Huntington Beach Public Ceremony and Historical Presentation – April 30, 2026
Huntington Beach Public Ceremony and Historical Presentation – April 30, 2026
This meeting featured a donation ceremony for new rescue boats, a Toys for Tots event promotion, and a historical presentation on Huntington Beach from the 1940s to the 1960s. No formal votes or decisions were taken.
Donation Ceremony for Rescue Boats
- Marine Safety Division Chief Trevor McDonald thanked Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation for donating two new rescue boats to the Huntington Beach Fire Department. The boats are intended for Swiftwater rescue, flood response, and dive operations, and can be operated with a motor, paddles, or by hand. McDonald emphasized that this investment increases public safety and protects both residents and first responders.
- Joe Pena, district representative for Supervisor Janet Wynn, presented certificates of appreciation and congratulations on behalf of the supervisor.
- An unnamed speaker noted that such events raise community awareness and help generate further donations.
Toys for Tots Event and Bakery Promotion
- A speaker introduced the Porsche Club Orange Coast Region’s Toys for Tots drive, now in its 14th year, held in partnership with the Huntington Beach Police Department and the 5th Battalion 14th Marines from Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. The event featured a howitzer, Humvees, and artillery.
- Monica, an organizer, provided background on the annual toy drive.
- The transcript then shifted to an interview with a local bakery owner who described the bakery’s products: cookies made from puff pastry, filled pop tarts with various icings, cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, and dog treats. The owner stated everything is made fresh daily on-site.
Historical Presentation: 'Your City, Your Issues'
- Dwayne and Dave Wentworth, great-grandsons of Huntington Beach’s first mayor, introduced a clip from the 1990s series Your City, Your Issues. Their mother, Alicia Wentworth, was the city’s first female city clerk and first city historian.
- The episode featured host Blint Morrison, Alicia Wentworth, and then-City Clerk Connie Brockway. They discussed historical photographs of Huntington Beach, including:
- The first traffic signal at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in 1942.
- World War II civil defense preparations, including a disguised lookout and a bunker at Bolsa Chica.
- The 1944 Huntington Beach lifeguard staff, including notable figures Bud Higgins and Elmer Coombs.
- Early surfing contests and the appearance of Duke Kahanamoku and Johnny Weissmuller.
- The evolution of oil drilling equipment and the old city hall complex.
- The construction of Golden West College (now estimated at 35 years ago from the time of the episode).
- The original Pier Plaza amphitheater and early community events.
Key Outcomes
- No formal decisions, votes, or directives were made during this meeting. The primary outcomes were the receipt of donated rescue boats, recognition of community partnerships, and the sharing of local history.
Meeting Transcript
Successful and then they can try again in a future trial. And so we've had people that have tried out and then continue to train and then try it out again later in the year, and then it's been super successful for us. Relationship that we have. We wouldn't have the incredible equipment that we have in making sure that our first responders have the most up-to-date technology best technology to do their jobs every single day. So thank you very much. We really do appreciate all the support. And then next I'll introduce Marine Safety Division Chief Trevor McDonald. Alright. Thank you so much. So these boats are gonna be an incredible, an incredible piece of equipment that's gonna help support the Marine Safety Division ability to respawn. These boats are gonna uh are gonna impact our our Swiftwater team, our flood rescue, and be able to support our dive operations. We were able to purchase two of these boats that are gonna be available for calls. Um and uh and and uh the other thing I want to talk about is the ability to deploy and how these boats work. So they're a mobile mission specific resource with improved deployment capabilities, right? So these have um a versatile mission profile that can be operated with a motor. We can operate them with paddles. You can also deploy them by hand and walk them through flood zones to provide service. So, in closing, this is just an investment that increases public safety. Uh it increases our ability to protect lives and keep our rescuers safe. So, once again, thank you so much. And and now I'd like to introduce uh Joe Pinya, supervisor uh Janet Newitz or Janet Wynne's um representative. Good morning everyone. Once again, my name is Joe Pena, district representative here on behalf of Supervisor Janet Wynn. Want to congratulate and thank um Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation for their generous contribution and donation to improving public safety for allowing the Huntington Beach Fire Department Rain Safety Division to purchase two additional um playable rescue boats. So on behalf of the supervisor, present the certificates and congratulations. Thank you. And it's it's just these small events that really help raise awareness of what we're doing in the community, and the more awareness we raise, the more money we can raise, and the more money we raise, the more greens we can give away. So again, I know everybody's schedule is super busy, but thank you for coming and celebrating with us. I think we all can agree we hope you never have to use these boats, but if you do, we're happy you have them. So thank you again, and I'm gonna give you guys this, and we'll take a group photo. And thank you. I'm gonna take this to my bank shortly. Good morning, everybody. We're at the uh Porsche Club OCR Toys for Tots event. I'm here with Monica, the lady behind this this uh special event. Monica, do you want to kind of tell the residents about the Toys for Tots event? Oh sure. A little history about it. I'm happy to, and first of all, we're delighted that you and your family came. Thank you. Mayor Casey McKinnon. I'm proud supporters of you. Thank you. The Orange Coast Region of the Porsche Club has been has been putting on a Toys for Tots drive for the last 14 years in conjunction with the Huntington Beach Police Department and the 5th Battalion 14th Marines from the Sill Beach Naval Weapons Station. So they're here with their howitzer and their Humvees and their artillery, as well as the Huntington Beach uh police department. Uh thanks to Chief Para and the former Captain Bo Svensbo, who was instrumental in helping us set it up and work together in co in a cohesiveness with the police department. Uh we put on the toy drive in conjunction with the they bring their it's getting feedback from customers and they wanted more. So then we added cookies and then we all added pop tarts after that, homie pop tarts, and then we started doing cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays and Sundays, which are really popular, and then we added dog treats and dog muffins, and we kind of just keep going and just keep listening to our customers. Everything is made fresh daily in-house, so nothing is frozen, nothing comes from another store. Um we make everything here.
openpublica.com