October 4, 2007

NEIGHBORHOOD SCAN: News about Fullerton folks

By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register

CAL STATE

Cal State Fullerton graduate student and Fullerton resident Kylie Nguyen is the first Trustee Murray Galinson Scholar – a top honor among recipients of the 2007-08 William R. Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement.

She received a $6,000 scholarship in ceremonies Sept. 18 at the CSU Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach.

Nguyen is the eldest child of an immigrant family from Vietnam.

Drawn to work with underprivileged children with pathological wounds, she has worked as a project director at the CSF Volunteer and Service Center and volunteered at a Santa Ana homeless shelter.

COLLEGE PARK

Fullerton College Health Services will host its annual Substance Abuse Awareness Day Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 11 in the Quad. A crashed car provided by Mothers Against Drunk Driving will be on display.

Some of the organizations represented will be Alcoholics Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous, Addiction Treatment Center, The Gary Center, Positive Action, Al-Anon, Community Service Project and the Fullerton Police Department.

COMMONWEALTH

The first 16 case managers from Family Assessment, Counseling & Education Services completed intensive 40-hour training for certification to conduct in-home assessments.

FACES founder Mary O'Connor said the courts didn't have a low-cost and quick way of looking into family issues. So, her agency presented a plan to the court where the case managers go into the homes, watch the children and parents together, interview them and get a snapshot of what the problems are that prohibit a resolution.

The report is sent to the court within 45 days.

Since the program started in July, the agency has provided the service to 10 parents and eight children.

"There are parents in Southern California who can afford the costly custody evaluations ranging from $6,000 to $10,000, and others who will use the court investigative services," O'Connor said.

Information: 714-879-9616.

HARBOR

Longtime residents may recall Fullerton College art student Terri Wahl, who opened the "Get Lost" funky business about 20 years ago next to Ipso Facto on Harbor Boulevard.

"I sometimes felt the city fathers weren't appreciative of the merchandise in my store," said Wahl, who had African masks and unusual items for sale.

Wahl went on to tour internationally with the punk rock band, The Red Aunts, and then opened a catering company that counts among its many customers those in the music video and film business.

A few years back, she opened Auntie Em's in trendy Eagle Rock, and has been posting well more than $1 million in gross sales. In addition, she married Tom Yatsko, the cinematographer for "CSI: Miami" and "Brothers and Sisters."

"I'm having a lot of fun," she reports.

NUTWOOD

Hope International University alum Arty VanGeloof (Class of '82) has long been active at Eastside Christian Church.

VanGeloof has started formal ministries to the poor in Placentia in Fullerton and with missions work in Kenya, Africa and Rosarito, Mexico.

He started a ministry to the homeless in Fullerton called Life Support, which is now the Hispanic Ministry at Eastside, according to a HIU report. And he worked with the Turkana tribe in Kenya digging sand point wells and providing medical relief.

"Arty has dedicated his life to serving those in need," HIU officials said in recognizing a man who has "a servant's heart."

UNION AVENUE

Laura Blanpied has had a strong interest in crafts ever since her family vacationed at Lake Havasu.

"I was the child who would collect the flat rocks, and paint them," Blanpied recalled. "And my grandmother taught me to sew."

Put the two together, and Blanpied's creative "inventory" grew and grew. She made layettes for friends, statuary painting, T-shirt painting.

After years of giving away her hand-crafted items, Blanpied will showcase her work in her first boutique, The Brea Nutcracker Show, on Nov. 16 and 17 at the Brea Community Center.

"Ultimately I would like to open a small store," said Blanpied, who works at La Sierra High School.

A Fullerton resident since 1988, she takes pride in watching her two sons' artistic talents develop.

Daniel is an executive buyer for Barney's of New York. He graduated from Fullerton Union High (Class of 2001) and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

Shawn, a Troy High Class of '98 grad, is in the swimming pool industry creating what he calls "back yard dreams" with pools and landscaping.

Blanpied said her older son worked with chopper builder Jesse James on his back-yard projects in Orange County.

"I framed some of Daniel's second-grade drawings from Acacia School," Blanpied said. "It's amazing to see the detail in his work. I wish I would have encouraged his creative work then."

Neighborhood Scan tells what's happening in the city's neighborhoods. Do you have a news tip on your neighborhood? Call Barbara Giasone at 714-704-3762.