Kids & Family

Hang Out With Laguna Legend Arnold Hano This Thursday at the Watermarc

Submitted by Jim Rue:

The Laguna Beach Exchange Club will be addressed this Thursday, September 26 by Laguna villager and activist Arnold Hano, who will share a bit of local history with us. Arnold and Bonnie Hano were pivotal in passing the 36-foot height limitation on new buildings in Laguna Beach, enacted in 1972. They are and have been strong advocates of managed growth in Laguna Beach and of reining in or checking rampant development.

Arnold Hano will tell us about his new book, It Takes a Villager, which borrows from many decades as a Laguna resident and as a columnist in the local papers.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Arnold, now 91, has a fifty-year reputation as a writer for all seasons. Made Managing Editor of Bantam Books in 1947, he left their employ two years later over a labor dispute. He was 24.  Then he published "A Day in the Bleachers" about the first game of the 1954 World Series. While that game contained an historic catch by Willie Mays, the book first of all related the sights, sounds and smells of baseball as experienced from the stands. It became such a baseball crowd-pleaser that some fans read it again and again.  One critic said of the book, "If I wanted to recruit nonbelievers, I’d hand out A Day in the Bleachers the way Christians hand out New Testaments.”

Hano has written eight other books about sports, seventeen additional books including several novels, many, many columns and freelance articles and even a couple of librettos for the opera.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Exchange Club meeting will be held upstairs at the Watermarc Restaurant448 S. Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach at 12:15pm this Thursday. September 26. To reserve a place at the meeting call Katy Moss at 949-494-0703 or Jim Rue at 949-494-6684. Early reservations are encouraged for this popular event.

- - - - - - - - - -

The Laguna Beach Exchange Club is a local affiliate of the 100-year-old National Exchange Club which raises funds for programs to combat child abuse as well as hosting local programs to support youth and education, promote patriotism, volunteerism and a number of other local projects.

While the club is generally known to Laguna Beach residents for its sponsorship of the Memorial Day and Labor Day Pancake Breakfasts in Heisler Park, and involvement in Hospitality Night in December and the Patriot’s Day Parade in March, the club is involved in many other aspects of the Laguna Beach community. Visitors, guests and new members are welcome. More about the upcoming schedule of events and club history can be found at www.LagunaBeachExchangeClub.org.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here