CLIPBOARD

It may have been all right for William Shakespeare to proclaim that “ . . . a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” but to some El Toro residents, the vote in March to change the city’s name to Lake Forest stank.

“I am a longtime resident of El Toro who is saddened and disheartened to think that a number of people who have moved to my hometown from who knows where now want to change the name,” said Mary Lynn Petralia.

“It makes me want to take my gun and go up there and make them change it right back to El Toro,” Reyes Serrano said recently. He has more reason than most to protest vehemently the name change.

It was his great-grandfather, Don Jose Serrano, who held the original Mexican land grant of 10,000 acres known as Rancho Canada de los Alisos in the mid-1800s. But lack of rain and subsequent water shortages forced Serrano to mortgage heavily and eventually sell the ranch in the later part of the century, to Dwight Whiting.

Whiting planted eucalyptus trees, some of which are still standing in the area around Lake Forest Drive. He also succeeded in getting the railroad to come through El Toro--the tracks adjacent to Moss Creek Road and Overlake Drive are still in use.

But the last laugh is still Serrano’s. Depending on the legend du jour, and who tells it, El Toro-- Spanish for “the bull”-- was named after a prized white-faced bull owned by Francisco Serrano (Reyes Serrano’s grandfather) that had been rescued from the bottom of a well . . . that is, according to Reyes’ wife, Dora, who had been working on a book about how the town really got its name until a 1969 fire destroyed her notes and memorabilia.

Enter the 1970s. And enter Lake Forest, not to be confused with Lake Forest.

Confused?

Well, there is Lake Forest, the name to which El Toro will officially change in December. And there is Lake Forest, the master-planned community. The latter is the brainchild of builder/developer Ben C. Deane.

Deane had envisioned a planned community where reasonably priced single-family residences, condominiums and apartments would be built on or near three man-made lakes without bulldozing the eucalyptuses Whiting had planted nearly a century earlier.

In 1968, Deane Brothers Inc. opened its first model homes with a price range from $27,995 to $32,995. The rest, as they say, is history. By the time a third lake was opened three years later, the community of Lake Forest became one of the places to be.

And for Lake Forest I home owners, life revolves around the Lake Forest Beach and Tennis Club on Ridge Route Road.

The club is the hub of activities that include swimming, ceramics, gardening, boating, parades, trips and even the Boy Scouts and Brownies.

“It’s a wonderful community--there’s a serene atmosphere here,” said Jo Ann Burrows, assistant general manager of the Lake Forest I Community Assn. “People who live here love it. When they come home from a hectic day, they really seem to enjoy coming to the club.”

But that’s social. Politically, the merger between the community of Lake Forest and El Toro into the newly incorporated city of Lake Forest will give residents, according to one source who didn’t wish to be identified, “local control and government officials who will be able to represent us on regional issues.”

And what are those “regional issues”?

Except for traffic problems and the desire of some to be disassociated with El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the self-contained city with the eclectic collection of family residences, strip malls, shopping centers, industrial and research and development centers seems to have few problems.

But some still-disgruntled El Toro residents feel they may be getting the short end of the stick. As Petralia puts it: “Are the people in the community of Lake Forest now going to allow the rest of us to use their lakes? No, we won’t even be allowed past the fences that barricade the man-made lakes.”

And she’s right. Even though El Toro has joined forces with the master-planned community of Lake Forest for political strength, social activities will remain separate.

Notwithstanding the fact the Lake Forest Beach and Tennis Club is technically located in El Toro, according to the assistant general manager of the Lake Forest I Community Assn., club membership will still be limited to homeowners within the Lake Forest master-planned community.

But come December, it will all be Lake Forest. And some will be on the inside looking out, but a whole lot of others will be on the outside looking in.

Population Total: (1990 est.) 1,528 1980-90 change: -69.5% Median Age: 33.3

Racial/ethnic mix: White (non-Latino): 85% Latino: 8% Other: 7%

By sex and age: MALES Median age: 33.8 years FEMALES Median age: 33.0 years

Income Per capita: $20,430 Median household: $43,438 Average household: $44,724

Income Distribution: Less than $25,000: 28% $25,000-49,999: 31% $50,000-74,999: 27% $75,000-$99,999: 9% $100,000 and more: 5%