Breakfast Rotary’s 28th Annual Barn Party Luau was a major hoot. Their big (maybe huge) fundraiser of the year was held on Saturday, May 13, at the Santa Maria Fairpark.
Fun is guaranteed, and it is always well attended—we are talking 400-plus.
Incoming president and event chairperson Kristine Mollenkopf greeted guests at the door. She was assisted by the next in line to be president (and chairperson of next year’s event), Mike Buhring.
Jim Ventriglia invited me to visit the barbecue area in back. I think he enticed me with a pupu (Hawaiian for appetizer). Rotarians were very busy setting up the buffet food tables, which included pork, along with chicken, lomi lomi salad (greens with fresh salmon, a dish familiar to Hawaiians), fruit salad, rice, rolls, and cake.
Some of the folks who seem to turn out for this every year were Jay and Victoria Conner, Paul Halsell, and Tim Rooney, a guy who is so affable I thought, gee, he must own a bar.
City Manager Rick Haydon, City Councilman Mike Moats, City Councilwoman Etta Waterfield, and former Santa Maria mayor and lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado were among the high-profile guests who were circulating and checking out the action.
Rotary members could say aloha to their outgoing prez Laurie Tamura, who surely could see that club members Andy Caldwell, Judge Tim Staffel, and Pat McDermott were hard at work serving food and beverages and manning the popular blackjack tables.
Speaking of which, when they register, guests are given funny money for gambling. Funny money is traded in for raffle tickets for gift baskets.
Breakfast Rotary’s silent auction tables are always worthy of careful consideration. So many exceptional items! My favorite was a jazzy, yellow, small electric BMW convertible, suitable for someone around 5-years-old. If you can’t afford a Tesla, this BMW was the way to go.
Tickets to the party were a mere $50 and included unlimited libations at the hosted bar. When I get an invite to this, I always smile. I know it will be a good time. Breakfast Rotarians, I say to you, a hui houi (until we meet again).
The birthday girl
Santa Maria’s social hub for hobnobbing (aside from Costco), the historic Santa Maria Inn, turned one hundred on Tuesday, May 16. To celebrate, her owners Hardy and Judy Hearn and Blanche Hollingshead hosted an open house with tours, entertainment (piano, barbershop quartet), and a reception in the Kent Room.
Owners, employees, and some guests wore period costumes.
About 80 turned out for the reception. Paul Tucker, whose grandfather was a long-ago employee, gave a reflective tribute to the importance of the inn to the community.
Former Mayor Larry Lavagnino got a lot of laughs when he regaled us with the tale of why the inn was important to him. You have to ask Larry to explain.
Manager Jean-Luc Garon talked about the refurbishment of the restaurant and handed out updated menus.
Very polite waiters with white gloves (don’t-cha-luv-it?) passed out fried oysters, tiny pork-belly empanadas, sliders, and, appropriately, Champagne. Fried oysters, I believe, were quite the rage in 1920s society.
The Santa Maria Inn is truly one of the jewels in Santa Maria’s crown. We wish this lady another century of popularity and prosperity.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at column151@gmail.com.
This article appears in May 25 – Jun 1, 2017.