Fish

The 63rd annual Fish Fry sponsored by the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club will take place Saturday and Sunday at Lions Park, which is located on 18th Street between Park and Anaheim avenues.     The event, which features music, games, raffles and activities, raises money for schools, clubs and non-profit organizations. The schedule of events is as follows:   Today Noon to 1 p.m.: Opening and Davis Choir 1–2 p.m.: CMHS Jazz Band 2– 3 p.m.: SOY Youth Group 3-4 p.m.: Endeavor School of the Arts 4– 4:30 p.m.: Raffle 5– 8 p.m.: The Fabulous Nomads 8–8:30 p.m.: Raffle   Sunday Noon – 1:30 p.m.: Lou Larocco’s Music 1:30 – 2 p.m.: Cheer Groups 2-3 p.m. BABY CONTEST 3– 4 p.m.: Starlight Stage Group 4– 4:30 p.m.: Raffle 4– 6 p.m.: Avalon Highway 6– 8 p.m.: Latino Band 8– 8:30 p.m.: Raffle

A fter the baseball or soccer game this weekend, take the family to Lions Park for the 63rd Fish Fry sponsored by the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club. Besides deep-fried cod and fries, there will be hamburgers, hot dogs, apple pie, popcorn, sodas and more. There will be a baby contest, a variety of music from the main stage and good old family fun carnival rides and games for kids of all ages. Saturday's activities begin at noon and go until 9 p.m., while Sunday's activities begin at noon and go until 6:30 p.m. or when all the fish are gone!

The two fishermen who hauled a massive black sea bass to shore at the Balboa Pier pleaded guilty Wednesday and were sentenced to 120 hours of community service. They had faced up to six months in jail for catching the endangered species. Prosecutors had charged the two with misdemeanor possession of a black sea bass after they were videotaped with the fish, and their images landed on YouTube . Orange County Commissioner Richard E. Pacheco agreed to the plea bargain, which reduced their violation to an infraction.

The Orange County Fair is still more than a month away, but Costa Mesa residents got a taste of carnival fun Saturday at the annual Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry. The event, which continues today at Lions Park, 567 W. 18th St. in Costa Mesa, is the club's major fundraiser for local charities such as the Boys and Girls Club and the Costa Mesa Senior Center, said club president treasurer Raul Jara. The event has raised about $2 million since its beginning, Jara said.

Kids don’t generally enjoy long sermons and Communion wafers, and some older people might get a little impatient around a bunch of rowdy children, but it all comes together like a chorus after church Fridays at the weekly fish bake. At least that is the philosophy behind the long-standing Lenten tradition at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic church in Newport Beach, where parishioners serve fried cod and baked ono each meatless Friday during the 40-day period leading up to Easter.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- This year's Fish Fry remains imperiled, but the Lions Club and the city's Special Events Committee have not yet given up hope. "We're optimistic," Lions Club member Mike Scheafer said Thursday. "They understand our concerns, we understand their concerns and hopefully we can work this thing out." Between 10 and 12 Lions Club and Special Events Committee members met for two hours Wednesday to brainstorm ways to keep the Fish Fry from flopping this year.

Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- Pulling the "Patriot" into her spot just north off the ferry on Balboa Peninsula at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Captain Jim Reed said the fish were still hiding. "It's pretty slow -- we just caught about 15 sculpins and eight rockfish," said Reed, who skippers one of Newport Landing's ships and takes people out on the ocean to fish. "But it should start picking up real quick." Reed's own love affair with fishing began at age 3, when his father took him along to freshwater lakes and streams in his native Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- City Hall has a group of new inhabitants -- bettas. The little blue, red or gold fighting fish have been spending their time swimming around in vases, nibbling algae off plant roots and generally brightening up the city employees' days. "That's Buddy," said Ruth Delaney, administrative secretary for the city clerk's office, pointing to her betta. "Everybody loves [the vases] here. They are beautiful, and I love Buddy. About six weeks ago, I saw him up there in the recreation area, said 'I want him' and took him right out of there.

Gloomy May weather couldn’t keep the crowds away from the deep-fried goodness at the Fish Fry in Lions Park on Saturday. “The secret is using fresh fish and fresh oil, and you can taste it,” said Raul Jara, secretary and incoming president of the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club, which puts on the Fish Fry each year. The Lions club has raised about $2.5 million from the event over its 62-year history to benefit local charities and Lions Club causes, like preventing blindness, Jara said.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- Under normal circumstances, large carnival rides would litter the Costa Mesa skyline this weekend and the scent of battered Icelandic cod would waft through the air. Today, however, marks the second consecutive year that the annual Fish Fry is absent from the Costa Mesa landscape as the result of a lawsuit launched by an Irvine woman. Mike Scheafer, the president of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club, formally announced this week that his club would not host the event this year.

The Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club will hold its 65th annual Fish Fry in a new location: Fairview Park. Admission to the two-day event to the park, 2525 Placentia Ave., on June 2 and 3 is free, while the delicious fish dinners will be served starting at noon for a cost of $10. There will be carnival rides for all ages. Vendors will be selling corn on the cob, hot dogs and burgers, delicious pies and games of chance. And there is a baby contest and entertainment on the stage.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday approved a $1,514 stipend for Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Councilman Steve Mensinger, who plan to attend the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas later this month. The Costa Mesa Conference and Visitors Bureau will cover the other half of the cost. The trip is part of the city's effort to attract new commercial development, especially sit-down restaurants on Harbor Boulevard, council members said.

The California Fish and Game Commission will be considering new regulations this week on fish stocking in public and private ponds, lakes and streams that, at the very least, will severely impact the recreational fishing industry in California and could possibly destroy it. Like many Californians, some of my fondest childhood memories include days on the shore of a stream or lake fishing with my dad. It is a tradition I carried on with my own...

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has not determined why a fishing boat sank over the weekend in Newport Harbor, harbor patrol officials said Monday. A vessel assist company managed to pull the 40-foot fishing trawler up and tow it to a shipyard Monday afternoon after a failed attempt Sunday night, said Sgt. John Hollenbeck. The boat, which Hollenbeck described as "derelict" and run down, was reported sinking in the harbor about 7 a.m. Sunday by eyewitnesses. Harbor patrol deputies responded and dropped a 300-foot containment boom around the area to capture the boat's leaking fluids on the water's surface.

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a subpoena for old emails that Newport-Mesa Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard's defense attorney claims could clear Hubbard of criminal wrongdoing. Sal Ciulla had requested that the Beverly Hills Unified School District — where Hubbard was superintendent before coming to Newport-Mesa Unified — recover Hubbard's deleted emails because the messages could show that he acted within the law when he approved payments and a car stipend increase for a former subordinate.

David Lee Fish, a former Newport Beach reserve police officer and restaurateur, died in Corona earlier this month. He was 63. Fish lived up to his name. He owned the Pacific Coast Diner, a former West Newport eatery, from 1975 to 1985, and was remembered by friends and family as an avid fisherman and master chef who could make any dish. FOR THE RECORD: This corrects where Pacific Coast Diner was. It was in West Newport, not Mariner's Mile as originally reported. Former employee Phyllis Truesdell worked for Fish at the diner for 10 years.

Sixty-four years is a long time. That's how long Costa Mesa's annual Lions Fish Fry & Carnival has been around, and it is in full swing and full sizzle this weekend. But do not delay, dawdle or procrastinate, because Sunday is the last chance for fish fry fanatics to do their annual deep-fried, carnival ride, kewpie doll-stuffed panda thing. In addition to the extreme fun factor, the Fish Fry raises about $50,000 for the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club, which supports a boatload of great organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs, Sea Scouts, various schools and the Home for Washed Up Italian-American Mayors.

Summer traditions from funnel cakes to carnival rides are in full swing this weekend at the 64th annual Lions Fish Fry & Carnival. Families filled Costa Mesa's Lions Park on Saturday for the fundraiser, which included the famous $10 fish dinner, raffles, live music and games. Mike Scheafer, Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club board member and Fish Fry chairman, said 10,000 to 15,000 people were expected over the course of the weekend event, which continues Sunday. "This is the biggest community event in Costa Mesa," Scheafer said.

Maybe it's the super-secret ingredient in the fish batter, but something keeps locals coming back year after year — 64 years to date. The annual Lions Fish Fry & Carnival is set for this weekend, so club members are busy wrangling thousands of pounds of potatoes, fish and cole slaw into place. Organizers try to walk a tightrope between tradition and change. "There are a lot of new carnival rides, and we've got a lot of really good entertainment on the stage," Costa Mesa native and Lions Club board member Mike Scheafer said.

COSTA MESA — Two boat shows will combine to kick off the summer sport fishing and boating season at a two-day event hosted by Pacific Coast Sportfishing Magazine and the Southern California Marina Assn. The Newport Beach based-Pacific Coast Sportfishing Magazine held its first Saltwater Sportfishing Festival in June at the Orange County Fairgrounds. On May 21 and 22, the festival will merge with the Orange County Boat Show, at the fairgrounds. The boat show, now in its 40th year, is returning to Costa Mesa after a stretch in Anaheim.