STEVE SMITH -- What’s Up

The drive down to the Newport Beach Marriott to attend the annual

Mayor’s Dinner sponsored by Speak Up Newport on Thursday night produced

an unsettling sight. Sitting in the parking lot of Josh Slocums, the nice

restaurant so many locals have depended on for good food and drink for so

many years, was a remote broadcast van from television station OCN.

Thanks to the contribution of cash and interior design tips from

you-know-who, Josh Slocums is in danger of becoming our local version of

honey, and Cay and I witnessed the first fly it has attracted. That may

have been the plan all along, but I fail to see how selling one’s soul

for the wrong kind of attention is any sort of effective long-term

business strategy.

Sadly, Josh Slocums has put in with a fickle crowd, one that gets

bored easily and which requires an ever-increasing dose of excitement in

order to get the thrill. That will result, in short order, in burnout.

At the Marriott, Cay and I had a drink and were munching on appetizers

in a room of about 300 people when a fellow walked past bearing a name

tag we both recognized, but not clearly enough to identify the exact

connection.

“I recognize that name,” said Cay. “Who is that?”

“I’m not sure, but I think he’s a big pro-airport guy,” I replied.

Without missing a beat, Cay said, “Everyone in this room is a big

pro-airport guy.”

It was true. With the exception of only two people whom I knew for

certain did not want an airport built at El Toro, we had walked into the

lion’s den.

Seven o’clock rolled around, and we sat down to dinner at the table

hosted by the Daily Pilot and its publisher, Tom Johnson. I had the good

fortune to sit between Tom and Cay on my right and two of my favorite

locals, Barbara and Jim de Boom, on my left.

Barbara is the president of the Orange Chamber of Commerce and, in

answer to my question, she assured me that things were going well in

Orange, one of the county’s most gracious cities. I like Orange. There

are parts of the city in which time has stood still, to the benefit of

everyone and, despite the school board troubles, it still seems like a

nice place to live.

Jim is busy with the reading program for three Westside schools, a

plan that is one of the best ideas these parts have produced in the 15

years I’ve lived here. Jim told me the program needs 2,001 reading

volunteers for 2,001 kids. They also need about $900 more to fund the

purchase of the books they need for the program.

I am sending Jim a check for $100 to help with that expense. I hope

that there are eight other readers of this column who could do the same,

or even 16 other readers who could send $50 each. But I’m not sure I even

have 16 readers anymore.

The most interesting question of the evening came right out of the

blue from Sherry Bell, wife of Pilot columnist Joe Bell. “When you write

about Cay, does she get to see the column first?”

It was a great question, and one that I was fearing for a long time.

“No,” I replied. “If I did that, I’d never get to write about her.”

After the salad came the moment we’d all waited for. Master of

Ceremonies Peter Buffa took the lectern to begin the evening’s program.

Buffa is a very funny fellow, intelligent and a natural wit; someone I’d

listen to on the radio if he had his own talk show. He was a perfect

choice for the job.

The event’s final speaker produced both the high and the low of my

evening. Newport Beach Mayor Gary Adams offered a state of the city

address in which he expressed support for a John Wayne-size airport for

El Toro. That’s the low.

Then, at the close of his speech, Adams paused to thank the one person

who had made his dreams come true. He paused, struggling to clear his

throat and find just enough poise to thank his wife, Birgitt. Having been

in that same position at least a 100 times over the past three years in

an effort to acknowledge Cay, I knew just what he was going through.

Adams is a truly happy man, and I may disagree with him on the airport,

but I respect the public appreciation he gave to his wife that night.

I feel the same way about Cay. And thankfully, she has never asked to

preview this column.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.