From the Newsroom -- Tony Dodero

Here in the newsroom, much of the talk this week has been about the

demise of the Lions Club Fish Fry.

Just like the Orange County Fair, and the Christmas Boat Parade, we

look forward to covering these annual events.

But one of our longtime editors suggested Friday that all might not be

lost yet.

The entire thing could be salvaged if they just held it at Estancia

High, he says.

There’s plenty of room at the high school, the parking and access

would be no problem.

Perhaps it would be best to wait until the end of June when school is

out, but either way, it would be better late than never, he says.

Hopefully, Newport-Mesa officials can save the day.

I must admit the news of the Fish Fry certainly brought back memories

for me.

One of my first assignments as a full-fledged reporter for this

newspaper was to cover the Fish Fry.

That was 11 years ago, and things have changed a bit.

The Fish Fry had a parade and was staged at Lions Park.

Peter Buffa was mayor and wasn’t writing columns. Jim Ferryman wasn’t

a school board member but was the director of the now-defunct parade, and

the grand marshal was an actor named Wil Hutchins, who starred in the

television shows “Sugarfoot,” “Hey Landlord,” and “Blondie.”

Never heard of him or the shows? Me neither.

And I must sheepishly admit now that assigning a wet-behind-the-ears

cub reporter to something like the Fish Fry seemed like something akin to

asking local real estate legend Bill Cote to sell a double-wide trailer

for you.

I mean, I had Pulitzers to pursue, exposes to write, corruption to

uncover.

How do you write stories about some Icelandic cod? And who cares

anyway? After attending the event, the answer to that question became

painfully obvious.

As corny as the Fish Fry may seem to some, it is so much more.

Strolling the grounds back in 1990, I saw that up close. Neighbors arm

in arm enjoying a weekend together, a moment in time when the only

worries were whether your kids had enough tickets for the carnival rides.

There were baton twirlers, beauty contests for both babies and teens,

and lots and lots of game booths where you can win things like goldfish

and ashtrays.

It was the old town Goat Hill roots meeting up with the City of the

Arts future.

And now it could all be gone.

***

Speaking of other Lions events that have met their demise, there is

still time to take part in one that continues on, just with another name.

I’m talking about the Daily Pilot Cup, a citywide soccer tourney once

known as the Lions Cup, which will take place June 1-3.

If you know anything about soccer, then the organizers of this event

would love to see you become a coach for the third-, fourth-, fifth- and

sixth-grade boys and girls.

If you do, you’ll have good company.

Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Linda Dixon, a true soccer mom, has

volunteered her coaching expertise to help out with kicking and head

butting.

No word yet on which team she will coach, but my pick for a name is

the City Haulers.

Seriously though, volunteer coaches are needed for Adams, California,

Sonora, Whittier, Pomona, TeWinkle and Victoria schools.

Each player will get a medal for participating and the winners in each

division will get a championship cup.

For information on how you can help call Kirk McIntosh at

949-650-2827.

TONY DODERO is the editor. His column appears on Mondays. If you have

story ideas or concerns about news coverage, please send messages either

via e-mail to [email protected] or by phone at 949-574-4258.