Pouring into his volunteer work

Morrie Kirk got his first Taste about 10 years ago, and he keeps

coming back for more. Every year for the last decade, Kirk has

volunteered for the Taste of Newport, doing just about anything that

needs to be done, from taking tickets to pouring wine.

“I think this is something very good to be involved with,” Kirk,

70, said of the annual chamber fund-raiser. “It’s a very worthwhile

activity.”

Finding time, though, is never easy. The longtime Balboa Island

resident, now living in Laguna Woods, is also a boat broker for

Newport Beach’s Orange Coast Yachts. This year, that meant working as

an exhibitor at the Lido Yacht Expo during the day on Friday, then

going to the Taste of Newport to pour wine in the Mondavi booth that

night.

“The most notable thing, I think, is how incredibly busy it gets

there,” Kirk said. “No matter what you’re doing there as a volunteer,

if you’re pouring wine, it’s just nonstop. Open a bottle, pour, pour,

open another. It’s a very busy activity.”

This year, Kirk is just one of more than 900 volunteers who make

the Taste of Newport happen every year. The food and wine festival,

now in its 14th year, showcases some of the area’s best cuisine and

entertainment in an outdoor setting at Fashion Island.

“We couldn’t pull it off without the volunteers,” said Richard

Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, which

puts on the event.

But for Kirk, a father of two and a grandfather of three, it’s all

about everyone doing one small part to contribute to a greater whole.

“It’s just one of the things you can do to give back a little,” he

said.

-- Story by June Casagrande; photo by Crystal Lauderdale