Rosey a Big (in Every Sense) Hit at Y Affair

“Hey, Rosey!”

“Excuse me, Rosey, would you mind signing this?”

You might think the towering ex-Los Angeles Ram football player--one of the legendary “Fearsome Foursome”-- would be known as MISTER Grier. But at the Anaheim Family YMCA’s Good Friday breakfast last week, he was on a first-name basis with everyone.

He didn’t mind. “I’ve always felt like a little kid in this big old body,” Grier told the group. “I walk around saying, ‘What’s going on, big fella?’ ”

Now a devout Christian and activist for underprivileged youth, Grier was invited to be guest speaker because his work parallels the Anaheim Y’s current “Back to Basics” approach, according to Earl V. Nellesen, chairman of the event.

“We’ve decided we’re not going to try to compete with health clubs,” Nellesen said. “We’re concentrating on getting the whole family involved in Christian fellowship.

“Of course, we still have plenty of exercise equipment too, even if we don’t have the latest Nautilus machine,” Nellesen said.

More than 1,100 people got up for the 7 a.m. breakfast at the Anaheim Marriott. At $9 a person, the traditional event is not a fund-raiser, Nellesen said. “Usually, we just cover the costs. This is an occasion for fellowship. I’m sure the Y could use the money if we charged more, but many of the original organizers are still involved and they are adamant that it not become a fund-raiser.”

Grier, founder and chairman of the board of “Are You Committed,” a Los Angeles program that enhances spiritual awareness and self-esteem in underprivileged youth, said he attends such functions as the Anaheim breakfast because “I want to inspire young people to be the best they can be. They are the backbone of our nation, and they need a foundation for life that will help them be strong morally.”

Grier said he was inspired in his youth by his elementary school principal. “He told me I could choose to be a good example or a bad example. From then on, my mind and heart were set on being a good example.”

Master of ceremonies for the 11th year in a row was Thurl Ravenscroft, a part-time resident of Laguna Beach best known as the voice of Kellogg’s “Tony the Tiger.”