The Crowd:
Looking back at Los Angeles vintage 1960, it was quite a different world. The real era of the “Mad Men” was in full throttle, and the watering hold of choice was a swank dining room on the western end of the Sunset Strip known as Scandia. Ken Hanson was the arbiter of record, a restaurateur of considerable fame. Out of his legendary success was born a gents charity they called the Noble Vikings.
Fast forward a couple decades and Hanson’s protégé Hangs Prager would open his own version of Scandia in Newport Beach. The Ritz was born in 1984 and the grand dining tradition would evolve on the coast. Prager also carried forth the charitable purpose of the Noble Vikings rallying many of the O.C.’s prominent gents to support the effort.
Thirty two years forward, the old Newport Ritz is gone; as is Scandia in L.A., but the Vikings live on. Recently the gents and their wives, business partners, friends and associates came together for the annual summer bash, a once-a-year confab that produces significant results for local families and their children at holiday time. In uniquely American terms, people helping people they will never know or who will never know them.
The goal of Noble Vikings charity is to raise funds that will buy food and more to be placed in large holiday baskets for distribution at yearend. Each holiday season more than 1,200 such gift baskets are prepared by Noble Viking volunteers and then distributed in Orange County. The gents work with a number of O.C. organizations to accomplish their goals including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Ana, Tustin and Costa Mesa, Civic Center Barrio Housing, CREER, Father Serra’s Pantry, Homefront America, Inc., Latino Health Access, Pio Pico Elementary, and Saint Michael’s Society.
This year’s summer bash was led by Viking Chief Sam DiAmico and held at the tony Island Hotel, Newport Beach. An impressive $45,000 was raised in support of the holiday basket effort. Underwritten by local Viking Bret Hardin, the party was emceed by local entertainer Jim Roberts welcoming generous donors including Hardin, Rosemary Concilio, Teri Hausman, Frank DiBella, Mike Knapp, Wayne and Sherry Smith, Steve and Michelle Holbert, Kristilyn Goff and John Postma, Charlene Prager, and Henry and Carol Schielein.
Also front and center were Dr. Michael and Penny Niccole, Sonny and Diane Jensen, luxury home builder Andrew Miner, John and Wendy Pitchess, Mike Russell, and Tom and Kathy Madigan, Major sponsorship underwriting also came from Simple Green/Sunshine Makers, Inc., Bianchi Winer, Hausman Family Foundation, Flemings Restaurants, and Aleks and Stacy Renshaw.
To learn more about the work of Noble Vikings please visit www.noblevikings.org.
B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
