The next installment of the months-long Mission Beach centennial celebration will be a car show on Sunday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Belmont Park, located at 3146 Mission Blvd.
Billed as the “Father’s Day Cruise to Belmont Park,” the free event will feature up to 75 vintage, pre-1980 cars, trucks and motorcycles.
“We’re going to have a DJ and will be giving prizes to the winners,” said Wendy Crain, centennial committee chairwoman. “We’ll also be doing some raffling, giving away Belmont Park passes and tickets to SeaWorld.”
The event pre-registration deadline to enter a vehicle for a $25 charge is Saturday, June 14. Participants will receive a limited-edition event T-shirt, lunch and a dash plaque.
The centennial celebration kicked off in March with a proclamation from the mayor to go along with dedication of a monument, a big boulder with an oxidized bronze plaque placed between Belmont Park and the south lifeguard restroom on the beach.
Crain said the roots of the centennial celebration go back to May 2013 and the influence of local historian Phil Prather, who co-wrote “Images of America Mission Beach,” along with Terry Curren. Prather suggested having an event-a-month format to mark the occasion.?
“We’ve tried to make it community oriented with horseshoe and volleyball tournaments, as well as doing things with our oldest icons — the roller coaster and The Plunge swimming pool at Belmont Park,” said Crain.
The next event in the centennial celebration, a planned movie viewing at The Plunge pool in July, is being revamped because the pool is closed for refurbishment. Crain said the event will likely go on but will be held at a substitute venue yet to be determined.
The centennial event schedule will continue in August with a sandcastle event and conclude with a volleyball/horseshoes beachfest in early September. The finish will be a Sept. 27 Centennial Festival at Belmont Park/Ventura Blvd.
Having the June 15 event on Father’s Day in June is a wonderful add-on, said Crain.
“It will be a fun thing to do for dad and the whole family to bring them all down here and have a good time,” she said.
Event proceeds will benefit the Mission Beach Centennial Project.
The origin of Mission Beach dates to June 14, 1914, when a syndicate headed by John D. Spreckels and managed by George S. Barney submitted a subdivision map surveyed by D.A. Loebenstein to the “Common Council” (now the City Council) of San Diego for approval and acceptance.
For more information, visit www.missionbeachcentennial.org.