EDITORIAL

We hope the planned revival of the Fish Fry this year will prove the

old adage true: Good things come in small packages.

The Lions Club Fish Fry, for more than 55 years a beloved Costa Mesa

tradition that served as hometown fair, reunion and deep-fried

belly-filler all in one, was canceled last year when Orange Coast College

officials decided not to host the event after a legal dispute between OCC

and the Lions Club. Last-minute attempts to find a location, including

its longtime home at Lions Park, failed.

The loss was much lamented, though we noted then that there was a lot

of hand-wringing but little in the way of ideas on how the Fish Fry could

be saved. So we are more than pleased that the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor

Lions Club Board of Directors seems intent on finding a way to bring back

this integral part of the Costa Mesa community.

As it stands now -- a final decision on the Fish Fry’s future is to be

made at the board of directors meeting on Tuesday -- this year’s Fish Fry

won’t be the huge, carnival-like event it was in the past. It will be

more like a big picnic, with a few craft booths and the fish dinner.

And it will be a good start. As Lions Club President Mike Schaefer has

said, it is more important to restore the tradition and get back momentum

than to worry about putting on a blowout event.

But the Fish Fry is more than a picnic, and the goal should be a

return to its glory days -- including, even, the old parade, which died

once in 1995, was resurrected as the unparade that year and again in 1996

before making its short-lived return in 1997.

To do this, we think, will take more than just the efforts of the

Lions Club alone. Members of other groups -- and there are many service

organizations in our community -- should step forward to help rebuild

this tradition, which not only Lions Club members used to enjoy.

And why not start with this year’s event and make it the biggest

picnic anyone has ever seen?