Holiday Weekend a Day at the Beach for Thousands

Hundreds of thousands marked the informal beginning of summer on county beaches Sunday as thousands more celebrated another seasonal rite at Chapman University’s graduation ceremonies in Orange.

More than 70,000 people crowded Huntington Beach under sunny skies in the middle of the long Memorial Day weekend. Lifeguards there “were rather busy, due largely to the holiday weekend, but also because the weather was outstanding,” Marine Safety Lt. Michael Beuerlein said.

Others commemorated the holiday in a more traditional manner, placing crosses and flags at the graves of war veterans.

But huge crowds were at the beaches.

Several of the county’s nine beaches reported 50,000 to 100,000 beach-goers. The largest crowds were at Newport Beach, where 100,000 people flocked to the ocean and lifeguards made about 30 rescues of swimmers in situations that were not life threatening, Marine Safety Lt. Jim Turner said.

“They came and took all the parking spaces around the Newport Beach Pier by 8:30 a.m.,” Turner said. “It wasn’t good for the lifeguards who came to work at 9 or 11.”

Temperatures reached the high 70s on the coast and the lower 80s inland, said meteorologist Dean Jones of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. Today’s weather is expected to be slightly cooler, with highs in the mid-60s along the beaches and in the mid-70s inland, he said.

“Low clouds will move in and probably stick around for a while, but they should dissipate by the afternoon,” Jones said.

Sunday’s warm weather was cooled at times by light breezes, which fanned family and friends of 655 graduates during a commencement exercise on Chapman University’s athletic field, President James L. Doti said.

In what school officials hope will become a new tradition, the commencement speech was given by a faculty member. Steven Schandler, a psychology professor, spoke on “Seizing the Future.”

In front of about 5,000 attendants, Schandler told the graduates to “take responsibility, that part of what an education delivers is knowledge to change society, to change the world,” Doti said.

The school president said a commencement ceremony is one of his favorite times, and tears still come to his eyes when he sees graduates go through the rite of passage.

“You know these kids four, five, sometimes six years,” he said. “You’ve seen them mature and gain self-confidence. So you can’t help but recall what they were like when they first got here.”