COUNTYWIDE : Council to Select Name for New Park

The Cypress City Council tonight will open secret entries and choose a name for a new park--which, according to the rules, must include both a person’s name and that of a Mediterranean tree.

The contest sponsored by the city drew seven entries. To qualify, the entries must both honor a person and reflect the Mediterranean architecture of the area, such as Smith Palm Park.

Other parks in Orange County have been named through contests. In fact, Yorba Linda just concluded a contest naming a park after the late Jean Woodard, a longtime community volunteer. That city still has five parks to name and is accepting ideas.

But usually, parks are named after former mayors, people who donated the land for the park or heroes. For example, a park is named after Chris Carr, a war hero and longtime resident of Huntington Beach. Another Huntington Beach park is named after Leslie Prince, the first police officer in Huntington Beach to be killed in the line of duty.

In 1971, Fullerton honored the three Apollo astronauts who died in a launching pad tragedy at Cape Canaveral. The city named one park for Virgil (Gus) Grissom, one for Richard Chaffee and a third for Edward White.

Most cities leave the naming process up to the City Council, resulting in parks being named for former mayors. In fact, in Huntington Beach, names of deceased mayors have priority, and the name of a deceased mayor born longest ago has top priority.

Sometimes the public is asked for help with more than just a name. In 1977, Santa Ana held a contest for a park symbol. The city received more than 350 entries. The winner was Georgianna Russell, a clerk with an environmental agency. Russell had submitted a caricature of a woodpecker which read, “Welcome Woody.”