Costa Mesa Fish Fry, carnival returns to Lions Park Friday
Even though summer has technically begun, it just isn't summertime in the city of Costa Mesa until the fish hits the oil at the Costa Mesa Newport-Harbor Lions Club annual Fish Fry.
The three-day fundraiser and community event returns to the city's Lions Park Friday at 5 p.m. and continues through Sunday night with carnival games and rides, live entertainment and, naturally, lots and lots of fish.
How much? Lions Club members say this year's $15-per-plate feast will require 1,100 pounds of Alaskan cod filets — which will be coated in the club's own 'secret recipe' batter — 42 cases of fries and untold quantities of coleslaw provided by the Newport Rib Co.
'Next Thursday, we'll do the battering at the Newport Harbor High School kitchen,' said Joan Parks, club secretary and one of three event co-chairs, alongside President Cabot Harvey and Vice President and Fish Fry aficionado Kirk Bauemeister, a Newport-Mesa Unified School District retiree who's attended the event since age 3.
'This is not our first rodeo,' Parks said.
Although the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions comprises fewer than two dozen service-minded individuals, members manage to pull off each year's Fish Fry with the help of numerous volunteers from area clubs, high schools and other service organizations.
In fact, many of those who turn out each year to help set up tables, chairs and popup tents or lend a culinary hand hail from the groups who benefit from the bulk of the funds raised by each year's fry, which has always had community fundraising at its core.
The beloved community tradition started in 1946, when club members came up with an idea to raise money for a new baseball field at the city's Lions Park. Deep fried fish planks were served up on regular dinner plates and later scraped clean and washed by hand.
In the decades that followed, the event grew to epic proportions as upwards of 100,000 attendees crowded Costa Mesa streets along a 3-mile-long parade and celebrated the crowning of a Miss Fish Fry and Most Beautiful Baby.
Local car dealerships chipped in vehicles for raffle prizes, and in 1976, then-First Lady Betty Ford handed out trophies to winning parade float entries.
Today, the festival's finprint is much smaller, contained to the Lions Park civic center and its ample sports fields, including the baseball field purchased by the club with the very first fistful of Fish Fry dollars. But there's still plenty to keep visitors entertained, including a beer and wine garden, vendor booths, live music and dancing and a full-size carnival with games and rides.
And for those who aren't fish fans, there are plenty of other food options, whether it's hot dogs and hamburgers served up by the Estancia High School baseball team, or brats and funnel cakes from neighboring Lions Club members, a Mexican food truck, ice cream and shaved ice.
Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens, who's attended the event pretty regularly in the 35 years he's lived in town, will make another appearance over the weekend to support the community, the club and its cause and, of course, purchase a dinner.
'It's a great use of Luke Davis Field and a great opportunity for people to go to the Fish Fry and be exposed to the [Donald Dungan] Library and the Norma Hertzog Community Center and that part of the city,' Stephens said.
'And the Lions Club has the frying of the fish down to a science — no matter how strict a diet I'm on, I always take a break for a plate of fried fish.'
The Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club Fish Fry runs Friday, from 5 to 10 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., at Lions Park, 570 18th St., in Costa Mesa. Admission is free, and food, beverages and ride tickets are available for purchase. For more, visit cmnh-lions.com.
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