He conceived this year’s OC Fair theme: “Find Your Happy,” and with his imagination and the help of one full-time and six part-time workers/artists, he’s leading the way.

By the time the monthlong fair opens in Costa Mesa on Friday, July 18, Willmann will have spent 960 hours planning and prepping, and he and his team will have spent four weeks setting up.

Willmann, 31, oversees the design of the entire 150-acre fairgrounds.

It’s a dream job for a creative California guy who started out as a 6-year-old decorating family weddings before studying theater in Fullerton, pushing magic out of Mary Poppins’ bag in community theater, and haunting Knott’s Berry Farm.

His artistic flair is evident everywhere at the fair. But a focal point is the Sand and Sea exhibit in the 19,285-square-foot OC Promenade building.

“This is my main kahuna,” Willmann said of the exhibit, which features visual and artistic details in every corner.

Elements of the exhibit, which debuted last year, spent the long offseason in storage at the fairgrounds, packed in 8-by-20-foot shipping containers.

Disguised as art, with hand-painted murals on each side, the containers were moved into the Promenade last month, and their storage area became the so-called swine tent, home for 4-H animals that will be coming for the fair.

“When the stuff comes out, the pigs go in,” Willmann joked.

From the containers, workers unpacked enough display cases, refrigerators and knick-knacks to fill the cavernous Promenade where Willmann’s vision takes flight.

Sand and Sea will feature 10 local landmark displays where visitors can learn about the community’s history. There will be crafts, culinary demonstrations, live music, touch tanks with fish, and virtual-reality deep-sea dives. Visitors can participate in a scavenger hunt for prizes and learn about local coastlines, Willmann said.

Large cabinets will display the thousands of cookies, cakes, pies and other culinary delights submitted by the public for judging.

Creating excitement

Willmann was born and raised in Hanford, a central California town he described as quiet and “known for its historic downtown, dairy industry and really good ice cream.”  There was not much for a kid to do there.

“I had to create my excitement,” he recalled. “I think that’s where my creativity was born.”

Willmann’s mother was one of 16 children. With that came huge family weddings.

“We had no wedding planners or decorators,” Willmann said. His mother, eight aunts “and little Mathew” would gather at Aunt Fatima’s house, just a few doors down from his own. There, they would hand sew hundreds of napkins and tablecloths for events.

His older sister had no interest in any of it. “She got the brains,” Willmann said. “I got the creativity.”

When Willmann was 12, he wanted to redecorate his bedroom, so he got a job at the Hanford Sentinel as a newspaper boy. Delivering 72 papers every day, he earned enough money to buy all new furniture from Walmart.

In high school, Willmann led the theater set and prop team, which piqued his interest in theatrical design. In 2011, he enrolled at Cal State Fullerton and majored in theater. While a student, he got a job at Knott’s Berry Farm, selling skull-shaped shot glasses from a tiny booth under the clickety wooden Ghost Rider roller coaster.

Willmann’s next “super exciting” job was at a prop and set dressing company in Torrance, where he earned $500 a show. As a prop master, Willmann was responsible for creating the magical props used in a “Mary Poppins” production, figuring out how to make a 6-foot-tall coat rack fit into a big purse.

He hid under a table during productions at the Redondo Performing Arts Center in Torrance and the historic Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, piecing the rack together as quickly as the Poppins actress pulled it out. It took a lot of coordination and nonverbal communication, he said.

After graduating from college Willmann again worked at Knott’s, this time as a seasonal employee in the prop and set dressing department. He was promoted to head of the department after two years and stayed there for 11, creating mazes and dead bodies for Halloween, decorating 32 Christmas trees in winter, and crafting oversized pie sculptures for the park’s roving Snoopy.

But Willmann’s creative mind wandered. He wanted to do more design work, he said, and the OC Fair offered him free rein without a template.

He was hired three years ago and designed the Sand and Sea exhibit for last year’s fair. “It highlights our coastline and the businesses and organizations that make it so magical,” he said.

This year’s version will be similar, but with fresh touches such as Sandra Castle, one of several strolling characters who will perform on-the-spot activities with guests to inspire creativity, Willmann said.

His goal is to bring as many of the fair’s expected 1 million visitors into the Promenade from its two wide entrances during the 23-day run. He wants to educate visitors about the environment with compelling displays and “trick them into learning something” about beaches and protecting wildlife, Willmann said. “Effortless learning is my motto.”

Recently, Sarah Vanderpool spotted Willmann and stopped to hug him. The 8-year employee made him blush as she complimented his work. “You don’t think out of the box,” she enthused, “You created the box!” Then added, “and you have a gentle heart.”

Willmann credits his band of artists.

“Their skill sets are so varied,” he said. “I give them loose design ideas with parameters. I don’t want the building to look only like my brain.”

Allowing different styles is “so diversifying and resonates with different people,” he added.

After the fair opens, Willmann will be roaming the Promenade, pad and pen in hand, taking notes, observing how people react to his team’s creations, and thinking about next year’s design.

Hint: It might have something to do with National Parks.

If you go

When: The OC Fair is open Wednesdays through Sundays from July 18 to Aug. 17; hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays

Where: The OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: General admission is $13 on Wednesdays and Thursdays and $15 on other days; seniors and children are $9 daily. Tickets, which are already on sale, must be purchased at ocfair.com/tickets and there is a daily attendance cap, so popular dates may sell out. There is a $60 everyday passport available.

For more information: ocfair.com/tickets

Roman and Cristina Cota enjoy weekly 3-mile walks in nature.

“That first whiff of pines,” Roman explained, is invigorating.

The couple drives only a few miles from their Whittier home to a “hidden wilderness” nestled at the foot of Coyote Hills in Buena Park: Ralph B. Clark Regional Park.

Clark Regional Park’s 104 acres include an open grass area with sports fields and a human-made fishing lake stocked with catfish from March through October and trout from November through February. It also features a horseshoe pit (bring your own horseshoes), three playgrounds, including one with a small rock climbing wall, and climbing rocks packed with fossils for kids to discover.

The treat for many visitors, however, is a 1.1-mile dirt trail, nestled between dense trees and native foliage, that snakes along the park’s perimeter.

From above, there’s a view of the park’s bright green fields and stunning sandstone cliffs to the north. Benches along the way invite walkers to sit, take a breather from everyday life, and perhaps ponder the area’s history.

More than 10,000 years ago, this part of today’s Orange County was inhabited by mammoths, ground sloths and ring-tailed cats that roamed marshes, grassy meadows, and oak woodlands.

When the California Division of Highways was building the I-5 and 91 freeways from 1956 to 1973, workers used sand and gravel from the area, then the Emery Borrow Pit. They discovered rich fossil beds there. Those beds have been preserved, but can only be visited during scheduled guided programs.

The significance of the site led to public demand that it be preserved, according to an OC Parks website. As a result, Orange County acquired the property in 1974 and opened Los Coyotes Regional Park in 1981. Six years later, it was renamed after retiring County Supervisor Ralph B. Clark, who was also an urban environmentalist. He died in 2009 at 92.

The park’s interpretive center, which reopened in 2023 after an $800,000 renovation, gives visitors access to some of the county’s collection of fossils and artifacts, many uncovered in the park but also elsewhere in Orange County. A fishbowl lab lets visitors watch how the fossils are prepared for research and display.

The center is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

On a recent weekday, the park had a steady flow of diverse visitors.

Retired carpenters and long-time buddies Jimmy McGowen and David Lucero were pitching horseshoes. They usually walk around the park’s three miles of paved and unpaved trails.

“It’s a peaceful little paradise,” Lucero said.

Wendy Cha was standing beneath a tree reading a spiritual self-help book. The Portland resident was visiting her parents, who were grilling lunch near a park bench. “I like taking in all the greenery and nature,” the former Orange County resident said. “There’s not much sun in Portland.”

Meanwhile, grocery manager David Servin used his lunch break to get in some catch-and-release fishing.

“I find it relaxing,” he said, although he didn’t have much luck catching.

Four-year-old Alex Gron and 2-year-old Samuel Aguilera were looking for fossils in boulders. They explored together like two old friends, although they had just met.

Alex’s mother, Nancy Gron, remembered climbing on the same rocks her son now scurried over.

“My mom had six kids so she took us here a lot,” she said. “I’ve come full circle.”

Get outside

Location: 8800 Rosecrans Ave., Buena Park

Hours: Open 365 days a year, 7 a.m. to sunset

Amenities:

• Amphitheater

• Barbeques

• Baseball fields

• Family picnic area

• Lake for fishing: Five-fish catch limit for catfish and trout.  California fishing license required for anyone over 16.

• Hiking trails

• Horseshoe pits

• Interpretive Center

• Model sail boating

• Three playgrounds/tot lots, one featuring a small climbing wall

• Restrooms

• Tennis courts

• Volleyball courts

Parking fees: $3 per vehicle weekdays; $5 weekends

For more information and schedule of planned events: ocparks.com/clarkpark

Orange. Magenta. Sky blue. Red.

From a distance, they seemed to cheer the Cal State Fullerton campus on Wednesday, April 16. But up close, the messages were halting, not whimsical.

“A child can’t consent.” “You raped me, but it does not define me.”  “You broke me, but I repaired myself.” “I forgive you.”

The display was part of The Clothesline Project, an annual exhibit that aims to empower victims of sexual assault. It coincides with Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“One in four women will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18,” said Vanessa Reyna of Waymakers, a nonprofit that oversees Orange County’s sexual assault victim services program and sponsors the traveling exhibit.

“Each shirt represents a person,” Reyna said. “It represents each survivor’s story. This is more impactful than statistics.”

As people strolled past the display on Wednesday, a butterfly, often a symbol of transformation, change and rebirth, perched itself on a light blue shirt.

The Clothesline Project launched in 2001 with eight T-shirts. In the 24 years since, its organizers have collected 1,300 shirts. Victims can anonymously create a T-shirt that will be rotated in displays.

The project will visit Irvine Valley College on April 29 and Cypress College on May 7. Waymakers’ Rape Crisis Hotline is 714-957-2737.

Among those killed were three Santa Ana Valley High School students – including the driver who had recently turned 18 – and a 20-year-old woman, Officer Natalie Garcia said. Their identities had not yet been made public by police.

Another passenger, a girl who attends Carr Intermediate School, was in grave condition at the hospital, Garcia said.

The sixth occupant, a girl who attends Santa Ana Valley High School, was expected to survive.

“Our entire SAUSD community is devastated by this unimaginable loss. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and our thoughts remain with the two individuals who are recovering,” the Santa Ana Unified School District said in a statement Monday. “We are working closely with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident. In the meantime, our focus remains on supporting the students, staff, and families affected by this tragedy.”

The district said crisis counselors and mental health professionals will be made available at both Valley High School and Carr Intermediate School to support anyone in need and are in contact with the families of all the students involved to offer support and assistance.

It was unclear where the six occupants were headed in the Lexus sedan before the crash, which occurred shortly after Segerstrom Avenue curves to the right.

The driver was believed to have been speeding before colliding with a tree in the median while traveling westbound between Raitt and Greenville streets just before 11:25 p.m. Saturday night, police have said.

Among the crash victims were two pairs of sisters and another family member related to one of the pairs, Garcia said, though as of Monday it was unclear which of them were among the dead.

The crash occurred near Carl Thornton Park and police have said that some of the occupants were wearing seatbelts while others were not. The driver was believed to have been speeding before the crash, police have said.

Drugs or alcohol may have factored into the crash.

A memorial of white crosses, flowers, balloons and candles was erected in the median on Sunday and continued to grow Monday, with a handful of people stopping by the crash site.

Angel Garcia, 17, stopped by the median Monday afternoon and set down a candle and a bouquet of red silk flowers after learning his ex-girlfriend had been among those killed.

“It’s really hard, I’ve never experienced this pain in my heart,” Garcia said. “Never in a million years did I think this would happen.”

Garcia found out about the crash from a cousin of the girl, whom he said he dated for two years after they met through social media. They attended Carr Intermediate School together, he said, adding that she loved red flowers.

He described her as a sweet person, always kind.

Four people were killed and two were injured when a speeding car filled with mostly high school students crashed into a tree in Santa Ana, authorities said Sunday, April 6.

The crash occurred around 11:25 p.m. Saturday on Segerstrom Avenue, between Raitt and Greenville streets and a few blocks west of Carl Thornton Park, the Santa Ana Police Department said.

The small Lexus sedan was speeding westbound on Segerstrom, where it struck the tree, according to Officer Natalie Garcia.

“Some were wearing their seatbelts, others were not,” she said.

Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, Garcia said. Paramedics rushed two others to a hospital, where one was listed in critical condition.

Some of the occupants of the car were believed to be siblings or family members, and were in their teens and early 20s, Garcia said.

Drugs or alcohol may have contributed to the crash, she said.

Narda Alvarez, who has lived nearby on Segerstrom and Griset Place for 20 years, said she heard “a big, terrible noise,” that she likened to the sound of an airplane crashing.

She saw the aftermath, the wreckage of a car between two trees. Her neighbor, who lives across the street, started directing traffic around the crash. Alvarez said Segerstrom is a very busy street with lots of speeding drivers and that something needs to be done.

“We need police help or traffic lights,” she said.

Yolanda Gomez, who lives in Alvarez’s home, said there is a homeless man who sleeps on the sidewalk across from where the crash occurred. Her first concern was that he was hurt. He wasn’t, but she said he may have seen everything.

No further information was available as of Sunday afternoon.

City News Service contributed to this report.

The winner has the option of receiving the jackpot in 30 installments or a lump sum of around $243.8 million, the California Lottery announced. Both options are before taxes.

The $526.5 million was revised upward from initial reports that pegged it at around $515 million, the Powerball website said.

The 7-Eleven store that sold the ticket is at 763 North Euclid Street, south of La Palma Avenue.

It wasn’t immediately known who purchased the ticket or when it would be claimed.

RMG News, an independent news video provider, reported a store worker, having learned the winning ticket was sold there, called the store owner on Saturday evening and told them: “It’s a jackpot from our store.”

“We got it, someone bought it from here  … We are very happy,” the unidentified worker said.

The store owner will get the maximum bonus of $1 million from the California Lottery, said Carolyn Becker, lottery spokesperson, on Sunday.

A steady stream of customers flowed in and out of the Anaheim store during a mostly quiet Sunday morning, walking out with milk, bottled water and in some cases, Scratchers.

Some passersby in their vehicles slowed down at the sight of TV news vans in the parking lot, a few of them rolling down their windows to ask, “What happened?” before hearing the news that a winning ticket had been sold.

Scott Heathcote, a retired Army Reserve officer, said he was jealous when he heard the news that someone had bought a winning ticket at the store that he frequents once a week to get a newspaper.

He said he’s purchased tickets in other nearby stores. If he won, he said, he’d “work on my house, upgrade a car” and help his friend whose muscle car was recently stolen in the Bay Area.

Heathcote then had second thoughts about trading in his Honda Civic for a Porsche.

“Maybe I’ll keep the Honda for getting milk and going to the gym,” he said. He took photos of the news vans outside before driving off in his Civic.

The store owner said the corporate 7-Eleven office asked him not to give interviews.

The numbers drawn Saturday evening were 7, 11, 21, 53, 61 and the Powerball number was 2.

The drawing was the 29th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

There were five tickets sold with five numbers, but missing the Powerball number — two in Georgia and one each in Ohio, Oregon and Texas, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which conducts the game. They are each worth $1 million.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The overall chance of winning a prize is 1 in 24.9.

The Powerball game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The jackpot for Monday’s drawing will be $20 million.

Winning Powerful jackpots have gone over $1 billion in recent years.

The highest one, a $2.04 billion jackpot, was won in Southern California in a Powerball drawing on Nov. 7, 2022. That ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena.

The winner, Edwin Castro, elected to take the lump sum, which was a little more than $997 million, Becker said.

Castro declined to appear at a press conference in Sacramento announcing the winner. Instead, he sent a statement expressing how stunned he was, but also his support of how the Lottery helps fund public education.

“As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California public school system,” he said. “The mission of the California Lottery, which is to provide supplemental funding for California public education – both public schools and colleges – makes this a huge win for the state. As someone who received the rewards of being educated in the California public education system, it’s gratifying to hear that, as a result of my win, the California school system greatly benefits as well.”

Joseph Chahayed, the owner of Joe’s Service Center, earned a $1 million bonus as the retailer who sold Castro that winning ticket.

The $526.5 million winner was the second Powerball jackpot won this year; the jackpot was previously won on Jan. 18, by an Oregon lottery player who claimed a $328.5 million prize, the lottery said in a news release.

Nerdwallet explained how the jackpots differ from the cash value of winning tickets:

“When a lottery like Powerball advertises a big jackpot, like the $1.326-billion prize won in April 2024, it doesn’t have that sum sitting in a vault, ready to be handed to the next winner. Instead, lottery jackpots are calculated based on how much money you’d get if the sum of the current prize pool were invested in an annuity for three decades. That means you would eventually get the full sum, but it would take 30 years.

“With the annuity option, you would receive a first payment when you win, followed by 29 annual payments that increase each year by 5%. If you were to die before all the annual payments were made, the rest would become part of your estate.”

Becker said most big winners take the lump sum.

If a player recognizes that they have a gambling problem or if someone knows of someone who may have a problem, the California Lottery recommends calling the California Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-800-GAMBLER.  

Glow of Powerball jackpot shines on Altadena business

City News Service contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: This is a monthly feature on notable regional parks in Orange County, which is rich with places to get outside and have fun with the family and explore nature.

Look at a 1940s aerial photo of what is now called Mile Square Regional Park, and you’ll see a concrete airfield shaped like a triangle.

The United States Navy had purchased a square mile of agricultural land in the early years of World War II and built the airfield. It was used as a military training field, along with the El Toro and Santa Ana Marine Corps air stations, until 1970.

Flash forward, and the view from above today shows a square mile of lush greenery, a nature center, two lakes, a sports park, an archery range, a fitness trail and golf courses. The concrete runways are nowhere to be seen.

In 1970, the first 85-acre phase of the county park opened in Fountain Valley, turning the concrete into an amenity for residents.

The now 607-acre park has seen celebrations, fundraising walks, festivals and protests. A bronze statue pays homage to President Ronald Reagan, who announced his re-election campaign at the park in 1984. In 1991, the Doobie Brothers performed a free outdoor concert to 35,000 fans.

Day to day, Mile Square Park envelopes people from many walks of life who come together for similar purposes: exercise, tranquility and fun.

On a recent Saturday, Sean and Alexia Mobasser kissed on a little wooden bridge leading to the Palm Island Gazebo. Freshly married that day, the newlyweds did a dance dip as wedding photographer Caroline Ho captured the moment.

Ho, with Serendipity the Venue, knows the scenic shooting spots. In the last six months, she has photographed about 40 clients at the park because of its picturesque landscape, she said.

Mid-week, Steve Lee strolled through his favorite park and interacted with squirrels.

“To say (Mile Square Park) is nice is an understatement,” he said. There are parks nearer to Lee’s Santa Ana home, but he doesn’t mind driving a little farther to find stress-relieving serenity.

“Some people go to Disneyland. Some people go to Knott’s Berry Farm,” he said. “I come here.”

Get outside

Location: Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley is bordered by Edinger Avenue to the north, Warner Avenue to the south, Brookhurst Street to the west and Euclid Street to the east.

Amenities:

• Archery range: Only large groups are required to make a reservation, and may require a permit. The range is closed for maintenance every Thursday from 7 to 11 a.m.

• Badminton and table tennis: Available to the public free of charge from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends at Freedom Hall on a first come, first served basis. Equipment is available to loan for free.

• Barbeques

• Sports fields: Reservations are required and may require a permit.

• Basketball and racquetball courts

• Bicycling/bike trails: Bike Rental: Come explore the 640-acre Mile Square Regional Park on a bike!

• Wheel Fun Rentals offers a variety of bicycles for rent. There are two bike rental locations, the north location (closest to Edinger Avenue) is open year round, while the south location (closest to Warner Avenue) is open February and October.  Information: wheelfunrentals.com/warner

• Boat rental: Swan Boat rentals are per-person and $11 an hour for adults and $6 an hour for children You can find the swan boats at the north lake. Information: wheelfunrentals.com/edinger

• Camping: A one-night stay overnight camping facility is available to reserve for organized youth groups. Camp Sycamore is designed as a “first camping experience” for children ages 6 and 12. Reservations must be made at the park office.

• Family picnic area

• Fishing: a fishing license is required for persons 16 years and older

• Fitness/par course

• Golf courses

• Nature area: 15 acres, open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Playground/tot lot

• Volleyball Court

Contact the park office 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Information: ocparks.com/parks-trails/mile-square-regional-park

Kevin Skinner, a 56-year-old fire apparatus engineer from Fallbrook, fell ill shortly before 5 a.m. Fellow firefighters immediately performed life-saving measures and he was transported to Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, but he did not survive.

Skinner and his crewmembers had responded to an active kitchen fire in a two-story home on the 2900 block of Pointe Royale in Laguna Niguel, OCFA chief Brian Fennessy said at a news conference on Sunday morning.

While searching the home for any residents who may have been left behind, Skinner told his captain he wasn’t feeling well. He was escorted outside to a paramedic unit where he suddenly collapsed, Fennessy said.

A 25-year veteran at OCFA, Skinner worked as both a firefighter and apparatus engineer — serving as a driver for the fire engine and tasked with securing the water supply and pumping out water.

Prior to his role with OCFA, Skinner spent four years in the US Navy. He is survived by his wife Lucia and three children, Sierra, Kate and Zac.

“Kevin was well-liked throughout our agency and had a gift for making everyone around him feel welcomed,” Fennessy said. “His presence will be missed.”

Skinner was “a dedicated member of the OCFA family, serving with distinction and unwavering commitment to the community” the OCFA said in a news release.

“His loss is deeply felt by his colleagues and the countless lives he touched during his career,” the agency said.

One woman was found inside the home on Pointe Royale and was assessed for smoke inhalation, OCFA Capt. Thanh Nguyen said.

Later on Sunday, a procession of firefighters and police cars, with blue and red lights flashing, accompanied Skinner’s body north on the I-5 freeway to the Orange County Coroner’s office. Fire trucks from various cities, including Anaheim and Orange, parked on several overpasses and solemnly saluted as the convoy passed below.

Some motorists paused at the sight and honked their horns to show support.

At the coroner’s office in Santa Ana, a large flag hung from a ladder truck as a line of uniformed personnel saluted.

It was National Family Volunteer Day, an annual event that falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and 2,000 volunteers of all ages had come together to help their community while also managing to have fun.

Employees from each company – teamed up with co-workers and their families – were in a friendly competition to assemble the most boxes of staples to help older, low-income residents get enough food.

“Let’s go Edison, let’s go,” 9-year-old Ace Potter bellowed from a portable microphone and speaker. He was cheering on the company where his mother, Erika, works.

Five-year-old Gus Begakis, his baseball cap with “VOLUNTEER” in stitched green letters turned backward, was with his parents. His mother, Bronwen Begakis, another Edison worker, was there to instill a sense of community service and “teach him by example,” she said.

Also, Gus was good at fitting into small gaps to collect trash, Begakis joked.

After OC Food Bank Director Mark Lowry tallied the morning’s stats, he announced the first-shift winner: Edison International. The company’s 240 volunteers had packed 7,515 boxes for the Senior Food Box Program.

By the end of the day, the collective effort would yield 20,340 of the supplemental food boxes – each 32-pound container is expected to last the recipient about three weeks with nonperishable items such as cereal, beans, lentils and juice.

Lowry reminded people, “It’s never about boxes, bottles or cans. It’s about the people” served by the work.

The Community Action Partnership of Orange County, which runs the food bank, has hosted the event since it started in 2006. To date, almost 20,000 volunteers have assembled 415,575 food boxes.