The Crowd:

Brooks Brothers had a run on blue blazers recently. Hotelier and world-renowned cigar aficionado Henry SchieleinHenry Schielein, president of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, welcomed more than 200 gents in obligatory blue blazers for his 15th annual Newport Beach Cigar Smoker and Lobster Clambake summer dinner on the beach. It might be more appropriately labeled as a latter-day fraternity evening with the finest spirits, the most aromatic cigars and dinner fit for a royal gathering.

The event at the Balboa Bay Club was a sellout, which at $275 a head was something of a concern to Schielein and staff at the onset, given the economy. Their fears were unwarranted.

“We had to turn people away,” Schielein said. “We hate to turn people away.”

His cigar dinner is almost as important as Christmas. Every detail is micromanaged. Year after year, one special Friday evening in August brings the men to the club, many of whom arrive with three generations of male family members looking forward to the experience.

At sunset, as the sea of blue blazers converges on the bayfront lawn, fine champagne flows as the gents sample steak tartar and seafood appetizers and check out dozens of silent auction items laboriously and carefully collected by Schielein and his able staff. Prizes include all variety of hotel and restaurant excursions.

Donors include the Rancho Bernardo Inn, the Grand Hotel Del Mar, the Estancia Hotel and Spa La Jolla, Hotel Laguna, Five Crowns, the Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica, the Resort at Pelican Hill and the Montage Laguna Beach, to name only a select few.

Later in the evening, a dozen live auction items beckon, including international travel with jaunts to the Asian Gran Prix and stays at luxury hotels such as the Park Lane Hong Kong, the Fullerton, Singapore, and the Conrad Hong Kong. Unique Jewelry by Mardo, original art by celebrated artist Michael Bryan, and the finest of spirits such as Remy Martin and Louis XIII. The highest bidders in the crowd ultimately brought the tally of money raised for the evening to nearly $50,000.

Balboa Bay Club Board of Governors Chairman John Wortmann led the auction effort, pushing the fraternal gathering to go higher and reach deeper in their pockets because the moneys raised go to the annual Balboa Bay Club 1221 Scholarship Fund, benefiting students from the Newport-Mesa public school system headed for college.

As chairman, one of Wortmann’s duties is to work with Norman Loats, former Newport-Mesa superintendent of schools, and a committee of local dignitaries, including the philanthropic Catherine Thyen, in selecting the students who have been recommended by their high school principals for the honors and awards.

“Being involved in the scholarship selection process is possibly the most rewarding thing I get to do all year long,” Wortmann told the crowd. “The Bay Club donates more than $60,000 yearly, making it one of the largest scholarship offerings in the community, and it is made possible in large part due to your generosity.”

The men responded appropriately and they bid freely, only slightly influenced by the superb scotch and outstanding cigars.

Some of the donors deserving ink for making Henry’s evening possible include Jon Newland, Jack Brennan, Steve Tipple and Steve Slater with Southern Wine and Spirits, Jim Galvin with the Wine Warehouse, Vern Underwood and Pam Baird with Young’s Market Co., Lenna Shirgaokar with American Wine and Spirits, Adam Pizar with the States Group, and Ben Kristoffersen with Maxamar Ultimate Cigars.

It was arguably the most incredible beach dinner on the Orange Riviera. The dining staff called the gentlemen to their tables about 7 p.m.

The first course was a gourmet French onion and escargot soup en croute followed by an enormous iceberg lettuce wedge smothered in pungent blue cheese with heirloom tomatoes and crispy bacon.

The entrée was a remarkable succulent lobster tail paired with filet mignon that could be cut with a fork, steamed asparagus, fresh clams, potatoes au gratin and more. A number of the guests had to leave early in order to check into Lindora to begin a serious diet regimen.

Celebrities in the crowd included football star Anthony Davis, former member of both the USC squad and the Los Angeles Rams, industrial tycoon Tykye Camaras and his son Dean Camaras, Ron Chaisson, Dave Dabov, Tom Dallape, John Daniels, Kirk Dawson, Chris Dubia, Gene Moriarty and his son Richard Moriarty, former Bay Club board Chairman Bob Robins and his son Jim Robins, real estate builder and developer Chuck Van Cleve, insurance super salesman Bob Waltos and Gregson Hall.

Also spotted in the crowd were Lynn Jackson and his grandson Peter Jackson, son-in-law Bob King and another grandson, R.J. King. All-around good guy Bob Howard was front and center with International Bay Club boss Dave Wooten, Arlis Parkhurst, Tom Wilson, Jerry Johnson, Dieter Hissin, Dave Martel, Richard Scilagyi, Mitch Sussman and Aaron Trent.

The good life and the grand tradition lives on in Newport Beach, benefiting a worthy cause, giving kids a financial leg up on reaching their dreams.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.