Memories of a historic North County landmark that pioneered the County of Monterey’s parks system.

Erik Chalhoub here. Do you remember the first time you visited a park as a child? I vaguely recall being scared of the swings at a park in Aptos.

Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, meanwhile, has some early memories that are pretty unique. At 7 years old, he was at the opening of Royal Oaks Park in 1966, a park his father helped build.

That was 60 years ago, and to commemorate the park’s milestone, the County of Monterey celebrates with a party on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The park is historic beyond its anniversary: It was the first in the fledgling Monterey County Parks Department. But it was a long road to get there.

The County created a parks and recreation plan in 1944, yet it gathered dust for 20 years until then-Supervisor Warren Church took the initiative to find a piece of property within Monterey County to build a park.

Warren Church eventually connected with the owner of a turkey ranch in Royal Oaks, who was contemplating offers from strawberry growers who wanted to tear out the oak trees on the property and grow the fruit.

At a price of $122,791, the County of Monterey purchased the 122-acre property for what was to become Royal Oaks Park. The park was built quickly: Warren Church got in his tractor and dug a trench for a water line, while Public Works employees built a restroom and barbecue pit.

Royal Oaks Park, 537 Maher Road, opened on Sept. 4, 1966 for a day of picnics, baseball and other activities.

Glenn Church remembers it “being pretty busy,” with about 600 people attending. At that time, Maher Road ended near the park’s entrance, leading to some congestion.

He says there was a pie-eating contest (“I don’t think I won that one”) and he remembers wishing he could play in the horseshoe tournament, yet he was too young to enter. 

That will be remedied this Saturday.

During the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Sept. 1, Church and Chief of Parks Bryan Flores challenged each other to a competitive horseshoe match—“I’m really looking forward to giving him a good whipping,” Church said at the meeting

The party runs all day, with a disc golf tournament beginning at 9am and more than a dozen food trucks on site.

Being the first in the County system, Royal Oaks Park paved the way for all of the other parks and recreation activities we enjoy today in the unincorporated areas of the county.