Huntington Beach Happenings
by: Chris MacDonald
Published: October 12, 2026
HUNTINGTON BEACH...A very Happy Birthday to Sunset Beach Antiques of The Sea Co-Owner Eric Bakker.
This is a link to my recent article in Seal Beach Sun Newspapers.
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.
From Huntington Beach Assistant City Clerk Juan Esquivel. This is the action agenda from The Huntington Beach City Council Meeting on Tuesday October 6th, 2026, click the link:
Huntington Beach City Historian Jerry Person Presents Remebering When -
Remembering the Golden Jubilee of Orange County
The year was 1939 and in the grassy fields of Flushing Meadows in New York, the World's Fair was being held on the East Coast. While out on the West Coast the San Francisco World's Fair were drawing people to Treasure Island (Yerba Buena Island) in San Francisco Bay. But while these two events were attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors, an event much closer to home was attracting its own visitors.
It was in that year that our own Orange County celebrated its 50th anniversary and what better place to celebrate that special event then in our city of Huntington Beach.
A huge birthday party was planned and sponsored by the Orange County Associated Chambers of Commerce on Tuesday night, August 29th. The county's golden jubilee even brought down the governor from Sacramento to help celebrate with prominent Orange County residents at the Golden Bear Cafe on Pacific Coast Highway.
Prior to the big event, our own Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce secretary-manager William Gallienne sent out 500 invitations to local notables and pioneer Orange County residents, to come here and celebrate the Golden Jubilee festival.
A large two-tiered cake was ordered from Eader's Bakery for the occasion with 49 candles around it and one large candle in the center of the cake. A state delegation headed by Governor Culbert Olson and Isadore Dockweiler of the California State Parks Commission came down here to honor Orange County.
Around the Golden Bear's banquet table sat many of Orange County's elite including James Irvine II, Phil Stanton, founder of Seal Beach, Fred Bixby of Long Beach, J.P. Greeley of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach mayor Marcus M. McCallen.
Bill Little of California's All-Year Club and Dockweiler both spoke of how Orange County separated from Los Angeles County in 1889 and also related interesting tidbits about how Los Angeles County politicians fought hard and sometimes dirty to keep the county one.
Several local Orange County supervisors and city mayors came to help light the candles on the jubilee cake.
Our Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce chose pioneer resident Mary J. Newland as "Woman of the Year." She had the honor of cutting the jubilee cake that evening. She would also ride in a horse-drawn carriage in our Fourth of July parade of that year also.
To those who remember that gala event of so long ago, those memories of the jubilee and of the Golden Bear continue to remain fresh as ever.