A Look Back -- Jerry Person

Jerry Person

The other day I pulled out a photo showing a group of distinguished

men taken in Huntington Beach sometime in the early 1960s.

In this group was Bill Gallienne. These men were standing in front of

what appeared to be wood paneling. This I recognized as part of the

inside of the historic Lake Park Clubhouse, which we’ll look at this

week.

The clubhouse has been the scene of many weddings, parties, board

meetings and during World War II it served as a military headquarters.

The park where the clubhouse sits has its own wonderful history. It

once was just a dump with two lakes that were created by runoff waters

from other parts of the town. In the early 1920s the water was diverted

and one of the lakes filledin with all kinds of old junk. Parts of old

oil equipment, city trash and old concrete were used to build up the

ground.

When the lake had been filled, the local Lions Club helped build a

scout cabin for our local Boy Scouts and that cabin is still there today

to be enjoyed by both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

The building next to it came along in 1938 as a city recreation

building. Laborers worked tirelessly to complete the clubhouse in time

for its dedication on April 9, 1938. Huntington Beach Mayor Willis H.

Warner helped to plan the all-day event.

The Recreation Building, its original name, was built by

localHuntington Beach building contractors, the Catching Brothers.

It cost $10,000 to complete this edifice, which was extended for use

by our Boy, Girl and Sea Scouts and local patriotic groups.

Ila Dabney helped Mayor Warner put this opening together. Dabney was

the president of our Woman’s Club at that time and the two spent a great

deal of effort going over the various activities to be included in the

event.

When the great day arrived there were races for both boys and girls in

the morning. Bob Harding won the 100-yard dash for boys 13 and over and

Leroy Harris for boys 11 to 13. Dorothy Tidgeon won the girls 75-yard

dash for girls over 13 and Pearl Coombs for girls under 13.

There were sack races and ping-pong tournaments during the morning. In

the afternoon came the model boat races in the lake and Richard Carter’s

boat won the race.

There were prizes for the best looking model boat built and these were

won by Leonard Cooper and Walter Dabney Jr.

During the opening of the clubhouse ceremony, Mayor Warner was aided

by Scoutmaster B.M. Honold and members of Boy Scout Troop 1. The Girl

Scouts troop was led by Adah Kirkpatrick, Ed Elliot’s Boy Scout Troop 2

and Walt Dabney’s Sea Scouts.

B.D. Harper and members of his Fly Casting Club gave demonstrations in

the fine art of fly casting.

There were prizes given for the best handicrafts made by boys and

girls. By now it was evening and a reception was hosted by the ladies of

our PTA and the Woman’s Club inside the new clubhouse. A musical program

followed with a violin solo by Gilbert Biedebach and piano solos by

Carmelita Vidal and Bob Smith. The park itself receive a $13,000

beautification that included new drinking fountains and new landscaping.

Throughout these many years the clubhouse has been home to

manycommunity sponsored events and the clubhouse today sits proudly in

Lake Park as a reminder of that wonderful golden day of not so long ago.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.