Huntington Tradition : July 4 Parade Tries to Step to Big Time

Dah-link, what ah you doing wees dat leetle basketball?

It’s hard to imagine what Zsa Zsa Gabor and Laker guard Byron Scott will talk about July 4 when they appear together as grand marshals of the 84th annual Huntington Beach Independence Day Parade. Then again, the pair may not have to do anything but wave.

Why these two? Both the Hungarian celebrity famous for her long pastel gowns and short marriages and the athlete with the killer jumpshot are stars that parade organizers hope will help the event go big time.

For nearly a decade, a private committee of volunteers has organized and publicized the 2-mile parade--billed as the largest and oldest West of the Mississippi. But this year, the committee has hired a Los Angeles public relations firm to book celebrities in an effort to attract the national audience for which they yearn. The company handles Garden Grove’s Strawberry Festival and was hired by Santa Ana to put that city on the map with its Christmastime Toys on Parade.

Beginning at 10 a.m., the parade will feature floats, marching bands, clowns and the parade perennials: waving car-bound politicians. Other guests from sports and entertainment are: Ron Brown, former Los Angeles Ram and Olympic track star; Jay Acovone of “Beauty and the Beast”; Todd Curtis of “The Young and the Restless”; Cindy Morgan of “Falcon Crest”; Dustin Nguyen of “21 Jump Street,” and the L.A. Raiderettes, cheerleaders for the professional football team.

Two-Hour Parade

The two-hour downtown parade, with its 147 entrants, will start on Main Street at Orange Avenue and go north to Yorktown Avenue, turn right and end at 17th and Lake Streets.

Paying for the parade has become more difficult each year since Huntington Beach officials decided after passage of Proposition 13 that the city could no longer afford the price--which this year is $90,000.

National exposure may entice more sponsors to underwrite the cost of the parade in the future. Parade committee director Donald McAllister said that although that isn’t the thrust, more publicity can’t hurt the city’s image--especially when it is seeking to turn its coastal redevelopment area into a Mediterranean-style resort.

“All we’re trying to do is make this a first-class parade for the city,” the former mayor said. “I mean, for the amount of time our volunteers put in, if we can get on national television, advertising and sponsorships would make it much easier for us to keep putting this parade on.”

Because the City Council outlawed fireworks this year, it voted to give $20,000 to the parade committee, which also organizes an annual fireworks show at Huntington Beach High School’s stadium. The remainder of the $90,000 budget comes from citizens, small business donations and larger sponsorships that organizers say the parade could not survive without.

The event, said publicist Candy Kay, may get a few seconds of national air time before Monday’s parade. Willard Scott, the wacky weatherman on NBC’s “Today” show, promised to give the event a plug.

“Willard’s guy called me and said Willard loved the spirit of it. Also, the news crews are very good to me and will probably cover it,” Kay said.

Already, she added, Gabor appeared on the “A.M. Los Angeles” television show to trumpet the parade, an appearance that prompted several viewers to call the city for details. The parade also was mentioned in Channel 9’s “Mid-Morning Los Angeles” program. “Great Weekend,” a nationally syndicated show aired locally on the same channel, may discuss it too.

You think it’s easy to sell a community parade? The ingenuity involved has reached new levels.

Kay hoped for a parade plug when she sent to KABC-TVs weather forecaster, George Fishbeck, a sand and suntan lotion-filled Huntington Beach coffee mug and a can of Huntington Beach-produced oil.

Television exposure is tough, Kay said, contrasted with snagging the celebrities, who usually appear for free. Scott is involved in the parade by way of his contributions and relationship with the March of Dimes, which is sponsoring an 8-kilometer run, open to the public, before the parade.

And “Zsa Zsa,” Kay added, “postponed plans to go to Turkey to film a movie so she could be patriotic.”