INSIDE SCOOPS

Usually an event is named for someone prominent after they pass away.

This is not the case for 85-year-old Clement L. Hirsch of Newport Beach.

Hirsch, who founded Cal-Can dog food, learned last week that a premiere

horse race will be named in his honor. Formerly named the Chula Vista

Handicap, the race will be now known as the Clement L. Hirsch Handicap at

the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. The $300,000 stakes race is exclusively

for fillies and mares.

Hirsch has been a prominent force in the horse-racing industry. He has

owned and bred thoroughbreds for more than 50 years and was a founding

member of the Oak Tree Racing Assn. at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia.

Flex those writing muscles

Even Dear Abby couldn’t answer all the correspondence Supt. Robert Barbot

and the school board have been getting from residents protesting the

potential sale of Balearic Park in Costa Mesa.

Before the school board wrapped up Tuesday night’s study session, board

member Wendy Leece asked Barbot if he has answered the dozens of letters

that had been coming in from Balearic residents.

Barbot looked at her aghast and said, “Each of them? I couldn’t

possibly!”

HAPPY DOLLARS

The Costa Mesa branch of the Kiwanis Club raises money by allowing its

members air time to tell a joke or rib another member if they drop $1

into a hat. The donations are called “happy dollars.”

On Thursday, when Costa Mesa transportation director Peter Naghavi gave a

presentation of the cities many street projects, he described one that

was about $6 million short of happening.

“If you guys want to help out, you could all start giving three happy

dollars each,” he said. “If you raised $6 million, I would be very

happy!”

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

Mario Lescot, who ran The Theater District playhouse for seven years, was

recently forced to give up the Bristol Street space because of financial

difficulties. He sounded a little down last week.

“I’m numb,” was how he assessed his situation. “I’m watching a lot of

sitcoms at night.”

But Lescot noted that he’s not really out of the theater game, even if

he’s temporarily lacking digs. The people who were involved in making The

Theater District happen still meet on Tuesdays to read plays, talk shop

and scheme for the future.

“We meet in a little office space in Mission Viejo or in my home,” he

said. “Just to keep it alive.”