Orange County Blog

Sand Dollar Guild’s California Cruising Event Benefits Ocean Institute

Dana Point – On Sunday, August 28, 2011, The Sand Dollar Guild is having their annual California Cruising event. Event goers will experience an evening of lively surf music, a sampling of delicious food from local restaurants, a classic Woodie Car display, and casino –themed fun. Guests can try their luck at casino games, enter opportunity drawing and bid for some great silent auction items.

The proceeds of this event benefit the Ocean Institute, nationally known for its hands-on marine science, environmental and ocean education, and maritime history programs. More than 110,000 k-12 students and 8,000 teachers annually participate in the Institute’s 61 award winning programs.

Since 1988 the Sand Dollar Guild has been dedicated to furthering the education goals of the Ocean Institute by fundraising activities and events. To date the Sand Dollar guild has raised over 1.3 million dollars helping with the capital campaign for the new building, purchasing items over the years to enhance the education programs, ocean in motion van, sails for the pilgrim, squid lights, just to name a few. The new goal is to raise funds for the seaside learning center.

California Cruising
Sunday, August 28, 2011
4:00 to 8:00 pm
Location: Ocean Institute, Samueli Lecture Hall and Conference Center

For more information how to purchase tickets to the event contact
Natasha Berenzden
nberenzden@ocean-institute.org
(949) 496-2274, ext. 412

To learn more about the Sand Dollar Guild go to: www.sanddollarguild.org

Seriously, it’s time to fill the gas tank again?  Prices are on the rise and there’s not much we can do about it.  Right?  Well, the answer to that is both no and yes.  No, we can’t do much to lower the price of gas, but yes, we can take steps to reduce the number of times we visit the cost consuming gas station.

Here are a few helpful hints to reduce the frequency of the Needle on Empty Syndrome:

1.  Take care of your car!  Besides the issue with gas prices, a car is a huge investment.  Checking the tire pressure and replacing the air filter on a regular basis will do wonders for improving your car’s efficiency and therefore it’s MPG.

2. Remember that when the traffic light turns green, it’s not a green light to jump on the accelerator – settle down Speed Racer.  Accelerate moderately so as not to waste fuel.  A perfect partner to this hint is to take a tip from the truck drivers on crowded freeways.  They keep their speed constant as they know it takes much more fuel to get a vehicle moving than it does to keep it moving.

3. Try roughing it and turn off your air conditioner.  At lower speeds, you will save fuel.  But on the flip side, at higher speeds the A/C will be more efficient than the open windows because of wind resistance.

4. Resist the urge to “pimp your ride”.  If your tires are wider than the stock tires, chances are they'll create more rolling resistance and decrease fuel economy

5. So many of us fall into the category of being cleanliness impaired when it comes to our cars.  It takes little to acquire an extra 40-50 lbs. of stuff in our trunks.  Extra weight equals more fuel to burn to get from point A to point B.

6. One last tip for the carpool parent: Avoid Long Idles - The bottom line is idling burns more gas than restarting an engine. If you wait in line at the kids’ school, you know what a long idle means!

Now that you know how to stretch your tank of gas, stretch your gas dollars by learning where the cheapest gas stations are in your area http://bit.ly/47pekN