Pancake breakfast, 5K & 10K Run/Walk, baseball game, K-9 demonstration, live entertainment, vendor booths, non-profits, kid zone, arts & crafts, chili and salsa cook-off and car show; it was all there at the Cypress Community Festival July 22 at Oak Knoll Park.
At the car show, dozens of cars were on display to entertain visitors. Many of the car owners sat and answered questions about their car.
Pancake breakfast, 5K & 10K Run/Walk, baseball game, K-9 demonstration, live entertainment, vendor booths, non-profits, kid zone, arts & crafts, chili and salsa cook-off and car show; it was all there at the Cypress Community Festival July 22 at Oak Knoll Park.
At the car show, dozens of cars were on display to entertain visitors. Many of the car owners sat and answered questions about their car.
“This is a 1948 Buick Super,” said Scott Anderson, an Anaheim resident. “It’s all original, including the family who owns it.” The purchase price was $2,487.56.
“My grandfather is the original owner,” continued Anderson. “He was in the US Border Patrol near Canada. He bought the car and drove it to California.”
“Then, it was my dad’s first car, but it was the last thing he wanted to drive. It was the 60s and muscle cars were popular.”
“My grandfather sold it in 1971. We found it in 1998 and bought it back. Nothing had been done to it and it was never wrecked or rusted out.”
Anderson recovered the interior to match the original interior. The entire running gear has been rebuilt, the exterior repainted and re-chromed. Anderson’s pride of ownership shows when he talks about the car.
Over at the Chili and Salsa Cook-off, crowds were lined up to try chili and salsa samples.
“This is good; it’s different,” said Joe Vandenberg, a chili tester at the Chokin’ Chicken booth. “It’s a white chili with white beans, chicken, and green spice. I like it. It’s not too hot.”
Walter Bowman from Bowman Real Estate, who was scooping chili from the cooking pot on a stove to a container for serving said “It used to be my kids helping, now it’s the grandkids.”
The winners of the chili and salsa booth contests include: Best Decorated: Re/Max Tiffany; Best Real Estate: Veranda Realty; Best Youth Sports: A.Y.S.O; Best High School Booster: Cypress High Football; Best for the Fun of It: Fat Free Chili.
Best overall winners of the chili contest: 1st: Kenny’s Muffler; 2nd Re/Max Tiffany; 3rd: Chiligasm. Best overall salsa contest winners: 1st: Santana Family; 2nd: Cypress High Football, and 3rd: Campus Billiards.
Nearby, the police had information booths and a display about the CERT program. Ronald McDonald spent time taking pictures with kids near the police booth area.
The Cypress Police Department’s SWAT team met with visitors to talk about police work and the OC Fire Department had a truck on display with firefighters available for kids.
Cypress Mayor, Paulo Morales and City Council members were on hand to talk to residents and answer questions about upcoming development and City issues. Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva, 65th District, and her staff distributed information pamphlets and answer questions. Both Morales and Quirk-Silva participated in a facebook live session that can be found on the Event News facebook site.
In the children’s area, kids enjoyed the bounce houses and special entertainment. The climbing wall was popular.
“Rubber soles on shoes work best,” said Trevor Marrs, 14. Trevor, a Cypress resident, likes climbing walls, but found this one more challenging because it is fabric, so it sways and moves while climbing.
At the Kreepy Kreatures booth, children could purchase animal hats and hold a reptile. The large snakes, lizards and other creatures were the subject of fascination.
“That was awesome,” said Katie Barber, 9, after she got to hold a reptile and have her picture taken with representative Joseph Havlik while he had a large snake around his neck. ‘I thought the snake would go on me.”
Her brother Matthew, 5, wasn’t too sure about the experience, deciding that he did not like having a reptile crawl up his shirt. He posed for the photo wearing his animal hat, while keeping his distance from the creatures his sister and Havlik were holding.
Ballerinas from Impact Dance Center met with youngsters after finishing their stage performance that included 50 dancers. Alyssa Rubio, 16, and Chynna Prescott, 14, were wearing beautiful tutus, but had replaced their ballet shoes with athletic shoes.
The line for facepainting was reasonable, so the painters could take their time to paint designs on kids’ faces. Brooklyn Wolfs, 10, was excited once she saw the glitter unicorn Jodi Heard painted.
“Wow! How did you do that?” exclaimed Brooklyn. “Lots and lots of practice,” said Heard. “You can do it too if you practice. Even if you make mistakes, keep practicing.”
Plan to attend the event next year to shop, play, eat, check out the chili and salsa, along with the car show. The event is always the fourth Saturday in July, celebrating the incorporation of the City of Cypress.
This article appeared in the July 26, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.
