Lions Park

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!

To Brady [Rhoades] and all of you so quick to judge, Your comment started out with “We’re getting hammered about running, front and center, a picture of girl dancers from Endeavor School of the Arts performing at the Fish Fry at Lions Park on Saturday” (“Is this photo too risque?” blog item published June 1). “Hammered” implies some wacky visions. Was your e-mail box getting overrun? Were your phones ringing off the hook? Is that why I have been getting nothing but busy signals when calling in?

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.

In 1968, Bonnie Langseth watched with pride as her daughter Tonya Collier — then a 2-year-old with big blue eyes, curly brown hair and a blue sailor dress — was crowned the cutest baby in Costa Mesa by a panel of judges at the annual Fish Fry carnival. Then in 1987, Tonya’s daughter, Tara, won an honorable mention in the same contest. Now, 41 years and two generations after the first triumph, Tara’s infant daughter and Bonnie’s great granddaughter Sophia will attempt to capture the same prize her grandmother took home all those years ago while her distinguished family members sit on the sideline Sunday afternoon.

Submitted by Larry Weichman 62nd ANNUAL COSTA MESA/NEWPORT HARBOR LIONS CLUB FISH FRY 62nd Annual Costa Mesa/Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry!!! Fish dinners!!!! Stage Shows!!!!!!! Baby Contest!!!!!!!!! Prize Drawing!!!!!!! And so much more! me out for tons of food, fun, games, rides & entertainment on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday May 31. This event will be held at 18th Street & Lions Park – the same location as always!!!!!! Saturday hours are from 11am – 10pm and Sunday from 11am – 9pm. Mark these dates on your calendars now so you don’t forget, this event is definitely a local community favorite!

Last night a crowd gathered at the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club for the annual allocation meeting of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club. Club President Mike Scheafer presented checks totaling nearly $25,000 to a variety of local and Lions charities, including Southern California Lions Eye Institute, Lions Project LOOK, Lions 4L4 Sight and Hearing Foundation, Harbor Area Boys and Girls Club, Newport Harbor High Culinary Arts Program, Estancia High Baseball, Costa Mesa High Baseball, Costa Mesa American Little League, Lions 4L4 Hearing Committee, Youth Employment Service, Blind Children’s Learning Center, Costa Mesa Senior Center, OC Model Engineers Railroad, Australian Student Exchange Program, Sea Scouts, Lions Camp at Teresita Pines, Foundation for Junior Blind, Newport Mesa Schools Foundation, Lions Project Canine Companions for Independence, Lions in Sight, Pediatric Diabetes (PADRE)

Police are looking for four people who attacked two men and smashed a beer bottle over one of their heads during a confrontation at Lions Park on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. About 5 p.m. Sunday, two groups of men were at Lions Park when members from each group got into a verbal altercation, police Sgt. Bryan Glass said. One group teased the other about where “they were from” until the groups faced off, four men versus two men. The larger group easily won the fight and one person smashed a beer bottle over one of the two men’s head, officials said.

One city council member’s vote was all that saved the Lions Club Fish Fry this year — a far cry from the days when Charles TeWinkle and the other four members of the council were all Lions, promoting the event from their seats of municipal power. Back in those days, the fry had a big, well-attended parade down Harbor Boulevard and a Miss Costa Mesa beauty pageant. Everyone who was everyone in the city came down, as shown in pictures and video at the booth sponsored by the Costa Mesa Historical Society at this year’s fair.

It probably won’t bring down the price of gas, but the Lions Club Fish Fry is going green — sort of. The 61-year-old fair, one of Costa Mesa’s most beloved institutions, will bring its rides, music and fried cod out to Lions Park Saturday and Sunday; this year, however, connoisseurs of the liquid shortening that the fair has traditionally used to fry its fish might be disappointed. “We’ve gone with [soybean] oil that someone is actually going to collect from us to turn into diesel fuel,” said a laughing Mike Scheafer, who has helped organize the event for 25 years.