Costume

When I think of big events in our harbor, I recall the Flight of the Snowbirds, Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race, the Ancient Mariners Hobie Cat regatta and now Paddle for Privates. If I was going to use one word to describe this event, it would be "genius. " That word also holds true for founder Mandy McDonnell. I had a chance to talk with her over the phone this week and go over Saturday's Paddle for Privates costume paddle and learn a little more about this amazing person. Mandy grew up here in Newport Beach and went through the junior program at Lido Isle Yacht Club.

Curious George, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Strawberry Shortcake and Batman are just a few of the costumed characters kids will have a chance to meet from 8 to 11 a.m. Oct. 28 at the Pumpkin and Pancakes Halloween event in the Crate and Barrel/Macy’s wing at South Coast Plaza. Guests are encouraged to come for breakfast dressed in costume and enjoy gourmet pancakes prepared by Plum’s Cafe and Catering. Proceeds from the event will benefit Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County, a nonprofit organization serving as mentors and advocates for severely abused, abandoned and neglected children.

"A princess. I'm going to wear a dress and a wand and a crown." SUZY ALCALA, 7 "I'm going to be a cheerleader, because my mom bought it for me. I want to be a cheerleader for basketball." KIMBERLY RODRIQUEZ, 7 "I'm going to be a witch, because my dad bought it for me and it's cute. It has a spider-web cape." BREANNA CAMPBELL, 7 "I'm going to be Frodo, because I like the movie 'Lord of the Rings.'" MARK ROYBAL, 7 "I'm going to be a vampire, because I like vampires.

It’s almost Halloween, so this week we interviewed Sherron Newberg, the owner of House of Humor at 1215 Baker St. Unit C in Costa Mesa. The store has been in business for more than 40 years, but over the last 17, Newberg has owned it. She approaches every customer who walks in with enthusiasm and questions on what she and her staff can do to make their costume something to be talked about for Halloweens to come.   Halloween is right around the corner.

Boys & Girls Club will receive donation The Newport Harbor American Legion Post 291, the Ladies Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion will donate $2,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of the Harbor Area today, said Harlan Anderson, the branch's director. The funds will be used for a new water cooler in the Costa Mesa club's gym and new tables in the club's learning center. Project Cuddles will host second costume gala Costa Mesa-based Project Cuddle Inc. will host its second annual costume gala at 7 p.m. Friday at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel, 3350 Avenue of the Arts, Costa Mesa.

TODAY WHAT: The Stella Dance Company's annual gala fundraiser, "The Grand Masquerade." WHEN: 6 p.m. WHERE: Village Crean, 2300 Mesa Drive, Newport Beach. INFORMATION: The event benefits community outreach and dance scholarship programs. Cocktail attire or costume is suggested, and masks are available at the venue. Admission is $75 at the door. Call (714) 241-7424. SUNDAY WHAT: "Pumpkins and Pancakes -- A Children's Halloween Extravaganza."

The owners of Muttropolis, the pet boutique at Fashion Island, have bad news for pets this month: chocolate and most other forms of Halloween candy aren’t good for cats or dogs, and trick-or-treaters would do well to keep their bounty out of reach. Otherwise, Muttropolis is hoping to let animals in on the fun this Halloween. The store’s Howl-o-ween Boo-tique features a number of costumes for pets, including Spider-Man hoodies, butterfly harnesses, pirates, devils and more.

A UCI Halloween The UC Irvine baseball team offers a free afternoon of baseball and Halloween fun today at 11 a.m. at Anteater Ballpark. Players will be in costume while they practice and play an intrasquad game and this is the first chance to see the 2010 Anteaters. Coach Mike Gillespie’s ’Eaters were ranked No. 1 in the nation at the end of the 2009 regular season, in which they captured the program’s first Big West Conference championship. This season, six all-conference players return, including Big West Pitcher of the Year Danny Bibona.

Marisa O'Neil The day started out dreary, dark and drizzly -- perfect weather for vampires to venture outside. And princesses, pirates and Spongebob Squarepants. All made appearances on the Sonora Elementary School playground Thursday for the school's Halloween parade. Miss Understood, complete with a beauty-pageant sash, tiara and scepter, led the way as the kindergarteners and first-, second- and third-graders wended their way across the blacktop.

Have you ever been to a Halloween costume party where nobody dresses up? Well, this ain’t one of them. Organizers of Un4seen Productions’ annual Halloween Yacht Party in Newport Harbor said one of the best, most surprising things they saw at last year’s party was just how many people got into the Halloween theme. “I can think of maybe 10 people I saw not wearing a costume. Out of maybe 400,” said Ryan Doll of Un4seen Productions. “I was blown away.

If you step into the costume storage room in UC Irvine's Contemporary Arts Center, you may think you've stumbled into the dry cleaners. The room, which became fully operational last spring as part of the building's renovation, stocks nearly 7,000 costumes on a massive ceiling rack. Punch a few digits into a computer at the bottom, and a formal gown, military camouflage or something more outlandish will hum right down. The collection represents years of painstaking craft at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, which uses its own in-house team to create costumes for drama, music and dance productions.

Vintage-inspired and antique costume jewelry never really goes out of style. If anything, it's hotter now than ever. Both avid collectors and trend-conscious fashionistas covet statement pieces of jewelry that evoke the charm and nostalgia of bygone eras. The Newport Beach Public Library has several books that showcase the history, design and collection of costume jewelry. Immerse yourself in these opulent treasures, all available at the library. "A Collector's Guide to Costume Jewelry: Key Styles and How to Recognize Them," by Tracy Tolkien and Henrietta Wilkinson: This lavishly illustrated volume introduces readers to the origins of costume jewelry, dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries when imitation gems and non-precious materials were first used to create "paste jewelry.

Normal clothes were left at home Wednesday morning as Woodland Elementary School's students dressed in their Halloween best. "It's awesome!" said second-grader Nathan Thomson, a gruesome zombie. Halloween costumes came out early at the Eastside Costa Mesa K-2's annual Costume Parade. Students walked around the blacktop twice, giving parents and siblings a chance to check out the many different costumes. "Wow, do you guys look great," Principal Lauren Medve, dressed in a Dodgers jersey and hat, said to the students.

When I think of big events in our harbor, I recall the Flight of the Snowbirds, Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race, the Ancient Mariners Hobie Cat regatta and now Paddle for Privates. If I was going to use one word to describe this event, it would be "genius. " That word also holds true for founder Mandy McDonnell. I had a chance to talk with her over the phone this week and go over Saturday's Paddle for Privates costume paddle and learn a little more about this amazing person. Mandy grew up here in Newport Beach and went through the junior program at Lido Isle Yacht Club.

Los Angeles may boast the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval on Santa Monica Boulevard, but in Orange County the Halloween party of choice may just be the annual Friends of Dorothy Guild Haunted Halloween gala at the Village Crean in Santa Ana Heights. Some 250 guests attired in creative costumes converged upon the Crean estate for a recent Saturday night dinner and auction benefiting AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County. Event organizer and Friends of Dorothy Guild founder Barbara Venezia gushed with excitement, raising a record $70,000 at the Halloween party and setting a high bar for the organization.

COSTA MESA - Victoria Elementary School students were replaced Friday night with creatures of all kinds. Spiderman, a witch, policewoman, hula girls, Frankenstein and even Harry Potter came out to the campus for the school's annual Fall Festival. Families did festive crafts, played spooky games and bought Halloween-themed cakes, cupcakes and cookies. They also ate chili and corn bread, hot dogs, and tamales. Lots and lots of tamales. "The tamales are the best," said Principal Linda Tenno.

Actress Lynn Milgrim will step onto the main stage at South Coast Repertory on Friday night as Mrs. Carrie Watts. To inhabit the role of the protagonist in Horton Foote's "A Trip to Bountiful," Milgrim will don an old-fashioned lavender cotton dress. The play is about a middle-aged Texas woman traveling on a bus in the 1950s in search of her hometown in the American heartland. "A Trip to Bountiful" is a work of fiction, but the dress has a true story to tell that the SCR production won't reveal to audiences as it previews throughout the week and officially opens on Oct. 28. To help the actress bring Foote's story to life, at least five pairs of female hands formed an assembly line that designed and made the dress under a tight deadline.

Just four days after tickets to the Newport Beach Film Festival went on sale, the oft slow-moving "walking undead" proved to be among the festival's fastest-moving ticket buyers. A horde of fans dressed as zombies are expected to descend on the Starlight Triangle Square Cinemas on April 29 for the sold-out world premiere of comedy horror film "DeadHeads," said the film's co-director and co-writer Brett Pierce on Wednesday. "We're setting it up as a kind of a slogan that zombies are people, too," Pierce said of contacting a group in San Diego that organizes mass "zombie walks" to amp up the excitement of the night.

I've never associated South Coast Plaza with Halloween. Christmas, sure. Mother's Day, indeed. Birthdays, of course. But Fright Night, not so much. That was, of course, until I became a father and friends insisted that I take my daughter to Pumpkins and Pancakes, a fall fundraiser in its 19th year at the shopping center. The event is perfect for kids, they said, and the cause is a good one. Pumpkins and Pancakes benefits CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County, which serves abused, abandoned and neglected foster teens.

Freebie of the Week: Kids eat free on Halloween at several local restaurants, including Zov's Bistro, 21123 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Beach, where all kids dressed in costume will receive a kid's meal with purchase of an adult entrée. Call (949) 760-9687 or visit zovs.com . At Pat and Oscar's, kids 12 and younger will receive a free kid's meal with a paying adult and $5 minimum purchase. Local stores are at 3811 S. Bristol St., Santa Ana, and 13786 Jamboree Road, Irvine. Visit patandoscars.