Huntington Beach Happenings
by: Chris MacDonald
Published: July 13, 2026
HUNTINGTON BEACH...Just a reminder if you are looking for a Realtor/Property Manager/Handyman/Painter/Landscaper/Window Cleaner please contact me and I'll give you good references.
Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon said: The new El Pollo Loco is going in the Ashley Home Furnishings Center on Edinger and Goldenwest in Huntington Beach.
Huntington Beach Assistant City Clerk Juan Esquivel provided a link to the action agenda from the Huntington Beach City Council Meeting on Tuesday July 7th, 2026 - Click here
Huntington Beach City Historian Jerry Person presents Remember When
Who Rode and Who Didn't Ride in our Independence Day Parade of 1938
I hope all of you saw our famous Fourth of July parade od 2026 that honored both our nation and our city and so for this week lets see who rode and didn't ride in our 1938 parade eighty-eight years ago.
Huntington Beach has seen many famous people riding in this historic parade and while some are remembered others are nearly forgotten and there is one who never rode in our world-famous event but is falsely remembered to have been in it. This week lets go back and look at our city as it prepares to celebrate Independence Day 1938 with three days of activities lasting from Saturday, July 2nd to Monday, July 4th.
Chairman Ted Tarbox along with his July 4th committee of Dr. Lawrence Whittaker, William Gallienne, A.W. Frost, John Africa, Bill Jones, Dr. Douglas Hough, Warren Bristol, Harry Overmyer, Daniel Huston, Clint Brush and Sol White had spent many months preparing for this great event.
By Thursday, June 30th every available trailer space at the municipal trailer park was taken for the entire weekend. “No Vacancy” signs were posted at the entrance to Seabridge Camp as every tent, trailer and car space was taken as was every cabin filled for this year’s event.
The celebration began with the arrival of the cruiser U.S.S. Milwaukee anchored offshore on Saturday afternoon with its crew of nearly 500 men and officers. Saturday evening Mayor Marcus McCallen and the parade committee held a reception for the ship’s commander, F.H. Kelly inside the Golden Bear Café. During the reception Harry Bakre, owner of the Golden Bear, handed Commander Kelly a telegram that contained his orders. Later that evening a band concert by the National Youth Administration was held at the Main Street grandstand.
Following the concert came the crowning of this year’s queen, Phyllis Plavan and members of her court- Betty Black, Margaret Burry, Charlotte Heitz, Wanda McManus, Betty Priddy and Polly Wardlow. During the coronation Plavan stepped forward to receive her crown from Commander Kelly while Mayor McCallen welcomed the visitors. Fred Grable, President of the Huntington Beach Lions Club, presented Queen Phyllis with a loving cup. Margaret Colvin, Dick Beeson and Henry Wirth was in charge and saw that this part of the holiday celebration went smoothly.
The next day the public was invited to take a special tour of the Milwaukee followed by kayak races near the pier. A carnival and fun zone was set up on Fifth Street between P.C.H. and Walnut for kids of all ages to enjoy. A beauty contest and parade was held at the beach with music furnished by the Huntington Beach Municipal Band under the direction of John Peterson. Awards were given to the winners of the kayak races and there was dancing throughout the night at the pavilion.
Independence Day began at 9 a.m. with a sucker scramble for the kids and a swim around the pier that was won by Art Bermudez, who had recently broke the national prep school 440 free-style record.
The main parade began at 11 a.m. at Sixth and Main and traveled to PCH, west to Eighth, north to Palm and back to Main Street. Following the 63rd Coast Artillery Band from Fort MaArthur came this year’s grand marshal, Orange County Sheriff Logan Jackson.
Following Jackson came Queen Phyllis, U.S. Congressman Harry Sheppard, Mayor McCallen and City officials, Lt. Governor George Hatfield of California, Lt. Governor Vic Meyers of Washington and former State Comptroller J.F.T. O’Connor. In the parade came 65-year old Harry Kraemer who thrilled the crowd with his trick bicycle antics followed by 8-year old Mary Ellen Phillip on her unicycle.
After the parade an Old Timers picnic was held at noon in the home of Tom Talbert, 518 PCH followed by a Horse Show and Games at the baseball park. Unfortunately for the announcer at the ballpark, Butch Underwood , he had forgotten the PA system and by the end of the day the announcer’s throat was “horse.” Many other events followed throughout the day including a baby and pet parade down Main Street, a spelling bee, pie-eating contest, band concerts and fireworks show at the pier.
You may have noticed I did not mention that a certain US president rode in this parade. Through a fallacy of history President Franklin Roosevelt is supposed to have ridden in this parade, but this is simply not true, as we shall see. I’m not sure how the story got started about our thirty-second president riding in our Fourth of July parade of 1938.
What really took place and this is documented in newspapers including our local Huntington Beach newpaper happened twelve days after our parade when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in our state campaigning for Senator William Gibbs McAdoo.
It was on July 16, 1938 that President Roosevelt’s motorcade left Los Angeles for San Diego to dedicate San Diego’s new civic center building. He would make three stops along the way in Orange County, but I am sorry to say that Huntington Beach was not one of these. The towns FDR stopped at were Seal Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente.
But his cavalcade of flag-draped cars did travel slowly along Ocean Avenue (PCH) from our city limit to the other. Huge crowds of several thousand people lined the sidewalks, jammed roof tops, stood in second story windows or anywhere else they could find to see the president. Several hundred kids climbed onto the roof of the old Pacific Electric depot at the pier entrance for a chance to see our president.
The steel arch across Main Street and Ocean Avenue had been decorated fifty feet high with California flowers and there were hundreds of flags flying all along Ocean Avenue in his honor and a huge banner of welcome was erected on PCH. When Roosevelt’s car entered our city a great roar of welcome was heard and this would continue all along the three miles of our city limits.
Many of our patriotic organizations turned out in uniform to greet our chief executive. Orange County Sheriff Logan Jackson joined government secret service men in the head car to protect our chief of state as he traveled through Orange County. But even if President Roosevelt didn’t ride in our parade, he did travel in and thanked many of our residents for coming as he rode through our city.
Note to a Future Generation: "President Donald Trunp did not ride in our 2026 Independence Day Parade."