July 2009 Archives
Silina and Ilaisaane! Aunty loves you! Can't wait to see you! ... Your favorite Aunty, Kween Leenah
These are our "good dogs,'' Shera, 8 and Duncan, 13. Duncan's hearing isn't what it used to be, so in the morning Mom says ``Go get Duncan!'' and Shera runs to wake him up for her. We adopted Duncan from the Long Beach Animal Shelter and our daughter rescued Shera from a parking lot. Mary is pictured with dogs.... Charlie and Mary Jo Bradshaw
Rich Mongeau in the 1980s with his Hagenflaggon and Rich Mongeau today in 2009 visiting Gregory Kelly's Hobby Shop.
Rich Mongeau is truly a genius. I think Rube Goldberg took lessons from him. What sets Rich apart is his uncanny ability to see an old can opener or adding machine, take it apart to the gears and motor, and then rig it all up into a operating contraption he calls a Hagenflaggon. He gets that word from his Norwegian roots acquired while growing up in southern Minnesota. Rich even fabricates his own parts from surplus wood or metal, to make pulleys and governors.
Today Rich is about 82 years young. The Hagenflaggon pictured, has been disassembled. Rich now creates wooden stake-bed trucks, about three feet long, very colorful, with a pull string for 2- to 3-year-olds. In the bed he cuts up old 2-by-4s, sands off the rough edges and stacks them in for kids to play with.
My friend Rich is a rare treasure in Long Beach.
Gregory Kelly
Tustin, Ca.
We are celebrating the 106th birthday of Ms. Crossie Kennybrew. She's been with us at Royal Care Skilled Nursing Center in Long Beach since 2005. Ms. Kennybrew is a wonderful lady who enjoys reading the newspaper (Press-Telegram) and enjoys reading spiritual magazines.
Ms. Kennybrew was born on July 3, 1903, in Oklahoma. She moved to California in 1947 and it has been her home ever since.
Each year, since she came to us, we make it a point to celebrate her birthday along with the residents of our facility and our staff. The staff and the residents love her dearly and every year we all ask her, ``What is your secret?'' She simply responds with a smile.
... Dennise Herrera, Activity Director, Royal Care Skilled Nursing Center
Vauna and Catie Mae Armstrong of Lakewood check out the iconic Space Needle in Seattle.
Happy Birthday, Chang Gu! Thank you, Long Beach Animal Shelter. I was looking for a dog companion, but I wanted an older dog. I checked the shelter and there he was, waiting for me, a 6-year-old Shih Tzu. He was
perfect and has been in charge of my life for one year this June. I love you, Chang Gu.
... Billie Sheaffer
Our daughter, Ciara, participated for her fifth time at the 24th Annual Champions Run for Life, held at the Rainbow Harbor Esplanade on June 13.
We had family and friends from Northern and Southern California there to support her and other children who were or are now being treated for cancer or blood disorders at Miller Children's Hospital.
The day started off with a torch-style relay, where children or a family member would run, walk, carry or use a wheelchair, carrying a symbolic torch of hope to the next participant. After the two-hour relay, the fun continued with free food, carnival games and prizes, musical entertainment, and celebrity autographs, including the Laker Girls.
Our group, ``Family and Friends of Ciara Orpilla,'' raised almost $3,000 from online and offline donations to support the services provided by Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center.
Ciara has now been cancer and chemo-free due to the great treatment she received through the center, and this is one of the ways we are giving back.
We would like to thank all our family and friends who made this special event possible for her, and we look forward to doing it again next year. According to the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center, the event raised nearly $350,000.
... Phillip Orpilla
Coach Erick Streelman and the Valley Christian High School (Cerritos) varsity football team went to the San Diego State University Passing Tournament in June.
The game comes first ... always.
Well, almost always.
There are moments in human history that just cannot be ignored, and our games take a back seat to events that transcend our everyday lives.
Sept. 11, 2001, was one of those days. So was Dec. 7, 1941. Tragedy trumped balls and strikes.
There was also one day when the human spirit shone so bright that it was the duty of every American to bear witness. And for those of us umpiring games that day, the figurative seventh-inning stretch had to come early.
The date was July 20, 1969. For those of us who came of age in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, it's remembered as the day man conquered the last frontier, when Neil Armstrong left his indelible footprint on the moon.
I had keenly been following the progress of the Apollo mission for several days, but as fate would have it, I was scheduled to umpire a game in the Western Softball Conference between the Lakewood Jets and the East Los Angeles Braves in South Gate.
I was working as a newspaperman, and earlier in the day I followed the mission from the Associated Press wire reports. But duty called, and so I headed 10 miles north to the game site.
I took a portable radio to listen to during the game.
I gave a local kid $1 to listen for the moment when Armstrong was about to step down onto the surface: Working the plate, I thought the game was going well even though I had one ear cocked to the goings-on in space.
We were in the thick of a close contest in the fourth inning when the boy hollered ``It's about time'' while waving my radio at me.
That was my cue. I called, ``Time!,'' and called the managers together. I told them, ``The game is suspended until after Armstrong steps down on the moon.''
The East Los Angeles manager Fregozo Greco said, ``OK,'' but the Lakewood manager grumbled, ``It's a waste of time.'' I remained adamant and that's when the Lakewood manager Howie Juarez shouted, ``Get your f------ head out of the sky and pay attention to the game.
I don't mind telling you the moon rocket wasn't the only thing that was launched.
Out went the manager from the game and the site. Officially he was ejected for ``flagrant stupidity.''
Base Umpire Bill Reinal, the park kid, about 20 ballplayers and I huddled around my little radio and heard these stirring words ... ``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.''
We had made it to the moon.
And that's all I really remember from that day. And really, what else matters? The game continued in fine fashion and the better team, the Jets, won 3-1.
I later found out that while I was calling time in South Gate, 400 miles to the north of us the plate umpire for the major league game between San Francisco and Los Angeles stopped the game and the PA announcer turned the sound system on to the broadcast.
They paused for 11" minutes before the incomparable Vin Scully picked up the radio broadcast with the immortal words, ``And now, back on Earth ...''
Through six decades of officiating, I've worked thousands of contests and because the games are important, I've given my all in every single one of them.
Well, almost every one of them.
Buck Lanier of Long Beach is a retired Press-Telegram reporter whose long and varied career included covering the Vietnam War for the paper. His sports officiating career spans baseball, softball and basketball dating back 35 years. This column originally appeared in Referee Magazine in May 2006.
Erin, Matt and Tyler Stibal of Lakewood attended a Washington Nationals game at the new Nationals Park on a recent visit to Washington, D.C.
... Erin Stibal, Tustin
D.C. and Beth Sands, with longtime friends Wayne and P.J., always enjoy heading to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii for the last game of the season. However, since 2009 was the last year for the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, they thought it was only fitting that they share it with the Roving Readers. Aloha, Pro Bowl. (The 2010 Pro Bowl will be held a week before the Super Bowl in Miami.)
... D.C. Sands
Dennis Fuhriman of Bellflower went to Machu Picchu, Peru, on April 1. He writes, ``What a trip. The view and ruins were fantastic.''
Board members of the Friends of Long Beach Animals went to Las Vegas to attend the Humane Society of the United States convention in April. One night, they went out for some fun at the Riviera Hotel. They are Shirley Vaughan, left, Nona Daly, Neil Diamond tribute artist Jay White, June Walkington and Sandy Facon.
... Sandy Facon
But now that I have lost one, I realize they are much more crucial than contact lenses, they are like eyes. It is much more devastating to lose an eye than a contact.
Now my vision is not only blurry, but I'm dizzy and disoriented; it is much darker now than it was when I had two. I am much more dependent upon the one I have left. I cling to and protect what I still can.
Now life goes on and you can adjust to living half blind, but you are never quite the same.
Telling people you have 20 vision, instead of 20-20, just sounds wrong.
... Lauren Leavell
(written for her grandfather's memorial service)
Gloria Baron of Indio, Claire Vincent of Cypress, Natalie Sellers of Rossmoor, Nancy Shook of Seal Beach, Judy Hersch of Long Beach, and Fran Davern of Cypress were at Milford Sound, New Zealand, in April.
This is a picture of my family. We visited the Big Island of Hawaii the week of May 13. The volcano in the background is the very active Kilauea. Pictured from left are Leslie Rivers, our son Brendon Rivers, and dad Mickey Rivers, all from Lakewood.
Leslie Rivers
Jack Hoar and Robert Rodriguez from Naples in Long Beach recently attended the Center for Civic Education's Civitas World Congress on Civic Education in Cape Town, South Africa, after which they went on safari in Kruger National Park.
My family and I visited Washington, D.C., this past spring break. We visited the Lincoln Memorial, Ford's Theatre and The Peterson House. From left are Tony Chilelli Sr., Tony Chilelli Jr. and Jan Chilelli of Lakewood. We saved and brought with us on our trip the Press-Telegram from the day President Barack Obama's plane landed at Long Beach Airport earlier this year.
Jan Chilelli, Lakewood
Beach Futbol Club Girls U9 won the Huntington Beach Sand Soccer tournament the weekend of June 27-28. The girls did not give up a loss the entire weekend.
Front Row: Analisa Gjonovich, left, Sara Rubinell, Saige Simien, Natalie Almeida, Faith Ells, Skylar Herrera;
Back Row: Rebecca DiDonato, left, MacKenzie Haas, Kara Rae Buono, Kayce Marchak and Coach Rich Perez.
When my 2-year-old granddaughter, Breanna, tried feeding the baby giraffe, she was brave until the tongue came out.
Room 29 at Cubberley School in Long Beach proudly presents its pet rat, Lilly Jr. She's a good little rat.
2009 ACT-SO Team from left to right, Friend of Simmie Sims of Renaissance High School, Ariana Campbell of Cabrillo High, Tarah Marshall of Milikan High, Auriel Armstrong of Wilson High, Williams Taylor-Dancy of Cabrillo High, Emily Pearson of Renaissance High and Ashia Keyes of Polytechnic High and Brandon Jenkins of Cabrillo High.
The Long Beach Branch NAACP is proud to announce the 2009 ACT-SO Team representing the city of Long Beach at the National Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) Competition. The competition will be held July 8-12 in New York City. It is a major youth initiative of the NAACP. The program's theme is "Today's Youth ... Tomorrow's Legends."
The categories of competition are; Biology/Microbiology, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine and Health, Physics, Music Composition, Original Essay, Playwriting, Poetry, Dance, Dramatics, Music Instrumental/ Classical, Music Instrumental, Contemporary, Music Vocal/Classical, Music Vocal/Contemporary, Oratory, Architecture, Drawing, Filmmaking, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, and Entrepreneurship.
For further information or to make a contribution to the ACT-SO team, call the Long Beach Branch NAACP at (562)856-7586 or send your donation to LBNAACP/ACTSO Program, P.O. Box 1594, Long Beach, CA 90801.
