Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and Tony Lam, center, are joined by Westminster city and county officials in cutting the ribbon during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Children play on the new playground at Tony Lam Park during the playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen comments on the contributions made by Tony Lam during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tiny Lam, left, and his wife Hop share a laugh with Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen at the Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Lam, 88, during Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Lam, 88, during Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and Tony Lam, center, are joined children, Westminster city, county and state officials to pose for a photo during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Lam, 88, during Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Lam and his wife Hop during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tony Lam is joined by his wife Hop in offering a boy a bottle of water during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and Tony Lam, center, are joined by Westminster city and county officials in cutting the ribbon during the Tony Lam Park playground ribbon cutting ceremony in Westminster on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Over three terms on Westminster’s City Council, Tony Lam joined in on plenty of votes improving the community’s parks.
On Wednesday, the play opportunities in town were improved one more time in Lam’s name. The city celebrated the ribbon cutting on a new playground dedicated in his honor — Lam, 88, who in 1992 was believed to have been the first Vietnamese American elected to office in the United States — was previously honored in 2022 when the park on McFadden Avenue was renamed after him.
On Wednesday, as kids played behind him, Lam told a crowd of city and county officials, “Let’s all hold hands and join together to make the city go forward again.”
