Placentia Ca History

The Sandovals, all 32 of them, live within walking distance of the restaurant that the family patriarch and matriarch, Gereon and Adela Sandoval, founded in 1974. Called El Farolito--Spanish for "the little street light"--the restaurant is in the heart of Placentia's historic downtown and is managed by the founders' youngest son, Arturo Sandoval, with help from six of his seven siblings, their spouses and many of their children.

Members of a local group said this week that they have lost all hope of saving the city's last orange grove. Preserve Our Past founder John Penner made a final, but unsuccessful, plea to the City Council on Tuesday night to reconsider validating petitions he and other group members had collected to let local voters decide whether the city should buy the $2-million Brower orchard.

A local effort to save Placentia's last orange grove suffered another serious blow Wednesday, when a petition drive fell short of the number of signatures needed for a November ballot measure urging the city to buy the $2-million orchard and preserve it. Marie Mascias, deputy city clerk of Placentia, said Wednesday that the group Preserve Our Past collected 1,929 valid signatures--171 short of the 2,100 needed for an initiative on the general election ballot.

The Sandovals, all 32 of them, live within walking distance of the restaurant that the family patriarch and matriarch, Gereon and Adela Sandoval, founded in 1974. Called El Farolito--Spanish for "the little street light"--the restaurant is in the heart of Placentia's historic downtown and is managed by the founders' youngest son, Arturo Sandoval, with help from six of his seven siblings, their spouses and many of their children.