STEVE SANDERS, president of the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Associaiton (Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune

Steve Sanders hasn’t been around the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival since it’ was founded but it might be easy to jump to that conclusion.

Sanders, 72, a retired police lieutenant and a graduate of Santiago High School, is doing his second tour of duty as president of the Festival Association, that all-volunteer organization that’s kept the event going since its inception in 1958 (or 59), depending on who’s doing the counting.

After service as a security police officer in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam Era, he came to Orange County and Garden Grove by way of the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.

Once with the GGPD, he worked with the Festival Association to assess possible threats to the event, which annually attracts as many as 250,000 people to the four-day celebration over the Memorial Day weekend.
“I was able to see what they did and the funds they raised and what they did for the common good,” said Sanders. “I started volunteering in 1981.”

He points out that all 21 of the directors who comprise the leadership of the Association are volunteers and not paid. “Everything we raise goes back into the community.”

Not only does the festival give grants to non-profit organizations annually – the most recent festival in 2025 donated almost $149,000 – but the event also helps non-profits who sponsor booths at the festival to raise money for their sports teams, band boosters, civic organizations and more.

How has the event managed to prosper through two-thirds of a century despite all the changes that society has gone through?

“It’s a family-based event,” said Sanders. “We do what we can to make it fun and affordable for everyone. You don’t have to buy anything at all. You can buy a wristband for the rides, but you can also just walk around and enjoy it.

“Come out and have some fun and support the non-profits.”