CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP

-- Mary Beth P. Adomaitis, Zac Chambers

More than 300,000 spectators stood on the sidelines in awe last

week during the 97th annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade.

And they had a right to be. They had more than 250 floats, marching

bands, scout troops, military personnel, rand marshals and safety

agencies to admire. And while a lot of hard work and dedication went into

every float, only one came out on top.

Golden West College’s float, in conjunction with Huntington Beach

Hospital, was called “Waves of Liberty,” which was also the parade’s

theme. It won the Float Sweepstakes for best overall float.

“It was balloon waves and bubbles,” said Margie Bunten, a member of

the city’s Fourth of July committee. “It had a band made up of alumni and

students, a wave of balloons and a huge bubble machine.”

This year’s route was expanded to include a historic portion of

Pacific Coast Highway and Downtown Main Street, and will mark the first

time Pier Plaza was included.

The parade originally went down Pacific Coast Highway, formerly called

Ocean Avenue, in the very first celebration at the turn of the century.

“How wonderful it is that the Huntington Beach parade was in the old

tradition of going along Pacific Coast Highway,” Bunten said. “How great

it is for a community to come out for this.”

Other top awards in the parade, which was judged by the Southern

California Judges Assn., include:

* Musical Sweepstakes: Santa Ana Winds, highest scoring marching band

* Patriotic Award: Boeing Co, best use of a theme on a float

* John Philip Sousa Award: Grace Lutheran Church, best use of music on

a float

* Fire Cracker Award: Scats Gymnastics, best youth float

Honors were also given for best floats, majorettes, identification

units, color guards, drill teams, tall flags, drum major seniors and

juniors, music and equestrians.

“It’s good that this is still a hometown parade,” Bunsen said. “We

still have cub scouts marching, we still have Pearl Harbor survivors

marching.”

Skin-diving history museum to open Saturday

The Museum of Skin-diving History, the first of its kind on the West

Coast, will open to the public from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the

Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum.

Housed in a wing of the museum, the exhibits feature vintage

skin-diving equipment, early film and still photographs and video of the

sport’s pioneers.

The museum is the brainchild of Ron Mullins of San Clemente and Vance

Carriere of Long Beach, who, with the help of fellow board member Chuck

Blakeslee, co-founder of Skindiver Magazine, and several members of the

California diving community, began working on the project earlier this

year.

“This sport has a very rich oral tradition, and we wanted to record

firsthand accounts of people who dove without even the most basic

equipment,” Mullins said.

Carriere added that the skin-diving museum will be an ongoing

endeavor, continually growing and evolving.

“We’re still videotaping interviews of early pioneers, and since the

museum’s opening, several people have contacted us with rare and unusual

artifacts and film footage.”

The International Surfing Museum is at 411 Olive Ave.

KOCE-TV’s membership drive a success

KOCE--TV, Orange County’s public television station located in

Huntington Beach, heralds another record-breaking, fiscal year-end

membership drive, which ran from May 28 to June 24. During that period,

KOCE earned its all time record--breaking membership drive by bringing in

3,757 pledges and $512,208. Last June’s pledge drive brought in 2,753

pledges and $365,477.

Top performing shows for the drive were: Gary Null: “How to Live

Forever,” “Dean Martin: That’s Amore,” Dr. Wayne Dyer: “How to Get What

You Really, Really, Really, Really Want,” “John Wooden: Values, Victories

and Peace of Mind,” “Michael Flatley’s Gold” and Lawrence Welk

“Milestones and Memories.”

August Burning highlights Pier concert series

August Burning will make a rare live appearances as part of the 2001

Pier Plaza Presents concert series in Huntington Beach beginning at 1

p.m. Sunday.

The band will perform on a bill with opener Wax Apples at Pier Plaza,

401 Pacific Coast Highway.

August Burning is making its first Southern California appearance

since the release of “Zero” earlier this year.

Although August Burning was founded by a group of college students

living in Orange County in the mid-1990s, the group’s lineup is now based

in both Texas and California, with the original rock outfit often

completing a song at recording studios located in both states. The

quintet features John List (lead vocals, guitars, harmonica), James

Wagner (lead guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), John Ray (drums,

percussion), Len Spickle (bass, backing vocals) and Mark Shapiro (Violin,

mandolin).

“It took about a full year to make this record,” said Wagner, who

moved to Arlington, Texas, during the midst of work on “Zero.” In

addition to that release, the band’s catalog of strong releases includes

its self-titled debut (1995) and “Seabound Fool” (1998). The band’s CDs

are distributed through BigSky Records.

For more information on August Burning, visit the band’s official Web

site at o7 https://www.augustburing.comf7 ; for more information on Wax

Apples, visit the band’s official Web site at o7

https://www.waxapples.comf7 . For more information on all upcoming Pier

Plaza Presents concert events, call the Pier Plaza Presents information

line at (714) 374-1657.

City offers retro swing workshop

A retro swing, five-week workshop for adults and teens will be offered

from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mondays from July 23 to Aug. 20 at the Edison

Community Center, 21377 Magnolia Ave.

Retro swing is quick and easy to learn. Instructor Kaylaa Fox will

show class participants how they can have fun at clubs, dances and

parties and start dancing right away. Handouts with easy patterns, steps,

turns and tips on men leading and ladies following will be provided.

The fee for the course which includes registration and a materials

fee, is $52. Partners are not necessary to take the class.

For more information, call (714) 960-8870.

Community center offers ‘Young Geologist’ class

Children 7 to 14 can enroll in a one-day “Young Geologist” workshop

from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. July 28 at the Edison Community Center 21377

Magnolia Ave.

Youngsters will learn about the development of the earth’s crust and

how minerals, crystals, rocks and solids form. They will learn how to

identify specimens and make mineral collections, as well as discover

crystals and grow their own; they can also experiment with magnetite,

paint with sand and create stone critters.

The fee for the course, which includes registration and a materials

fee, is $33. Children should bring a snack with them.

For more information, call (714) 960-8870.