Fish Fry - Fantastic!

THE RIGHT MOVE
OK, after much apprehension and consternation about the 65th Annual Lions Club Fish Fry being ousted from Lions Park and "forced" to move to Fairview Park, the results are in.  The event was fantastic!

KUDOS TO ALL
The venue, even with the little hike most had to make from the parking lot across Placentia, turned out to be exactly right.  There's plenty of space for the carnival rides, the entertainment stage, the booths, the fish-frying site and even the new beer and wine garden.  Kudos to Costa Mesa's Public Affairs Manager Dan Joyce, Lions Club President Bob Ooten, the Lions Club members (Including long time member Jim Ferryman shown above) and all the other organizations and city staffers that made this change work.  The final numbers are not yet in, but it sure looked like the event was rousing success.

  FUN AND FRIENDS
My sweet and very patient wife - shown here with Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold - and I made it back from a quick, short weekend away in time to take in the Fish Fry Sunday afternoon.  It was delightful.

 FISH FRY LINE
Of course, if you come to the Fish Fry you MUST have some of that tasty deep-fried fish.  While we were there the line ran to about 90 people patiently waiting.  In that photo it stretches way, way back there, then makes a 90 degree turn.  You can see the folks in front of the trailer, waiting.

 MORE PATIENCE
Once you paid your ten bucks you eventually found your way to a friendly volunteer - in this case, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer - waiting to tear your ticket so you could finally get some of that great grub.

 MORE VOLUNTEERS
You then found yourself standing in front of more volunteers ready to slam a couple chunks of cod, some french fries and cole slaw on your plate.

AND STILL MORE DOING THE FRYING
And in the background more volunteers were frying up a storm. 

 MORE FOOD...
And, if you didn't want fish, there was plenty of other tasty food to be sampled.

CHOW AND CHATTER
And plenty of space where you could sit and enjoy the food and friendship, too.

 LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT
 And, while you sat there you could enjoy entertainment provided by local talent.

WINE AND BEER
Or sit in the wine and beer garden - a big hit - where you were safely sequestered from those who chose not to enhance their personal fermentation.

 BRAD LONG
And you never knew who you'd see as you wandered around the venue.  For example, here's Costa Mesa TV's Brad Long capturing the magic of the day. 

CITY BOOTH
The City of Costa Mesa was well-represented by Dan Baker in the booth.

 SCHEAFERS
And here's long-time Lions Club official Mike Scheafer and his son, Jason.

KATRINA AND HER MEN
And, it will come as no surprise that Katrina Foley and her "men", husband Casey Swanson and their boys Sammy and Ben, were seen enjoying the afternoon.

PUBLIC SAFETY
The Costa Mesa Public Safety organizations were well-represented, too.  Shown above are firefighters explaining equipment on the truck and two young ladies getting instruction in home safety.  Members of the Costa Mesa Police Department SWAT team were also present with a full load of weapons.

LOTS OF RIDES
And rides - there was something for everyone!

 THE VIEWS FROM THE TOP
Just to give you a little idea of what the Fish Fry looked like from the top of that Ferris Wheel, these photos show you that you could, indeed, see the ocean and get an idea of the parking and the location of the event next door to Estancia High School.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
And finally, just to show you that there was, literally, something for everyone at the Fish Fry this year, here's a photo of a happy young fellow with a critter he found on the grounds.

LOOKING FORWARD TO #66
So, once again, kudos to all those hard-working volunteers who put this event together.  I suspect every person who visited this year is looking forward to next year - the 66th version of the Fish Fry.