Golden West College

Of all the stage musicals based on hit movies over the years ("Applause," "Promises, Promises," etc.), few have hit the ground running with the wit, verve and sheer entertainment value of "Legally Blonde," now in its second and final weekend at Golden West College. This satirical creation of Heather Hach (book) and Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin (music and lyrics) is a delicious sendup of modern society as it details a young woman's trek through Harvard Law School in pursuit of both a law degree and her recently detached boyfriend.

About 400 Golden West College students tossed up their mortarboards Friday at the school’s annual commencement, as the class of 2008 gained degrees in everything from cosmetology to business to welding. Due to clouds and rain, the ceremony was moved to the school gym. The commencement speech came from Jimmy Nguyen, a former student who has risen to become a full-time counselor at the college. The R. Dudley Boyce Outstanding Student Award went to student Arlyn Lim, a nursing student who has rebounded from the death of her mother when she was 15 to win honors including the Assistance League of Huntington Beach Scholarship.

Mike Sciacca, Independent Golden West Water Polo Club is holding Spring Water Polo Camp registration for two separate camps. The first camp, for boys and girls 14 and younger, currently is taking registration at the school pool between the hours of 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. A camp for high school girls 18 years of age and younger will hold registration on Sunday, March 3, at 4 p.m. also at the campus pool. For more information, call 895-8246 or check out the Web site o7 www.goldenwestpolo.

The Golden West College Peace Program, Associated Students, and the Peace, Mind and Body Club are planning a ?Creating Peace through Conscious Action? conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday in the college?s student center. The event was coordinated by peace studies faculty member Fran Farazdaghi and the college?s 2009 Peace Studies Award recipient and faculty member Joyce Bishop, who will speak at the conference. Workshops begin at 9 a.m., and include topics like selfless giving, intercultural relations, conflict dissolution and literature as a peace method.

-- Mike Sciacca Learning how to read is of paramount importance for any youngster, and parents can get a jump start on the process through the Reading Skills Programs offered at Golden West College. The programs are available for children ages 4 through the 11th grade. Tom Callinan, an instructor with the Institute of Reading Development, teaches a session for kids entering the first grade. "These kids bring so much energy into the classroom, along with their parents," Callinan said.

A former Huntington Beach man has been arrested on suspicion of attacking a friend and security officers at Golden West College. Carlos Nunez, 48, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and battery on a school employee. Nunez is a transient, but his last known address was in Huntington Beach, officials said. Nunez and an adult female friend, who is also a transient, went to Golden West College to use the pool showers at around 9 p.m. March 19, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.

Ding-Jo Currie, the president of Coastline Community College for the last seven years, has been named the Coast Community College District’s new chancellor. Currie, who became interim chancellor in January, was chosen last week by the district’s board of trustees. She took the interim position after Chancellor Ken Yglesias went on administrative leave. Yglesias resigned in March. The district, which comprises Golden West College, Orange Coast College and Coastline Community College, services more than 60,000 students in western Orange County and about 20,000 military students worldwide.

Authorities are looking for an unknown male wanted on suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman from Golden West College in Huntington Beach. The man is described as a white male with a completely shaved head, a small amount of brown hair on his chin and a chubby build. The man is in his mid-30s to early 40s, 5 feet 8 to 6 feet, and was wearing blue jeans and a white or gray T-shirt. He was driving a black, newer model, four-door sedan with dark interior in clean condition.

Golden West College counselor Stephanie Dumont has been named one of the winners of the 2009 Hayward Award for Excellence in Education. Dumont, a California native, has worked for the school for 10 years. The Laguna Beach resident earned her Master of Science in educational counseling at National University. The Hayward Award is presented annually in four California regions by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. Dumont is being honored from Area D, which includes all community colleges in Orange and San Diego counties and the desert areas.

Of all the stage musicals based on hit movies over the years ("Applause," "Promises, Promises," etc.), few have hit the ground running with the wit, verve and sheer entertainment value of "Legally Blonde," now in its second and final weekend at Golden West College. This satirical creation of Heather Hach (book) and Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin (music and lyrics) is a delicious sendup of modern society as it details a young woman's trek through Harvard Law School in pursuit of both a law degree and her recently detached boyfriend.

Golden West College won its sixth California Community College Athletic Assn. state championship in men's volleyball Saturday when the Rustlers edged Pacific Coast Athletic Conference rival Grossmont, 31-29, 26-24, 25-17. The state final was played in the Hall of Champions Gym at Long Beach City College. Matt Hilling, a freshman outside hitter who prepped at Orange Lutheran, had 18 of the 39 kills the Rustlers recorded in the title match. He had several, big kills in the opening set, the last of his eight giving the Rustlers a 30-29 lead that led to an eventual, 31-29 win. Hilling was named Most Valuable Player on the All-State Tournament Team.

This year's sixth annual Surf City Splash raised $100,000 for several charities, according to a news release from the Surf City Rotary Club of Huntington Beach. More than 230 guests attented the event at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, enjoying dinner, dancing and auctions. Half of the money raised will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Huntington Valley's Building Dreams campaign to build a "family campus" at Golden West College. The family campus would include a new preschool, gymnasium and Boys & Girls Club for school-age children.

The AYSO Region 143 (Huntington Beach) under-10 division boys' Gold All-Star team won a title and the Silver All-Star team took second place Saturday at the AYSO Region 11-K All-Star Tournament at Dan Young Field in Santa Ana. The Gold All-Star team won its division title by downing Region 177 (Long Beach), 4-2, in the final. Braeden Koch and Jared Rhone led the defense and goalie Cole Kaplan made several stops in the title game. Dane Brenton, Cooper Livingston, Damien Campos, Gavin Langer, Gareth Keeler, Wyatt David and Mason Kelly, made up a powerful offense that scored 16 goals as the team went 4-1 during the tournament.

Matt Muggia, a U.S. Marine veteran, remembers the disappointment he felt when he was deployed overseas, opened up a care package and thought he spotted a package of Oreos. But they weren't really Oreos. They were a knock-off brand. "I was totally grateful when I got a package, but nothing made me more mad than getting a knock-off Oreo," said Muggia, president of Golden West College's Service Veteran Organization. "I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'" Muggia made sure only the best made its way into the 30 to 40 holiday care packages that were prepared and shipped to Army and Marine units in Afghanistan by Golden West's SVO. The group made sure the packages were mailed to outlying areas that rarely receive items throughout the year.

The five performers in "You've Got Hate Mail," the latest production at Golden West College, never rise from a sitting position at their computers, yet they pull off one of the funniest pieces of theater you're likely to see all season. Created by the veteran comedy writers Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, who have carved out a career with such risque farces as "Love, Sex, and the I.R.S.," "Suitehearts" and "What the Bellhop Saw" (to name just a few that have been presented locally)

Fountain Valley High is hosting a poker tournament fundraiser at 6 p.m. Saturday at The Center at Founders Village Senior and Community Center, 17967 Bushard St., Fountain Valley. Proceeds benefit all Fountain Valley High programs. For registration and other information, contact Glenn Grandis at (714) 457-3557. * Club volleyball tryout is Saturday Club H Volleyball of Huntington Beach will hold tryout sessions for its 2012-13 season starting Saturday at Golden West College.

Paul McBeth of Huntington Beach won the 2012 Professional Disc Golf World Championships at Charlotte, N.C. The tournament was held at 14 disc golf courses from July 14-21. The title earned McBeth $5,500. * Sluggers Baseball camp starts Aug. 20 Sluggers Baseball and Mizuno USA is offering a summer camp season starting Aug. 20. The camp is for youth ages 8 to 12 and runs daily from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through Aug. 24. An Extra Innings session also is available daily between 1:15 and 3 p.m. each day. The cost for the camp is $165 and $230 for Extra Innings.

Huntington Beach's Ballet Repertory Theatre will open its 36th season this weekend by staging the technically challenging "La Bayadère" at Golden West College. For the second time in four seasons, the hometown company with a shoestring budget will present its rendition of the full-length ballet — which the Frenchman Marius Petipa first choreographed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1877 — and usually is performed by the world's most prestigious ballet houses. "Obviously we don't have glamorous sets, but the story is complete — everything is intact," said Terri Sellars, who has restaged a Kirov Ballet version of the tragic love story set in ancient India.

Professor Darrell Ebert was thrilled. "This is probably one of the highest-level shows that you could find in an educational gallery," he said. Now in his 43rd year at Golden West College, Ebert teaches sculpture, painting, two- and three-dimensional design classes, and curates the campus' Fine Arts Gallery. "The intensity and level of quality of work is so high," he said, covered in a paint-spatted smock as he gestured to the gallery. "It's so professional. " Golden West just opened a new art show, "Pressing the Limits," which showcases 40 prints made by a quartet of New Mexico-based artists: Michael Costello, Willis F. Lee, Jennifer Lynch and Mitchell Marti.