San Gabriel Valley : City Marks 80th Birthday in Style
Like at any birthday party, the guests were given balloons and sang an off-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.” But something about this particular celebration struck 7-year-old Alex Gomez as odd.
“I never thought the city could have a birthday party,” said the Monterey Highland Elementary School second-grader. “I never thought the city was alive.”
But Alex and about 2,500 other residents discovered Wednesday that, after 80 years, Monterey Park is still alive and kicking.
The city-held birthday party in Barnes Park was a commemoration of “the 80 years of changes from when the Gabrielino Indians . . . first populated the city to the present,” said Mayor Rita Valenzuela. “We have a rich past and a vibrant future.”
Two marching bands, 2,200 children from 10 elementary schools and grown-ups from city civic groups helped form a human chain in the shape of the number 80 on the park’s baseball field. And after singing “Happy Birthday,” delighted kids released more than 2,000 red, white and blue balloons into the cloudless morning sky. . . .
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