Park dedicated in honor of former mayor
Tariq Malik
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- When it comes to parks, Norma Brandel Gibbs has
the best of both worlds.
As a former Surf City mayor and City Council member, her name is
associated with two public recreation areas -- one serene and peaceful
and the other an open play field for children.
On Sunday, city officials, developers and residents turned out for the
dedication of Norma Brandel Gibbs Expansion Park, a 2.8-acre recreation
area sporting a tot lot, picnic benches and an open field for soccer and
other games.
The park, part of the 50-acre SummerLane residential community of 313
houses between Warner and Heil avenues along Park Lane, backs up against
Norma Brandel Gibbs Butterfly Park, where a grove of eucalyptus trees
serve as a pit stop for migrating monarch butterflies each year.
Parents said the duality of the park, offering children a place to
play while giving them a chance to see butterflies at the same time, is
one its chief draws.
Officials with Brookfield Homes, the developer of SummerLane, said the
park naming was to further honor Gibbs, 75, who made it a point to be
involved in the community around her.
“I’m just delighted they were able to extend the park,” Gibbs said.
“The Butterfly Park is passive, more like a sanctuary or an oasis. The
new park is great place for kids to fly kites, play on a tot lot and has
picnic tables where their parents can watch them.”
Gibbs, now an instructor at Golden West College, moved from Chicago to
the West Coast in 1957 to be the first female psychology professor at Cal
State Long Beach.
She settled first in Seal Beach, serving as its mayor in 1960, before
moving to her Huntington Harbour home three years later with her husband,
Bill.
“She was the first new friend I made in this city and is a truly
wonderful woman,” said Councilman Ralph Bauer, who was on hand for the
park dedication.
In 1970, Gibbs began eight years of service on the Huntington Beach
City Council, the first woman elected to the post, and was the first
woman mayor in 1975.
She was instrumental in developing the city’s Central Park and Central
Library, as well as its public park policy. She also has been a member of
numerous organizations, including Amigos de Bolsa Chica, Huntington Beach
Library Patrons and the League of Women Voters.
“I think that you just bloom where you are planted,” she said. “You
can make any community good if you work at it, and I believe that you
really have to take part in the city around you.”
Bauer said Sunday’s dedication ceremony also was a fitting tribute to
the late Dick Nerio, whose memory was commemorated with a tree planting
and plaque. He died July 20.
Nerio, a real estate developer, was a member of the Rotary Club and
once owned the land that became Norma Brandel Gibbs Park.
Brookfield officials said Nerio operated Meadowlark Airport on the
park site until it was torn down, then worked to develop the butterfly
park.
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