Kennedy High’s football team took 2nd place in the recent Troy Clash of Champions passing tournament in Fullerton. Passing tournaments pit seven players against each other, running and defending passing and running plays without sets of linemen. In the finals, Kennedy lost to a very talented Santa Monica team who went undefeated on the day. Kennedy began the day beating a skilled Troy High team, 21-18, and then beat Woodbridge High, 30-6. The final game of pool play resulted in a loss to Cypress by a score of 18-6. Kennedy ended pool play as the 5th seed overall. They faced Corona in the first round of playoffs beating them by a score of 30-18. Kennedy found themselves playing Cypress HS in the quarterfinals and beat them 33-6. The semifinal matchup was between Kennedy and Troy High and resulted in 30-21 victory. In the seventh and final game of the day Kennedy battled a very talented Santa Monica team and lost by a score of 30-6. Kennedy had outstanding performances by many players. Quarterbacks Devin Almazan (co 2025) and Derek Almazan (co 2026) threw the ball well all day combining for 25 touchdown passes. WR/SS Rocco Street (co 2026) had multiple receiving touchdowns and interceptions on defense. WR/FS Deon Bynum (co 2025) also had multiple receiving touchdowns and interceptions on defense.
Dreamotion Studios short film made by McGaugh 5th grader premieres in Hollywood
It’s hard to understand how a few minutes of celluloid and music can evoke such powerful emotions, but such was the case Sunday as four young stars had their name in lights as London Houghton’s short film “Breaking Plans” premiered in Hollywood.
After more than a year in the making, young London’s film was shown this week at the TCL Grauman’s Chinese Theater complex as part of the Dances with Films Festival.
Houghton, a fifth-grader at McGaugh Elementary School, was able to get the school involved in the film, and many of the parents and administration were part of the 200-person audience that filled the screening room.
The teacher in the film, for instance, is named Jerry McGaugh (Luc Clopton), and the entire film was shot on location at school and other scenes in Seal Beach with the support of the school’s administration, the city council, and others.
In the short film, three best friends, Emma (London Houghton), Sarah (Gracelyn Surtees}, and Amelia, (Zoe Tran-Wofford), are set to work on a school assignment together when Emma and Sarah are disappointed as Amelia doesn’t show up.
Emma and Amelia grow weary of waiting, then walk down the street for ice cream (McKenna’s Tea Cottage) where they unexpectedly see Sarah sitting there with Emma’s older brother Drake (played by Carter Jude Dau).
Eyewitnesses report the audience murmuring a huge “gasp” when the two girls see Sarah sitting with Drake. Even the young director was surprised…and she wrote the script.
“I was really surprised to hear everyone in the theater react in shock,” said London. “It was quite a gasp” when Emma and Amelia saw Sarah sitting with Drake instead of working with them.
The girls think they have been betrayed, yet it turns out later, that Sarah was consulting with Drake on the best way to tell Emma, her best friend, that he overheard their mom and dad talking about getting a divorce.
“It is a powerful short film,” said Paul James Houghton, London’s dad and the owner of Dreamotion Studios in Seal Beach, who co-directed the film. “Basically,” he said,“ I pointed her in the right direction then I let her say what she wanted.”
Houghton said his daughter London wrote, co-directed and acted in the leading role as Emma. Even though London is only ten, his daughter grew up watching him make films, so she knew what she wanted.
“London has been through the whole process before, so none of this is completely new to her,” the dad said.
Moreover, he said the story was loosely based on “what, in real life, London had witnessed when her parents, Cait and I, got divorced.”
In the film’s dramatic twist, Drake eventually confronts Emma and explains that he asked Sarah to meet with him to help him find the best way to tell her that their parents were divorcing.
Emma and Amelia now realize why Sarah did not show up and best friends Sarah and Emma share a tearful reunion.
“My wife and I both cried,” admitted Eric Surtees, the dad whose daughter Gracelyn played “Sarah” in the film. They were part of the large McGaugh contingent in the audience.
Surtees said he and his wife Miriam were so proud their daughter Gracelyn overcame much to act in the film, but they “were blown away” to see the way it turned out.
“Me and my wife Miriam had no idea how much had gone into this production and what a tremendous honor it was for Gracelyn to have been in the film,” he said. “We are super proud to be associated with this production,” said this parent, who enjoyed his night in Tinseltown.
Stepping around the footsteps and handprints of Hollywood royalty, the cast and crew arrived by stretch limousine before attending the world premiere and walking the festival’s red carpet.
After the premiere, London said making the film was fun but very hard. “I thought it was going to be easier,” she said. “But everything about it was exciting,” she added.
According to London’s dad, it all started with six pieces of paper where she had cobbled a story together.
Though her dad Paul is an established industry screenwriter, and producer/director, he had to first teach London how to use the special software to write scripts.
“I told her, if you finish the script, we will make the film. I didn’t think she would do it, but she sat down and wrote the whole script that same day,” he said.
Although she’s been around the industry with her dad for most of her life, this was her first real project. Once the script was ready, London along with producer Baylee Corona and cinematographer Brooke Mueller, screen-tested fellow 5th graders for the key parts.
For the original soundtrack, Jaya Loo and Justin Busch composed an original song “I Got You” for the film, and it was performed by Koraloo.
Houghton’s dad noted more than 90 percent of the cast and crew on this project were women, “which is kind of cool. He said Technicolor, the industry-standard film colorizing company, invited London to attend the colorizing sessions for her film.
“Really cool,” she said in an interview with ENE.
Houghton said the film will soon be placed on the so-called Film Freeway, which will then land it on the official short film festival circuit.
“Making the film was not as easy as I thought it would be,” said London this week, “but it was amazing.” With her first script, written at 9 years old, now made into a film, her dad said it didn’t take long to figure out what comes next.
She’s now 10, and already working on a new script. “Oh well,” her dad said, “at least she’s a chip off the ole block.”
Claborn welcomes back officer from military deployment
A Los Alamitos police officer was given a hero’s welcome back to the department, and the city, by the City Council and local citizens as he returned from an overseas deployment to resume his role in the city’s police department.
“First of all, thank you all for coming this evening,” said Los Alamitos Police Chief Michael Claborn.
“I want to take this opportunity for the Los Alamitos police department to very graciously recognize the sacrifices that people make for the freedoms that we all unfortunately take for granted here,” said Claborn.
“Being that we are a military town, with the Joint Forces training base building here in the city, we above all else should be acknowledging those sacrifices,” he added. “We don’t have to look very far to be able to do that.”
“None other than our own officer Christian Cruz, who is the only member of the Los Alamitos police department who is currently in the United States military, that being the United States Marine Corps,” said Claborn as the Council and the public gave him a round of applause.
In August of 2023, Claborn announced that Officer Cruz, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, had been activated for a tour of duty that would take him overseas until May.
“Please join me as we wish Officer Christian Cruz Godspeed. He is being activated by the United States Marine Corps to serve his country. We could not be more proud and pray for your safe return,” said Claborn in an Instagram post.
That day has now come as Cruz has rejoined the department and was with Claborn and other officers at last week’s Los Al City Council meeting.
“So for those of you who don’t know, prior to him being deployed in the United States Marine Corps, he took an exam to test to become the very next motor officer for the Los Alamitos Police Department,” said Claborn.
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He said Cruz was about to begin his training when he was activated by the military “And so he was not able to partake in that training, but I don’t think that we could have given him any better nugget to look forward to when he returned, then to be able to have that brand new motorcycle that’s parked right outside,” the police chief said.
Now, he said, Cruz will begin his motor training “and we can’t wait for his training to be complete, and he can be out there representing his department, Claborn said.
Officer Cruz thanked the Chief, the Council, the public and his department.
“I just want to say thank you honestly, it’s been really great being back,” said Cruz. “I have such great leadership here at my department that I’m very fortunate from all the way from Chief down to my sergeants and corporals in my department,” he added, “who really showed me a lot of support and a lot of love.”
Sgt. Cruz said after the meeting that he was deployed to Okinawa, Japan for specialized military training.
“They welcomed me back with open arms,” said Cruz. Getting back to work in the Los Al Police Department “was very actually easy for me, like second nature. I honestly missed it.
“I thought about it every day just waiting to come back and hit the streets again,” he added.
“And now, this next chapter me going into motors, I’m going to bring something back to the city and it’s just going to get only better and better from there. He said his achievements were for everybody within the department “because I am a product of each and every one of them.”
“So when I get back from motors I’m going to really hit it hard and make the streets safer here in Los Al to keep doing good work,” said Cruz.
Claborn also presented Cruz with an Award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for making the most drunk driving arrests (30) for the past year.
Claborn said Officer Cru was able to obtain 30 arrests but That is not what makes it so amazing. So he was able to achieve that task by having only work from the month of January to July before he was deployed,” said Claborn.
“He didn’t even work a full year,” he added.
Cruz was also recognized by Mayor Jordan Nefulda and the Los Al City Council, Assemblymember Tri Ta’s office and the office of Sen. Janet Nguyen.
Sunburst Academy in Los Al graduates its 5,000th cadet
By Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman
For the Event-News Enterprise
When the 71st cadet crossed the stage at Sunburst Youth Academy’s commencement ceremony Thursday, U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Aller broke away from the line of dignitaries, stepped to the microphone, and called Cadet Andrew Ochoa back to center stage.
Fireworks burst on video screens surrounding the stage as the surprised teenager, clad in the school’s coyote colored cadet uniform, learned he was the academy’s 5,000th program graduate.
“Wait, wait, stop right there Ochoa. Face the crowd,” Aller called on the mic in front of a packed auditorium of more than 3,000 people gathered to celebrate the academy’s 33rd graduating class.
Aller, the senior enlisted advisor for California National Guard’s Task Force Torch youth and community programs directorate, stepped forward to present the tall dark-haired cadet with the task force’s command coin “as a symbolic gesture of the 4,999 cadets who came before and the thousands and thousands of cadets who will come after him,” he told the crowd.
Started in January 2008, Sunburst Youth Academy is one of 39 National Guard Youth Challenge Program campuses in the country and is operated in partnership between the Cal Guard and the Orange County Department of Education.
The tuition-free military-style academy focuses on high school credit recovery for Southern California teens, ages 15.5-18 years old, and gives students an opportunity to earn up to a year’s worth of credits in half the time while living and going to school on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos for five months.
For more than 16 years, teenagers have come to the academy for a chance to catch up on credits, step out of their comfort zones, learn life coping skills and spend time focusing on their goals and dreams.
“I think it’s remarkable,” said California State Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ashlea Medina, who joined the academy staff with Class 1 as an Air National Guard Staff Sgt. and rose through the ranks to serve as the academy’s acting director during Class 33. “It’s amazing to think of how many kids have been given a second chance at life.”
Medina has seen the academy grow from two small platoons in the first cycle with a graduating class of 47 cadets to four platoons with 170 program graduates in Class 33.
This class marked the academy’s largest graduating class since the pandemic created a need for social distancing and cut the number of students the academy could enroll. It was also the academy’s first COVID-free class since 2020.
The class earned a cumulative total of more than 11,000 high school credits leading to 25 high school graduates, more than $10,000 in local scholarships, three small business grants, and a $44,000 Army ROTC scholarship for Cadet Alexis Martinez to attend New Mexico Military Institute.
Students come for the credits, Medina said, but leave with much more.
“When I think about Sunburst and where we were to where we are,” she said, “the Sunburst staff have always had the heart to give, but we’ve learned how to give so much more when it comes to the experiences, opportunities, and credits and really learning how to support the kids when they leave.”
Class 33 ventured off base to volunteer in the greater Orange County and Los Angeles areas. The cadets logged more than 6,800 hours of service to community at 5Ks, marathons, a Chinese New Year parade, equine therapy center, and other community events.
They enjoyed an Angels game, Disneyland, sailing in Dana Point, and a 10-mile run along the strand in Huntington Beach. They went to Los Angeles to visit the Columbia Memorial Space Center and the Holocaust Museum and completed a Spartan Race on the field at Dodger Stadium.
Class 33’s competitive teams traveled throughout Southern California and returned with eight JROTC Raiders trophies, a state championship for color guard and a prime time colors presentation for the Anaheim Ducks professional hockey team.
Standing in the wings of the Cottonwood Church auditorium moments before marching with his platoon for the last time, Ochoa reflected on his Sunburst journey.
“It feels great,” he said. “All the hard work paid off and I got through it.”
Ochoa, who served as a peer advocate and earned awards for academics, community service, test scores, citizenship, and excellence while serving as a squad leader, plans to move out of state this summer. He will continue his education at a new high school as a junior and is focused on joining the U.S. Air Force.
He’s leaving with credits and a host of experiences, but what he’ll miss most is the other cadets.
“My favorite memory is probably just hanging out with all the other guys,” he said, “all the bonding and the brotherhood.”
Ochoa, like the 4,999 cadets before him and the thousands who will come after him, is leaving with a grasp on his present and a plan for the future.
CLUE, the murder myster, opens July 23 at Segerstrom
CLUE, the hilarious murder mystery comedy inspired by the board game and adapted from the fan-favorite film, is coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa for a limited eight performance engagement from Tuesday, July 23 to Sunday, July 28. Tickets and information are available at scfta.org.
On Wednesday, July 24 at 6:30 pm, Segerstrom Center hosts a fun and free to the public CLUE Cosplay Contest with prizes for the best individual and group personifications of some of the most famous characters in board game history: Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, and Professor Plum. The first 100 people to arrive in costume will receive a complimentary appetizer voucher for a savory treat at Claim Jumper Steakhouse & Bar. If you ever played the game Clue, now is your chance to dress up and be one of the famous characters! Don’t miss out on this fun opportunity to become a part of the mystery. To register for Segerstrom Center for the Arts’s CLUE Character Costume Contest, please visit https://scfta.org/shows-events/clue-contest.
In the play CLUE on stage, led by Broadway Director Casey Hushion (Associate Director of Mean Girls and The Prom, Associate Resident Director of Aladdin, choreography for the Netflix series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), murder and blackmail are on the menu when six mysterious guests assemble at Boddy Manor for a night they’ll never forget! Was it Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife? Or was it Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench? Based on the fan-favorite 1985 Paramount Pictures movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game, CLUE is the ultimate whodunit that will leave you dying of laughter and keep you guessing until the final twist.
The cast of CLUE includes Mariah Burks as the Cook, John Treacy Egan as Colonel Mustard, Michelle Elaine as Miss Scarlet, Joanna Glushak as Mrs. Peacock, Tari Kelly as Mrs. White, Mark Price as Wadsworth, John Shartzer as Mr. Green, Jonathan Spivey as Professor Plum, Alex Syiek as Mr. Boddy, Teddy Trice as the Cop, and Elisabeth Yancey as Yvette. The understudies are Greg Balla, Alison Ewing, Mary McNulty and James Taylor Odom.
Juan A. Ramírez in The New York Times called it, “A very fun whodunit that strikes contemporary parallels on the way to its grand reveal. As those left standing rush to blame one another, in different possible scenarios, they mirror our own increasingly selfish desire to think of our perception as being the correct one. Like the board game, and life itself, the play winds up making only one perception true — but thank goodness this one’s fun.”
CLUE is based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn. Written by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price. It features original music by Michael Holland.
The production also features scenic design by Lee Savage, costume design by Jen Caprio, lighting design by Ryan O’Gara and sound design by Jeff Human.
The CLUE franchise began in 1949 with the manufacture of the ‘Cluedo’ board game. Currently owned and published by Hasbro, the game has since sold more than 200 million copies worldwide. A murder-mystery comedy film by Paramount Pictures based on the board game was released in 1985 and went on to achieve cult classic status with a passionate fanbase.
The North American tour of CLUE is produced by The Araca Group, Work Light Productions, Lively McCabe Entertainment and Aged in Wood.
Originally produced at Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pennsylvania, Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman, Josh Fiedler, Producers. Developed by Cleveland Playhouse, Laura Kepley, Artistic Director & Kevin Moore, Managing Director.
Marina Kennedy in BroadwayWorld said, “Extraordinarily entertaining … You may have viewed the film and played the board game countless times, but you’ve never experienced the intrigue, eccentricity, and humor that ‘Clue’ brings to the stage.”
Hayley Levitt said in Theatermania, “Reminds you what a breezy night of pure entertainment feels like. Synchronized door slams, pratfalls, and wide-eyed gasps should all be on your murder mystery bingo card … happily hums along with no sign of the exertion it takes to make this brand of comedy look utterly effortless. They all roam through set designer Lee Savage’s luscious rendering of Boddy Manor, with surprise portals to more iconic ‘Clue’ rooms than you would ever think could fit onstage.”
Tickets for CLUE start at $39 and are available for purchase online at scfta.org, in person at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services offices at (714)755-0236.
For more information, visit clueliveonstage.com
Biographies
MARIAH BURKS (The Cook). She/her. A native Clevelander making her national tour debut. Credits: Little Women (Dobama Theatre), Antigone (CPH), Clue (CPH). Alum of the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program & BGSU. Recipient: National Irene Ryan Acting Award at The Kennedy Center. Regional/local credits: Caroline, or Change (Tantrum Theatre); Ragtime (Cain Park). Love & gratitude to all! @magical_mariahb
JOHN TREACY EGAN (Colonel Mustard). Broadway: My Fair Lady, Casa Valentina, Nice Work.., Sister Act, The Little Mermaid, The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde, Bye Bye Birdie. Off-Broadway: Clinton The Musical, When Pigs Fly, Disaster!, Bat Boy. Television: “And Just Like That”, Gotham,” “Younger,” “The Good Wife,” “The Knick,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “30 Rock.” officialjohntreacyegan.com
MICHELLE ELAINE (Miss Scarlet). Alley Theatre: Clue, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Sense and Sensibility, Sweat, Quack, All The Way. The Ensemble Theatre: Clyde’s; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark; Gee’s Bend and School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play. Stages: POTUS, We Are Proud to Present…, Failure: A Love Story. Watch Michelle’s web series @castmedammit on YouTube! @michelleelaineofficial
JOANNA GLUSHAK (Mrs. Peacock). Broadway (Highlight Roles): 1776, A Gentlemen’s Guide To Love And Murder, Sunday In The Park With George, Les Miserables, Hairspray, Urinetown. National Tours: 1776, Finding Neverland, Young Frankenstein, Xanadu. ‘Mrs. O’Toole’ in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as well as many other roles for Film/TV. Yale Drama School Graduate. More info at www.joannaglushak.com
TARI KELLY (Mrs. White). Broadway: Mr. Saturday Night, Groundhog Day, Something Rotten!, Anything Goes, The Boy from Oz, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, and Show Boat. National Tours: Anastasia, Little Shop of Horrors, Show Boat, and Beauty and the Beast. Check out www.tarikelly.com
MARK PRICE (Wadsworth). Broadway: Mary Poppins, All Shook Up, Wonderful Town, Rocky Horror Show, Mamma Mia!, Dance of the Vampires, The Capeman, and Chicago. Regional: Clue, Dial M for Murder, The 39 Steps, The Cottage, Lend Me A Tenor, Assassins, Sondheim Celebration (Lincoln Center), Sweeney Todd (Kennedy Center; Helen Hayes nomination). T.V.: “Blacklist,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order.” www.aboutmarkprice.com
JOHN SHARTZER (Mr. Green). Theater: Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular, Darling Grenadine, Clue. Film: Book Club. Television: “Dahmer,” “Station 19,” “9-1-1: Lonestar,” “Brooklyn 99,” “Grace & Frankie,” “While You Were Breeding.” Thank you Casey and Sandy for this opportunity. All my love to my Mrs. with all the right kisses Cassandra and our strong and beautiful Nora
JONATHAN SPIVEY (Professor Plum). He/him. Broadway: The Front Page, Act One. Off-Broadway: Summer & Smoke, Morning’s at Seven, Smart Blonde. Regional: Yale, Old Globe, Denver Center, Long Wharf, Barrington, Milwaukee Rep, Cape Playhouse, many more. TV: “The Gilded Age”, “Blue Bloods”, “The Blacklist”, “FBI: Most Wanted”, “East New York”. MFA: Old Globe. www.jspivey.com
ALEX SYIEK (Mr. Boddy). Some favorite credits: Natasha…Great Comet (Pierre; ISF/Great Lakes Theater), Groundhog Day (Phil; Paramount Theatre), Murder on the Orient Express (Officer; Paper Mill Playhouse). Musical projects: The Show on the Roof (Music and Lyrics), The Poké Musical (Book and Lyrics). BWU MT ’13, NYU GMTWP (Cycle 26). Thank YOU for supporting live theatre. www.alexsyiek.com
TEDDY TRICE (The Cop). He/him. The Book of Mormon (Broadway, 2nd Nat’l Tour). International Tour: Come From Away, The Book of Mormon (Australia). Off-Broadway: The Butcher Boy (Irish Repertory Theatre), Shedding Load (59E59). Select Regional: The Island (KC Actors Theatre), Sweat (Unicorn Theatre). B.A. in Theatre (Drury University). Gratitude and love to Claire, Mom and Dad, Manager, Rochel Saks, and the Clue team. @teddytrice
ELISABETH YANCEY (Yvette) is an actor, yoga instructor, and coach based in NYC. Favorite regional credits: Palm Beach Dramaworks, Gulfshore Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, and Wellesley Repertory Theater. Chautauqua Institute Conservatory 2020, MFA Acting (CWRU/CPH), BA Theatre Studies (Wellesley College), Certificate Classical Acting (LAMDA). @elisabethyancey
CLUE
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
July 23 – July 28, 2024
Segerstrom Hall
Performs:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 7:30 pm
Saturday at 2 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday at 1 pm and 6:30 pm
Tickets start at $39.
Box Office
In person –
Box Office
600 Town Center Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Monday 10 am to 2 pm
Tuesday through Friday 12 pm to 5 pm
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Phone – Monday – Friday 10 am to 5 pm
714.556.2787
Online – SCFTA.org
Group Sales – 714.755.0236
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an innovative, nonprofit arts organization committed to supporting artistic excellence, creating impactful educational programs, and dedicated to engaging a culturally connected, inclusive and vital Orange County community for all, through the power of live performance.
As the leading cultural arts hub, the Center presents a variety of programming with performances by international dance companies, Broadway national tours, jazz and cabaret musicians, chamber orchestras and ensembles, comedy, and speaker series. Through the Education and Community Engagement departments, the Center also delivers family-friendly programming and performances on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza; these events include outdoor movie screenings, concerts, dance classes, diverse festivals and more.
With six venues on a beautiful multi-disciplinary campus, Segerstrom Center for the Arts proudly serves as the artistic home to three of the region’s major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and Orange County Museum of Art. Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and Studio D, Arts School for All Abilities.
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Escalante inducted into the Los Al Museum Hall of Fame
Joe Escalante comes from a talented family that include a famous musician, a radio host, a prolific scriptwriter, an accomplished attorney, a successful businessman, a tour manager, a record company owner, and a television producer, among others.
Though Escalante has other talented siblings, all of the above career titles belong to him alone, and for his many accomplishments, he was honored Sunday with induction into the Los Alamitos Museum Hall of Fame.
“The Los Alamitos Museum has always honored individuals from the city who have achieved excellence in a variety of fields, from Olympic champions in sports to film, television, movie, radio, the arts, and other accomplishments of merit,” said Adrianne Chavez in introducing Escalante.
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“The museum celebrates these special people by inducting them into our Hall of Fame,” she said. “The recipients were either born here, worked here, or went to school here. Our city is also so fortunate to have hosted so many amazing inductees. Our Hall of Fame also displays and honors some of the pioneers of our city and their history,” said Chavez.
“The recipients were either born here, worked here, or went to school here. Our city is also so fortunate to have hosted so many amazing inductees. Our Hall of Fame also displays and honors some of the pioneers of our city and their history,” she said.
A standing-room-only crowd gathered to witness Escalante’s induction as Museum President Debbie Kent welcomed them to the newly refurbished museum.
“We’re all volunteers,” she said before giving a shout-out to the museum’s board members, whom she thanked for all their hard work during its recent renovation (see related story).
Marilyn Poe, the museum’s former President and board member referred to by Kent as the institution’s Grand Dame, welcomed visitors and gave them a short history of the area.
“This is a very short version of the history because we want you to come back and take your time going through the museum,” said Poe.
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A funny thing happened to Joe Escalante on the way to his induction ceremony in Los Alamitos and he couldn’t wait to talk about it.
He was first formally introduced by Sharon Williams, who said Escalante was born in 1963, raised in a devout Roman Catholic household, received his Sacraments at St. Hedwig went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Old Norse at UCLA before doing graduate work at the University of Reykjavik Iceland, and eventually graduated from Loyola law school in 1992.
Williams said Escalante took an internship at CBS Television and transformed it into a massive career, first by working on shows like Rescue 911, Everybody Loves Raymond and eventually became a CBS talent negotiator.
“He actually convinced Chuck Norris to sing his own theme song for the hit series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” she said.
Joe and his wife Sandra then established Kung Fu Records, which became home to the early works of Blink 182 and others, and Escalante himself was, and remains, a member of the famous Vandals, a band that remarkably still occasionally tours today.
In addition, Joe was the morning drive-time host on FM 103.1 and still has a Sunday radio show on AM radio. He has also worked with the writing team of “Ancient Aliens” on The History Channel, eventually writing and producing his own TV series, she said.
His work in music eventually landed him as a tour manager for the famous group Sublime, using his vast entertainment Rolodex to land them on stage at the Coachella Music Festival.
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Williams went through a brief litany of Escalante’s amazing projects and accomplishments.
Escalante’s list of entertainment projects, she said, are as diverse as they are brilliant, saying it was exciting to see “what the future holds” for Joe Escalante. “The sky’s the limit,” she said, noting that despite his crazy busy schedule, he and his wife still teach CCD classes every Sunday night.
Escalante’s life has been so touched by an angel that the famous singer-songwriter Paul Williams (no relation to Sharon), showed up to give him an additional introduction.
“I’m Joe’s brother-in-law,” began Paul Williams, “and I’m looking to be on the receiving side of nepotism at this point in my life,” the longtime entertainer said. “I met Joe’s sister in 2005 and was smart enough to marry her, and lucky enough to get the Escalante family as my in-laws,” he added.
Although Joe is his brother-in-law, Williams said “sometimes I feel like he’s, my brother.”
“Joe really needs no introduction,” said Williams, suggesting in so many words that Escalante’s amazing career speaks for itself.
“You know, you look around this museum and you find that there has been greatness through the ages and all. And it’s perfect to add Joe to this,” said Wiliams.
Escalante thanked them both for their introductions, saying when Sharon first called him, he thought at first that his friends were pranking him.
“Sharon called me up one day and said, ‘Do you want to…we would like to honor you,’” he said.
“And I’m like, for what, which weird thing, you know? And then I thought it was probably one of my friends doing a prank, so I was just going along with it,” Escalante said to the standing-room-only crowd that filled the museum.
“Then, Sharon was very nice, and she brought me here (Museum) to take a look at it,” he said before agreeing to be inducted into the Museum’s Hall of Fame.
“I’m not the kind of guy that’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he continued. “I’m not getting an Oscar, yet,” he said, “but it just feels like my hometown hasn’t forgotten about me so I’m very grateful,” the Rossmoor kid who made good said on Sunday.
Escalante and his wife Sandra now make old-town Seal Beach their home.
“I think the best thing for me to do is explain like, now that you heard that bio, most people want just want to know is this guy crazy? How did he do all these things?”
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“It’s all about where you end up,” said Escalante, admitting he doesn’t always get a chance to finish when trying to explain the crazy twists and turns in a journey that has delivered so many opportunities to his doorstep.
“You never know what fate is going to do with you,” said Escalante. “My parents chose Rossmoor, and here we are.”
Escalante said his parents moved to Rossmoor in 1958 so he grew up there, attended Rush Elementary, then Oak Middle, and Los Al High School. He was inducted into the Griffin’s Alumni Hall of Fame back in the 1980s for his punk rock work in the Vandals and success with Kung Fu Records.
Deep down, he said, “I was always struck with a serious creative streak.” Escalante said he learned the violin and trumpet in the Oak Middle School band, then switched to drums in the marching band so he could “save my lip for the community orchestra.”
Already in middle school, Escalante was dancing to the beat of a different drummer. He charted his own path and was unafraid to follow it.
Then, Escalante said he learned to play a set of drums by playing along with Ramones records, then started a local punk rock band and eventually went off to UCLA.
Escalante said he started a band called “The Vandals,” noting “it was just a hobby.”
Wanting to be a lawyer, he majored in “Old Norse.” “My dad never could quite understand it, but I was drawn to it,” said Escalante. “If you’re going to be a lawyer, does it really matter what you major in?”
After graduating UCLA, Escalante accepted a graduate position in Iceland where he learned to speak the language while living in Reykjavik. “I learned to speak Old Norse and modern Icelandic,” he said.
“And today, I think one of the most bizarre things about me, is I’m listed as one of the notable alumni of the University of Reykjavik in Iceland.”
Back in the U.S., Escalante said the Vandals put out a record that did well on the local charts. “Then I wrote a song called “Ladykiller,” he said, which became another Number One record in local markets.
Though music looked promising, Escalante said n those days, “there was no machine that could turn you into a star with just a couple of hits.”
Right then and there, “I had a vision of the future and this wasn’t going anywhere,” at least not as high as the Los Al grad wanted to go, so in the early 90s, it was off to Law School.
Escalante said he reached out to Loyola Law School, was accepted, and became an attorney. He said his sister was a prosecutor, and that he learned quickly that was not what he wanted to do.
As he looked around, Escalante said he thought about what to do next. Although the Vandals were still a thing, he wanted something more solid upon which to build a career.
“What did I love more than anything,” he rhetorically asked himself. “Television,” he said.
“I loved watching television, I loved everything about it, and I wanted to work in TV, but I didn’t know how to do it.”
Although he didn’t know how to get a foot in the door, he figured out where to start.
“I knew there was a guy named Frank Wells. He was president of Warner Studios, and he was a lawyer. I thought if I went to law school, I could be like him and work my way up, or whatever. So I got an internship at CBS Television and that’s how it began,” Escalante told the overflow crowd.
“I ended up with a job offer there, and I worked on Walker, Texas Ranger and Rescue 911, and Everybody Loves Raymond, and it was super fun,” he said.
Escalante said he was promoted to a “boring job” as a talent guy, noting that “I kind of peaked too early in the television world.” He wanted to produce television.
“I took the advice of some of my friends, and I started a record label, Kung Fu Records, and I quit that job, as Sandra and I started that (Kung Fu) label.
“It did quite well, and that’s how I went from a TV network to a record producer.” Even as a record producer, Escalante said he produced” videos, a couple of movies, then sold the label to go back into TV.”
Escalante said he began reading movie scripts and “they were so badly written that I asked my partner I could write one.” Well, he did, and was soon hired at the Discovery ID network.
Four years there and later moved over to the History Channel, writing for Ancient Aliens until he sold his own TV series to Fox Nation and started a production company.
“I never stopped producing videos,” he said.
All the while, though members came in and out, the Vandals remained a thing. “We were always playing, but never too serious,” said Escalante, noting the Vandals were always there, releasing records but ever a passion project.
“And then a crazy thing happened,” he said.
“This guy, Eric Wilson (bass player) from sSublime, called me for some legal help. Now, I don’t like to do legal work, and I try to avoid it, but every once in a while, someone will call me and I’ll do it. And this time I was I was really rewarded,” said Escalante.
Courtesy photo
As it turned out, when Bradley Nowell, lead singer for Sublime, who passed away nearly three decades ago, had died during the band’s height of popularity. At the time, Nowell’s son Jakob, was 11 months old.
Wilson apparently told Escalante that Nowell’s son, Jakob, now an adult, had auditioned for Sublime as lead singer for a new iteration of Sublime.
Escalante was asked to call the young singer’s Grandpa, apparently to handle some legal work for the band. “When I heard him (Jakob) sing, I got chills,” said Escalante.
Immediately, “I called my friend who owns Coachella Music Festival and played it for him. He said ‘I’m going to put them on stage at Coachella and its going to be big,’” his friend told him.
There was one small condition, said Escalate slowly. “And, by the way, you have to be the manager of the tour,” his friend concluded.
“And that’s how I became a tour manager for Sublime,” he said, recalling how he got the band together. “I got a partner named Kevin Zinger, who was already managing the kid. And we ended up taking over all their assets, all their their publishing, their movie rights, everything. I talked to members of the band, and they liked it,” said Escalante.
Of all his music experiences, Escalante said he’ll never forget the tour for U.S. troops performed by The Vandals during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He said the band’s drummer was afraid. “He refused to go,” said Escalante.
Here is a man who had succeeded at every aspect of entertainment at that point, yet he jumped at the chance to perform for the USO tour in front of U.S. troops with The Vandals. “They (troops) were singing our songs,” he vividly remembers, having switched from drums to playing bass by then.
The big question on everyone’s mind, it seemed, was what on earth could be next for this accomplished Renaissance Man. Already, it’s an act hard to follow, but surely the angels of opportunity will soon visit him anew.
Though he’s a local Hollywood mogul, of sorts, he’s made of a different ilk. Despite his fame and success, Escalante says he still attends monthly meetings of his Oak Middle School Fishing Club and that his Roman Catholic Faith remains strong.
In fact, he and his wife Sandra teach Catechism classes at St. Peter Chanel every Sunday, he goes to St. Hedwig every Saturday with his sisters and the one-time altar boy remains an altar boy for most funerals at St. Peter Chanel.
Always thinking is Escalante, the most recent inductee in the Los Alamitos Museum Hall of Fame.
“I go to Mass anyway, so why not sit there as the altar boy.”
Editor’s Note: Escalante has put his bass guitar from the Vandals on display along with other memorabilia for a limited time at the Los Al museum.
Editor’s Note: Escalante provided the museum with his bass guitar from The Vandals and other memorabilia that will remain on display in the Museum’s Hall of Fame.
Los Al Council declares emergency to fix gas leak
In a special meeting, the City Council of Los Alamitos approved a motion to declare an emergency to fix a natural gas leak in a line leading into the city’s police department.
Mayor Jordan Nefulda said the special order of the day was to discuss the emergency gas line repair for the police department.
“The gas line to the police department building is damaged and was reported to be leaking,” the mayor said. “This item recommends immediate action to begin repairs of the gas line that feeds the police department and the city’s emergency generator.”
City Manager Chet Simmons told three members of the Council attending the special meeting that if they did not declare an emergency, it would take as much as six months to fix the dangerous leak which, in essence, was unacceptable.
At issue is the city’s charter, which was initially approved in 1960. Simmons said under the city’s charter, unless the issue is declared to be a legitimate emergency, the RFP and bidding process could take as long as six months.
“I want to say that this leak has been going on for about a month,” said Simmons, noting that the city found a gas leak near the main line which was repaired.
“Then the company came back and realized that there were two additional gas leaks out of an abundance of caution. Obviously, we have shut down the gas to the building until such repairs can be made to the problem,” the city manager said.
“The problem here again is related to the city’s charter in that it doesn’t allow for any public works project that is over $10,000 to take place without a formal bidding process,” he said.
If the city was held to go through the normal public works process, “it would take between five to six months to accomplish,” he said.
“So today, we’re asking you to essentially declare an emergency and authorize the city manager to execute any and all contracts needed in order to facilitate the fix within the building to the gas line,” Simmons told the Council.
“Speaking for the police and the chief, it is a very serious matter,” he added.
By declaring an emergency, the city would legally be able to bypass standard rules and fix the leak, Simmons explained to the Council.
He said while the $10,000 amount is written into the 1960 charter, that amount would equate to $106,000 today. While he asked the Council to declare the emergency, he was careful to mention this is the exception, not the rule for doing business.
“And I can tell the question that you’re going to ask is ‘Chet, why don’t we just do this for every single project so that we can skip this,’” Simmons told the Council. “In consultation with the city attorney and the city clerk, it has been made very, very clear to me that trying to obfuscate that rule is obviously not in line with the charter.”
Council member Tanya Doby questioned Simmons “in the interest of making it abundantly clear, why we didn’t address more immediately, please explain?”
Simmons explained the limitations of the city’s aging charter and used the opportunity to say why he thinks the city should offer a charter amendment this fall.
“Within our charter, there is a limit on what exactly we can do without having gone out and done a formal bidding process,” said Simmons, carefully going through each step and explaining why it would take six or eight months to complete.
“The city council did authorize staff to start the process of looking into a charter amendment. This is the primary reason for moving forward with that charter amendment to put ourselves more in line with not only surrounding cities but also just good business practices,” the city manager said.
“There is a reason why there’s a process that allows us to change the charter from time to time, which the city has done in the past,” he added.
While any proposed charter amendment has yet to surface, there have also been discussions among council members that the city’s charter also limits terms of service, which some have hinted may have to be changed because of districting.
Nevertheless, the Council voted unanimously 3-0 to declare the police department gas leak a city emergency, giving Simmons the authorization to bypass the bid process and have the leak fixed.
Nefulda, Doby and Mayor Pro-tem Shelley Hasselbrink voted in favor. Council members Emily Hibard and Trisha Murphy were not present for the special meeting.
Interestingly, the Council’s special order agenda called for them to go into Executive Session to discuss “anticipated litigation,” however Mayor Nefulda protested, saying the matter should wait until Hibard and Murphy were present.
The Council agreed and chose not to go into executive session and the special meeting was adjourned.
Rossmoor adopts 2024/2025 budget
The Rossmoor Community Services District at its Board of Directors meeting in June finally adopted its proposed budget for the 24/25 fiscal year, but not before adjusting two final categories.
The district will collect $2.2 million in overall revenues and spend $2.1 million according to the RCSD’s budget for fiscal 24/25. The RCSD General Manager Joe Mendoza and financial advisor Michael Matsumoto projects a small surplus for the upcoming budget year that begins July 1.
In addition, for the first time, the Board adopted a matching deferred compensation plan where the district will much as three percent of their salaries that they defer for retirement.
General Manager Joe Mendoza said the plan will not be offered to the General Manager, part-time staff, elected officials or contractors. Moreover, said Mendoza, the new employee plan is expected to cost the RCSD about $10.883 for the year if all eligible employees take the full three percent.
In addition, district employees will see a three percent (3%) cost of living raise in the new budget.
Michael Maynard, RCSD President, thanked Mendoza and the team for putting together the program as the board voted 4-0 to approve the budget, which includes the planned employee benefit.
Before final approval, however, Director Nathan Searles peppered Mendoza with questions surrounding the moving of money for parks and parks projects.
He questioned an expenditure of $3700 for new park benches for Rush Park and transferring the money from an events category to pay for it.
Searles also asked about an expenditure for Elite Special Events during the recent Health and Wellness Festival that Mendoza said was for the printing of a banner.
Mendoza, supported by Matsumoto, said there was extra funding in the event account that he pulled the money from for these events.
“I’ll just summarize it was a general manager’s decision. If I didn’t make the right decision, and you want to move it back in there, I will,” said Mendoza.
Searles said his goal with the questioning was simply to have money within the RCSD budget moved into correct categories so that future budgets would reflect actual monies spent but he did suggest not all parks within Rossmoor are not being treated the same.
“I think one of the very common discussions we’ve been had in the last year, roughly, is about how much money is spent in each park,” said Searles, and “how one park in a particular part of the neighborhood doesn’t get the same resources that the other park does.”
Mendoza suggested Searles was suggesting favoritism, which he strongly rejected.
“What you’re bringing out in this kind of debate,” said Mendoza, is “you’re actually saying that we’re showing favoritism, and that’s not even close. So my point is, if you want a breakout, I will put that mic now break it out. We’ll show you what the breakout is. We’re gonna we’re just going on an as-needed basis of what each party and I don’t think anybody’s showing favoritism, That’s not even close, okay,”
Matsumoto said currently, only the larger capital projects are coded (accounting) for specific parks. In addition, he said the banner printing could have also been coded in the “printing” budget.”
At one time, Maynard seemed to defuse the debate, saying the questions by Searles were perhaps sounding a bit too “accusatory.” In addition, he wondered aloud why the board needed to be involved in such “minutia.”
Searles asked that his opposition to this type of action be officially noted in the record. Mendoza said he would get the data requested to Searles and make the changes requested by the board.
Searles was not yet finished.
He asked why the budget contained more than $60,000 for legal services when the district averages between $20 – 30,000 annually, also questioning a smaller over-budget surplus amount in the TV broadcasting budget.
Mendoza said it’s better to make a mid-year adjustment and be prepared rather than not having enough in the event of special meetings or circumstances.
After a long discussion, the board unanimously agreed to reduce the over-budget to $2,000 in the broadcasting budget and max out legal fees at 45k.
Satisfied, the board voted as reported above, unanimously 4-0. Director Dr. Jeffrey Barkey was not present for the June meeting.
Los Alamitos holds a grand re-opening after year renovations
An overflow crowd gathered at the Los Alamitos Museum on Los Alamitos Boulevard on Sunday for two purposes, first to formally recognize its two year transformation and to also induct Renaissance Man Joe Escalante into the city’s Hall of Fame (see related story).
For anyone who has visited the museum since it opened in 1976, gone is the carpet that was old as the building and its place is a shiny new red floor and painted adobe walls, courtesy of the City of Los Alamitos, who owns the building.
From left. Shelli Appling, Bonnie (Poe) Adrian, Debbie Kent, Myrt Perisho, Marilynn Poe, (hiding) Sharon Williams, Lesley Hale, & Adrianne Chavez. (Right) After the carpet was removed, city workers installed a beutiful, fire engine red floor.
“Nobody gets paid. We’re all volunteers,” said Museum President Debbie Kent, “and it’s a small board, but we have become really good friends.”
“We also want to thank our city (Los Alamitos) who helped us do all the heavy lifting and putting things up on our walls because none of us should be on ladders,” she chuckled.
According to long-time museum veteran and former President of the Board, and a former Los Al Mayor, Marilyn Poe, the almost year long renovation project was painstaking.
“Everything had to go,” she said in a pre-event interview. “We had to take everything down from the walls, take down the exhibits and pack everything in crates and boxes so that the inside of the space would be completely free of any valuable historic items during renovation.”
Courtesy photo
Ron Noda, the city’s Developmental Services Director also attended the event. He said city crews and contractors had a hard time with bubbles and other problems in the floor once the old carpet had been pulled out, but at the end of the project, the floor turned out well. It’s now smooth, and painted fire-engine red.
Kent thanked the city as she recounted the ordeal.
“We started last, end of June, beginning of July. We had to box everything up in this museum. We started boxing it up and it we were here Tuesdays and Thursdays every, almost every Tuesday and Thursday,” said Kent.
“The city came in one day and moved everything. We’re talking the piano…the host thing… the stove, the refrigerator. They took everything out, all the cases, and they either went into the pods or to the warehouse,” she marveled.
“So the city workers, and they got here at nine, they were done by two. It was amazing so just like everything, they did the floor.
“And then, like when you start something at your house, they did the floor, and we go, (to the city) ‘Oh my gosh, the walls look awful. You know, you got this brand new floor and the walls are awful,’” said Kent.
Kent said the city relented and said “we’ll paint the Adobe.” “So they painted the walls for us, and then it was all done, and we came back here, and I can’t tell you how exciting it was really. It was an awkward feeling because we came back here and it was so beautiful,” said Kent.
“No doubt it was beautiful, but this whole room was full of boxes that now we had to take out and rearrange our displays, which was hard, but it’s really a good thing to go through, like spring cleaning, you know.”
“We decided we wanted to do something, not just put things back in the display cases like they were. We wanted to do kind of a timeline,” said Kent.
Now, said Kent, visitors to the museum can start in one corner and sort of follow a timeline of historic events.
Kent said “nothing could be done without our board members” and she asked them to stand for recognition.
“We couldn’t do this without you,” Kent told the Board.
Current Los Al Mayor Pro-tem Shelley Hasselbrink said she was proud of the Museum and the work done by the city to renovate it.
“My husband and I moved here 32 years ago, when we got married, we raised our two new boys here. One of my goals when I came on the council in 2014 was to make sure that my children wanted to come back here and have their families and raise their families here,” she said.
“Our heritage is continuing,” she said, and that the city was so lucky to have a museum to preserve the history of local families. “We have a museum for a city our size that is also a landmark with the National Historical Society, it’ just really special to have that.”
Hasselbrink coined the term for the “fire-engine red floor.”
“We have some amazing things going on in this city,” said Hasselbrink.
Traffic concerns of Rossmoor resident prompts second look
While residents in Rossmoor recently rejected a costly study prepared by the Orange County Department of Public Works, a lone resident appeared before the Board of Directors in June saying he could not in good conscious not speak out before someone gets hurt.
Kevin Boylan suggested that while the residents rejected the recent traffic study, so many kids are getting in and out of cars along Montecito suggests someone, probably a child, is eventually going to be hurt.
“I would like to address at least one concern that I do have. It has to do with the safety of the young people that we have in the community, particularly those in adjacent to Rossmoor (Elementary) School,” said Boylan.
“I live on Montecito and have a bird’s eye view of what goes on every single day,” he said.”Rossmoor School is a seven-day-a-week activity during the school year, he added.
“Whar I think that isn’t so great is I think there are the hazards that a lot of those people are being exposed to because of this factor. Young people are entering and exiting vehicles,” he said, suggesting someone eventually is going to be hurt.
“When that happens, said Boylan,” we’re going to be responsible for that. And I just can’t, in good conscience, stand up here and say tha.s the right thing to do.”
Director Tony Demarco, First Vice President, and head of the Board’s traffic committee reminded Boylan that Rossmoor overwhelmingly rejected a proposal recently put forth by OC Public Works to make changes to the traffic flows throughout the community.
“The vast majority of the people who came to that meeting did not want any change,” said Demarco. “So it’s just very difficult to get change, even if it’s safety change,” he said.
Boylan said despite the recent rejection, “Sometimes you need to push against the resistance to change.”
Demarco told Boyland that he’s still open to exploring traffic changes.
” I’m still open to discussing this. I know the county spent a bunch of money on all these studies,” said Demarco.
Boylan said it was a “head scratcher” as to why the developer of Rossmoor allowed a four-lane high through a residential highway.
Regarding the recent traffic study, Boylan said there were some, of what he termed, “poison pills” in the OC Public Works study. “There was a lot to dislike in the study,” he offered, “nevertheless we’re trying to move toward a safer environment.”
Demarco then asked Boylan about his neighbors.
“What about your neighbors,” Demarco asked Boylan, “what do they think?”
In short, Demarco asked Boylan to reach out to his neighbors, and if they agree that safety changes were needed, he should put together a coalition of neighbors that live along Montecito and Bostonian, where he lives, to try to create some isolated change.
Boylan said he was not opposed to reaching out to his neighbors but wondered aloud what the board’s disposition might be for a real change.
Demarco repeatedly expressed his openness to listen and board president Michael Maynard said “you have my ear.”
Maynard said the item was not on the agenda and it was impossible to discuss a hypothetical solution without a proposal but encouraged Boylan to press forward.
“I’ve always been a proponent of slower speeds and a little bit more careful consideration, especially around schools,” said Maynard. He suggested areas around schools need “hybrid” safety solutions.
“There is a process, and I can tell you anything that makes Rossmoor safer, safer, especially speeding near schools, you have my ear,” said Maynard.
The OC Public Works transportation planning staff put together a plan that called for a mini-traffic circle near each of the four elementary schools within Rossmoor to slow traffic, but voters overwhelmingly rejected it in a community-wide survey.
“It’s crazy for people crossing the street and I’ve personally seen what you see,” Maynard told Boylan.
”I just see too many people getting in and out of their cars and a lot of double parking occurring, particularly on the school side of Montecito where the fields are as people are entering and exiting and waiting for a parking place,” Boylan told Maynard.
“Let me start by saying my wife is clairvoyant,” said Boylan. “She said if I came here and made a presentation I would get an assignment. I don’t mind knocking on doors,” he told the board, suggesting he would be back before them at some point in the future.
Ruining girls softball will not fix problems caused by pickleball
The community services district in Rossmoor (RCSD), which runs the two parks in the unincorporated area, is considering a DRASTIC REDUCTION of 30% to 50% in how much the Los Alamitos Girls Softball League can use Rossmoor Park.
The league has used the park since the 1960s and has provided a wholesome activity for local girls for decades. In 2011, the league signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the RCSD and RPN, Rossmoor Park Neighbors, (representatives of 30 homeowners) that gave access to the park’s three fields to continue the mission as it has for decades.
The league’s board has said it does not want to lose the MOU. The homeowners say they want to keep the MOU in place.
But RCSD wants to tear up that agreement and is considering a 30% to 50% reduction in field use. At a meeting Thursday (6/20) RCSD officials complained bitterly about the league, such as why they call themselves the Los Alamitos Girls Softball League and not Rossmoor Girls Softball League. They said trash overflows the park’s bins on game days.
They complained that the girls practice pitching behind home plate was never permitted, even though the league has done this for over 30 years, and it has never been an issue.
Really? This is what RCSD has come down to, a mean-spirited operation that has been attacking homeowners over the last few years and is now grumbling about the girls.
Two board members, Mike Maynard and Tony DeMarco, said at the meeting that they weren’t going to kick the league out of the park. That’s disingenuous. They are presenting a false narrative about trying to redress parking problems around the park by reducing the league’s use of it.
Over the last two years, the RCSD board has stated unequivocally that parking and congestion are not issues at Rossmoor Park, despite the pleas of nearby homeowners that the addition of four pickleball courts would make parking difficult. Now all of a sudden they are concerned with “softening the impact on surrounding park neighbors.”
It is true that homeowners around the park are complaining about parking and traffic, but LAGLS’s use of the park is limited to certain hours, days and months. By contrast, pickleball is every day of the year from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. When the four courts are used for doubles, it adds up to 16 additional vehicles to the neighborhood streets, since the park has no parking lot. By the way, Rush Park has its own parking lot, which is empty most of the time.
There is a public concept called “first in time, first in right.” Well, the girls were at the park for a half century before RCSD decided to install pickleball. The girls have a first right. Let’s not make the girls pay for the errors of RCSD in trying to jam ever more activity into the park. Over the years, RCSD has added pickleball, a summer youth camp and enhanced basketball, each nice activities but each contribute to traffic and parking congestion around the park.
The MOU in 2011 called for offloading some games to Rush Park. A new softball diamond was built for that purpose, but for the last decade has been used very little, if at all. The league last year offered to pay the cost of improving the diamond and playing more games there, if only RCSD would extend the fence line. RCSD General Manager Joe Mendoza has rejected doing it.
RCSD apparently feels it has a financial problem and wants to raise the softball league’s fees. Some of that makes sense, but RCSD would have plenty of money if Directors DeMarco, Barke & Maynard hadn’t voted to recklessly spend $65,000 (previously unbudgeted) to resurface all four tennis courts and the basketball court – TWO YEARS EARLY – instead of simply painting lines for the one court being converted to pickleball.
The original MOU was a tri-party agreement that has served this community well for 13 years. Now Maynard and DeMarco want to cut out any role the neighborhood has in the girls’ league. No doubt that is because we support the league, as RCSD wants to eviscerate it. And as was the case with pickleball, Directors Maynard, DeMarco & Barke, along with GM Mendoza, have repeatedly shown their disdain for any input from park neighbors if it interferes with their self-serving autocratic agenda.
RCSD says only a few homeowners are raising a fuss. In fact, more than 50 homeowners around the park neighborhood have signed a petition (name, address and signature, not a phony online survey) asking the county to help with relief from pickleball. There needs to be acoustic mitigation and a parking plan. It will not cost a fortune.
It’s time for RCSD to stop fighting the community and start trying to listen to its constituents.
2011 RPN Representatives
Ralph Vartabedian
Michele Fieldson
Rossmoor
Summertime health tips for protecting your eyes
By Archana Dubey, MD,
Eye health is an important factor in our overall well-being. Yet 65.3% of California children don’t regularly see an eye doctor. With many kids out of school for the summer, screen time may add up quickly and potentially contribute to health issues, making it a great time to shine a spotlight on vision health.
That can include a focus on preventing or treating nearsightedness, also known as myopia, which can affect our ability to see far-away objects clearly. Importantly, childhood onset of myopia has been linked to a greater risk of developing serious eye diseases later in life, including cataracts and glaucoma.
Unfortunately, myopia is on the rise, affecting around 42% of all Americans, up significantly over the last few decades. By 2050, it is projected that 50% of people worldwide will be nearsighted.
In an increasingly digital world, it’s more important than ever to be aware of this growing issue and how to address it. This is especially true for kids. According to an international research study, children who spend most of their time on both a smartphone and a computer may have an 80% higher risk of developing myopia.
Here are some tips to support eye health for you and your family:
- Reduce excessive blue light exposure. Research is showing the potential health implications of excessive exposure to blue light, including disrupted sleep cycles and digital eye strain. Nearly 60% of U.S. adults report experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain with Americans spending an average of 7 hours per day interacting with screens. Make sure to spend ample time outdoors, which research has shown may reduce the risk of nearsightedness.
- Watch for warning signs of myopia. Some common symptoms include far-away objects appearing blurry while close-by items are clear, squinting to see properly, eye strain and even headaches. For parents and caretakers, it’s important to remember that children may not know they have a vision problem, so pay attention to indicators like head tilting to read or watch TV, reduced performance at school or constant blinking.
- Get a comprehensive eye exam and consider myopia management if needed. If you think you or a loved one may be experiencing vision issues or if you’re a frequent computer user, make sure to visit an eye doctor and get a comprehensive eye exam. These exams can detect health problems that a simple vision screening may miss. Ideally, kids should get annual comprehensive eye exams throughout their school years.
- While eye doctors can’t cure myopia, they can prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses to help you see clearly again. And if you or a family member is diagnosed with myopia, specialized treatment plans may help slow the progression.
Maintaining good eye health is an important step everyone can take to protect their overall well-being and may help prevent or slow the onset or progression of nearsightedness and other vision conditions.
Archana Dubey, MD, is Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare of California, located in Cypress
Pardon urges Cypress residents to demonstrate the power of “no”
A long-time activist in the City of Cypress urged citizens on Thursday not to be tooled by city hall and just vote ‘no’ on a ballot measure that seeks to build nearly 700 new residences on the grounds of the Los Alamitos Racecourse.
George Pardon, the co-founder of the nonprofit “Citizens for the Responsible Development of Cypress,” spoke to more than 100 residents at the Ovation senior living community this week to discuss a ballot initiative the city plans to discuss on June 24.
Alicia Velasco, the city’s planning director, held two workshops with residents recently to offer information about the new development that plans a 676-unit housing tract.
Even though the city’s housing element plans for new units on Lincoln Avenue, Pardon says the city is somehow aiming to build them on racecourse property, which would require voter approval.
“What’s really frustrating,” said Pardon, is that “they’re trying to create a divide here. They say, if we don’t put it here on the racetrack, we’re going to have to put it on Lincoln and then basically a great divide between the folks that live closer here and the folks that live along the Lincoln corridor.”
“The problem is, is that the city, you know, is very hypocritical about this,” he said. Information being disseminated is misleading, said Pardon, metaphorically comparing it to a wolf speaking to a herd of sheep saying, “I promise when I’m elected, I’ll become a vegetarian.”
“That’s kind of what we’re hearing here,” he said.
Pardon said when the city originally submitted its housing element to the state, it included the 676-unit at the Racecourse. “Because building those 676 units on Racecourse property will require voter approval, the state asked the city to submit an alternative proposal.
The city then submitted an alternative proposal with the additional units planned for Lincoln Ave., which was accepted by the state.
“So in their brochure when they say ‘if you don’t do this, we’re going to have to build them on Lincoln, they already have approval to build them there,” said Pardon.
“The hypocrisy here is they already have a plan for 3900 units so when we authorize another 676 units, we’re really authorizing 4700 residential units in our city, said Pardon.
In addition, Pardon said, “if residents pay attention to City Council meetings, and I’ve brought it up with the two community meetings that they’ve recently had, and nobody denies it, the mayor and others say, ‘well, one of the reasons that we don’t have the on Lincoln is that because of a lot sizes and the number of lots that exist there, it’ll never get built.’”
“What’s the problem with that,” asked Pardon, “who wants 3200 new residences here, let alone 3900 so this threat to put them on Lincoln is an idle threat,” he said.
In addition, he suggested that even if the voters approve the development at the ballot, there is nothing to stop developers from also building on Lincoln, effectively extending the housing element past its approved total of 3,900 housing units to 4700.
Another point, said Pardon, is that if voters approve a ballot measure to construct 676 new residences in the city, there would be little property left to build a meaningful “Town Center” that was originally approved by voters.
“I think enough is enough,” he told the residents, “and hopefully you would agree with that,” he told the residents.
“The city has spent a lot of money on this so far, our money, and you know the dilemmas, they send out these brochures, but they never give anyone from an opposing position to send out a brochure that would just tell the residents the rest of the story,” said Pardon.
“Nothing bothers me more than getting misinformation,” he added.
Pardon said one of the reasons he wanted to speak to the group was to encourage voters to speak up, to use the civic power they hold to say no.
Courtesy ohoto
“That’s one of the reasons that I’m here today,” said Pardon. “And they (city hall) think, obviously, they have a good chance of passing it. They wouldn’t be putting this on the ballot if they didn’t think there’s a chance that it would get passed, and so the council needs to hear from you,” he told them.
Before the Council makes the final decision whether or not to put the racetrack development on the ballot, “if they would hear from hundreds of people that they were planning to vote no, I think their tendency would be to consider not putting it on the ballot,” said Pardon.
“When they sent this brochure out (about the ballot measure) they included a postcard,” said Pardon. “I don’t know if you have that postcard or not, but if you still have it, you can write no. Just by saying no, that we have no intention of voting for it (ballot measure).
Also, he said Marilyn Reames, a resident of Ovation, could provide them with Council members’ email addresses.
“I think it’s very important for us to communicate this issue,” said Pardon. “If we don’t, they’re just going to proceed.”
Reames said Pardon’s visit to Ovation was part of a new “Speaker Series” the local community has begun under the leadership of Chairwoman Diane Ortega.
After Pardon finished, they also discussed Ovation’s ongoing efforts to have a stoplight installed on Katella near their community. For years, they have fought without success to have a stoplight installed at the intersection of Enterprise and Katella Ave.
Many residents expressed concern that if voters approve a ballot measure for nearly 700 new homes at the racetrack, the extraordinarly bad traffic situation would only get worse.
Artwork from JFK grad in La Palma chosen for OC buses
The artwork created by a La Palma graduate in the Class of 2024 has been chosen by a well-known Irvine nonprofit to represent the best drug-free message among more than one hundred competitors and now appears on transit stations in SoCal.
Waymakers, of Irvine, recently unveiled award-winning artwork by John F. Kennedy High School Class of 2024 graduate David Alfaro on a Cypress bus shelter, according to Waymakers’ spokesperson Jenny Wedge.
Alfaro’s work was selected for this honor after receiving the highest accolades in a district-wide Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) art contest titled “Substance-free is the Way to Be,” she said.
Waymakers and the Orange County Health Care Agency unveiled a bus shelter in Cypress featuring recent John F. Kennedy High School graduate, David Alfaro’s artwork that was selected for the winning ad campaign about substance use prevention in the Anaheim Union High School District. Pictured from left – Ronnetta Johnson, CEO, Waymakers; Carolyn Secrist, Orange County Health Care Agency; Sydney Ma, Health Educator, Waymakers; Estrella Vargas, Health Educator, Waymakers; David Alfaro (student); Clarissa Urrutia, Program Coordinator, Waymakers; Christina Resendiz, Program Manager, Waymakers.
Wedge said the contest was hosted by Waymakers, and AUHSD, the goal of the contest’s drug prevention theme was to reduce youth substance abuse and promote healthy alternatives.
Alfaro’s winning entry, “Substance Free is Alright with Me,” illustrates a healthy life without the abuse of substances by depicting aspects of living a healthy lifestyle, such as eating right and socializing regularly, on a wheel.
Alfaro and his family gathered with the Orange County Health Care Agency and Waymakers for the official unveiling in May. The group watched the unfolding of a 4-feet x 6-feet ad displaying Alfaro’s artwork at the bus stop in front of Veterans Park on Ball Road near the intersection of Sorrento Drive in Cypress.
Alfaro said he considers himself more of a musical artist (trumpet) but decided to enter the contest to explore his visual artistic side.
“I’m more of a musical artist now,” said Alfaro in an interview with ENE, but said his artistry “kind of started with graphic design so I wanted to explore more of the visual side.”
In addition, he said vaping is a big problem among high school students and Alfaro said he wanted his artwork to represent this problem.
“What I was hoping to achieve was kind of to give more positive alternatives to vaping because I know some people who do it do it for reasons of like, they think they’re like stressed out or having like troubles at home,” said Alfaro.
“I figured this might help with an alternative,” he added.
The winning artwork will be displayed at four locations through July 8, 2024, including three additional displays located at the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Valley View Avenue in the city of Buena Park, the intersection of Valley View Avenue and Fred Drive, and the intersection of Lincoln and Walker Street in Cypress. Additionally, the ad is featured on the interior of 13 buses running throughout Orange County through June 30, 2024.
According to Wedge, for more than five decades, Waymakers has assisted organizations like the Anaheim Union High School District with programs to deal with substance abuse by focusing on prevention.
Waymakers’ Project PATH (Positive Action Toward Health) has been providing alcohol and drug prevention services in AUHSD for the past four years, she said.
By providing services and creatively discussing substance use prevention, Waymakers works to help guide positive change. PATH is a program that strives to create safe and healthy neighborhoods by addressing public health issues through education, training, technical assistance, and media campaigns.
Wedge said about 125 students participated in the contest and that participation is totally voluntary on the part of students.
Three Additionally, the ad is featured on the interior of 13 buses running throughout Orange County through June 30, 2024.
According to Waymakers, every day throughout Orange County, people find hope after trauma. They don’t simply survive; they find ways to heal – all with the help of Waymakers.
Their ten model programs guide over 120,000 abused children, crime victims, struggling families, acting-out adolescents and people needing mediation services annually.
Waymakers has been sheltering children, supporting victims, counseling families, resolving conflicts and educating communities in Orange County since 1972. For more information on Waymakers, visit waymakersoc.org,
Alfaro said he enjoyed participating in the contest and said he has enrolled in Cypress College. Long term, Alfaro said he planned to major in history, and perhaps art.
“I’m fascinated with Mesoamerican Colombian history, especially the art,” the graduating senior said.
Cypress approves $50+ million budget amid nagging concerns
The Cypress City Council voted to approve their 24/25 operating budget on Monday, as the city’s finance director said the city was in “pretty good” shape, though there were real concerns.
“All things considered, the outlook for the coming year is pretty good, but like most years, there are always reasons for some near-term and long-term concerns,” Matt Burton, Director of Financial and Administrative Services told the Council.
Among them, said Burton, were the economic impact of inflation, rising personnel costs, mandated pension costs, and new growth,
“While the City’s financial condition is relatively unchanged from last year,” said Burton, “the challenges and uncertainties ahead remain significant.”
Burton said the bulk of the city’s revenue comes from property and sales taxes, but a new hotel that recently opened along Katella Ave. is a new source of revenue. While property taxes are steady, Burton said sales taxes “can be a little volatile.”
As an aside, Cypress owns the right to brag about the lowest sales tax in Orange County at 7.75 percent.
“For this upcoming year, sales tax growth is a little modest,” he said, “We’re seeing a little slowdown throughout the region. Fortunately, our sales taxes have grown quite a bit year-over-year,” said Burton.
In addition, Burton hinted the city is beginning to have some concerns about personnel costs and outside contracting costs. As a result, said Burton, the city will not fill two vacant positions.
“Our employee costs have gone up quite a bit,” he said.
According to the website Transparent California, the City of Cypress in 2022 paid its 251 employees a total of $22.7 million in wages, compensation, and benefits.
In a related issue, the city approved a one-time $2,000 across the board bonus for middle management employees, which prompted Council member Frances Marquez to express concern.
“I just don’t know how it helps morale to see someone get something and other people don’t get it who works just as hard,” she said. “I’m grateful for everyone’s hard work.”
Both Council member Anne Hertz Mallari and Mayor Pro-Tem Bonnie Peat jumped in to try and defend the move.
Hertz said various employee groups negotiate and “tell us what they want,” said Hertz, “and we do the best we can to meet their individual expectations.”
“Actually, this group (of employees) is non-representative,” Burton told Hertz.
Peat said “there’s different needs and requests,” from employee groups, and “you come to the Council and you come up with the best solutions to meet that and that’s how this particular quality bonus came into the picture.”
“Because once you get to this group, we’re talking about the management group that is not represented so there was no negotiations,” said Burton, although acknowledging they do go through that process with other groups.
The financial discussion may have also prompted what appeared to be an “oops” moment from closed session when Mallari said thank you to the executive team even though they were not approved for a raise.
“The executive management team was not approved by the five of us for a one-time payment…and I just want to say to the executive team that you guys are really appreciated.”
This prompted Marquez to say “it’s critical that we not say information that was discussed in closed session” and legal counsel Fred Galante quickly stepped in to tell Mallari that, “I suggest that there be no discussions even about the process of negotiations.”
Although the executive employees were not approved for a one-time bonus, the website Transparent California notes that top employees in Cypress were paid near or above $400,000 in 2022, the latest year for which payroll data is available.
City Manager Peter Grant led executive pay with a reported $457,469.90 in total pay and benefits followed by several others over or near $400k.
Finally, the city’s finance director said “high interest rates are keeping us in the black.” The city has a significant investment portfolio reported to be more than $150 million, so high interest rates brings in additional interest income.
He warned, however, that the council about being over-reliant by “balancing our budget through the use of interest rates because interest rates are much like sales tax. They can change,” he said.
“There’s no guarantee that two or three years from now we can lean as much on our portfolio as we do today.”
The city is expected to see a surplus between $200-300,000 for the fiscal year, said Burton.
The City also approved the Cypress Recreation and Community Services Department’s approximately $10 million budget, which is approved separately from the city’s budget.
The City Council’s Fiscal Strategies and a Five-Year Forecast for the City’s General Fund – these long-term financial planning tools consider the impacts of rising costs and revenue trends.
Burton said “while the City’s financial condition is relatively unchanged from last year, the challenges and uncertainties ahead remain significant,
“These are the realities that all government agencies are facing,” he said.
Burton expressed concern about the state’s potential budget deficit and other “neighboring” cities that are facing large 24/25 deficits.
“Deficits are forecast over the next five years talking about those one of the biggest concerns that we have relates to cost previously brought on by inflation,” he said.
“We are balanced and don’t expect to use any rserves in the upcoming year,” said Burton, “which is great.”
Youth Center’s Camp S.H.A.R.K. returns for kids
The Youth Center proudly introduces Camp S.H.A.R.K. at Rossmoor Park, offering a dynamic STEAM summer program for children aged 5-12. This esteemed summer camp, acknowledged by the US Congress, CA Assembly, and the President, promises a season of enriching activities, learning opportunities, and cherished memories.
Camp S.H.A.R.K., which stands for Science, Hands-on, Art, Recreation, and Knowledge, is more than just a traditional camp; it’s an immersive journey of discovery and growth. Through the generosity of our community and partnerships with the Rossmoor Community Service District, scholarships are provided to families in need, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all children.
“We’re excited to provide an exceptional summer experience for the youth in our community,” stated Lina Lumme, Executive Director of The Youth Center. “It’s heartening to witness former campers return as volunteers and staff, and the positive feedback we receive from parents is truly gratifying. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our supporters and our dedicated Camp Shark team for their commitment to creating a memorable summer for every child.”
This summer, Camp S.H.A.R.K. boasts an expanded array of science and maritime activities, courtesy of the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Port of Long Beach. Further bolstered by support from The Adams Legacy Foundation, the Run Seal Beach Foundation, and the Rossmoor Women’s Club, the camp offers a comprehensive curriculum supplemented with additional games, art supplies, and sports equipment.
Since its start on June 10, Camp S.H.A.R.K. has welcomed 350 campers, organized field trips for 150 children, and facilitated sports activities and outdoor games for over 250 participants.
Limited spaces are available, and local parents are encouraged to register promptly to secure a spot. Camp hours run from Monday to Friday, with both basic and extended hours options. Tuition rates are competitive, with additional savings offered for weekly registrations. For registration and inquiries, please visit www.TheYouthCenter.org
About The Youth Center: The Youth Center is a local nonprofit dedicated to providing educational, recreational, cultural, and social activities to youth in the community. Through various programs and initiatives, The Youth Center aims to empower youth and foster their personal and academic growth.
Local boy to compete in World Golf Championship
Nine-year-old Seal Beach resident, Carson Cox is already a more seasoned golfer than many weekend duffers who regularly hit the links. Carson began taking golf lessons at the age of four. His parents figured they might as well get him some professional instruction since he was already showing an aptitude for the game.
His father Trey had taught him to swing a club when he was a toddler and by age 2 ½ he had already played his first round of golf. Carson is also a pretty good baseball and soccer player, but golf seems to be in his DNA. Maybe literally, his great grandfather used to play in the LA Open at Palos Verdes back in the day. It’s the challenges of golf that have made it Carson’s favorite of the sports he plays.
“I like how sometimes you shoot like a bad score but then the next day you come out and shoot like the best score of your life,” Carson said.
So, it probably wasn’t a total surprise when Carson started winning tournaments on the Orange County Tour of the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation. He began to finish at, or near the top, of the season point standings each season. This year, Carson qualified for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships at famed Pinehurst Golf Course in North Carolina.
The U.S. Kids Golf Tour starts kids with nine-hole tournaments, and most events are nine-hole events. But as they advance, the tournaments get bigger, some going a full 18 holes and now even two days of 18 holes each. The World Championships will be a three-day event with players in the age 9 division playing 18 holes each day.
“So, this is a big step up,” Donna Cox, Carson’s mom said.
Carson said he likes baseball and soccer, but golf is definitely his favorite. With baseball and soccer, he wins or loses as part of the team. For the most part golf tournaments are individual events and that seems to motivate him to be as good as he can be.
“I think it’s made him more of a self starter,” Trey Cox, Carson’s father said. “I think being an individual sport, he reflects on it more … he takes it more personal.”
Trey said that if Carson has a bad tournament, he’s anxious to get out to the driving range to work on the shots he struggled with that day. Carson said he feels like putting is his most consistent part of the game, but the shot he likes most, when he executes it correctly, is a flop shot. That is a short wedge that a player tries to loft high to the green so that the ball stops close to where it lands. His dedication to developing his game is something his mother said she sees as a positive in his life.
“For me, it’s his focus, I think it’s something that not every kid can do, it takes a lot of patience, a lot of focus, dedication, he’s out there in between sports and in between school and homework, working on one of his skills,” Donna said.
Most of the events Carson played this season were nine-hole events and his two lowest scores were 38 and 35, for a total of 73 which qualified him for the World Championship by one stroke. In the past four years he has finished the season as the points leader twice and was second the other two seasons. And his best score on an 18-hole course was an even-par 72 at Indian Wells Players Course, which any golfer will tell you, is no easy feat.
“Yeah, I was pretty proud of that,” Carson said, with a smile.
For now, he prepares for the World Championships, which start on Aug. 1. It will be a daunting task for even the most experienced golfer. But of all the things Carson has learned about golf, he said the thing he feels is most important is his attitude. Good shots will come and bad shots will happen, but maintaining an even keel emotionally will keep him on track.
“So attitude can really put you in a bad position … but [a good] attitude can also help you win,” Carson said.
The World Championships are just that, a world event. Players from all over the world will be there to compete and the event includes a parade of nations to kick off the tournament, like the Olympic opening ceremonies. And Carson is already determined to enjoy himself no matter the outcome.
“I’m excited, and I don’t really care if I do bad because I just want to experience this,” Carson said.
South Coast Orchids to present Carlos Lopez
South Coast Orchid Society will present a program by José Carlos Lopez, greenhouse specialist at Sunset Valley Orchids, on “The Hidden Life of Catasetinae”, at Whaley Park Community Center, 5620 E. Atherton St. in Long Beach, on Monday, June 24 at 7 p.m., according to a press release.
Carlos has become an expert grower and lecturer on many types of orchids. Here, he tackles the Catasetum tribe, a group with spectacular flowers but unusual growth cycles and cultural requirements, which caught the public’s attention a few years ago with the development of a stunning black-flowered hybrid at Fred Carke’s nursery, Sunset Valley Orchids, in Vista, CA.
In fact, the Catasetum tribe comes in many colors, and amateur growers are beginning to conquer its requirements for a bone-dry winter rest. Are you ready to take up the challenge? Orchids grown by members and visitors will be on display as well. The event is free and open to the public.
Additional information is available by email southcoastorchidsociety@gmail.com.
Nathan Nguyen, of Cypress, wins “Build Award” at Kettering University Robotics Championship
Nathan Nguyen (Mechanical Engineering, 2027), of Cypress, a member of KUdos, the Kettering University VEX U team, claimed a Build Award at this season’s VEX Robotics World Championship, held in Dallas from April 25 to May 3, 2024. This prestigious accolade is awarded to teams that demonstrate exemplary robot construction with an emphasis on durability and meticulous attention to detail-qualities essential for withstanding the rigorous conditions of competition.
The key criteria of the Build Award are:
• Designing a robot with attention to safety and detail.
• Constructing a robot that is durable and robust under competition conditions.
• Demonstrating effective communication skills, teamwork, professionalism, and a student-centered ethos during the student interview process.
Connor O’Keefe (Computer Science, ‘25), the KUdos software lead, strategy lead, and one of the team’s drivers, explains how experimentation and improvement factored into winning this award.
“We made six robots throughout the season, and each time we made a new iteration, we learned from our competitors and previous builds to find ways to improve,” Connor said.
“For example, I tested several types of bearings and shafts for our drivetrain until we found ones that met our quality standards for our final robots.”
Nathan Nguyen (Mechanical Engineering, ‘26), the lead designer, fabricator, driver, and build lead for the B-Section team, had prepared for this year’s VEX Robotics World Championship long before KUdos touched down in Dallas.
“Every part of our robot is tested for durability before heading to a competition. We ensure everything works before we even build the final robot,” Nguyen said. “We manufactured enough 3D printed & aluminum parts for VEX Worlds to build an entirely new robot in case anything broke, but honestly, we did not have to replace a single custom-manufactured part during the competition.”
Looking ahead, KUdos is actively recruiting new members from across Kettering University, offering a valuable opportunity to engage in a team that values ingenuity and toughness in engineering. Their recognition for build quality at the World Championship marks a significant achievement for the team and inspires Kettering students who are passionate about robotics and engineering.
Katee Callicutt, KUdos’ team captain, drive coach, and social media manager, explains how the Build Award is just the beginning of the team’s success. “This victory is just a stepping stone for our future. We have significantly improved from last year and we plan on improving more and more each year,” Callicutt said. “This year, we saw how much better our robot design and functionality was when we CAD the robot beforehand, so we will continue to do that in the future.”
Since 1919, Kettering University has pioneered unique educational experiences that blend classroom instruction with real-world wage-paying work at cooperative employer partners. The Flint, Michigan-based private nonprofit university is world-renowned for its engineering, mathematics, business, and science programs that produce some of the brightest, most successful entrepreneurs and business innovators. Leaders in the fields of autonomous vehicles and robotics, Kettering is consistently ranked among the country’s best universities for return on investment and career preparation. Learn more at kettering.edu.
Da’ Hawaii Seniors Club and guests enjoy a potluck picnic and entertainment
Approximately 65 members and guests of Da’ Hawaii Seniors Club gathered at Liberty Park in Cerritos for a Potluck Picnic and Entertainment on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Programs VP Rosaria Loke Minetta and her Decoration Committee arrived early to cover the picnic tables with tablecloths and flowers in pots. By 10:30 a.m. members and guests started to arrive to register and receive tickets to win drawing prizes at the end of the day.
At 11:15 a.m., President and M.C. Carmelita Tiongson welcomed members and guests to the event. Larry Anduha led the Pledge of Allegiance and Danny and Winona Chang led the singing of Hawai’i Ponoi. Hedy Anduha led the singing of Happy Birthday to the two June birthday celebrants, Gloria Kunimoto and Anne Ohara.
Carmelita thanked all the people who helped to prepare for the Potluck Picnic, especially Program VP Loke Manetta and the Entertainment Co-Chairs Frances McCormick and Susan McCormick. She wanted all the members of the different committees to pose for a picture, including the committees for Registration, Food, Raffles, Audio Tech, Decoration,
Entertainment, and Clean-Up. She also thanked guests who helped in any way.
Entertainment Co-Chairs Frances McCormick and Susan McCormick introduced the different groups that performed. They included Ann Kho directing the Angklung Group of Cerritos who played their Indonesian bamboo instruments for two songs, My Yellow Ginger Lei and Sunshine. Ann then sang a solo of the song Memory, from the movie Cats. David and Edna Ethington then sang as a duet, two songs, Ku’u Ipo, Hawaiian for Sweetheart, and Johnny Cash’s I walk the Line.
Due to some audio technical difficulty, the guest Elvis Impersonator could not perform at his designated time. Hedy Anduha took this opportunity to teach everyone the names of parts our faces in Hawaiian. She then offered a prayer before meals prior to everyone taking time to try the potluck lunch. Everyone was invited by tables to go to the three tables that were full of a variety of appetizers, snacks, salads, and main dishes. Two more tables on the side of the building were filled with desserts. There were so many leftovers after lunch that many took home some for dinner!
After lunch, the Elvis Elias Laberinto performed for Elvis’ songs, I Need Your Love Tonight, Wear My Ring Around Your Neck, Treat Me Nice, and Ca ‘t Help Falling in Love. Liberty Santiago joined in singing when Elias stopped and sang to her. Everyone enjoyed Elvis Elias and applauded his singing.
Frances McCormick introduced four remaining performing groups. Irina Soleymani and Cesar Franco played their guitars as instrumentalists for the songs, A Summer Song and Las Palmeras. Cesar sang and accompanied Susan McCormick as she sang and played her guitar for the songs You’ve Got a Friend and the song, Sing. Susan asked everyone to join in singing both songs. Larry and Hedy Anduha then sang two songs, Save the Lance Dance for Me and Love Me Tender. The final group that performed was Na’ Kupunawahine O’Cerritos, who danced two hulas to Blue Hawaii and Ku’u Papale Lauhala.
After all the entertainment groups had performed, the Loke Manetta and the Raffle Committee began drawing the winning tickets till all the prizes were delivered to winners.
The Annual Potluck Picnic came to an end with members and guests holding hands and forming a circle as they sang Hawai’i Aloha and Aloha O’e that showed their fellowship and Aloha Spirit. As part of the Aloha Spirit, everyone helped to clean the picnic area and went home with fond memories of all the entertainment that club members and others performed and the ono potluck food that everyone brought and shared.
Persons interested in joining Da’ Hawaii Seniors Club, and experiencing the Aloha Spirit at meetings, can contact Membership VP Myrna Matsuno at 310-538-2148 for more information.