{"id":19995,"date":"2012-08-25T11:41:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-25T18:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=19995"},"modified":"2019-02-07T14:32:42","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T22:32:42","slug":"sights-from-palmdales-50th-birthday-bash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/08\/25\/sights-from-palmdales-50th-birthday-bash\/","title":{"rendered":"Sights from Palmdale\u2019s 50th Birthday Bash!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>PALMDALE – More than a thousand people of all ages converged on Poncitlan Square Friday evening to join the 50th<\/sup> Anniversary Celebration of Palmdale\u2019s incorporation as a city.<\/p>\n

Children busied themselves making keepsake party hats, sun glasses, and streamers as parents relaxed under the trees listening to the Tony Capko Orchestra, featuring Bernie Miesinger.<\/p>\n

Nearly everyone had a story to share about how the city has evolved over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in Palmdale since 1989,\u201d said Kamal Al-Khatib. \u201cI came here when the population was about 67,000, and over the years I saw a lot of development here\u2026 The population keeps growing and getting more diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for 23 years and it\u2019s grown a lot,\u201d said Dr. Krishna Doddana. \u201cWhen I first came, there was nothing between Acton and Lancaster, but the population has exploded over the years and there\u2019s been a lot of positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can learn from Palmdale what we need to do in Lancaster,\u201d said Lancaster resident Dr. Miguel Coronado. \u201cThe camaraderie, the togetherness, the friendliness, and the openness of the people from all backgrounds and nationalities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highlights of the evening included a special tribute to the City\u2019s founding fathers, a Palmdale \u201ccheer\u201d led by the Dazzler cheerleaders from Dazzler Cheer, and an appearance by Palmdale resident and Olympic medalist <\/strong>Lashinda Demus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is evidence that we are a community,\u201d said Communications Manager John Mylnar. \u201cWe are a community of people who like to have a good time together, who like to celebrate together.\u201d<\/p>\n

View sights from the celebration below, and then visit our facebook page<\/a> for many more pictures of the event.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
More than a thousand people from across the Antelope Valley attended the 50th birthday celebration, which included food, music, giveaways, videos, classic cars, confetti, dancing, presentations and the singing of \u201cHappy Birthday.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Tony Capko Orchestra, featuring Bernie Miesinger, performed music from the \u2018Rat Pack\u2019 era, which was popular around the time the city incorporated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The city presented special lapel pins to family members in memory of the \u201c50 Grand Men\u201d, who were the original contributors of $100 each in order to fund the project that led to Palmdale\u2019s incorporation in 1962. \u201cOnly the families of the 50 grand men will receive this pin; it will not be available to the community at large,\u201d said programs supervisor Trish Jones. \u201cSo if you see this as you\u2019re walking around, you will know that they are descendants of our founding fathers.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lancaster councilman Marvin Crist (left) received a pin in honor of his grandfather, Mason Whitehead, who is one of the city\u2019s founding fathers. \u201cI think this is more than being a representative of Lancaster coming to Palmdale,\u201d said Crist. \u201cIt\u2019s about bringing a community together\u2026 They tried to bring the entire community together by incorporating it. They put their own money into it and they solidified the future of the Antelope Valley.\u201d Crist is also the nephew of another founding father, Eddie Debs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Several Lancaster residents came out to the celebration, including (L to R) Maureen Feller, Lilia Galindo and Ed Galindo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford was unable to attend the celebration, so his son Kye Thompson spoke on his behalf. \u201cMy dad could not be here, he\u2019s at home recovering, doing well,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWe just want to say Happy Birthday and thanks for all your support. He\u2019ll (Ledford) be back real soon.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Dazzler cheerleaders from Dazzler Cheer\u00a0performed a special Palmdale \u201ccheer\u201d in honor of the city\u2019s 50th anniversary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Palmdale resident and Olympic medalist Lashinda Demus received a hero\u2019s welcome. \u201cDefinitely not the last Olympics for me,\u201d Demus told the shrieking crowd. \u201cI\u2019m going to Rio in 2016, I\u2019m not stopping until I get that gold medal!\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Demus graciously signed autographs and took pictures with several fans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For many more pictures of Palmdale’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, visit our facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE – More than a thousand people of all ages converged on Poncitlan Square Friday evening to join the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Palmdale\u2019s incorporation as a city. Children busied themselves making keepsake party hats, sun glasses, and streamers as parents relaxed under the trees listening to the Tony Capko Orchestra, featuring Bernie Miesinger. Nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":20007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}