February 2010 Archives

Stella, a chipin, chijuajua miniature and pinscher mix, didn't let the rain stop her from making a much-needed trip to Petco with her owner, Maureen.

This was taken on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, in downtown Montecito, California.  From left to right, Mr. Lee Ferrell, formerly of the Righteous Brothers, currently performing at McKenna's On The Bay, a comedian in his own right, and father of actor/comedian/singer Will Ferrell, Mr. Jonathan Winters, National Treasure, Emmy award winner, recipient of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for Humor award, best selling author, painter, actor, comedian, and who also served bravely during WWII, having joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17, Mr. Pat Beighley, recently retired from the Los Angeles Police Department with 37 years on the force, including 27 years as a motorcycle officer, Ms. Lucinda Winters, beautiful daughter of Mr. Winters, who orchestrated the fun-filled four hour lunch/visit, and Stu Cahn, who chauffeured Pat and Lee 212 round trip miles from Long Beach.  Appropriately, Lee is holding a Grammy headline, Jonathan is holding an Academy Award headline, and Pat is holding the announcement of the new Long Beach Police Department chief, whom Pat worked with at the LAPD, and was elated to see come to head the City of Long Beach Police Department. The afternoon was filled with many laughs, some really great stories, and was arranged so that Pat could meet his favorite comedian of all time, Mr. Jonathan Winters.  Pat said that it was the best day of his life.
                                                                                       Submitted by Stu Cahn

Here's a photo we took on our recent trip back to the "Witch City" of Salem, Mass. for the annual Halloween celebration. The picture is taken in front of the "Bewitched" statue which was given to the city by TV Land Cable Channel to commemorate Elizabeth Montgomery's, Bewitched segments that were filmed in Salem during the 70s. Pictured with a copy of our Press-Telegram is my girlfriend Lisa Jasso and myself, Rocky Shaw, who proudly call Long Beach home.

On November 18, 2009 Dustin Starr, a Senior at Wilson Classical High School became an Eagle Scout. He has been in Boy Scout Troop 74 out of the Long Beach Area Council, Los Fieros District since the 5th grade. To become an Eagle Scout, you have to attain the rank in succession through Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life.
The basic requirements for Eagle Scout include having 21 Merit Badges (some are required and some are elective), the six months of leadership in the troop after becoming a Life Scout and then plan, design, go before the Eagle Board of Review to get approval and carry out a Community Service Project. After your Service Project is complete you have to go through a Scout Master Conference followed by your Eagle Board of Review.
Dustin's project idea came from his old Alma Mater at a Long Beach Unified School District site. The volunteers demolished old wooden flower boxes and replaced them with new planter boxes with a bench in between them so the students would be able to relax during the lunch period. The project itself has to be carried out by volunteers, who happened to be Scouts, friends and family. Dustin is the supervisor and had to delegate the work while supervising safety and time management.
In all, the project took Dustin from start to finish 154 hours. His family and friends are very proud of his accomplishment and the school lunch area looks beautiful!
Congratulations to Dustin Starr!

My daughter, Alexandria Loveless, and her Wilson High teammates returned from the Santa Barbara water polo late one Saturday night. When she got up Sunday and read about the swim meet at Belmont she quizzically asked, "Wouldn't it be neat if I took the Press Telegram article to the meet and had Michael Phelps sign it?"
So she wrapped-up the August 22, 2008 Press Telegram article to protect it from the rain and I took her to the pool around 2:30 pm.
She said she knew it would be difficult to get his attention in a big meet but that she planned to talk to security and to the Belmont lifeguards she knows to find the best way to contact Michael and not interrupt him during an important event.
Ally told me that she talked to everyone she could and was told that immediately after the meet Michael would be available to sign autographs. She texted me with the "good news." Then her plan fell apart.
At 7 p.m. she called me to say that Michael was ushered out of Belmont because too many were vying for his attention.
She said she'd be home in about an hour after she and her friends got something to eat.
At around 8:30 pm she got home and ran excitedly into my office saying, "I'm sorry I'm late but I just had the most amazing time!" She had not only seen Michael Phelps, she had talked to him.
She and her friends, had gone to In N Out Burgers restaurant at 2nd and Pacific Coast Highway. When they drove into the parking lot they saw some guys and someone who looked like Michael Phelps. They went inside to see if it was Michael. She could hardly contain her excitement as she explained, talking so fast that I had to have her slow down so that I could understand her.
It was Michael Phelps! She turned and ran back to the car, almost fell, to get the Press Telegram.
Back inside, Ally was able to get Michael's attention by waving the article and he motioned her to him. She exclaimed, "Daddy, he asked me to sit down across the table from him!" He said he had been shown and remembered the article and that he would be glad to sign his autograph for her.He talked to her for what she said was only a couple of minutes saying,
"I don't remember much about what we talked about except that he told me 'to work hard at water polo and to follow my dream!'" She added that she told him that she'll "be at the Olympics with him some day" and he
told her that he'll "be looking forward to her being part of the Team USA with him!"
Moments like this create memories for a lifetime and the inspiration to reach for the stars. We are so lucky to have a man like Michael Phelps to provide inspiration for my daughter and other athletes. As a single parent and a full time dad, I am very thankful!
Of course Ally had her camera with her and had a photo taken again.

For Jennifer Halbmaier, Long Beach Airport Jet Blue employee, the immediate effect of delivering her daughter this past month was the blues.... Jet Blue that is... She is returned to work less than one week after comng home from the hospital!
When asked what the hurry was, Jenny smiled and replied, "I had the choice of doing the training now or doing it in Orlando, Florida in a few weeks. The thought of being across the country away from my daughter and husband for two weeks was just too much. So the decision was made."
Jennifer worked during her pregnancy until the week of her due date, showing much enthusiasm for a job she truly enjoys. "My daughter Tayla is now the love of my life. Jet Blue is my favorite job ever. Everything is looking great." When asked as to her short-term goals, Jenny was quick to reply, "Balance work and family and, of course, find a Jet Blue uniform in size 0-3 months!"

Waite Middle School is participanting in the "Million Word Challenge." The Million Word Challenge is a community-wide literacy campaign promoting reading outside of school time but we at Waite Middle School promote reading during school every day. The initiative challenges students to read Millions of Words throughout the school year. The "Challenge" is sponsored by Los Angeles County Office of Education, LaOpinion, Target, Southern California Gas Company, Literacy Network and many more.
At the end of each month the total words read will be tallied and announced. At the end of April one winner from each grade will have a chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate at Feria del Libro: A Family Book Fair, which will take place on June 5, 2010 on the grounds of Los Angeles City Hall. We at Waite Middle School will also acknowledge our winners with gift certificates from Barnes and Noble and Target.

Wendy and RD Bailey of Los Alamitos in front of their bure in Fiji where they celebrated their 40th anniversary. They spent 2 1/2 weeks in Fiji following 3 1/2 weeks on the North Island of New Zealand.

Rich and Linda Boyd of Long Beach recently visited the Big Apple, shown here in Time Square. During their visit with daughter Erin and son Brayden, the Boyd family took in the typical tourist sights that included a current Broadway musical, In the Heights, at the Richard Rogers Theater. The family visited Ground Zero where construction is moving forward on a new high rise building and memorial park. Manhattan was a busy destination, with many vacationers enjoying themselves on Broadway and at the popular Metropolitan Museum of Art.                                                                           Submitted by Richard Boyd

Owen and Glenda Walls were teenagers when they first met in Long Beach over 70 years ago. They quickly fell in love and married. Devoted to each other, only the war separated them for a brief period of time but, the days that followed World War II were spent together. Today they have been married for over 67 years.
Owen and Glenda have called their house on Monlaco Rd in Long Beach home for the last 53 years. Early on, they owned their own local plumbing business - Lakewood Plumbing Company. They kept the business for about 15 years, and ran it, while they raised their four children. Glenda ran the office of their plumbing company with one hand and ran the business of family with the other. Owen and Glenda eventually sold the family business and Owen became a Plumbing Inspector for the City of Long Beach where he worked until he retired.
With the support of Owen, Glenda stayed involved with her children and active in the local community. She served as a leader for Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and was President of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). When her children became adults she became active in other local Long Beach clubs, serving as President of a Writing Club and the President of the Women's Association of Plumber's Wives.
Later, Glenda became a very active and nationally recognized member of the Long Beach Emblem Club #106, a charitable foundation that raises money for Children's Charities. Glenda helped raise funds for local organizations such as the Long Beach Tichners Dental clinic, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, The Austistic Society, as well as The Long Beach Police Department. With the support of Owen, she was able to hold the office of President four separate times.
Owen is now 88 and Glenda is 86. Over the years Owen and Glenda's four children grew into a dynasty of 56 family members. The totals to date are four children and their three spouses, twenty-one grandchildren, and twenty eight great grandchildren.
Among the many things Owen and Glenda handed down to the newer generations was their passion for travel. On December 21 to 24, 2009, they took a 3-day Christmas cruise out of Long Beach with 13 family members from all of the four generations. The Great Grandchildren, now spanning in age from 14 to 20 years old, forewent tangible Christmas presents to take the cruise with "Nana and Papa" (AKA Owen and Glenda). Everyone believed that spending time with them as a family was the greatest gift that could be given during this season. As testimony to that spirit, all family members attended a Karaoke session on the Carnival Paradise. There the six attending Great Grand Children got up on stage while wearing Santa hats and sang "All I Want for Christmas is You". They dedicated the song to their watching Great Grand Parents (Nana and Papa) - our family's heroes.

Here are pictures from "Jump for the Record." On Monday, February 1, at exactly 9 a.m., Lowell School joined approximately 80,000 children throughout the State of California in a mass attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the, Most People Jumping/Skipping Rope at the Same Time.
From 9 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. on the Lowell playground, our students skipped rope along with other schools to break the existing Guinness World Record of 59,000 people, held by Australia. Our participants were among 80,000 Californians to jump over the record from down under. This event was a great and fun reminder that it doesn't require a great deal of money or expensive equipment to be healthy, fit and fight childhood obesity. All it requires is perhaps a good pair of shoes and a jump rope. Since this was a joint effort with the American Heart Association, donations were also collected for the American Heart Association.

Our school, Grace Christian Schools of Long Beach recently collected shoes from our school families for the Soles for Souls program through Sports Chalet. Here are some of our 6th graders with the shoes they collected for the people of Haiti.
Early Wednesday mornings finds my colleague, Jill Hoover and I on playground duty. At the beginning of the school year the mornings are very pleasant. However, when the cold frosty mornings began, it was evident by the lack of jackets that our students were not prepared for the cold. Some students were even staying home because of the lack of warm clothing.

The same week the cold mornings were felt, I read in the Parkcrest Church bulletin the high school department was having a jacket drive. I contacted the high school director, Rachel Oblon and inquired if the McKinley students could benefit from the jacket drive. She told me one of the high school students, Katie Kelly, was coordinating the drive and then she generously offered to dedicate the entire jacket drive to our school.

We sent a flyer out to parents telling them they could come to our school cafeteria on a specific Saturday with their student and pick out a jacket. Rachel and Katie brought a team of dedicated Parkcrest volunteers down to McKinley with 430 jackets early on that Saturday morning. The line of parents and students stretched down the block. Our community along with Parkcrest Church, really came through for our kids and beautiful jackets were handed out to the students and their families.

It takes a village.

Marilyn Christensen, of Norwalk, took this picture of her friends; Jean Proost, Phyllis Crofford, Jan Long, Donna Glendinning and Elaine Putman while visiting the Hard Rock Cafe on Beal Street, Downtown Memphis, TN. in June 2009.

Eddie Claunch, formerly of Long Beach standing in front of the Space Shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A, Cape Canaveral, Fla. with the August 10, 2009 Press-Telegram. Claunch grew up in Long Beach and attended Millikan High. He now lives in Cocoa Beach.

Long Beach natives Fred Dunn and his daughter, Janine traveled to China for 16 days as part of a delegation of World War II Veterans who served in the CBI (China/Burma/India Theater). After visiting The Flying Tiger Memorial and Zhi Jiang Air Force Base, where the Japanese Emperor surrendered, and other historic WWII locations, we visited Hong Kong. We are pictured here, with our Press Telegram, on the "Avenue of the Stars" in Hong Kong Harbor with the Bruce Lee statue.