STANTON : Residents Celebrate City’s 35th Birthday

While 1950s rock music played in the background, hundreds of residents turned out Monday night to celebrate the city’s 35th birthday.

For the celebration, held at the city’s cultural arts and recreation center, city officials produced a video retrospective featuring clips from newspaper stories about Stanton written over the years. The video showed that much in the city has changed since it was incorporated in 1956, including the population, which has jumped from 1,500 to 30,000.

Treated to free food, drink and slices from two large cakes, residents also perused displays created by city departments detailing city services.

“It’s just a time for all the residents and business owners to get together and celebrate the longevity of our city,” Mayor Sal Sapien said.

Sapien and other members of the City Council, as well as representatives of County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder and Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), commented on the city’s history and future.

“When I got here in 1977, it was a sleepy little town,” Sapien said. “Little by little, we’ve improved, we’ve grown.

The mayor added that this week’s anniversary celebration is being dedicated to Christie Kowalsky, an 8-year-old Stanton resident who has a potentially fatal blood disease. The city will hold a drive seeking bone marrow donors for Christie on Saturday.