‘You can only be 100 years old one time, can’t you?’ : San Pedro Parade to Be Century’s Biggest

It won’t be the Tournament of Roses, but it may come close.

The San Pedro Centennial Parade, set for Sunday, will have 140 entries, including equestrian units, classic cars, antique bicycles and grandiose floats created by the same company that helps furnish them for the Rose Parade. In fact, some of the San Pedro floats are being recycled from previous use in Pasadena.

There will be the usual marching bands and fire trucks and baton twirlers. There will also be celebrities, including Grand Marshal Anna Fisher, a San Pedro High School graduate who became an astronaut and flew on the space shuttle Discovery; basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, whose name appears in the San Pedro Sports-walk, and Alf (yes, the little furry guy on TV).

In all, 2,500 marchers and countless spectators are expected to turn out for what may be the biggest community gathering since April 26, 1899. That’s when 14,000 people went to the seashore to watch the dumping of the first rocks for the breakwater that still protects the harbor.

Declared parade manager Jerry Gaines: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event for the town.”

Or, as Bess Akerson, the 84-year-old grande dame of San Pedro who will be a special guest, said: “You can only be 100 years old one time, can’t you?”

The 2 1/2-hour fete is designed to tell San Pedro’s history in 10 segments--one for each decade. It is part of yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of San Pedro’s incorporation as an independent city. (The community, of course, is no longer a city of its own; residents voted in 1909 to give up their independence and become a part of Los Angeles, which wanted control of San Pedro’s port.)

The lineup will begin at 1 p.m., at Pacific Avenue and 6th Street. The parade will march down 6th to Harbor Boulevard, then along Harbor to its conclusion at 22nd Street.

After the parade, the floats, antique cars and other exhibits, including the Navy frigate Lewis B. Puller, will be on display until 6 p.m. at Berth 53 at the Port of Los Angeles, near 22nd and Miner streets.

There will be no bleachers along the parade route. Parking will be available in residential areas north of 5th Street and between 9th and 22nd streets, Gaines said. Some parking will be available at Ports O’Call Village, as well as on Los Angeles Harbor Department land near 22nd Street.