It’s the Berries That Attract the Crowds to the Second Largest Festival in the West

“Are y’all sick of strawberries?” the Buddy Holly look-a-like bellowed into his microphone.

“No-o-o-o,” roared back the crowd packed into the Gem Theatre in Garden Grove.

It was the response organizers of the annual Strawberry Festival wanted to hear.

On Saturday, the second day of this year’s festival, the lines to the strawberry shortcake and strawberry tart booths, strawberry and whipped cream booths, and strawberry bread booths were doubling back on themselves as thousands turned out under gray skies to enjoy what has been billed as the second largest community event in the West, one bested only by Rose Bowl festivities.

It was the 30th year the Strawberry Festival has been held in Garden Grove, which once was considered the strawberry-growing capital of the world. Organizers of the four-day event, which began Friday, expected the day’s attendance to surpass 100,000.

Besides the carnival rides and games, food booths and souvenir stands, the big draws Saturday were a televised morning parade and, in the afternoon, a performance by the Las Vegas celebrity look-a-like review, Legends in Concert. The free show featured George Trullinger, a former Westminister resident who makes a living impersonating the late rock ‘n’ roller Buddy Holly.

Trullinger and performers impersonating Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley appeared to be a hit with the overflow crowd.

Outside the theater, on the packed festival grounds at the Garden Grove Civic Center, people waited in line for as long as half an hour to get fresh strawberry snacks or corn dogs or a soft drink.

Jeremiah and Letha Swift and their children, Brandy and Thomas, said the wait was worth it as they walked away with cups of strawberry-topped ice cream.

The Swifts, who live in Garden Grove, said they have been coming to the festival for the last four or five years and always enjoyed themselves.

“I like the strawberries,” Letha Swift said.

Not far away, Larry Shaffer, president of the festival, munched on an ear of corn and surveyed the scene.

“We’ve had a good time so far and it’s going well,” he said.

Shaffer said the festival parade had been a huge success, in spite of a brief demonstration directed at one of the parade participants, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

During the parade, about 15 protesters chanted, “Shame, shame, shame” and waved placards as a car carrying Dornan and his family passed.

Members of the Orange County Visibility League, a lesbian and gay rights activist group formed last year, said they were protesting what they called Dornan’s insensitivity to the gay and lesbian community, exemplified by his support of “inappropriate and dangerous” AIDS-related legislation and his opposition to funding of AIDS education measures.

Demonstrators also said that Dornan has frequently disparaged homosexuals in his public comments. “He’s made so many homophobic remarks,” said Jeff LeTourneau, one of the protesters. “We’re his constituents too, and he has an obligation to represent us and give us equal protection under the law.”

The group sat quietly and applauded the parade until Dornan’s car approached, when they released balloons and uncovered signs bearing such slogans as “Fight Back, Fight AIDS” and “50,000 AIDS Deaths--Silent No More.” They began singing, and then switched to their chant.

Dornan, riding in an open convertible, first crossed himself, then started to shout something before making a sour face and giving the thumbs-down sign. The protest ended quickly as Dornan’s car continued along the parade route.

The protest was met with a few scattered jeers. Stan North, one of the protest organizers, said: “We don’t really want to bother (the audience). We just want to get our point across. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.”

The Strawberry festival will continue today and Monday.