SOUTH GATE : Crowning of Azalea Queen Starts Festival

For one year, Mildred Ward was queen of the city.

Her reign began when she was crowned azalea queen during the Azalea Festival, the city’s annual celebration of civic pride.

And Ward, 63, certainly embodies that spirit: She has been active in many civic and public activities, from ribbon-cutting ceremonies to city government meetings.

“I’ve always been nosy,” said Ward, who has lived in town for 45 years and regularly attends City Council meetings. “Since I was a little girl, I always liked to get involved. I never liked to be on the sidelines.”

Today, Ward will pass the baton to this year’s queen, marking the beginning of the 30th annual Azalea Festival--an event that began in 1965 to showcase the city and honor women active in improving the city’s image. (The azalea is the city’s official flower.)

A new grand marshal--the queen’s male counterpart--will be named at the 3 p.m. reception, which will take place at the auditorium, 4900 Southern Ave.

New features in this year’s 15-day festival include 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runs at Hollydale Regional Park on Saturday; a kick-boxing tournament March 11, and a choral competition March 16.

The traditional Azalea Parade will be March 12. The festival ends March 19.

As she prepared to pass the baton, Ward reflected on her years of service to the city.

She has staunchly supported education, dedicating much of her time to raise money for scholastic scholarships for the young women who participate in the Miss South Gate pageant in November. She also seeks private donors to sponsor the contestants throughout the competition.

“I find that 100% of the girls want to continue going to school, so we try hard to get scholarship money,” said Ward, who is chairwoman of the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored beauty contest.

Some proceeds from the amateur and professional kick-boxing tournament at the Sports Center, 9520 Hildreth Ave., will benefit the Miss South Gate fund. The 5 p.m. tournament will feature pageant contestants modeling bathing suits between bouts.

In his reign as 1994 grand marshal, Lloyd Carter, 63, showed his nobility by leading a campaign to renovate Ward’s home two months ago.

“Because she’s done so much for the community for so many years, we wanted to give something back,” said Carter, a Kiwanis Club member who retired from the Police Department in 1987 after 29 years of service.

Ward remembers the Kiwanis and Key clubs’ work at her home as one of the highlights of her experience as azalea queen.

“They do projects for lower-income people and elderly. My house was in bad repair,” she said. “They painted my house, fixed my front yard and the trees. It was just a wonderful experience for me to see the older and younger people in our community work together.”

For information on additional festival activities, call (213) 563-5443.