KIDS POSE for a photo op with Travis Hartman of the WPD and Pako (OC Tribune photo).

Westminster became a city officially on March 27, 1957 and its 60th anniversary was celebrated a bit at the annual Spring Festival held on Saturday at the Civic Center.

HIGH JUMPING boy soars above the crown at Saturday’s Spring Festival in Westminster (OC Tribune photo).

The event, held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., included trampoline-style rides, booths, tables, kids activities, food, entertainment and more. Local performing arts groups were on stage at the Showmobile (borrowed from the City of Garden Grove) and there was a demonstration there of the policing prowess of K-9 “officer” Pako.

Local government agencies such as the Westminster Police Department and Orange County Fire Authority (which serves Westminster) were on hand with vehicles, speaking with visitors and posing for pictures

Kids, adults and pets strolled the grounds of the fair, enjoying the sunshine that followed a misty, rainy early morning.

Westminster was founded in 1870 by L.P. Webber as a Presbyterian colony, naming the community after the location in London where the leaders of his faith set down their principles.

It remained a small agricultural community until World War II. The housing boom and westward movement which followed led to rapid growth and previously unincorporated towns began to become cities in the early to mid-Fifties. Costa Mesa and Buena Park took the plunge in 1953, La Palma in 1955 and Garden Grove in 1956.

Originally what is now Westminster was to be two-thirds of “Tri-City,” a combination of Westminster, Barber City and Midway City. The latter community decided to opt out of incorporation and the older name, Westminster, was restored after voters agreed to create a city.

THE LADIES put on a a happy face – mostly – at the Spring Festival in Westminster on Saturday (OC Tribune photo).