The Crowd: American Diabetes Assn. honors great O.C. dads

It was a week to recognize and celebrate the contributions of dads on the Orange Coast.

Father’s Day2012 was the theme for the American Diabetes Assn.’s annual “Father of the Year� dinner held at the Grove of Anaheim.

A shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of citizens, including a major contingent from Newport-Mesa, turned out to honor four outstanding men for their service to family and community.

The Father’s Day Council of Orange County joined with the American Diabetes Assn. to honor S. Michael Joseph of the Dacor Corp., Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, Quiksilver’s Bob McNight and Tim Mead, media boss for the Angels. Surrounded by family members, each of the men shared his personal life story.

The audience of some 500 guests were silent, taking in each story — a rarity for any charity dinner, regardless of its seriousness.

Emceed by the talented Maria Hall-Brown, the event was supported by Dana Verrill, executive director of the Father’s Day Council, and a number of dedicated men advancing the cause of diabetes research. Among the VIPs were Pat Galvin of the LNR Property Group; Mike Flynn of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Sam King of King’s Seafood; and Newport’s Robert McClellan of the McClellan Nichols Sports Syndicate.

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Fathers’ Day was the theme for the annual car show on the coast, hosted by the Balboa Bay Club & Resort. West Coast Highway was buzzing with antique buggies and souped-up speedsters arriving for a perfect show & tell by the bay.

The annual event welcomes hundreds of spectators enjoying the SoCal car culture with family and friends and enjoying a BBC power burger to make the viewing complete.

Spotted in the crowd were the new owners of the legendary club, Richard and Donna Pickup, who were greeting the crowd, which included the distinguished Gen. William Lyon, his wife Willa Dean and son Billy Lyon.

BBC chairman of the board of governors John Wortmann greeted new BBC Chief Executive Todd Pickup with wife Natalie and sons Neil and Max. Also out and about for Father’s Day were Gary and Sharon Katsaris, Mitch and Kim Axene, Kirk Dawson, Jerry Palajian, Karen and Jeff Linden and Lou Delmonico with his son, Drew.

Another popular Newport dad was honored recently at the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.’s “Gift of Hope Gala.� The BBC was the setting for the annual black-tie evening honoring Ray Jacobi as “Man of The Year.�

Nearly $500,000 was raised by an enthusiastic crowd, hosted by Lisa Sigell of CBS and KCAL9 TV. MDA chairman Frank DiBella and his wife Michele welcomed the generous contingent paying homage to The Ritz restaurateur extraordinaire Jacobi and the ongoing efforts of MDA fighting the horrific disease.

Supporting the cause were Mary Belle and S. Paul Musco, Art and Kris Kazarian, Milan Panic, Wayne and Sherry Smith, Jeff Reuter, Michael Cho, Wing Lam, Mike Russell, Kristilyn Goff and John Postma.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.