‘You’re only 100 once,’ so Redondo Beach plans yearlong party.

Redondo Beach--which started as a commercial port and resort town and gained renown later as a center for the aerospace industry--will be 100 years old April 29, 1992. And the city is giving itself a year to celebrate.

“We didn’t want it to be just one day or one event,” said Pat Botsai, staff liaison to the city Historical Commission. “You’re only 100 once and we wanted it to be a lasting celebration.”

The kickoff is Saturday, when the Centennial Parade begins at 9:30 a.m. from Veterans Park at the end of Torrance Boulevard near the Redondo Pier.

With marching bands, vintage cars and costumed marchers reflecting the city’s 10 decades, the parade will move along the Esplanade, ending at the annual Frontier Days arts and crafts fair in Riviera Village.

A Centennial Committee organized by the city is running the parade and also planning several other birthday events throughout the year. Historical markers will be put up at several locations in the city and will be coordinated with a brochure directing people on a walking tour.

Events planned by the Centennial Committee include a community party in October at the Galleria at South Bay, and for the year’s finale, a historical pageant in April, 1992, with picnicking and fireworks at the Redondo Union High School Seahawk Bowl.

Next Saturday in Veterans Park, the Historical Commission will host American Indian dancers, along with a display of Indian artifacts, beginning at 11 a.m.

The Centennial Committee is encouraging clubs and organizations to hold their own centennial events. The city Historical Society already is at work on a centennial quilt.

Botsai said the celebration stems from the pride Redondo Beach residents have in their city. “Certainly it’s the oldest of the South Bay cities,” she said, explaining that its history ranges from the turn-of-the-century shipping industry to the influx of aerospace companies such as TRW in the 1960s.

And, she said, you can’t beat the setting: “You just have to look out at the ocean and know there’s something to celebrate.”

Led by the Redondo Union High School Band and Drill Team, Saturday’s parade--organized by decades with music and costumes reflecting each period--will be a trip into the past.

Square dancers and the Wells Fargo stagecoach, with Mayor Brad Parton aboard, will reflect the 19th Century. Moving into the 1900s, parade watchers will be greeted by the Keystone Kops, ragtime and Dixieland music and a vintage automobile with its driver clad in a duster.

There will be people dressed as Charlie Chaplin and Shirley Temple, big band sounds from the 1930s and ‘40s, a 1940 Edison Co. line truck and a fire engine, circa 1949.

The 1950s come to life with Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe characters, along with some of those cars with enormous fins. Bands playing country-Western and soft rock music will provide a taste of the 1970s. And how will the 1990s be represented? By a Madonna look-alike.

Youngsters from city recreation programs, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and members of various civic and business groups in Redondo Beach will be among the 500 marchers in the 30-minute parade.

“Everyone likes to see a parade and with this one, people will be able to kind of reminisce about the past,” said parade chairman Mickey Thompson. “It’s fun to get out on a nice day.”

With its country-Western flavor, Frontier Days--which will sprawl along Avenue I between Catalina and Elena avenues--will take up the centennial theme where the parade leaves off. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Bands will play on the main stage at the festival and country-Western dance lessons will be offered. More than 140 artists will sell handcrafted wares from booths dotting the street. Special attractions for children will include a petting zoo and pony and train rides.

People with a taste for adventure will be able to have their pictures taken with a 1,600-pound Brahma bull.

While the Redondo Beach centennial celebrates the day the city was incorporated, the community actually started in the late 1880s, when a land syndicate began selling lots and a commercial pier was constructed.

A deep canyon offshore made the fledgling community a popular port, according to historical society president Gloria Snyder.

“Train tracks went right down to the pier and oceangoing ships could load and unload passengers right onto the trains,” she said.

A large hotel with Victorian turrets and lush landscaping--on the site of the present Veterans Park--attracted visitors. The town also boasted an oceanfront amusement zone that out-of-towners reached by traveling on the fabled streetcars known as Red Cars.

Snyder said she hopes the centennial will prompt people to value the city’s past and preserve what remains of its older buildings. But, at the same time, she said she wants people to think about “the way it should be in the future.”

What: Redondo Beach Centennial Parade.

When: Saturday, 9:30 a.m.

Where: Veterans Park, via Esplanade, to Riviera Village, Redondo Beach.

Admission: Free.

Information: 371-7546; 373-0456.