Garden Grove Has a Birthday Party at 30

The people of Garden Grove--a one-time farming community that has become the fourth-largest city in Orange County--decorated part of Main Street with banners and balloons Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of the city’s incorporation.

Main Street, a cobblestone avenue that intersects Garden Grove Boulevard just west of Euclid Street, was the city’s first commercial area, and was the setting for much of Saturday’s festivities.

From that 40-store commercial area, merchants have seen orange and walnut groves replaced by homes for 130,000.

On Saturday, clowns from the Elks Club, a Dixieland band and a caricaturist were among Main Street’s features in the morning, when some shops had to open by 9 a.m. to join the celebration.

A free concert at Village Green by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band from El Toro was followed by the release of 1,000 balloons.

About 500 people attended the celebration, said Ruth Smith, chairwoman of the event.

The festivities began at 8:30 a.m. with a five-kilometer run. Organizers said they were so pleased with the turnout that the race may become a yearly event.

“We’ll certainly give it some consideration,” Smith said.

Reginald Greene, 18, was the first of 367 runners to cross the finish line on Main Street, with a time of 15 minutes, 51 seconds. The first woman to finish was Helen Lopez, 26.

The city had open houses at its police, fire and other departments on Wednesday, the actual anniversary. But most activities were on Main Street, where some merchants have been around since before the city’s incorporation.

George Zlaket, co-owner of a market on Main and a resident of the region since he was 6 months old, said the city has grown quickly.

“Development . . . came so fast, we weren’t even aware of it,” Zlaket, 59, recalled. The first wave of development came in the early 1950s, he said, and it hasn’t stopped since.

“This was town ,” he said, explaining that Main was the hub of Garden Grove before the development wave.