Costa Mesa : Lions Club Fish Fry Won’t Include Parade

The annual Lions Club Fish Fry will go on as planned during the first weekend of June, but for the first time in 50 years there will be no Saturday parade to mark the event, the organization’s leaders have decided.

Dwindling funds from the city and corporate sponsors forced cancellation of the parade, which has drawn 20,000 spectators in recent years.

It was particularly difficult to cancel the parade, said Lions Club President Bob Dugan, because this is the 50th anniversary of the Fish Fry, which raises $60,000 to $80,000 for 30 local charities.

But the parade could not have been held without taking money from the charities, including the Costa Mesa Little League, the Boys and Girls Club and the UC Irvine Organ and Tissue Bank, he said.

In past years, the city of Costa Mesa lent a hand by providing free security and medical services. Without that assistance, the price of the parade had doubled to nearly $15,000, Dugan said.

But the Fish Fry will go on as it has in years past with carnival rides, baby beauty contests, raffles and, of course, fried codfish.

Dugan said he hopes to see the parade rescheduled next year.

“Some people say, ‘Once it is gone, it is gone,’ but I don’t believe that,” said Dugan. “We will just have to start earlier getting sponsors and raising money.”