May 26, 2022

By Amanda Scurlock

Sport Editor

 

Olympic silver medalist Rosalyn Bryant-Clark and two-time Paralympian gold medalist Breanna Clark will be one of the many celebrities featured in the parade for the 62nd Annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival. The festival is returning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just so nice for Breanna to get to be recognized,” Bryant-Clark said. “You win medals and you break world records and then to get recognized somewhere and to go to a place where you’re not performing … you just get to have fun.”

The mother-daughter duo will also take part in the Opening Ceremony that includes the traditional cutting of a 70-foot-long tiered Strawberry Shortcake, a VIP pancake breakfast prior to the parade, and autograph signing after the parade.

“Rosalyn Bryant-Clark and Breanna are two world champions,” said Festival publicist Steve Moyer. “We’re so honored to have them participate as some of our celebrities in this parade.”

The Strawberry Festival will be located at Village Green Park on Main Street and Euclid Street in Garden Grove.

The Festival lasts from May 27-30 and the parade is on May 28 at 10 a.m. 

It will include 153 vendors and food booths and 33 carnival rides along with contests, live music, and other activities. The profits from the rides and food will go to non-profit organizations in Garden Grove.

The festival is also busing 2,000 children with special needs and learning disabilities to enjoy the rides and lunch for free on Thursday.

Bryant-Clark aided the women’s 4x1600m relay team in earning silver during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She is also the only woman to win in the 100m, 200m, and 400m in the NCAA championships. In 1985, Bryant-Clark was inducted into the Cal State LA Hall of Fame.

Bryant-Clark also became a coach to Clark, helping her qualify and win gold for the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where she competed in the 400m T20, a category for Paralympians with intellectual impairments.

 

Since Rio, Clark has broken the world record for the 400m T20 several times including during her final heat in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Her 55.18s time earned her a second gold medal while breaking her own world record; Clark persevered through a rainstorm to complete the feat.

“She was on the track, I was in the stands. I said, ‘Stick to the plan,’ and she did,” Bryant-Clark said.

“I thought she would win, but with the pouring down rain, I never thought she would break the record.”

Clark recently received a Paralympian of the Year Award from Spectrum TV. U.S. Representative Karen Bass also gave her a Congressional award after returning home from Tokyo.

Clark was diagnosed with autism at the age of four.

Her parents ardently researched autism to provide for her.

Meanwhile, her talents flourished into her becoming a stand-out on the Dorsey Dons track and field team and the first Pasadena City College student to become a South Coast Conference champion in the 400m.

“It’s just amazing when I thought about 40 years after myself being an Olympian that my daughter is now a Paralympian, that was in 2016,” Bryant-Clark said. “Never, never underestimate the power of God.”

For more information about the Strawberry festival, visit https://strawberryfestival.org/.

Category: Sports