San Clemente : Pageant Given 60 Acres for Permanent Home

The developer of the 1,919-acre Forster Ranch has given the La Cristianita Pageant 60 acres of land for a permanent home for its annual outdoor passion play, “The Cross and the Arrrow.”

The land, at the northern end of Camino de los Mares, was presented to the struggli ng pageant association by Darrel Spence of Estrella Properties Ltd.

Spence noted that the 1769 Spanish expedition of Don Gasper de Portola and Father Junipero Serra began the era of development in California with missions and great ranches and that the Forster Ranch is descended from one of those original ranches.

“By giving the La Cristianita Pageant Assn. land for a permanent home, we are doing all we can to ensure we don’t forget our cultural heritage,” he said.

“The Cross and the Arrow” is a three-act play that has been presented every summer since 1954 in the natural canyon setting. It uses live animals and a cast of more than 100. The play portrays the first Christian baptism in California--of an Indian baby--in 1769.

In 1976, “The Cross and the Arrow” won the Disney Award for the most innovative community project in Orange County.

Association President Maurice Hansen, who received the gift for the pageant organizers, said their goal is to develop a $2-million Cristianita Bowl, which can also be used by other organizations.

The land includes a natural amphitheater in rolling, grass-covered hills. The vegetation and land forms are the same as they were when the Spanish conquistadores and Franciscan padres first walked El Camino Real.