Happy 127th Birthday to the City of Colton

On July 12, the city of Colton, celebrated its historic 127th birthday with a large street fair which took place at Colton High School. Incorporated as a city in San Bernardino County in 1887, the city of Colton began as an industrial and transportation center for California as part of the California Southern Railroad connecting Barstow to Sand Diego and helping deliver goods throughout Southern California. The birthday celebration, sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroads, showcased local vendors to promote their business, food vendors to distribute refreshing food and drinks on the hot summer day, and numerous activities for the children to enjoy including go karts, water slides, water balloon fighting arenas, and basketball courts. The children’s activities were organized and sponsored by volunteers of the 31 Days of Play program from the Colton Community Services Department, whose main goal is to get children to be active and play outside during the summer when kids are out of school. Despite the high heat that has been plaguing the city of Colton since the summer started, the citizens of Colton were able to stay cool thanks to the local vendors selling shaved ice, ice cream, and frozen lemonade to beat the heat at the event. One of the main attractions for celebration were the live performances by local groups and organizations that combined music and dance to entertain the community. With DJs, line dancing and ballet with performers ranging from all age groups, the local performers entertained and helped make the city of Colton’s birthday a lively one. The event, which began at 4 p.m., ended at 9 p.m. with a firework show made possible by donations from throughout the community. "I think it was a great event. It really brought the community together and the firework show was great," said Senior Recreational Leader Bryan Roberts, who has been with the city for 2 years.