Recently in Around La Verne Category

I maintain that the Super Tents at University of La Verne is that city's most striking building. But one can't help but be impressed by the Metropolitan Water District building.

The Foothill Cities Blog has details, plus photos. I believe the building showed up in "National Treasure 2." The MWD site gives more information, and its address.

(Incidentally, I appear to have won a contest on that blog as its 10,000th commenter. Although my suspicion is that they just liked my comment best.)

Wednesday marks William Shakespeare's 444th birthday -- don't forget to send him an e-card -- and the University of La Verne will mark the Bard-day with a three-in-one event.

First, a dinner of Shakespearean-era food -- roast beef, pasties (meat pies), etc. -- will be served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Davenport Dining Hall. Dinner is $6.99, or two-for-one. Bring a friend, or make one in line.

Second, at 6:30, Jeffrey Kahan, an associate professor of English, will give a brief talk on the Shake-man. In case you're questioning Kahan's credentials for this lecture, he completed his Ph.D at the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham. The one in England, not the one in Alabama. His talk will be on "Hamlet" parodies.

Third, at 7:30, comes a free dress rehearsal of "Hamlet" in a shortened, two-hour version by the ULV Theatre Department. The university says the play is co-directed by "renowned Croatian director Georgij Paro," a man who must be keenly aware of Americans' impatience. Stunt men will perform mock swordfights and offer tips on how they do it.

Says ULV spokesman Charles Bentley: "This is your chance to celebrate the birth of the world’s greatest playwright, get a taste of vintage British fare ('What foods these morsels be!'), listen to a noted scholar’s musings and experience possibly the most famous play ever (and in condensed form!)."

How can it miss? Visit the quaint hamlet of La Verne for "Hamlet."

The late Evelyn Hollinger authored "La Verne, the Story of the People Who Made a Difference," a 1987 tome that tracked the area's history back 150 years, to 1837. Born in Chino in 1912, she lived in La Verne from 1954. A photo of Hollinger accompanying the introduction depicts her dressed in white and astride a bicycle. The piece's title calls her "La Verne's bike-riding historian."

I recently received an e-mail from reader Greg Ryman of La Verne about Hollinger, whom he and his wife befriended a few years prior to her death:

"She was a wonderful person and since I've always loved history she provided a wealth of information on our city. She lived at Hillcrest and ran the now-defunct Hillcrest Book Store out of a very tiny and rundown building. When she passed it was a sad day.

"The city of La Verne honored her a while after her death by dedicating a stone with a brass plaque naming the small redwood forest on the grounds of Las Flores Park (adjacent to the La Verne/University of La Verne pool) in her honor.

"A couple of times a month my wife and I would always walk by this small forest and say hi to Evelyn. Recently we noticed that one of more of our fine citizens decided to pry a large piece of the plaque off, broke it, and finally succeeded in pulling it completely off, bolts and all."

Ryman, who attached a photo of the plaque-less rock, ended his Dec. 1 note by wondering if a mention in my column might prompt city leaders to replace the plaque.

Well, nothing so drastic as a mention in my column -- talk about bringing out the heavy artillery -- was necessary.

Ryman phoned on Christmas Eve to say he had taken another walk through the park and, lo and behold, "our city replaced the plaque." How about that?

Kudos to whomever is responsible. And if you're walking through the park, look for the plaque and reflect for a moment about one of La Verne's leading lights, the bike-ridin', history-writin' Evelyn Hollinger.

Did you read this week that La Verne is getting $400,000 from county transportation funds?

The money is for a system to monitor and adjust traffic lights on White and Bonita avenues and on Arrow Highway to keep traffic moving. As a taxpayer, I think I speak for everyone when I say: What a relief! Once downtown La Verne gets a handle on its hellish traffic, we can all sleep easier.

In La Verne, the City Council finally has its first woman. Donna Nasmyth was sworn in Monday night, the first councilwoman in the city's 101-year history. You'd think a city whose name sounds like a woman's would have gotten this milestone out of the way earlier, but, well, better late than never.

(Coming soon to La Verne: electricity, flush toilets and direct-dial telephones.)

There was a celebratory mood in the council chambers. The city clerk, a woman, said it was an honor to swear in Nasmyth, and a representative of the city trash hauler, also a woman, said: "Normally I would say in a presentation to a woman that you're following in the footsteps of all the women who have gone before you, but there were no women who have gone before you."

More in my Wednesday column.