O.C. Q&A: Halloween Edition

Q:  Are there any Nessie-type lake monsters in Orange County?

A:  The closest thing to such a legend was Old Bob, the “monster of Laguna Lake” – a dark presence that menaced ducks and snapped fishing lines from the 1950s into the 2000s. 

While draining the lake for maintenance in 2004, workers finally discovered what appeared to be a large log but which snapped at them with incredibly powerful jaws. Old Bob was a 4-foot long, 100-pound alligator snapping turtle. Native to the American southeast, ugly as sin, and downright dangerous, his specie is the largest among freshwater turtles. Old Bob was likely a pet someone dumped long ago.

He was briefly displayed at the Fullerton Arboretum’s Fall Festival before going into retirement in a pond (with a cave, waterfall and plenty of fish) provided by the O.C. Chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. Old Bob died of natural causes at his “turtle assisted living facility” around 2010. 

Q:  What's a somewhat forgotten Orange County Halloween tradition?

A:  The Halloween concerts of ska-infused New Wave octet Oingo Boingo were a local holiday tradition through the 1980s until their final show in 1995. From 1986 to 1993 -- at the height of their popularity -- those shows were held at Irvine Meadows (later Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and now apartments).  

Band leader Danny Elfman (now better known for movie scores) belted out peppy/macabre songs like "Dead Man's Party" and “No One Lives Forever.” Costumed revelers danced through shows that lasted for hours.  

Many of the band members still perform Halloween shows as the creatively-named Oingo Boingo Former Members. 

Elfman said long ago that he was done with concerts, citing partial deafness from years of loud music. But in the last couple years, advances in Weird Science allowed Elfman to return to the stage without further hearing damage. But he has not performed again with his former band.

Q:  What's the strangest beast ever to have washed up on Orange County's beaches?

A:  Not counting a couple of my surfer friends, the strangest bit of local flotsam was probably the 22-foot "sea serpent" that washed up in Newport Beach in February 1901. It turned out to be an oarfish, a rarely-seen deep sea animal. It made quite an impression on those who saw it and read about it in the newspapers. The Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce was still putting it on their promotional maps of the area in the 1950s.