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Coleman Court 25 Year Anniversary Celebration
These photos were taken at the Coleman Court Senior Community 25 year anniversary celebration which was held Wednesday, June 20. The Coleman Courts provide affordable housing for independent seniors. It is a 79 unit complex for seniors aged 62 and over, located in old Torrance. I have to say, it is pretty secluded looking as I know I must have driven by it 100 times and never noticed it. There were two young women there that have been there since the day they opened and both were rewarded with certificates.
The celebration included a small buffet lunch for the residents and their guests as well as guests Thomas Safran, whose company built the complex; Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto and Torrance City Council Members and candidates for the position of Mayor of the City of Torrance in 2014, Councilman Pat Furey and Councilman Bill Sutherland.
The Coleman Court Senior Community is located at 1421 Cravens Ave Torrance, CA 90501. For information call (310) 212-5898. Continue reading
Pat Furey for Mayor Campaign Kickoff Fundraiser
While I have never used this website to promote any particular political agenda, this is about to change. The City of Torrance will be electing a new mayor in June of 2014 and I am throwing my support, in any way possible, to Torrance City Councilman, Pat Furey. It was close to 25 years ago that I first met Mr. Furey and while we have never hung out and drank beer together, for as long as I have known of him, he has been involved in various organizations that benefited kids and that is something I feel quite deeply about.
One of my first recollections of Councilman Furey was when I was at some parent\’s orientation for scouting or Little League, so it had to be close to 25 years ago. After the leaders gave their talk to us about what would be expected from parents to help their kids get the most out of the scouting (or Little League) experience, a gentleman approached me, introduced himself and told me that he had heard I was a parent willing to become involved in a leadership position. I remember thinking that this guy seemed like he must be one of those people that are lifelong scouts and that he must be one of those people that are always involved in civic activities.
I accepted his offer and for the next few years I saw him at scouting functions and Little League games, sometimes acting as an umpire. As my kids got older, I saw Pat less frequently but I still saw his name in the news since he was elected to the Torrance City Council in 2008. Towards the end of 2011 we joined the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and I started attending and photographing various ribbon cuttings. At one of these events he saw and recognized me and came up to say hello. As I attended more Chamber events, I saw Pat Furey more and more often; continuing to be involved in civic events. Continue reading
2nd Annual Waves of Grain at Shade Hotel, June 30
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It is that time of year again, beer festivals are upon us and the fine crafted brews are flowing. June 30, Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, CA is hosting their 2nd Annual Waves of Grain Beer Fest; this time benefiting the Richstone Family Center in Hawthorne, CA. The Richstone Family Center is an organization dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse. Child abuse is a rampant epidemic in this country and the children need all the help they can get. As my daughter works for DCFS this is something that means a lot to me, so I had to get involved in supporting them.
I was at the first Waves of Grain Beerfest last year and it was a blast. Last year they had 25 breweries represented; this year it will be more than 40 American craft brewers representing. The list includes Anchor Brewing, Beachwood, Ballast Point, Cosmic Ales, El Segundo Brewing, Monkish, Strand Brewing, Smog City, Stone, Dogfish Head and a host of others. If you enjoy craft beer you are going to really enjoy this. If being able to enjoy great craft beers and help a worthy cause at the same time is not incentive enough; they are also having a barbecue with a whole roasted pig. I have not steered you wrong yet, this is going to be a very fun event; you do not want to miss it. Continue reading
Sativa\’s Graduation Party
These photos are from Sativa\’s graduation party which was held Saturday. From what I could see, Sativa has a very large extended family and a lot of friends that all wanted to congratulate her as she prepares to go to school back east in Boston. As I was leaving, her mother mentioned how many times they had large family gatherings and no one takes any photos that are seen by more than a couple people. I am sure she is going to cherish these for a very long time.
In addition to taking the photos, I am able to host them for you as well; of course, you get a copy of the originals without any watermarks. If you ever want to memorialize any event, I am there to help. Continue reading
Ribbon cutting at Smog City Brewing Company
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On Friday afternoon several members of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC), Torrance City Council member Bill Sutherland and a representative from Assembly member Al Muratsuchi’s office joined several dozen fans of Smog City Brewing Company at their newly opened microbrewery and tasting room for an official welcome to Torrance and the Chamber of Commerce. It was just a few weeks ago that Torrance Mayor Scotto cited craft beer as a new growth industry for Torrance so everyone was out in force to show their support for that idea.
Smog City introduced a new beer to their tap list, Third Nipple Tripel, and had some snacks out for the dignitaries and offered pints for $1.00 off during the event. Owner/brewmaster [Jon] Porter was even seen giving some private tours explaining the brewing process and the difference between their horizontal lagering tanks and the more common vertical ones. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. You can see all my photos from the Smog City ribbon cutting on CraftBeerGuy.com.
Redondo Beach Pier & International Boardwalk
As the summer tourist season is approaching, I thought I might spend a little time wandering around the South Bay to photograph popular tourist destinations for those that might be coming to visit the Torrance and Redondo Beach area. Since the Redondo Beach Pier has been in the news lately due to it being the 25th anniversary of when the Redondo Beach Pier had a major fire that destroyed half of the Redondo Pier horseshoe, I decided I would start off with a walk around the Redondo Beach Pier and the International Boardwalk.
The Redondo Beach Pier is a really fun place to bring the family; in fact, even though I have lived here since the mid-1960\’s it was a place that I took my kids when they were still in strollers and continued to bring them as they got older and could appreciate things like the Tilt-A-Whirl at the Redondo Fun Factory. Besides the games and rides at the Fun Factory there are a couple very nice restaurants, with my favorite being Tony\’s on the Pier; also known as Old Tony\’s because there was a Tony\’s Fish Market Restaurant which, as I recall, was one of the restaurants that was destroyed in the fire of 1988. They have very good food at a fair price, but are probably best known for their Mai Tais. They are very tasty, even if you do not drink.
If you are planning a visit to the Redondo Beach area, I highly recommend you make a stop at the Redondo Pier and plan on making a day of it. The arcade games, various food stands as well as the great seafood offerings make it fun for the entire family. Even the locals come to spend time there, so that should tell you something. Continue reading
Third Annual Rod & Kustom BBQ Photos
On Saturday, the CrossMembers Hot Rod Fellowship held their Third Annual Rod & Kustom BBQ at the Restoration Life Christian Church in Lawndale. This was a fundraising event with a car and bike show, [outstanding] live music, and a barbecue. In addition there were a few vendors there and they held a raffle with 100% of the proceeds going to Hands of Hope: Mission Ethiopia. Hands of Hope: Mission Ethiopia provides water purification and well digging services as well as humanitarian relief to the Afar people of Ethiopia. They are attempting to raise $40,000 to purchase a new hydraulic well digging rig which will reach a depth of 300 feet to access clean water far beneath the surface. For more information email hotrodfellowship@hotmail.com or call (310) 973-5059.
I had been informed about the event because of my association with the Original Sinner Motorcycle Club\’s Meetup group, the Original Sinners Riding Club. If you ride and are looking for some people to ride with, you should check them out. Bikes of every style are welcomed; this is not part of the motorcycle club, so if you do not want to wear a patch, that is not an issue. After checking out the car and bike show we headed up to Point Fermin and met up with the Sinners at Walker\’s Cafe, a popular location overlooking the Palos Verdes Peninsula coastline. I used the opportunity to take two bikes out on the same day; it was a good day. Continue reading
Sushi Nozomi: An unexpected surprise
As my regular readers are aware, I eat a lot of sushi; I am pretty picky about the sushi I eat and there are only two people (Song and Alex) that I go to when I want it. Unfortunately, neither of my friends is currently available so I was prepared to abstain for a while. Tanya, on the other hand was not. Tanya is an interesting case because she only recently started eating sushi and she was only familiar with Song\’s fusion style of preparation. Since we knew Song was selling his business, Tanya had been talking about visiting a new sushi bar and has been looking around and asking friends for recommendations. A couple of weeks ago she picked up a Los Angeles magazine that had an article that discussed the top 15 locations for sushi in Los Angeles; one of them was Sushi Nozomi in Torrance. I took a look around their website and was slightly uncomfortable; it was apparent they are more traditional sushi than the fusion style I had introduced Tanya to so I really was not sure she was going to like it. In fact, I had so little confidence on this being a positive experience that I did not bother bringing my camera. Tanya mentioned that if nothing else we can have some sake and beer, so the worst case scenario was not all that bad.
I have frequently said that the best restaurants are in strip malls, so I wasn\’t taken aback by its location. It you want a seat with a view, sit at the bar and you can see how fresh the fish is. Their hours were the typical lunch (11:30-2:00PM) then closed until dinner (5:30-10:00PM). We got there shortly after they opened for dinner and there were already people seated. They have a very long sushi bar with three chefs at the ready; they all welcomed us with \”Irasshaimase\” as we entered. It was our first time there so I was prepared to sit at the first seats but there was a \”Reserved\” sign for the first 10 spots so we just walked down to the end where we met Toshi, our chef for the evening. Continue reading