65 years and counting

Moving to Costa Mesa in 1938 at the age of 9, I arrived just in time

for the great flood. The water was inches from our front door. We

owned two acres on Newport Boulevard below Bay Street.

My parents had a chicken ranch with 4,000 chickens plus several

goats and a large garden. They had a stand by the road where we sold

these items. I remember the mailman driving a Model A Ford piled high

with boxes, including tires from Sears and Roebuck.

I remember the downtown business district was mainly the east side

of Newport Boulevard from Broadway to 18th Street, the Safeway at

Broadway and a Ben Franklin store (a five and dime store) on 18th

Street.

Broadway and 18th Street were where the nice homes were. When I

was about 10 to 11 years old, I would go to Pink’s Drugs in the

middle of town, order a frozen Pepsi and read comic books like all

the kids did.

In 1942, I watched as the Santa Ana Army Air Base came to life. We

would stop on the way to Santa Ana to pick up cadets going that way.

Then saw the Air Base dismantles in 1946 to make way for the Orange

County Fairgrounds and Orange Coast College. If it was not for the

war, this area would not have boomed.

During World War II, I was a messenger on my bike. We had one air

raid in four years. I also manned the lookout tower by the Santa Ana

River, looking for enemy aircraft. (Didn’t see any.) Joined local

Scout Troop No. 6 at age 12. At 17, I became an Eagle Scout, and at

age 21, the scoutmaster. Also at age 21, I became a reserve in the

Sheriff’s Department (youngest police officer in Orange County).

Three years later, Costa Mesa incorporated.

Police Chief Art McKenzie asked me to help from the reserves for

the city. Thus, I became the first reserve officer for the city. In

1953, the Police Department consisted of the chief, three regulars

and five reserves. The department was in service from 8 a.m. to

midnight. The Sheriff’s Department patrolled from midnight to 8 a.m.

At age 19, I worked for two local ambulance companies. One time we

received a call that “Tiny” Vaughn, the constable, had shot someone

down by the river.

“Tiny” said, “Take him to the hospital.”

I replied, “No way. He could tear up the ambulance.”

“Tiny” took his handcuffs and cuffed the man to the stretcher,

stating, “That should take care of the problem.”

I also worked part-time for the local mortuary. I remember that

during the first year of being a city, there were more murders than

people killed in auto crashes.

At the same time the city was being incorporated, the Freedom

Homes (the largest housing tract in Orange County at that time) were

being built on the west side of town. The Fire Department converted

from an all-volunteer department to a full-paid department.

The city has steadily grown over the years. The building of South

Coast Plaza and the Performing Arts Center put Costa Mesa on the map

nationwide.

Today, I have the honor of being the president of the Costa Mesa

Historical Society. When I arrived in 1938, there were 4,000 people

and several stop signs. Today, there are 105,000 people with many

stoplights.

People say to me, “You have lived all of your life here.”

I reply, “Not yet.”

* DAVE GARDNER is a retired, self-employed commercial printer.