They Got Their Kicks in Glendale
Glendale residents leaned out second-story windows to urge on participants in an 18-mile soccer relay held this weekend as the kickoff event for a series of parties designed to entice World Cup enthusiasts to visit the city.
About 225 residents kicked a soccer ball for one-tenth of a mile each during Saturday’s festivities, which wound around an oblong relay course beginning at Kenneth Road and Ruberta Avenue, traveling down Glendale Avenue to the city’s business district, up Verdugo Road into Montrose and La Crescenta and ending in Verdugo Park.
Three-year-olds joined 70-year-olds in the city-organized event, which took about seven hours to complete. Several local businesses contributed money and other resources to support the kick-off and two street parties scheduled to coincide with World Cup activities.
A Summer Kick-Off Festival--replete with music, food and booths featuring information on local businesses and nonprofit agencies--welcomed kickers to the park.
Relay participants were escorted by a motorcade of police motorcycles, high school soccer teams and city dignitaries, several of whom were injured when they attempted to maneuver the unpredictable ball through city byways.
Mayor Eileen Givens, who started the event and later joined the rest of the City Council for a turn at kicking the ball along Brand Boulevard, played down a hand injury, caused when she tripped, saying she hurt the same wrist in an accident several years ago.
The amount of time city staff members spent planning the well-attended event is more important than council members’ bumps and bruises, Givens said.
“Our worst problem during the kick-off was that council members kept falling down,” she joked. “The event was very successful in promoting the city and building community spirit.”
A fall suffered by Councilman Sheldon Baker was captured by television cameras, and Councilwoman Mary Ann Plumley was nursing a black eye Sunday morning. Officials also hope to lure World Cup visitors with a country-Western street party on June 24 and a cruise night scheduled for July 15.
