Getting set for the centennial
Alicia Robinson
Sometimes age is a closely guarded secret, but the city of Newport
Beach is proud to be turning 100 next year.
Planning is underway for an elaborate, yearlong centennial
celebration that will kick off with a beach party in October. The
city is looking for volunteers to help raise money and find sponsors,
organize centennial events and spread the word in the community about
the city’s 100th birthday.
“We have a number of subcommittees that will be needing to have
people help out,” said City Councilman Don Webb, who chairs the
centennial committee. “I think the most important thing that we would
like to do is bring the community together and get a spirit of
recognition that we’re the fifth oldest city on the county.”
The city’s official 100th birthday is Sept. 1, 2006. So far, the
committee hopes to have the beach party this October, a family
carnival in the spring and a culminating event at the Newport and
Balboa piers with a fireworks show in October 2006. A budget for
centennial events has not yet been set.
With several former Rose Queens living in Newport, it’s only
appropriate that the city enter a float in the 2006 Rose Parade.
Other than a float in the 1940 parade, this may be the only time the
city has had a Rose Parade entry, Webb said.
Floats can cost up to $250,000, depending on how elaborate they
are, and assembling the city’s float will likely take two 50-person
shifts a day in the five days before the parade, Webb said.
Volunteers also will be needed to help plan, make phone calls and
set up events. The committee is seeking volunteers through
homeowners’ associations, schools and the centennial web site, and so
far, interest has been high, volunteer coordinator Cecilia Tobin
said.
“We can use everybody who has the slightest interest,” she said.
“A lot of people are still unaware of it, but as soon as they find
out what we’re doing, there’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
The city is looking for historical photos of Newport Beach to use
in a 250-page commemorative book that will be sold for the
centennial. The book won’t just be a chronology of the city from its
birth to the present day, Webb said.
“We hope it will be a little more than that,” he said. “We want to
recognize some of the good things that have been done over the last
100 years in Newport.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.