Colton Celebrates 129th Birthday

COLTON >> Residents, families and friends celebrated the city's 129th birthday with a day of festivities July 9 at Colton High School's football stadium. From 4 to 9 p.m., around 5,000 to 6,000 guests had the opportunity to celebrate with food, fun, raffles and contests. "Families continue to enjoy it every year," said Heidi Strutz, acting recreation manager at the Gonzales Community Center who was involved in the event. The event was open to anyone and admission was free. A fun zone was set up to offer a place for children to celebrate the birthday event. A 50/50 raffle was awarded to a lucky guest and half of the proceeds went to the Parks and Recreation Foundation. Some guests participated in singing the National Anthem, and Colton's Volunteer of the Year Rita Carter was recognized. At 9 p.m., the city said happy birthday to their town and ended the night by lighting up the sky with a firework show. The event was hosted by Colton Community Services and completely sponsored by donations from around the community. There were three different levels of sponsorship — diamond, bronze and community. Some of the event sponsors included BNSF Railway, Union Pacific, Nicholas Egg Ranches, Shell Gas Station, Baker's Drive Thru and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. A full list of sponsors, winners of the day's events and photos can be found on Colton Community Services' Facebook page.