Posted by: site admin @ 1:45 pm
Two floats from The OC won awards at the Rose Parade this year 2009. A rolling swimming pool from Mission Viejo and Making a Splash, Huntington Beach’s centennial recognition float, were chosen by Rose Parade judges for two of the Rose Parade’s 24 awards.
What a way to celebrate the centennial of Huntington Beach. We won the coveted Mayor’s Award for our Surf City USA-themed float! Congratulations Huntington Beach, and Happy Birthday. Huntington Beach won the Mayor’s Award for its “Surf City USA” float celebrating Huntington Beach’s city 100th anniversary celebration. The award is given
to the most outstanding city entry, national or international. The winners were announced this morning by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. Cloris Leachman was the Grand Marshall for the 2009 Tournament of Roses Festivities. You can vote for HB’s best, by logging onto ktla.com/roseparade to cast your vote from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. In a popularity category, a winner will be announced Friday morning during the KTLA Morning News.
Posted by: site admin @ 1:34 pm
As a loyal Huntington Beach resident and former Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau employee, I am sitting at my computer with the Rose Parade broadcast on, waiting to see Surf City’s float that celebrates the centennial in HB. I saw Tyson the skate dog, a former HB celeb, ride the dog food float. But between all the commercials, I have to keep switching off to other channels. There are lots of football games, and a Honeymooners marathon on WGN. As a Time Warner subscriber, I wasn’t sure if we’d lose some channels since the company’s last hour negotiations with Viacom were reportedly going south. As a result, I was already looking into bundling my Verizon services and adding their digital cable to my voice mail, phone and FIOS. What I didn’t like was the addition of new cable lines to all my TVs in the house. For this technological advancement we supposedly are experiencing, they sure haven’t created useful technologies to deal with the movement of signals. Installing yet another set of cable lines throughout my house is going to look really bad. The Time Warner sub-contractor that installed one set did a poor job and they look tacky.
Anita Brace graciously invited some of us to join her at her hotel room she booked well over half a year ago in Pasadena. The Ramada on Colorado Blvd. charged several hundred dollars per night for a AAA two diamond room, and they had a minimum stay of several nights, as well. Back in HB the sun is breaking through. My family tried to get some of the city officials to attend the polar splash at the pier. But they’re mostly in Pasadena this year, watching the float and parade revelry. This year is the 100 year birthday of Huntington Beach and the Rose Parade float with a surfing theme was part of the launch of a year of celebrating. Having lived in Huntington Beach 30 years, worked here to promote it as a tourist destination, served on the 4th of July parade board to celebrate its assets, and after donating hundreds of man hours to the city and its various non-profit organizations, I can happily say that it is really a great place to visit, and even better place to live! Happy Birthday, Huntington Beach!
Posted by: site admin @ 12:55 pm
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Up to 1000 beachgoers will take the plunge and run into the ocean during the 2009 Surf City Splash, an event that promises to provide some bone-chilling thrills in the name of fund-raising goodwill. Splashing into the Pacific Ocean for some 50 something temps, high noon is the countdown to fun at the Huntington Beach Pier at an annual event sponsored by Lions club, and one specific lady with a heart, Lee Love. Organizer Lioness Lee is helping raise funds for her favorite outreach program, Canine Companions. Started in 2001 when Huntington Beach resident Michael Parks organized the first event with his church group, Love joined in just a year or two later, producing t-shirts and publicity to grow it into an annually-recognized activity. Since that time, the event has changed names at least twice. This year is the first year it is called the Surf City Splash, in recognition of the city’s centennial celebration. While most city officials were unable to attend the splash as they are in Pasadena riding or watching Huntington Beach’s float in the Tournament of Roses Rose Parade, the spirit of the ocean remains with all who love the new year, and Huntington Beach.