As the stars began to appear in the night sky, local dignitaries and community leaders found their seats and indulged in popcorn during the annual “Silents Under the Stars” fundraiser and movie night at William S. Hart Park.
Presented by the Friends of Hart Park and the city of Santa Clarita, what made this year’s event special was the city officially assumed full ownership of the park, which was a long-awaited milestone, said E.J. Stephens, emcee and board member of Friends of Hart Park.
The previous owner of the park was Los Angeles County.
Every year a William S. Hart film is featured to honor one of the “biggest cowboy stars in the world” who had millions of fans and also made the Santa Clarita Valley his home, Stephens said at the late-October event.
The city gaining ownership of the park will also allow history preservationists to better share the area’s historical significance and maintain the space — and it’s important to do so because it’s part of the city’s history, he said. “It’s all right here.”
This year’s featured film was “Tumbleweeds,” Hart’s final production and a 100-year-old silent Western. To create an immersive experience, Ray Lowe performed a live accompaniment to the film.
The silent auction portion of the event aims to support the Friends of Hart Park and is meant to support the animals that reside at the park with vet care, food, and other needed essentials, Stephens added.
“Every dollar that is made here, is spent here,” he said. “We’re just a bunch of folks that love the park.”
“The park is literally some of the heart of this valley,” Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste said to the large audience in attendance. “Almost everything you know about the movie industry sort of started here.”
Through the fundraising efforts, another project the city will be working on in efforts to revamp the park will be the installation of a movie screen and sound system so families could spend a day watching films, Weste said.
Before guests could dive into the world of William S. Hart, Weste also recognized the individuals who helped make the transition of Hart Park’s ownership to the city possible.
City Manager Ken Striplin was given the lifetime achievement award because “he was diligent and careful, and extremely hardworking to make this happen,” Weste said. Striplin could not be present during the evening, so Jerrid McKenna, the city’s director of neighborhood services, accepted the award on his behalf.
He acknowledged that the transition of ownership took a village to accomplish and “it was just another example of a community moving in the same direction to accomplish something historic and preserve a site like this,” McKenna said.
McKenna was also recognized and given The Fritz Award for his role in the transition which helped “this community have this treasure,” Weste said.
Others awarded were L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation Kevin Regan and Chebon Marshall, chief operating officer for L.A. County’s Natural History Museums.
