Orange County Featured City: Buena Park

Ten and a half square miles of Orange County suburbia mixed with Los Angeles metropolis comprised of 80,530 residents. Right on the border of Los Angeles County, Buena Park serves as another Orange County city host to a theme park, Knott’s Berry Farm. The Knott family had been around since the turn of the 20^th century and started out selling berries, pies, and preserves in 1920. Bored of the monotonous sale of berries to passerby’s on the Interstate 39 Highway, Walter Knott decided to construct a mock ghost town on the property to attract customers and through the 1950’s the ideas of amusement parks really caught traction. By 1969 Knott’s Berry Farm had made fame though the Calico log ride while admission was being charged for the first time at 25 cents. After Walter and Cordelia Knott passed away, their children decided to sell the theme park. Disney offered to buy it but the Knott’s refused hoping to preserve the work of Walter.

 Not only is Buena Park host to Knott’s Berry Farm, but also to Medieval Times, which is a Grand Ceremonial Arena where guests cheer for one of six Knights as they compete in medieval games, joustin, and ground game using a sword and shield. One by one they get eliminated throughout the competition and the search for a Knight to be crowned intensifies. Dinner (or lunch) is provided for the guests and the interactive show leaves guests feeling satisfied with good food and entertainment. High Schools from all over the county go to Medieval Times as a part of senior activities, and have been doing so for decades since 1986 when it first opened. Although Buena Park is known for it’s happy-go-lucky park that attracts parents and children alike from miles away, it also has a dark side.

Stuart Tay, a student at Foothill High School was brutally murdered after a group of fellow students (at Sunny Hills High School) got suspicious that Tay was going to turn on them before a plotted electronics heist. The perpetrators lured Tay into a Buena Park backyard, having dug a grave prior to the encounter, and struck him over the head with a baseball bat. All plead guilty to the murder charge, serving 25-life sentences at state penitentiaries. Although Buena Park may seem like a quiet town, there is actually a lot going on, both good and bad so stop by Knott’s for some good family fun!

Orange County Featured City: Brea

Brea is not one of the more famous Orange County beach cities such as Laguna or Newport, but it

has a lot to offer. Located north of Fullerton and just south of the Orange County border, Brea is the northern most part of the county. The city was first founded on crude oil production and had refineries set up all over the cities. Once the oil was pumped dry, citrus such as lemons, and of course oranges, were the major product of export and supported the city until about 1970 when the 57 freeway was built and the Brea Mall broke ground.

Before a city itself, the village of Olinda was founded in what is today Carbon Canyon in early 1800 and many came over to look for black gold, which is also known as petroleum. Abel Stearns, the owner of much of the land sold around 1,200 acres in 1984 to the west of the village to the Union Oil Company of California. The company decided to make it an oil field and wooden oil-drilling towers popped up all over the land. This oil field needed a place where the workers could live because there was no city around for miles and most people didn’t have the means to commute. Randolph village was founded just south of Brea Canyon for the workers and their families. Walter Johnson, a Pittsburgh Pirates legend of the MLB grew up and worked there in the early 1900’s before the lefty made it up to the big leagues and eventually got his family out as well.

Brea is now known as one of the major retailing cities of Orange County thanks to the mall and the newly redeveloped downtown which includes hundreds of shops, restaurants, and bars. Brea is also nationally known for their art program founded in 1975 and has obtained over 140 artworks in the city and continues to run programs throughout the area. Their dedication to art and sustaining and preserving art has been inspiring to programs around the country. Brea might not be a beach city, but it sure has a lot going for it.

Famous Faces of Orange County: Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant is a man who needs no introduction. Whether it’s the fame of 16 All-Star Nods, 5 NBA championships or the accusatory rape case in Colorado, everybody knows Kobe Bryant. Everybody also knows that he isn’t from California, but from Pennsylvania, where he was the top high school prospect at Lower Marion High. What some people might not know, is that Kobe has lived in Orange County since he met then Vanessa Laine (now Bryant) on the set of Tha Eastsidaz music video “G’d Up,” where Laine was a back-up dancer. Still enrolled at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, Laine decided to opt out of the public scrutiny and finish her high school education in Independent Study. The two were married at St. Roman Edward Catholic Church in Dana Point in 2001, and one year later bought a $4 million home in Newport Coast.

 2003 was when Bryant really started catching heat. While staying at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle County, Colorado awaiting his knee surgery at a nearby facility, Bryant was arrested by the Eagle County Sheriff on sexual assault charges filed by a 19-year-old employee who said that the night before his surgery, Bryant had raped her. Bryant publicly admitted to a sexual encounter in spite of his wife, but denied that there was any sexual assault and claimed that the encounter was consensual. However, after much public attention and hearings, in September 2004 the assault case was dropped (although a hefty civil suit was filed and letter settled afterwards).

Regardless of Bryant’s off court shenanigans, his play on the court has earned him the nickname of “The Black Mamba” because of his drive to mimic the snake’s ability to strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession. Bryant also began calling himself Vino, which describes how well he has aged and how his game has perhaps gotten better as the years have passed. Bryant has led an illustrious career, and although missing most of last year recovering from an Achilles tear, then a meniscus problem, he is ready to try for one more championship in his two years left. Living in Orange County for over 13 years has earned Bryant the right to be called an Orange County native, and I don’t think anyone would disagree.

Famous Faces of Orange County: The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, the two pop singers more formerly known as the Righteous Brothers are yet another product of Orange County. These two made their fame with the singles "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" and continued on to do the soundtrack for the movie Dirty Dancing, earning themselves an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture, along with a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo.

Bobby Hatfield was born in Wisconsin in 1940 when his parents moved to Anaheim when he was just four years old. According to their official website, Hatfield started organized singing and instrumentation in high school and continued through college at Fullerton Jr. College and Long Beach State. Bill Medley was also born in 1940 in Los Angeles, but his family moved to Santa Ana where he grew up. Medley sang in the church choir and was a part of the glee club in his high school. The two first met up in 1962 to play a prom gig with a John Wimber orchestrated band called The Paramours,  where they divided up the $40 wage 5 ways and that's how Righteous Brothers were born.

Their first major hit "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" was released in 1964 and produced by Phil Spector using his Wall of Sound production technique which uses different layers of sound and vocals to multiply the decibels and create a more full sound. The song became a number one hit on America's billboard top 100 and stayed at that position for 16 weeks. Their popularity began to decline in the late 1960's and other than a few more top 40 hits, the two decided to go their separate ways. In 1987, Bill Medley collaborated on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack which became one of the most famous soundtracks of all time.

The two were inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 for their achievements in pop during the 1960's and it is said they had one of the biggest influences on contemporary pop of today. Medley currently lives in Newport Beach and travels frequently to Missouri where he performs in Branson. Hatfield was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan just hours before he was supposed to perform with Medley at Western Michigan University.

Famous Faces of Orange County: Jason Lee

Jason Lee is one of those people that everybody has heard of and seen, but nobody really knows his real story. With a story like his, it's easy to believe that his presence hasn't really been acknowledged as an Orange County superstar having starred in multiple television series that are subsequently cancelled after only a couple seasons (NBC's My Name is Earl and Up All Night, and TNT's Memphis Beat). What most people don't know is that he was nominated for two golden globes his performance in My Name is Earl and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor in Chasing Amy where he met soon-to-be long time friend and collaborator Kevin Smith who is known for films such as Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, Dogma, and Cop Out (Jason Lee also appeared in all of them).

Born in Huntington Beach, Jason grew up around skateboarding and surfing throughout high school and eventually became a professional skateboarder even co-founded the skateboard company Stereo with Chris "Dune" Pastras in 1992 and revived it in 2003 after it had been defunct for a couple of years. This is where Lee got his start in film, through skating movies and videos directed by eventual Hollywood directors such as Spike Jonze. Lee and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk were the first two skaters to receive a signature shoe with the Airwalk Company. "Video Days," the Blind Company skateboard video directed by Spike Jonze staring Lee and others such as Guy Mariano, who was named Transworld Magazine's Most Influential Skateboarder of All-Time, was released in 1991 and received critical acclaim for the new style of street skating. Lee has been considered one of the pioneers of street skating and remains on the "Classic Skaters" list of the 1990's. Check out the classic Blind video here.

In 1994, after taking some minor roles in films such as Spike Jonze's "100%" for Sonic Youth, and a small part in Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Lee left professional skateboarding to pursue a full-time career in acting. After getting started in the Kevin Smith films that led him into the cult and underground film spotlight, Lee graduated to films such as Heartbreakers, starring alongside Billy Crystal, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, and John Cusack, Stealing Harvard, alongside Tom Green, and A Guy Thing with Julia Stiles. These films upgraded Lee's star status and gave his name a little more weight in Hollywood which helped him land lead roles in the NBC and TNT television series.

Just goes to show that you don't always have to start in one part of the entertainment industry if that's the one you want to be in. Lee went from skateboarding to branding to acting within a decade and things turned out alright for this North County boy.