When Santa came to town

A LOOK BACK

Huntington Beach resident Ann Minnie stopped by last week on her

way to work at the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, and I

mentioned to her that I had written a column on the chamber-sponsored

Santa Claus Parade of 1948.

We got to talking about the old parades and the people in them,

and I thought, why not do another column about our Christmas parades

on Main Street, since we are in the holiday season? This week, we’ll

turn back time and see how Santa came to see the kids in 1960 and

rode his sleigh on Main Street.

The parade was a way the merchants kicked off the holiday shopping

season in the Downtown. But times were changing and by 1960 the town

had expanded outward, and whereas Main Street was the hub of the

shopping district in the 1948 parade, it was now losing out to small

retail strip centers in other parts of the city.

But for one brief moment, the Christmas parade and the Downtown

regained its golden glory of times past. The guiding force behind

these parades were the chamber and its flamboyant secretary --

manager Bill Gallienne. The city and the chamber can be very proud of

having such a great person as William “Bill” Gallienne in their

midst.

The 1960 parade held a special meaning to Ann Minnie. That year

her father, Don Minnie, was the parade’s retail merchant chairman. As

in years past, it was Gallienne and the chamber who planned the

entire holiday event.

This year, the parade was called the All Southland Salute to Santa

Claus and a date of Dec. 2, a Friday evening, was chosen.

Don Minnie collected more than $1,000 from businesses to be used

to fund the parade and band review. Gallienne spent many nights

arranging bands to appear in the parade, and this year he was able to

get 30 bands and drum corps.

He arranged to have the Sun Devils, a 130-piece band from Arizona

State University, come and lead the parade. A dozen local girls

competed for the title of Miss Merri Christmas in a contest held in

Memorial Hall in the old Civic Center. It was Lawrence A. Petersen of

the California Bank who had the honor of placing the queen’s crown on

the head of 16-year-old Chris Celia Campanelli of Huntington Beach.

Denise DeFabio, Carol Jo Johnston, Karen Olsen and Barbara Smith were

chosen princesses and would ride with Campanelli on the Queen’s

float.

This year, the parade and band review would begin at Palm and Main

streets and travel down Main to the Pav-a-lon at the pier, where the

awards and trophies would be handed out by Queen Chris.

A stand was erected at Main Street and Walnut Avenue for judges to

review the marching bands and floats. Gallienne arranged to have

Huntington Beach Mayor Ernest Gisler begin the holidays by turning on

Main Street’s colored lights and decorations.

In this year’s parade were the ever-popular Oilers band from

Huntington High and members of the Huntington Beach Elementary School

Band. Other school bands in the parade were the Long Beach Junior

Concert Band, the Norwalk High Lancer Band, the Brookhurst Spartan

Band from Anaheim and the Crosier Junior High Marching Band from

Inglewood. The Artesia High’s Pioneer Band and Glendora High’s Tartan

Band were just two of the many bands who captivated the hearts of

those who stood and watched on Main Street.

Knott’s Berry Farm entered a float with a western scene of Gold

Rush days. It included a saloon, saloon girls, gamblers and the town

marshal.

Another float was by the Lucky Lager brewery -- and no, they

weren’t giving out free samples. Sunny Crest Dairies and the 15th

Rifle Company Toys for Tots from Seal Beach were two popular floats

that year. The Alco Construction Corp., builders of Sol Vista Homes,

had a float entered, too.

But it was the Marine-escorted float that brought the most cheers

from the crowd. They were escorting Santa Claus (Clarence “Boomer”

Steeman) in his sleigh, with Miss Meri Santa Mary (Sandra Carns) at

his side.

There were more than 5,000 people watching that year’s parade. The

Long Beach Junior Concert Band won the sweepstakes award for band,

and the Santa Claus float, sponsored by Moore Homes, won in the float

category.

Chuck Rothert did a great job as the parade’s announcer. After the

parade was over, Jim Haskell talked the big man into appearing with

his reindeer at Haskell’s OB drug store on Dec. 5 so the kids could

have their pictures taken with Santa.

Our Christmas parades were always a big hit with the kids. These

parades proved what all little kids know as fact, that there “is” a

Santa Claus and he came right down Main Street in Huntington Beach to

meet them that evening so long ago. And lets face it, most adults

believe in Santa, too!

* 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.