THE AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE : GARDEN GROVE : Strawberries Fade; Festival Flourishes

The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival started in 1958 when the strawberry was king of the city’s agricultural crops.

The strawberry has since been all but crowded out by growth and development, but the festival lives on, attracting crowds of 200,000 or more over Memorial Day weekend each year.

The festival makes about $100,000 a year that Strawberry Festival Assn. directors hand over to worthy local organizations.

Connie Margolin, last year’s president, said the festival has dispensed nearly $2 million to local organizations in its 35 years of operation.

Recently, festival officials allocated about $38,000 to local organizations. The board of directors will distribute an additional $60,000 in coming months, Margolin said.

Recent beneficiaries included:

* The Billy Barty Foundation, $1,000 to support the needs of “small people.” Barty has been the volunteer master of ceremonies for the festival’s Tiny Tot program for eight years and was grand marshal of the Strawberry Festival Parade two years ago.

* Garden Grove Police Department’s Kid Care Program, $950 for equipment to photograph and fingerprint children. Also, $1,020 for the DARE program.

* Garden Grove Sister City Assn., $1,500 for computer equipment.

* Lollipop Lodge, $3,000 for renovation of a day care center for ill youngsters.

* Garden Grove Community Adult Day Care Center, $14,500 to renovate floors, buy refrigerator, freezer and equipment for computer programs.

* GroveShakespeare, $5,000 for tools and new sets for the 1994 season.

* Assistance League of Garden Grove, $4,500 for dental equipment and to buy coats and shoes for needy children served by the organization’s School Bell program.