Garden Grove Celebrates in a Big Way : Strawberry Festival Has City Seeing Red

Rafer Johnson sliced the “World’s Largest Strawberry Shortcake” Friday night, a weight-watcher’s nightmare containing 36 gallons of whipped cream and 960 pints of strawberries. Johnson, the 1960 Olympic 100-meter champion, had enough to serve about 4,000 people.

If you missed that gastronomic overkill, you can stroll over to the Village Green at Euclid and Main streets in Garden Grove today through Monday and partake of smaller strawberry shortcakes, strawberry smoothies, strawberry sundaes, strawberry ice cream topped with strawberries, chocolate-dipped strawberries, strawberry tarts and just plain old strawberries.

200,000 Expected

That may be enough to sicken any sweet-toothed diner, but at the 28th annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival there’s no such thing as too many of the juicy red fruits. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend the festival and the Strawberry Parade, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today.

The 150-unit parade will set out from 9th Street and Chapman Avenue, roll west to Euclid Street and turn south until it ends just south of the festival grounds. This year’s co-grand marshals, continuing a list that has included Jayne Mansfield, disc jockey Dr. Demento and Jimmy Durante, will be former Los Angeles Raider Lyle Alzado and Richard Moll, an actor on the television show “Night Court.”

Some Rides to Be Shut

Strawberry Festival Assn. director Connie Margolin said some carnival rides, which include such attractions as the Sea Dragon, the customary Ferris wheel and the Wave Swinger, will be shut off to avoid spooking horses taking part in the parade. In addition, the City Council recently passed a “parade peddler ordinance” designed to prevent hawkers from blocking the procession while selling their wares.

This year’s parade will be televised live on KHJ-TV (Channel 9) with the city budgeting $155,000 to pay for the broadcast. City Councilman Raymond Littrell said he hopes that the publicity and six city-made commercials will make the price well worth it.

“The commercials will be sort of like Irvine’s,” he said, adding that he will reserve judgment on whether the telecast was a good idea until after the parade. “I think it will depend on what kind of feedback we get,” he said.

Margolin said her duties (18 volunteer directors split the chores) will center around the Festival Amphitheatre next to the carnival grounds. Events there will range from the fiercely competitive to the extremely silly.

Talent Show

A talent show will be held at 7:30 p.m. today with 23 acts, including trumpet players, ballet dancers and singers. Margolin admitted she was a little worn out after paring down the talent in a preliminary audition last week. “If I hear one more tap . . . . After the 45th tap-dance act, who’s cute any more?” she joked.

Other events include a Tiny Tot pageant held Friday (emceed by actor Billy Barty), a “redhead roundup” at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by Miss Garden Grove and her court in a Las Vegas-type revue at 7:30 p.m., and a strawberry pie-eating contest at 1 p.m. Monday. Margolin said she will find about 150 redheads Sunday, with awards in such categories as oldest, youngest and reddest.

There have been few problems since arrests marred the festival in the late 1960s, when youths at rock concerts began brawling. Margolin said rock music roars only from the loudspeakers on the rides now. “That’s not what we were all about anyway,” she said.

The whole affair began back in 1958, when Garden Grove, with about 928 acres planted in strawberries, was the center of the booming strawberry industry in Orange County, according to county agricultural deputy Wayne Appel. Although Garden Grove now has only about 78 acres devoted to the fruit, Orange County is still a good producer, he said, with a total of 2,790 acres and 1985 sales of about $62.5 million.

Raising Money

The main thrust of the festival is to raise money for local civic groups, said director Dick Miller, adding that he expects about $150,000 to go into the coffers this year. Several civic groups will operate food and amusement booths on the grounds, including Knights of Columbus, the Central Garden Grove Little League and the American Businesswomen’s Assn.

The festival association also raises cash for charity and a donations committee goes through a large number of applications each year to select a worthy donor. Projects receiving festival funds in the past have included an addition to the local Girl’s Club, a copier for the Gem Theatre and a sound system for the auditorium at Garden Grove High School.

MP, RUSS ARASMITH / Los Angeles Times