Heating up for Fish Fry fun

May 31, 2000 12 AM PT

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Whatever it is you’re looking to do this weekend, the 55th

annual Lions Club Fish Fry probably has it.

There will be carnival rides, concerts, a classic car show, the Miss

Costa Mesa pageant and scholarship contest, a cutest baby contest,

raffles, performances by blues bands, dance teams and martial arts teams,

and, of course, fresh-fried fish.

“It’s a down-home, good ol’ event that you look forward to each year,”

said Bill Johnston, the event’s chairman. “It’s a community-based event

instead of a countywide event and it also benefits the community.”

The longtime Costa Mesa tradition sponsored by the Costa Mesa-Newport

Harbor Lions Club is a fund-raiser that brings in between $40,000 and

$50,000 each year, Johnston said.

Although admission to the carnival and fish fry is free, there is a

charge for food and rides.

The local Lions Club is part of Lions International, the world’s largest

service organization. Johnston estimates that since the Fish Fry started,

more than $2 million has been raised through the event for local

charities and needy individuals in the Newport-Mesa area.

The recipients of the Lions Club funds are primarily youth organizations,

such as Girls Inc., youth baseball organizations and the Boys & Girls

Club, Johnston said. The club is also known for helping people with

vision problems.

In its second year at its new OCC venue, the club is hoping to see

attendance increase to that of previous years, when it was held at Lions

Park.

The move to OCC is not the only change that has been made to the annual

festival. The Lions Club has also added a classic car show and a new food

court, in which local charities will run various booths and retain the

proceeds. For instance, the YMCA will run a Pepsi booth and the Estancia

High School PTA will be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.

The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday and lasts until the last straggler

leaves at 11 p.m. Sunday.

“By the end of the weekend, we’re all dragging,” Johnston said.

For more information, call (949) 548-3094 or visit the Web site at o7