Smoking lamp lit for college grants night

B.W. COOK

In an age of sweatshirts and flip flops, some 200 men turned out

Friday evening for Henry Schielein’s 10th annual smoker and lobster

clambake on the beach at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort wearing white

slacks and nautical blue blazers.

The procession of well-dressed gentlemen was a flashback to an

earlier time, when good manners and good grooming were expected in

society. Dress standards set the tone of the event, and people

behaved or at least attempted to behave in accordance with

established standards. It all sounds superficial, out of touch, even

shallow by today’s rules of behavior. Yet somehow dressing the part

still dictates how the part is played.

For Schielein, trained in the old school of European hospitality,

the dress code of his smoker was in fact an element of the overall

production that elevated the evening to charitable heights. By

setting a tone, a higher standard, Schielein and staff raised an

impressive $25,000 from the evening on the beach to benefit the Bay

Club’s 1221 Scholarship Fund.

Started 10 years ago, the fund awards annual grants to

Newport-Mesa graduating seniors bound for college. The students are

judged by a panel of local educators, business people and civic

leaders. More than $250,000 has been awarded to deserving youth from

diverse backgrounds and with goals as broad as the scope of human

endeavor.

Arriving at the Balboa Bay Club for pre-sunset cocktails, the

entourage of natty gents joined forces on the bayfront lawn sampling

Chef Josef Lagader’s fresh oysters and beef tartar, accompanied by

Champagne Pommery or shots of Gran Centario Tequila -- or perhaps a

Skyy Vodka Martini made to order, shaken not stirred, of course.

The pre-dinner conversation was personal. What do men discuss when

they gather without their women? They discuss their women. They talk

about their wives and their children, and then they talk about sports

and finances and jobs. Politics made the rounds of cocktail

conversation as well. This is, after all, a very contentious election

year. Opinions are strong. Expletives are used frequently as

discussions shift from candidate to policy and back to candidate. It

all made for one very lively 10th anniversary for Schielein and the

BBC smoker.

Orchestrated with care, round tables were arranged on the lawn

adjacent to lavishly displayed presentations of cigars and libations.

Even a famous cigar roller from the Dominican Republic, Louis Lopez,

arrived to show off his skill to leaf lovers in the crowd. Lopez was

invited by Schielein and friend Nestor Miranda of the Miami Cigar Co.

to impress the gathering.

And he did. The list of cigars offered to guests ran the entire

gamut, from Ashton Monarch to Bering Presidente, El Rico Habano, Hoyo

de Monterrey Excalibur Prensado, Bahia Gold and A. Fuente Hemingway

-- just a few of more than two dozen offerings.

Table seating was orchestrated as carefully as cigar placement.

Local civic leaders, including Tom Wilson (winner of the door prize,

a night in the BBC’s $3,500 presidential suite), joined special

guests, including Seamus McManus, Marty Rakowitz, Wally Hickel, Paul

Zest, Jim Pierog, Bert Cutino, Mark Robinson, Hans Maissen and

renowned artist Michael Bryan, generous donor of his art for the

auction, which helped bring in the sizable donations for the

scholarship fund.

Also in the crowd were debonair father and son teams Gene and

Richard Moriarty, Lynn and Ron Jackson and Bob, Jim and Dave Robins.

Publisher Chris Schulz was on hand, joining Rick Reiff, Scott Brown

and John Barganski. Mercedes mogul Kirk Dawson shared a story or two

with new BBC Gov. John Wortmann and international traveler Paul

Baldwin. Insurance exec Bob Waltos was in the crowd, as was attorney

Chris Thomas and soft drink king Ira (Dr. Pepper) Rosenstein of Lido

Isle.

Dinner began with the service of a tower of rock crab and

artichokes followed by chilled avocado soup. Seaweed steamed Maine

lobster, mesquite grilled filet mignon and garlic wine-steamed little

neck clams were served with a 2000 Treana Red wine from Central

Coast. Sharing a dessert of New York cheesecake covered with

strawberries Romanoff creme chantilly were guests Tykye and Dean

Camaras, Ron Gold, Walt Havekorst, Dave Schmitt, JC Converse, Dan

Marcheano, Mike Manclark, John Houten, Chris MacDonald and Mark

Alexander. The Hackers -- Wes, Dean and Doug -- were sampling cigars

as was politician and writer Peter Buffa of Costa Mesa.

Major auction donors included The Four Seasons, The Arches

Restaurant, Hotel Captain Cook, Campton Place Hotel, Remy Martin,

Ritz Carlton, Calistoga Ranch and Pelican Hill Golf Resort, to name

only a few.

In an age where men all in blue blazers, and gentlemen’s smokers,

are less than politically correct, Schielein’s 10th annual event was

a “blast of the past” celebrated in grand style on the California

Riviera. In the end, two very good things happened. First, lots of

money was raised to help deserving youth. Second, all the smoke blew

away over the bay.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.