Culver City’s Centennial Year opened yesterday on the 99th anniversary of the presentation of the city charter to Founding Father Harry Culver.
Twelve months of jubilation, entertainment, formal events and partying officially will begin on Saturday morning at 9 when the Opening Day parade – 1,000 participants – marches from Vets Park to the historic Culver Hotel, Downtown, site of the first ceremonies.
Celebrating actually started last evening during the monthly meeting of the Centennial Committee in the Dan Patacchia Rom at City Hall.
Congratulations flowed through the compact setting as if a gigantic bottle of champagne had been turned upside down.
Two and a half years of dedicated, unglamourous planning was about to be rewarded.
Paul Jacobs, freshly re-elected president of the Committee, honored the man who symbolizes Centennial Year more than anyone else, Mayor Jim Clarke.
Mr. Clarke birthed and aggressively promoted the Centennial idea before it was even a twinkle in the eye of many shakers and movers.
A one-man orchestra beaming and brimming with boundless enthusiasm and organizing talent, rounding up potential sponsors, committed volunteers and the backing of City Hall.
In presenting the mayor with a proclamation, Mr. Jacobs said that “you have been a champion for our city.”
As plans for Saturday’s all-day launching were being announced, Mr. Clarke said that Opening Day and Centennial Year have stretched “far beyond my wildest expectations.”
With the 11 o’clock Opening Day ceremonies at the Culver Hotel and 22 entertainment acts performing simultaneously during the all-afternoon Downtown Block Party, nearly every piece is in place to ignite Centennial Year.
There were at least two other reasons to celebrate:
- It was Mayor Clarke’s 68th birthday.
- This means he was 10 years old when one of the best known personalities in the last century and this one, former Mayor Jozelle Smith, married Ken Smith – Sept. 20, 1958.
