A Look Back:

In 1966 the residents of Huntington Harbour were busy planning for their boat parade around the harbor Dec. 18. They were going to have two parades that year: one in the afternoon and a second one in the evening.

The grand marshal, Gabriel Felix, had selected Dick Daniels as captain for the afternoon parade and Harry Palmer for the evening. Also assigned was Katherine Bidwell to oversee the event.

Our Chamber of Commerce was busy getting ready for its yuletide decoration contest and was touring neighborhoods looking for the best home, business and church.

Groth Chevrolet was offering a 2-year-old Cadillac for under $3,000, and over at the Surf Theatre, the movie “Spinout” with Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares was playing.

At our Huntington Beach Woman’s Club on 10th Street, the ladies were having a holiday program “An Old Fashioned Christmas” with a luncheon of turkey and all the trimmings, prepared and served by Marge Gage and her committee. Fern Williams, along with Ethyln McIntire, Ellen Patriarca, Ella Richardson and Marian Ries, was given the task of decorating the clubhouse.

Club President Mamie Seltzer announced during the program that Francis McKelvey would be the club’s “Woman of the Year.”

Carl Neilson and Veronica Wirtz served as host and hostess for the World War I Barracks and Auxiliary No. 2360’s Christmas party at the VFW hall at 319 Yorktown that Dec. 16.

The famed Huntington High School’s “Harmonairs” entertained our Huntington Beach Rotary Club members with Christmas songs, music and a lot of Christmas spirit at the Sheraton Beach Inn. Rotary President Paul Phillips gave a special gift presentation to Margaret Colvin, its longtime piano player.

The Harmonairs were also present at the high school’s annual Christmas party for its retired teachers at Huntington High. Enjoying coffee, tea and Christmas goodies were some of our finest teachers of the past including Beth Brown, Ray Elliott, Esther Funk, Lloyd Hamren, Cora Henderson, Wilma Hughell, Oliver Johnson, Evelyn LaLanne, Leon Miner, Margaret Moreman, Neil Royce, Harry “Cap” Sheue, Betty Smith and Dale Smith.

A breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, potatoes, and orange juice at the Villa Sweden was a pre-Christmas treat for the Christian Businessmen’s Committee served by owners Oscar and Hertha Backlund. Chapman Brashear was in charge and Rev. Thomas Overton of the First Christian Church gave the invocation, followed by “O Holy Night” sung by Lyle Gordon.

Christmas was special that year for Greg Glenn Pedersen as he took the hand of Patricia Turner in marriage earlier that month at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas. Greg was a familiar sight at Huntington Auto on Main Street for many years, and today he and Patricia continue to call Huntington Beach home.

The Blue Star Mothers had their holiday party in the Lake Park clubhouse where President Edith Kennedy welcomed members and Florence Reyner had the task of decorating. While over at the Huntington Beach Country Club on 17th Street, the officers and employees of the Huntington Beach Company gathered to celebrate the holiday with a luncheon of steak and potatoes prepared by the country club staff. Attending this luncheon included J. Sherman Denny, Stan Dorst, Jerry Goodwin, Joe Axton, Fred Kober, Norbert Murphy, Shirley Meyer, Jim Stricklin, Robert Marshall Jr., Jerry Shea and William Wren.

Oleta Lawson and members of the Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority staged a special Christmas party for the shut-ins at the Garfield Convalescent Hospital. One who was honored at the convalescent hospital was Cora Smeltzer on her 91st birthday, who was born Christmas day, 1875.

Kim Ross had been selected Homecoming Queen at Huntington High that year and her court consisted of Linda Cheek, Sandy Fox, Leslie James and Barbara Pitzer.

Next week we’ll see how local churches celebrated the holiday and look at some of the wishes our residents wanted for Christmas and find out who won in the chamber’s Christmas decoration contest.

JERRY PERSON is the city’s historian and a longtime Huntington Beach resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box 7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.