Hanging Out for Charity at a Real Big Top

The event: Hoag Hangar Happening, a combination carnival and dinner-dance staged Friday by Hoag Hospital’s 552 Club and Taco Bell Corp. as part of the Taco Bell Newport Classic Golf Tournament. Party planners transformed the mammoth U.S. Marine Corps Hangar One in Tustin--billed as the largest wooden structure in the world--into a carnival midway, complete with a glowing 65-foot-tall Ferris wheel.

The crowd: More than 800 guests played arcade games, rode the Ferris wheel, drove bumper cars and gawked at the massive 87-foot-wide American flag suspended above the makeshift midway. Later they sat at tables under a rainbow of more than 12,000 oversized balloons and dined on filet mignon and crab cakes prepared by the Hyatt Regency Irvine (a step up from traditional carny fare). After dinner they danced to the party music of Dick Bright’s SRO.

The attire: Most party-goers sported blue jeans, sport coats and other casual street attire, but a few donned flight jackets and fatigues in honor of the military setting.

Quote: Asked how his committee chose the hangar as the locale for their event, gala chairman Rudy Pollak said: “I can see the hangar from my office, so I said, Why don’t we call [the Marines], because they’re leaving soon and the hangar will probably be empty.” Marine Corps Col. Thomas Caughlan gave the go-ahead, and from there organizers simply had to figure out a way to fill the hangar’s seven acres of real estate.

“We asked ourselves, What are those things people do outside that you can bring inside?” Pollak said. “So we said, Let’s put in a Ferris wheel and hang a flag bigger than God.”

On the guest list: Hank Adler, tournament chairman; John and Jeannie Cushman; John Cosby; Ray Franklin; Bill and Sue Gross; Nora Hester; Michael Renzi; Jake and Andi Rohrer; and Ted and Mary Jean Simpkins.

Bottom line: The $150-per-person gala was expected to net more than $200,000 for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

What’s next: Hoag’s 552 Club, the hospital’s oldest and largest volunteer support group with more than 2,500 members, is calling all valentines to its SweetHeart Ball. The gala will be held Feb. 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.

Where to call: Hoag Hospital Foundation, (714) 574-7208.