FESTIVAL : Salute to Strawberries--and Moms

Mother’s Day has been extended two weeks in Garden Grove. Always billed as a family event, the 37th annual Strawberry Festival is “A Strawberry Salute to Moms,” running Friday through Memorial Day.

In addition to the carnival rides, craft booths, country dancing and strawberry desserts visitors have come to expect, an essay contest was organized to pick Garden Grove’s Mom of the Year. The judges were Strawberry Festival parade grand marshals Marilyn Kentz and Caryl Kristensen who, appropriately enough, star in the NBC series “Mommies.”

This pair know whereof they speak.

“We’re not subversive feminists, we’re suburban humorists,” said Kristensen. “Even after a 10-city tour, we still come home and do the laundry.”

So what, according to the experts, makes a good mommy?

“Most of the entries were written by younger children,” Kentz said. “Reading them was very precious. Their moms didn’t save people’s lives, but what a regular mom does on a regular basis is a lot, enough to win an award--’she makes me lunch every day, she cares that I do my homework . . .’ ”

The winning mom was Joanne Davey, a schoolteacher who has raised 80 foster kids.

There was concern last year that the festival (which attracted 200,000) was becoming less of a family event late at night. A reserve police officer was shot during a gang fight; a bullet-resistant vest saved him from serious injury.

This year the festival closes each evening at 10 rather than at midnight.

* What: 37th annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival.

* When: 1 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday through Monday.

* Where: Village Green, 12862 Euclid St., Garden Grove.

* Whereabouts: Take the Garden Grove (22) Freeway to the Euclid Street exit and head north.

* Wherewithal: Admission is FREE. Separate charges for rides, games and food.

* Where to call: (714) 638-0981.

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Strawberry Festival Events

Festival events take place at the amphitheater on the Village Green unless otherwise noted.

FRIDAY

3 p.m.: Tiny Tot King and Queen contest, for ages 3 to 6, with emcee Billy Barty. Register by 2:30 p.m.

6 p.m.: Strawberry shortcake cutting at the Showmobile on Main Street between Acacia Parkway and Stanford Avenue. Four thousand pieces of cake will be given away.

7:30 p.m.: Welcoming ceremonies, introduction of Miss Garden Grove, performances by South Coast Trio and by “Mommies” Marilyn Kentz and Caryl Kristensen, poster and strawberry cooking contest winners announced.

SATURDAY

7:30 a.m.: Pancake breakfast at Garden Grove Community Center, 12732 Main St. $3.

9 a.m.: “Push Your Tush” line dancing along parade route. $10 donation benefits CHOC. Registration at corner of Stanford Avenue and Euclid Street.

10 a.m.: Strawberry Festival Parade starts at corner of 9th Street and Chapman Avenue.

Noon: Country music by Wild Pony with line dancing at Showmobile; celebrity autograph session at Stanford Avenue and Main Street.

7:30 p.m.: Talent show.

SUNDAY

Noon: Dance group, Defore Foundation for the Arts.

1:30 p.m.: Orange County Song and Dance Co.

3 p.m.: Singing group, Country Cousins.

4 p.m.: Berry Berry Beautiful Baby Pageant for ages 3 months to 3 years. Applications available at Village Green Courtyard Center from 1 to 3 p.m.

7:30 p.m.: Musical revue by Miss Garden Grove and Friends.

MONDAY

1 p.m.: Dance group, Colony of Performing Arts.

2:30 p.m.: The Dance Factory.

4 p.m.: Redhead Roundup Contest. Categories include best strawberry blonde, deepest red and most freckles. Trophies awarded in each category.