Prune Pushers : Santa Clarita: The city is among 10 selected to promote the fruit--a good source of Vitamin A, potassium and fiber--and walking.

What does the city of Santa Clarita have that San Diego and Ventura don’t?

Prunes at City Hall.

The California Prune Board will give the city $1,000 and 600 snack packs of the moist, wrinkled fruit to start a pro-prune campaign aimed at encouraging people to try exotic prune recipes--from strawberry-prune milkshakes to prune coleslaw--after taking vigorous walks.

San Diego and Ventura also applied for the program, which is co-sponsored by the nonprofit National Recreation and Park Assn. But Santa Clarita was the only California city and one of only 10 nationwide picked last week to push the fruit.

“This city gets some very strange honors,” said Scott Newhall, former editor of the Newhall Signal and a longtime Santa Clarita observer.

Santa Clarita is a plum place to cultivate prune eaters because so few residents fit the stereotype of typical prune lovers, said Elizabeth Russell, a board spokeswoman. The largest prune consumers in the nation are in their mid-40s or older; only about 23% of Santa Clarita’s 110,642 residents are over 45.

“A whole generation of young people wrinkle up their nose at the thought of prunes, but have never actually tasted them,” said Russell, adding that the board’s slogan is “Prunes: Find Out How Good They Really Are.” “They may be non-prune eaters now, but they won’t be after this.”

It will be a hard sell. “I know they’re good for you, but no matter how you may dress it up, that won’t help. I still won’t eat them,” said Christine Rubino, a 30-year-old office assistant and member of the Santa Clarita Striders, the city’s walking club.

Russell said people who do not eat much roughage should gradually introduce prunes, which are a good source of Vitamin A, potassium and fiber, into their diets to avoid “quick trips to the restroom.”

After 80 parks organizations responded to an ad in a recreation trade magazine, the board chose 10, including St. Petersburg, Fla.; Boulder, Colo., and the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Next year, hundreds of cities will be added to the program.

The organizations are free to use the $1,000 to promote walking by sponsoring races, mileage contests or walking clubs, Russell said.

Santa Clarita parks officials will pass out the much-maligned fruit, recipe books and walking diaries to workers who join city-sponsored hikes during coffee breaks and to residents in the spring at the debut of a new trail, said Jeff Kolin, city director of parks and recreation.

“We’re not endorsing prunes as much as we are taking the opportunity to develop walking programs without charging the taxpayer more,” Kolin said.

Members of Santa Clarita Striders, even Rubino, will also be able to pick up the prunes.

The prune program has generated many unprintable jokes, said Jean Hinman, recreation coordinator in charge of the city’s walking programs.

“People learn the best through laughter,” she said. “And as long as more people take up walking, I don’t care if they are laughing at us.”