The City of Los Alamitos Recreation and Community Services Department held the MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach Celebrate Los Al event on Saturday, September 16, 2023.
The fun-filled all-day event centered around the short strip of Pine Street between Florista Street and Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos. The day was split in two starting with the Universal Waste Systems Race Los Al 5K/10K at 7:30 a.m. followed by the Street Fair from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Activities included a race through the streets of Los Alamitos, beverage garden, Los Al Carnival, game booths, stage performances, Veterans Recognition, Pine StrEATS restaurant food tasting, Public Safety Fair, and a family friendly Glow Run.
The day began with the Universal Waste Systems 5K/10K race early Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. with approximately 300 participants, however, participants began to fill the streets about one hour prior.
Senator Janet Nguyen and Mayor Tanya Doby kicked off the race. The start and finish lines were located at the intersection of Florista Street and Pine Street and featured a race announcer, music, snacks, coffee from Other Side of Coffee Co, and burritos from Nick’s Deli. The race kicked off without a hitch as runners took the streets of Los Alamitos looping through Los Alamitos Boulevard, Cerritos Avenue, and Bloomfield Avenue. At the end, every participant also received a Race Los Al medal and were invited to return for Street Fair later that afternoon.
Following Race Los Al, Serve Los Al took place on Friday, September 15 and Saturday, September 16. Serve Los Al is a community wide service event where volunteers within the community help at local non-profit organizations and other projects such as Park Clean Up and window washing at Royal Oak Mobile Home Park. Saturday morning started with an Assembly at 8:30 a.m. at the Oak Middle School Outdoor Amphitheater.
At the Assembly, volunteers received a volunteer t-shirt and were provided with snacks and burritos from Nick’s Burritos. Water was also provided for volunteers thanks to Golden State Water. Senator Janet Nguyen and Mayor Tanya Doby gave a speech to the volunteers, thanking them for their service and the Assembly commenced with a group photo. After the Assembly, volunteers dispersed to their project sites to help make a difference in our City. There were approximately 60+ volunteers on Saturday and another 20 on Friday.
The event turned out to be a great success and it is events like Serve Los Al that really exemplify the togetherness and heart of our community.
As Celebrate Los Al continued on, the finishing touches were applied to the event area. Autumn’s warm colors swept through the grounds filled with leaves, pumpkins, and straw bales. Vendors neatly arranged their table as the first wave of visitors began to make their way into the event at 4:00 p.m. They were im