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.