Orange : City to Mark Its Birthday Quietly

The city will mark its 103rd anniversary on Saturday, but there will be no birthday cake or candles to celebrate the occasion.

Orange will quietly recognize its 1888 incorporation without fanfare, City Clerk Marilyn Jensen said. The next citywide celebration will be saved for a Fourth of July festival, complete with a parade down Chapman Avenue, to welcome soldiers home from the Persian Gulf.

Most years, the city’s anniversary passes almost unnoticed. The last real birthday bash in 1988 commemorated the city’s centennial with fireworks, a time capsule and a special concert.

This year, however, the city is planning to give itself a belated birthday gift: a new motto. Known at various times as “The Plaza City” and “The Friendly City,” Orange has never had an official motto. A contest to find one has attracted 112 suggestions, including some “pretty silly ones,” Jensen said.

The city’s marketing committee culled through the entries for the first time this week.

The top picks will eventually go to the City Council for a final decision. The motto may someday adorn the city’s letterhead or flag, Jensen said.

Orange is the county’s third oldest city, according to the California League of Cities. Only Anaheim, chartered in 1857, and Santa Ana, founded in 1869, are older.

City fathers Alfred B. Chapman and Andrew Glassell designed Orange, with its trademark central plaza, in 1872. Sixteen years later, the town, then with a population of about 1,000, was incorporated.

Originally dubbed Richland by early settlers, Orange was forced to change its name when the U.S. Post Office objected because there was another California city of the same name.