A Sparkler of a Day to Fly the Flag

About 4,500 of them were there, on one wheel, two wheels, three wheels or four, in jalopies or Rolls-Royces, as cowboys or Indians or Persian princes, to stroll, dance, trot or ride down Main Street.

Police estimated that the 83rd annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July parade--rumored to be the oldest west of the Mississippi--brought out another 150,000 to watch.

The spectators were there in part for the traditional celebration of independence and freedom, said Aracely Saucedo, 10, of Huntington Beach. But first and foremost, she said, they were there “to have a little fun.”

Sun Prevailed

That sentiment was shared by residents throughout Orange County, as beachgoers and picnickers basked in the holiday sun.

The National Weather Service had predicted that morning haze would keep temperatures down until about noon. But there was little haze, and the crowds moved toward the seashore early on.

The temperature hovered at a comfortable 70 in Newport Beach, but elsewhere in the county it was warmer, as Santa Ana recorded a high of 78, and the mercury reached 80 at Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.

“It was pretty warm down here, and it was just a beautiful day for the Fourth of July,” said a dispatcher at the Harbor Patrol office in Dana Point.

Police were conspicuous in Newport Beach, where there were 159 arrests after Independence Day violence last year. About 150 police officers on motorcycles, in patrol cars and on foot patrolled the beach where an estimated 90,000 people gathered by mid-afternoon Saturday, Lifeguard Brent Ranik said.

Another 90,000 to 100,000, including many families, crammed the Huntington Beach shoreline, causing parking lots to fill by 11 a.m., city Marine Safety Officer Marc Panis said. But cool water temperatures generally kept people on the sand, he said.

Bathers Scarce

“We haven’t had a lot of rescue activities,” Panis said. “The water is 58 degrees, a lot colder than usual. It’s usually about 65 this time of year.”

A Fourth of July picnic scheduled at Brea’s City Hall Park included the Beautiful Baby Contest, an annual event on the way to becoming tradition. In Santa Ana, there was a concert at Santa Ana Stadium that was to be followed by a fireworks display.

In Fullerton, the city’s centennial birthday party had a bicentennial feeling, with soldiers in 18th-Century costumes re-enacting Revolutionary War battles. That was in addition to a parade, concert, fireworks and the unfurling of a 60-foot American flag made of balloons.

In La Palma’s ninth annual 10-kilometer footrace, Carrie Garritson, in the 11-to-13 age bracket, took first place among women runners, finishing in just under 36 minutes, spokeswoman Janet Cates said. About 325 participants turned out for the 7:30 a.m. event. The men’s winner was Art Candejas.

About 525 runners opted for the five-kilometer race, which won by Ed Bouldin (in the 35- to 39-year-old bracket) and Christi Megdalena (in the 14-to-17 bracket). Another 150 walked the course, with Mary Rangel and Angel Roman taking first.

In Huntington Beach, the three-hour parade was filled with contrasts.

There were reds, whites and blues in abundance, as in the Statue of Liberty motif on the City of Orange’s float.

Then there was the Elks Lodge No. 1959’s “Sons of Beaches” float, with a scantily clad model riding a surfboard with an elk behind her, wedged between representations of the local oil wells.

Members of the Coldwell-Banker unit, attired in business wear, did the hokeypokey while brandishing briefcases. And the Al Malaikah Temple Shriners, weaving and spinning in their miniaturized pickup trucks, vans and sports cars, turned Main Street into a pint-sized version of the San Diego Freeway on a bad day.

Booming Flag, Balloon Sales

Although they insisted that patriotism was their main inspiration, Chip and Julie Harkey of Garden Grove did a booming business in American flags and flag balloons. At $1 a pop, Chip Harkey, 29, had sold half of his stock of 100 flags and about 65 of his six-foot-long cylindrical balloons before the parade even started. His wife said she had sold at least 70 flags.

“At first it wasn’t going so good, but once the bands started going, and the kids didn’t have anything to wave, it really picked up,” she said, relieved that their first July 4 business venture was a success.

Indeed, patriotism and opportunism seemed to go hand in hand Saturday.

The Huntington Beach-Fountain Valley Board of Realtors reminded the crowd that on this bicentennial of the American Constitution, the founding fathers assured us that no person shall be deprived of the pursuit of life, liberty and, of course, property. The parade judges gave them the award for best use of the theme of patriotism.

Other award winners included Garden Grove, for best civic float, and the Huntington Beach Co., for best youth float. The Huntington Beach High School Drum Line was voted best drum squad, and the Boy Scouts of Huntington Beach took first place among the marching units.

Not all of the more than 170 entries were so traditional.

Amid cheers and a few muffled boos, a woman appeared with a sign urging the crowd to oppose high-rise growth in Huntington Beach and “question authority.” Actually, Susan Dominguez, 42, said, she was just walking along the parade route to pick up her Cub Scout son at the end and happened to have the sign with her.

Fireworks Supporters Active

Dominguez wasn’t the only one practicing politics on the crowd. Petitions were circulated all along the route seeking signatures to keep fireworks legal in the city. A group calling itself Citizens of Huntington Beach For Fireworks had hired the Orange public relations firm Nason and Lundberg Associates to come up with 15,000 signatures, said Jane Grauer of Anaheim, who was scouting the crowd for Huntington Beach residents.

After two days, she said, 13,000 had signed and the parade crowd promised to be ripe for the picking.

“If we keep the safe and sane (fireworks) in, we’ll keep the dangerous ones out,” she said.

At the shore, Mark Shellhart of Pasadena and about a dozen friends showed up at Huntington Beach State Park at 7 a.m. to get a barbecue pit. By about 3:30 p.m., wood and charcoal briquettes were piled high, and pork chops, hot dogs and chicken were on the menu.

An American flag flapped in the breeze.

Chuck Lukios, 25, of Pasadena said he bought the flag “especially for this occasion.” He was the first of the group to arrive at the beach, he said, and he planned to leave “as late as possible.”

Tiho Zlomislic and his girlfriend, Suzanne Owens, both of Pasadena, said they got to the beach at 8 a.m. to get a choice spot.

“We’ve been planning this for about a month,” Zlomislic said. “This is the Fourth of July and we’re just relaxing, soaking up the sun.”

Times staff writer Ray Perez contributed to this story.