Ash Hayes had reason to celebrate Saturday, when he was honored with San Diego State Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

The Montys, as they are called, were presented to 10 individual for significant contributions to the university or community.

Hayes, a San Marcos resident, certainly qualifies, with a resume that features appointments from presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, including five years as executive director, along with extensive service on local boards and committees.

Hayes and his wife, Juanita, planned their post-awards celebration at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, where cases of red and white wine, compliments of the alumni association, were supposed to be provided.

Guests showed up, but the wine didn't, resulting in a room-service bill of $400 for champagne. Ah, the price you pay for success.

Speaking up: Seniors at Escondido Charter High School are getting a public speaking seminar today from a guy who knows his way around the subject, former Channel 8 news reporter John Culea, who now works in county Supervisor Bill Horn's office. Culea offered his help after participating on a panel hearing student presentations at the school last year and noticing the difficulty some had giving their speeches. "The goal is to work on the students dressing presentably and presenting ideas effectively to other people," said Shawn Romer, director of the school's traditional classroom program. "He's somebody who knows a lot about presenting ideas and sharing information. I think this will be valuable for them."

People: Among experiences shared during last week's San Marcos Chamber of Commerce Shadow-a-Principal event was this realization from Tom Rees, who spent the day at Discovery Elementary: "I need to re-enroll in third-grade algebra class, and I will never go on 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader?' " … Escondido's Courtney Corey is now a member of the Los Angeles cast of "Wicked," which showed up last Wednesday on "The Tonight Show." Corey is part of the ensemble and understudy for Elphaba, the green witch.

Around town: Irv Erdos may be known for his weekly humor column, but he apparently knows his way around a kitchen as well. Erdos is offering a demonstration called "The Art of Pasta Making" at 10 a.m. Friday at Palomar College's Escondido campus. He'll show off how to make ravioli, linguini and other types of pasta from scratch. Call (760) 744-1150, Ext. 2702 to register. … It's Precious Gems time for California Retired Teachers' Association Division 63. The group will honor its members ages 90 and over at a luncheon Wednesday at the Escondido Country Club.

Contact staff columnist Jeff Frank at (760) 740-5419 or jfrank@nctimes.com.