Cookout attracts some 650

Barbara Diamond

An estimated 650 Chamber of Commerce supporters attended the 10th

annual hometown barbecue Tuesday in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot.

The event is the chamber’s major fundraiser and included a

barbecue, a silent auction and an option to attend the Pageant of the

Masters preview, beginning at 8:30 p.m.

“We’ve been doing this for nine years and it has been very

successful for us,” chamber executive director Verlaine Crawford

said.

“The pageant makes tickets available for the chamber and other

organizations to sell. We also buy the tickets that those

organizations can’t sell.”

About 540 of the guests at the barbecue went on to the pageant.

The City Council attended the barbecue before the scheduled

council meeting, which had a delayed start until 6:30 p.m., so the

members could nosh on ribs, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and

corn bread. No time for dessert, so Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider

whipped up a fresh peach cobbler to sweeten the council meeting.

Ken Garcia and Diamond DJs Entertainment provided music at the

barbecue, which was sponsored by the pageant, the bank, Kar Kare,

Pavilions, Twin Fin, Clayton Shurley Real BBQ, Laguna Beach Brewery,

the Gas Co. and Southern California Edison.

Chamber employees Linda Luse and Kelly Lovegrove organized the

event.

Volunteers staffed the entry and auction booths and the drinks

table. Among the volunteers were, Skip Leavitt, Anne Wood, Jewel

Blanton and Beverly Holt. Auction items included sports memorabilia,

such as a Jerry West jersey; and baskets of goodies that included

food, free rides on the toll roads, cigars and gift certificates.

Proceeds will help fund chamber programs, scholarships and a

donation to the Laguna Relief Fund, which is helping families

displaced by the Flamingo Road landslide.

The chamber is at 357 Glenneyre St., tucked under the Laguna Beach

Library. For more information, visit the website

https://www.lagunabeach

chamber.org or call (949) 494-1018.