Oxnard Ready to Turn 100

Oxnard will count down to its 100th anniversary celebration next week with events that include a park concert and a reenactment of a 1913 baseball game.

The Centennial Concert and Laser Light Show, featuring the Swing Kings band, will run from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday in Plaza Park at 5th and C streets. Lawn seating is free; preferred seating is $8 for individuals or $60 for tables of six.

Also Friday, sports authors Jeff Maulhardt and Jim Elfers will moderate a multimedia presentation of a New York Giants-Chicago White Sox exhibition game played in Oxnard in 1913. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. at Heritage Square Hall, 731 South A St. Admission is free.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, actor Eddie Frierson will portray turn-of-the-century pitching great Christy Mathewson in a one-man play titled “Matty.” Admission for the play, to be staged at Pacifica High School, is $5, or free for those with a ticket to the exhibition game to be reenacted this weekend.

At that game, which begins at 3 p.m. Sunday at Oxnard College’s Condor Field, local high school athletes, dressed in period uniforms, will stage their own matchup.

The game also will feature old-fashioned entertainment and a seventh-inning horse race. Admission is $10 for bleacher seating. Bring-your-own-chair seating is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger.

A barbecue will be held before the game at Heritage Square in downtown Oxnard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.

On Monday, the 100th anniversary of Oxnard’s incorporation, the city will dedicate a time capsule at the city’s Performing Arts Center at 800 Hobson Way. In addition, a 55-minute film documentary about the city will premiere at 7 p.m. This event runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and is free, but reservations are recommended at 385-7450.

Call 483-7960 for more information about the concert and 385-7995 for information about all other events.