Eating and drinking to the DP 103

B.W. COOK

“You are here because you make a difference. It doesn’t mean that you

did anything good,” Newport Mayor Steve Bromberg said to a

near-capacity crowd coming together for a luncheon in celebration of

the 2003 Daily Pilot’s 103 Most Influential Citizens of Newport-Mesa.

Hosted by the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, represented by club

President Henry Schielein, No. 82 on the DP 103 list, the diverse

gathering proved once again to be a combination roast, toast and

rally.

Led by Daily Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson, and supported by Daily

Pilot and Times Community News Editorial Director Tony Dodero and

Pilot Managing Editor S.J. Cahn, the Bay Club event brought laughter

over golfing foibles as a putting tee was set up in the dining room.

L.A. Times executive Jeff Johnson was pitted against Newport golf

champ Marianne Towersey, No. 36 on the DP 103.

Johnson held his own and cheers rose from the luncheon audience as

he sunk his putt. Golf frustrations became the thread of the

afternoon speakers. Rabbi Mark Miller, giving the traditional final

benediction at the conclusion of the event, used the golfer’s

mulligan to illustrate, “Real life has no mulligans.”

“We can not retract yesterday or reform the past,” he said. “We

must strive to live by our good word and deed because we do not get a

mulligan when we go off the path.”

It was a fitting conclusion to a ceremony that shared barb and

sentiment. From poking fun at Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan over the

drawn-out debate over a city skate board park to forcing retiring

Newport Beach City Atty. Bob Burnham to sing-speak the words to the

Sinatra standard “My Way” and forcing Jim Gray to actually perform a

skate-boarding move after Cahn’s remark that “not every skate boarder

is a criminal ... unlike politicians,” it was a day to honor “the

few, the proud.”

Setting the tone of irreverence, Johnson began the luncheon

ceremony by speaking in Spanish, referring to the firestorm of public

response to City Councilman Dick Nichols’ remarks earlier this year

about “Mexicans” at Corona del Mar State Beach. Pilot editors named

“Mexicans” as No. 6 on the DP 103 list.

Tributes were made to many in the crowd for their community

service, including retired Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden,

Estancia High School coach Craig Fertig and the late Chris Premer,

Hoag Hospital advocate and media rep working with the Toshiba Senior

Classic. Premer was killed in a recent small plane downing en route

from Orange County to Northern California. Also honored was Costa

Mesa’s Jose Garibay, a Marine killed in service during the war in

Iraq.

The Irvine Co.’s Mike McKee, No. 11 on the DP 103, shared

statistics on the Hoag Hospital Woman’s Pavilion expansion effort,

letting it be known that $52 million has been raised in a

$200-million effort.

“We are still seeking a name sponsor,” he said. A $20-million

donation will secure that title position.

Spotted in the crowd were 103 honorees Lula Halfacre of

Traditional Jewelers; Tod Ridgeway; Carol Hoffman; Mike Scheafer and

Tim Riley, who shared an update on the firefighting effort in

California; Dan Marcheano of the Arches Restaurant; Bob McDonnell;

and David Emmes and Martin Benson from South Coast Repertory Theatre.

Also in the crowd were Vanguard University president Murray

Dempster, Newport Harbor High School Principal Michael Vossen, Bill

Mountford, Brett Hemphill, John Blom and Aviva Goelman.

Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone, sharing position No. 102 on the list, were conspicuously absent.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.