RICHARD NIXON: 1913-1994 : Yorba Linda, Center Stage : Funeral: Nixon’s hometown, thrust again in the spotlight, prepares for his final homecoming. ‘There is a certain excitement,’ one council member says.

“We have cherished his birth and now we will tend his memory with warm and loving hands forever.”

--from a poem by Yorba Linda Mayor Barbara Kiley

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Once again this sleepy, suburban community will be inundated by a presidential motorcade, Secret Service, VIP limos and TV satellite trucks.

Not since the funeral of Pat Nixon last year and the opening of President Richard Nixon’s library in 1990 have Yorba Linda’s 57,000 residents endured such tumult.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost one of the world’s best statesmen,” Yorba Linda Councilman Mark Schwing said. “But what an event to put Yorba Linda on the map again.”

Hundreds of locals have volunteered to assist at the viewing and funeral for Nixon, helping with traffic, parking and welcoming hundreds of invited guests at the burial Wednesday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace.

Restaurants, floral shops and many other businesses near the library have become headquarters for information and rumors. They are doing booming business.

Even Mayor Barbara Kiley has gotten caught up in the frenzy, drafting an ode to Nixon. Kiley and the City Council will preside at a brief, private wreath-laying ceremony at 5 p.m. today.

“The city was prepared for a lot of publicity, but we weren’t prepared for something this large to go on this long,” Kiley said, referring to news crews that arrived at the library as early as last Wednesday.

The mayor wonders how her town will survive all the hoopla, which will include the firing of cannons as part of the state funeral.

“We don’t want these cannons roaring every half-hour because there’s too many horses in Yorba Linda,” said Kiley, who will attempt to stop the cannons’ roar.

Kiley’s phone has been ringing off the hook. She has been called by newspapers from around the world, she said, and has already been the subject of numerous TV interviews.

“I had this Chinese newspaper call my home,” Kiley said. “I said hello in Chinese. He said hello in Chinese. I said hello again in Chinese. And it fell apart after that.”

City Councilman Daniel T. Welch hasn’t been able to contact the library because the telephone line has been so busy.

“I had heard that hotels everywhere are booked, and that there are no rooms available within many miles,” he said. “It is a moment in the world spotlight.

“It’s certainly not a time for celebration,” Welch said, “but with the number of well-known people that are apparently going to attend, there is a certain excitement.”

Schwing, who was to travel to Florida this week on business, said he changed his plans for the events.

Once Yorba Linda’s favorite son is buried, the city may not be the same. It is a relatively small place where folks raised families and stayed. Christine Norris, 51, recalled her great-grandmother and Nixon’s mother were friends. She’s heard lots of Nixon stories in her time.

“I was very saddened by his death. He definitely will be missed,” said Norris, who will help direct traffic Wednesday as a member of Yorba Linda Citizens Action Patrol.

“I always felt safe knowing he was in the background working on foreign affairs,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to control my emotions on Wednesday. But I’m eager to be there and working and paying my respects.”

Norris remembers being detained by the Secret Service at a rally for Nixon. She was dressed as a minuteman and carried a fake rifle that caught the eye of a Secret Service bodyguard. She was later released, but missed the rally.