A Family Thing at Orangewood

Steve Reynolds jokes that he’s the only person who has to go to a children’s home so he can visit his mother. But while they are together, they’re also busy rocking babies and offering comfort.

Reynolds, 22, and his mother, Dawn Reynolds, are both volunteers at the Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange. It’s the county’s home for abused and neglected children.

Maybe you’ve seen Orangewood in the news lately. The county’s Juvenile Justice Commission has issued a report highly critical of the handling of prescription drugs at the children’s facility. And county officials have acknowledged some mistakes that had to be corrected. County supervisors are now investigating.

I’m not condemning or defending. But while critical issues such as this are addressed, someone also needs to make sure the Orangewood babies get their naps. That’s why Rose Carey, Orangewood volunteer coordinator, is delighted to have the Reynolds team.

“We always can use a much-needed extra set of hands,” Carey said. “And it’s so unusual to get male volunteers, especially someone as young as Steve. He’s just great with the little ones.”

Dawn Reynolds said the payback is better than cash. “Once you leave Orangewood, you don’t feel like you have a care in the world worth worrying about,” she said.

For Steve Reynolds, who also volunteers with the developmentally disabled in the Long Beach Unified School District, there has been an added bonus. Last month, he was one of 24 people nationwide honored in Washington with the 1997 Gold Congressional Award for his volunteer work. It was presented by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)

Steve Reynolds operates his own five-employee marketing business in the aviation field, requiring international travel several months each year. He is a graduate of Concordia University in Irvine, and now is in a master’s program at Pepperdine University. It was while doing research for a paper at Concordia last year that he first visited Orangewood. Then his mother started volunteering there, and she was so enthusiastic he decided to apply for a volunteer spot too.

“In my consulting job, sometimes the rewards are long term in coming,” Reynolds said. “But at Orangewood, it’s instant gratification. Those children give nothing but unconditional love.”

Steve Reynolds is Dawn Reynolds’ only child. She raised him on her own. As you can imagine, she was proud of her son’s congressional award and his success in starting his own business. “One reason I do volunteer work with children,” she said, “is that I’m so blessed with the one I have of my own.”

Just Love: The oldest volunteer at Orangewood happens to be the person with the most years of service. Doris Barrow, 79, of La Palma, first volunteered at the old Albert Sitton Home, which later became Orangewood, in 1980. I asked Barrow what she actually does at Orangewood: “Just love the children,” was her reply. “That’s what they need--lots and lots of love.”

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Footnotes to Booknotes: People who love to read books usually love to read about the people who write them. I’m always intrigued by those how-I-wrote-that-book tales. Nobody spins those yarns better than Brian Lamb, host of “Booknotes,” and the show’s guests on the cable channelC-Span.

Lamb has a new book out with the same title, in which nearly 100 authors tell small stories about their writing. Lamb will appear at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda on Wednesday. He will sign copies ($25) for the public at 4 p.m. He will speak at a dinner later that evening ($45, or $8 for the 7:30 speech if you don’t want the dinner that precedes it.)

Here’s a sampling from Lamb’s book:

From Charles Kuralt, the CBS broadcaster and American travel writer who died this month: “I think writing comes from reading. I was what they call a voracious reader when I was a little boy.”

From Norman Mailer: “I write in my studio in Brooklyn. There is no TV, no phone, nothing. My wife wants me to get a portable phone. I refuse. I don’t want to be tempted.”

From Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough (for “Truman: A Life and Times): “I’d started working on a book about Pablo Picasso. I stopped after a few months because I found I disliked him so. He was, to me, a repellent human being.”

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Catcalls: The most fun event at the Anaheim Convention Center is about to return. The annual International Cat Show runs Saturday and Sunday. Watching the owners as they fawn over their little darlings is more delightful to me than viewing the cats.

I’d love to own one of those expensive, well-bred types with the perfect coats. But alas, my wife is a firm believer that you don’t pay for show cats as long as there is a cat at an animal shelter that needs a home. So it’s a lifetime of alley types for me.

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Wrap-Up: About 175 people volunteer at Orangewood, some just a few hours a week, some as much as 60 hours per month. But being accepted as a volunteer there isn’t as easy as you might think.

“We have people who make up their minds they want to come here and they’re all excited,” volunteer coordinator Carey said. “Then they see what it takes to be cleared, and for some it discourages them.”

Once you volunteer, you must fill out an extensive questionnaire about your background and pass an FBI fingerprint clearance.

If that doesn’t deter you, the next sign-up session is July 29. Call Carey at (714) 834-7571. Clearance takes at least a month.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to [email protected]