MYRTLE BEACH — About 150 people gathered in council chambers at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center to celebrate the 75th birthday of Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach was incorporated March 12, 1938, and 75 years later the city celebrated with music, punch and a huge cake. City staff members serenaded the crowd with their renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” and “Under the Boardwalk” by The Drifters.

The city invited those who shared a birthday with Myrtle Beach to attend the festivities, with Connecticut resident Robert Boland – who also turned 75 Tuesday – stepping up to blow out the candles on the sandcastle-shaped cake.

Boland said he visits Myrtle Beach for three months each year.

The party kicked off a year’s worth of birthday celebrations for the city.

Mayor John Rhodes, after looking back over how Myrtle Beach has developed over the past 75 years, said he has high expectations for what the next 75 years will bring.

“You better buckle up your seatbelt and hold on because it’s going to be a hell of a ride,” he said.

Contact MAYA T. PRABHU at 444-1722 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_MPrabhu.