DAWN WELLS, best known as Mary Ann in the Sixties TV show “Gilligan’s Island,” will be the celebrity grand marshal for the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday, May 25. And yes, that is a recent photo.

If you’re over 40 years old – and maybe even if you aren’t – you’ll recognize one of the familiar faces from the Sixties TV comedy “Gilligan’s Island” coming to Garden Grove as celebrity grand marshal of the Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday, May 25.

DAWN WELLS as Mary Ann in 1964 (Wikipedia).

Dawn Wells, 80, played the role of Mary Ann, the girl-next-door character among the “seven stranded passengers” on the uncharted isle, from which they never escaped in three seasons (1964-67), 98 episodes and endless reruns.

The theme of the 61st annual festival is “Celebrating Family,” and the theme grand marshals will be members of the Esparza family of Garden Grove.

Memorial Day weekend – May 24-27 – will see an estimated 250,000 or more people attend the festival and parade that celebrates Garden Grove’s agricultural past.  The festival is at the Village Green Park at Euclid and Main streets in the downtown area, and the parade moves west along Chapman Avenue from 9th Street, turns south at Euclid Street and concludes at Stanford Ave.

The Strawberry Festival, begun in 1958, raises money for a wide variety of civic and community causes. At the Village Green, there are many booths, carnival rides, entertainment and other attractions.

For more on the festival – including the lineup of other celebrities – go to www.strawberryfestival.org.