Fun Bursts Out : Holiday Festivities Promise Bang-Up Time

Two-year-old Trevor Woolsey could not decide Saturday which carnival ride to try first at the 1993 Fountain Valley Fiesta.

“Up there,” the Garden Grove tyke pointed to a Ferris wheel. Then, just as suddenly, he changed his mind and pointed to a water boat bumper ride, saying: “I go on water.”

His parents, 27-year-old Tom and 24-year-old Anna Bich Woolsey, used their power of executive decision and chose the water ride for Trevor and his 3-year-old sister, Brittany.

The family was among Orange County celebrants this holiday weekend, which rockets to its zenith today with all types of festivities--from a symphony concert and barbecue in Dana Point to a country fair in Brea.

And all over the county, fireworks will light up the night sky.

As in its 88 previous years, Huntington Beach’s Fourth of July parade will draw huge crowds to Main Street and a television audience on Channel 13, KCOP.

The event starts with a community parade at 9 a.m., followed by the main parade at 10 a.m. It kicks off at 6th Street and follows Main to Yorktown Avenue.

Once again, it will feature bands, floats and other entries from all over the United States and Canada.

“The parade could go on for days with the number of applications I get,” said Ronnie Lomas of Pageantry Productions, which has been organizing the event for the city for 20 years. But since organizers drew the line at 300 entries, it’s expected to last only a few hours.

But something new has been added this year to Huntington Beach’s festivities. A country fair with carnival rides, entertainment, games and food booths is set up at Worthy Park, near the corner of North 17th and Main streets.

“A city employee had the idea that a country fair would be good to attach to the parade,” said Jud Rodriguez, a member of the city’s Fourth of July Board and a local restaurant owner who volunteered to coordinate the first-time event. “It gives people something to do between the parade and the fireworks.”

The three-day fair has been drawing crowds since it opened late Friday afternoon but Rodriguez expects it will draw its biggest throng today, especially with its proximity to the parade route.

“You couldn’t ask for a better location--the parade ends right there,” he said, pointing toward Main Street.

Along with country bands and other entertainment, the fair’s events today feature a frog jumping contest, a puppet show and Wild West-style mock shootouts performed by a stunt troupe.

Rodriguez said the country fair will rank right up there with other Huntington Beach festivals.

“It’s the biggest event since Pierfest ‘92,” he said.

Just as the Huntington Beach parade draws to a close, another parade begins on Newport Harbor.

More than 100 boats dressed out in stars and stripes will color the harbor red, white and blue in the third annual Old Glory/Character Boat Parade sponsored by the Newport Beach American Legion Yacht Club.

The boat parade begins at 1 p.m. near the north end of Balboa Island and circumnavigates the bay. The procession takes about 2 1/2 hours and can be seen from almost every bay-side viewpoint, said Pat Michaels, the yacht club’s commodore.

“A lot of the boats have animation and sound systems,” Michaels said. “Three or four boats have bands.”

The parade acquired its wordy name when two Newport Harbor events, the Old Glory Boat Parade and the Character Boat parade were merged. The boats, which range from 14-foot runabouts to 90-foot yachts, are judged on their decorations and outfitting. And anything can happen.

“You don’t know what they’re going to do,” Michaels said. “Sometimes a lot of people just climb into the parade. You’ll see people in kayaks and things.”

This year’s parade marshal, John Crean, was wondering last week what some of his friends were going to do to his 71-foot mahogany yacht Bounder. Crean, head of motor home manufacturer Fleetwood Enterprises but perhaps best known for his locally televised “At Home on the Range” cooking show, is also celebrating his 68th birthday today.

“I had some friends of mine, a bunch of guys belonging to the Young Republicans Club, come to me and ask if they could decorate it,” he said. “When they finished, I got a bill for $1,300.”

“I haven’t seen it. They’re going to decorate it Sunday morning.”

By Monday, all the festivities will be only memories--except the celebrations in Laguna Beach.

That city’s Sawdust Festival, Art-A-Fair, Festival of the Arts and the Pageant of the Masters will continue to Aug. 29.