The “Pageant of the Masters” opens its annual two-month run in Laguna Beach on Wednesday. So why, you might ask, is a history museum in Valley Center mounting an exhibition touting an event in Orange County? The famed pageant actually began in Valley Center in 1914 and was repeated there in 1915.
Artist Isaac Frazee staged the show on his parklike 160-acre property, that is now called Old Castle Ranch. Sunset magazine called it “a pageant in the wilderness” and “the most remarkable outdoor pageant in all of California.”
In 1917, the developing art colony in Laguna Beach asked Frazee to stage the pageant in Laguna as a fundraiser for a new art gallery. He did, and there it has stayed. Although Frazee died in 1942, he left photos, memoirs, programs and other pageant mementos that now belong to the Valley Center History Museum's archives. Admission is free at the museum (valleycenterhistory.org).
Political pit stops
Barack Obama will appear at a two-tiered campaign fundraiser when he comes to San Diego in mid-July to address the National Council of La Raza conference. He'll attend a private VIP breakfast meeting at 8:30 a.m. July 13 followed by a reception at 9:30 a.m. at the El Cortez building downtown.
The presidential candidate apparently is attracting quite a young audience. While shopping at the Eastlake Home Depot the other day, Cecelia Wilkens said she heard a loud voice repeatedly yelling, “Obama, Obama, Obamaaaaa.” Soon she encountered its source: a 2-year-old boy whose mother reported that her toddler had been chanting the candidate's name all day . .
Meanwhile, a John and Cindy McCain fundraiser originally scheduled forWednesday at The Grand Del Mar resort has been postponed until Aug. 26 due to a scheduling conflict. Supporters say this will be McCain's last fundraiser in San Diego before the November election.
Walk the walk ...
Rep. Brian Bilbray's staff is one step ahead of their California colleagues on Capitol Hill. “Team Bilbray” placed first in California and ninth nationally of all the competing House and Senate offices last week, the final week of a six-week health oriented walking contest.
The participants wore pedometers and logged their steps each day on a Web site that converts them into miles. Team Bilbray, which includes the congressman and is nicknamed “The Peppy Steppers,” logged a total of 2,222 miles.
Mr. Nice Guy
Jeffrey Strauss, a local chef who started as a busboy in an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, will be named San Diego's 2008 “Mr. Nice Guy.”
The local Nice Guys group was started in 1979 to raise money for individuals who needed a helping hand.
Strauss, who opened the Pamplemousse Grille in Del Mar in 1996, has helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars through his support of numerous charitable groups. He'll be honored at the annual Nice Guys fundraiser Oct. 4 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina.
Just putting around
Scripps Memorial Hospital's new La Jolla parking structure officially opened this week with more than just scenic views from its eighth-story level. A small strip of unusable land remained between the new and old parking structures, so landscapers created a five-hole putting green. Now, doctors (and anyone else) can practice their short game in their free time.
Katz out of the bag
Mel Katz, chairman of the San Diego Board of Library Commissioners, was invited to address an annual convention of school trustees. Instead, as he entered their meeting, he was greeted by shouts of “surprise” from fellow library commissioners, retiring city librarian Anna Tatar and other library supporters. The speech invitation was an elaborate ruse to celebrate his eight years on the commission – five at the helm. Katie Sullivan took over as chair on Tuesday.
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009, call (619) 293-1518 or e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com.
