500 show up to help little town mark its special day
FAIRMEAD — This usually quiet and rural town sprang to life to celebrate its 100th birthday on Saturday. A parade and festival drew about 500 people to Fairmead Boulevard, and then to Fairmead Elementary School for games, performances, raffles and booths among other activities.
“This is more than what I expected,” said Vickie Ortiz, a member of the Fairmead Centennial Committee. “I feel really good. A lot of times we’ve cleaned the community and tried to fundraise and we’ve barely had a couple of people when we’ve expected a lot, but this was really nice. We’d been trying really hard. It was really good.”
Ortiz also serves as the secretary for Fairmead Community and Friends, which sponsored the centennial celebration.
The group worked for about a year cleaning up the town and raising almost $11,000 to celebrate its 100th year. The festivities also raised money for the group, which plans to use them and what’s left of the centennial fund to better Fairmead, said Ortiz...