Yule Parade Warms Spirits on Chilly Day : Crowd Shivers Through Santa Ana Holiday Gala

Nohemy Garcia and her family set up camp on a street corner near the Civic Center just before dawn on Saturday, laying warm blankets on the sidewalk and opening lawn chairs.

By 10:30 a.m., the Garden Grove residents still shivered in the blustery wind but were nonetheless flush with the familiar sights and sounds of the season, provided by the 1991 Times Orange County Holiday Parade.

“Look! There’s Santa Claus!” Steve Teutli, 6, shouted to Garcia’s son, Oscar. Hot on the heels of a marching band, the jolly old gent in red rolled by on a float complete with sleigh and reindeer. The children clapped and cheered.

“Yes, it feels like Christmas,” said Garcia as she sat bundled up in her chair. “This is fun.”

Fun was the operative word for 50,000 onlookers who police said crowded onto Broadway and Main Street to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus and the many floats, equestrian units and high school bands participating in the annual parade, whose environmental theme this year was “Celebrate the Wonders of the Planet.”

For about two hours, parade-goers were thrilled by towering balloons, blaring Christmas music and familiar cartoon characters, which set them in a Yuletide mood. All along the parade route, children and adults alike shouted “Merry Christmas!” to parade participants as they passed between the crowded sidewalks.

“Everything went well, and people were very cooperative,” Police Lt. Felix Osuna said. “Other than colder weather than expected, everything was going smoothly.”

Indeed, it was one of the coldest parade days in recent memory, police said. Thermometers in Santa Ana reached a high of just 58 degrees, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Clouds, driven by a Northern California cold front, hovered all day over the county. Light showers were expected overnight, he said, with a general clearing by Sunday afternoon and warmer temperatures by Monday.

But the winter weather that kept the air nippy all day was no problem for parade-goers. It only added to the feeling that Christmas is indeed just around the corner.

“I’m from the Midwest,” said Arlene Steichen, who brought her son and grandchildren to the parade for the third time in as many years. She watched from beneath a thick comforter. “This (weather) is really neat.”

Catching the spirit of Christmas, Vianna Calderon, 8, and two young friends painted snowflakes, wreaths and Christmas trees on their faces before the parade started. The morning’s activities prompted one of Vianna’s friends, Myra Moran, to recite the Christmas list she has been mentally preparing.

“I want games, a puppy and a bike,” she said. Before she could finish her list, however, the crowd came to life when the parade’s grand marshal, George Takei--the actor who portrays Mr. Sulu in the long-running “Star Trek” series--passed by.

“That’s the one from the movie!” Myra shouted.

Takei, who had just completed a whirlwind week that included a trip to Hong Kong and a ceremony at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, mused how most younger fans know him and the rest of the cast as movie stars rather than TV personalities.

Still, he said, the reception he received was proof that the “Star Trek” series is still popular after 25 years.

“Everybody kept doing this,” Takei said later, holding up a hand and forming a Vulcan V sign, whose meaning to Trekkies is “live long and prosper.”

“It was really a heady experience,” Takei said.

Before the parade got under way, many of the hundreds of high school musicians paced nervously in their brightly colored band uniforms or warmed up in small groups along Santa Ana Boulevard.

“It feels good,” said Caleb Tang, 16, a trumpeter from West High School in Torrance. “You get all these people cheering you as you go by. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Nearby, the percussion section from Thousand Oaks High School tapped out a complicated syncopation that band members would soon march to. Counting out loud, the ensemble executed several difficult rolls before nodding to one another in satisfaction.

Asked whether he gets nervous marching in front of thousands of people, drummer Sean Gordon, 16, merely shrugged.

“I kind of forget about it and have a good time,” he said.

The end of the parade did not mean the end of the day for the high school bands that had traveled from throughout Southern California to compete later in the afternoon in the 18th annual Southern California School Band & Orchestra Assn. contest.

“We only get two hours’ rest,” said junior Jennifer Lugo, 16, a saxophonist for Castle Park High School in Chula Vista. “Then we get to play again.”