San Clemente Celebrates 90th Birthday

SAN CLEMENTE, CA — It may seem a little odd to sing happy birthday to a city, but that is exactly what happened on the city of San Clemente's 90th birthday celebration. On Feb. 24, the city celebrated with tours of historic buildings, a reenactment of the real estate pitch where an actor portraying founding father Ole Hanson shared his vision, and then a little fried chicken with potential residents.

Incorporated in 1928, the city of San Clemente has grown to over 65,000 residents, but the dream of its founder remains a reality.

"I envision a place where people can live together more pleasantly than any other place in America," he said. "I am going to build a beautiful city on the ocean, where the whole city will be a park."

Mayor Tim Brown took all on a virtual tour of the city in a video release. Residents gathered for the birthday celebration, sharing

That vision has become a reality. Whitewashed homes, red tiled roofs, flowers and gardens and patios, Spanish tile sidewalks, a community pool, a fishing pier and a beach lined with people.

At those parks, children played. In the community pool, mermaids swam and synchronized swimmers gave an Esther Williams worthy performance.

The youth fishing derby on the San Clemente Pier, organized by Jim Holden of Fish For Life, an organization for special needs children.

"They're fishing hard," Holden said, of the first annual fishing contest. "It's a great day to introduce kids to fishing."

Unique categories for the contest included first fish caught, largest fish, smallest fish, and most fish caught.

At the parks, kids played larger than life lawn games, ran through inflatable obstacle courses and laughed with parents. Food, fun and music were the order of the day.

"Happy Birthday San Clemente," one resident said! "I look forward to your next 90 years!"

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