editor and reviewer for an Illinois poets program. The poetry magazine is distributed free to American poets.

Cal State Fullerton communications professor Norman R. Nager, a former officer of the Pacific Coast Press Club and author of two books on public relations, was named winner of the 12th annual Distinguished Service Award of the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

The award recognizes his contributions in preparing people for public relations careers. He is the first educator to receive the honor.

Last year, the Westminster resident won the national Pathfinder Award for “excellence in scholarly public relations research” from the New York-based Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education.

Before teaching he held a number of public relations positions, including the post of public relations director at Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach.

Retired Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Alfred K. Whitehead of Huntington Beach was elected president of the 170,000-member International Assn. of Firefighters at its recent convention in Miami Beach.

Whitehead, who worked 28 years with the Fire Department, will serve a four-year term. He is a former president of Local 1014 of the firefighters’ group, which covers Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Edwin T. Powell, former city administrator of Placentia, has been named president of the Fullerton College Patrons of the Arts, a group promoting and supporting fine-arts activities on campus and in north Orange County. The Placentia resident is also the senior assemblyman of the California Senior Legislature.

Casa Youth Center of Los Alamitos, which provides temporary shelter for runaway teens and other youngsters in crisis, was presented $1,000 by Long Beach Law Auxiliary President Nancy Lewis, who said the grant “was in keeping with the ideal of helping nonprofit organizations involved with youth and the law.”

Balboa Island resident Barbara Buck, public relations director for Western Growers Assn., was named associate publisher of Western Grower and Shipper magazine and will oversee the monthly publication’s editorial and advertising. The association is a nonprofit group representing fresh-produce growers in California and Arizona.

Villa Park resident Thomas C. Hill, a certified public accountant, has been named president of the Westmed Gold Club, the primary fund-raising support group of Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. He is also a member of the board of directors for United Western Medical Centers.

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