San Clemente : Chimes to Sound Again as Fiesta Time Nears
San Clemente’s recently restored chimes will ring anew Saturday night as residents get ready to launch the city’s 32nd annual fiesta.
The bells, which sit atop the Hotel San Clemente, originally were installed in 1952 and rang out the hours for more than a decade before falling into disuse.
Local fund-raising efforts have raised most of the nearly $8,000 needed to restore the chimes. After their dedication Saturday night, the chimes will sound again several times a day.
While those chimes are ringing Saturday night, revelers in the 100 block of Avenida Del Mar will be enjoying a citywide block party designed to get residents in the mood for the fiesta, which begins July 19.
Judy Krieger, a San Clemente Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman, said the four-hour party will feature live entertainment, food and drink.
Last May, the City Council voted to waive the city’s prohibition of drinking in public to allow party organizers to sell beer and wine in the roped-off area on Del Mar.
Tickets for the block party, which will begin at 6 p.m., are running low and none will be sold the night of the event. For more information, contact the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce at 492-1131.
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