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Torrance comes to Fiesta Floats
On Sunday evening several bus loads of Torrance residents, along with their mayor, the city council, commissioners and other various dignitaries headed out to Irwindale and Fiesta Parade Floats to check out the progress of the float that the City of Torrance is sponsoring for the 126th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
The theme of this year\’s Rose Parade is \”Inspiring Stories\” with the Grand Marshal being Torrance hometown hero, Louis Zamperini, who passed away earlier this year. The Torrance entry is called \”A Race Well Run\” and will feature black-and-white photos of Zamperini\’s life, the Olympic torch and other imagery that reflects Zamperini\’s life including a replica of the B-24 plane he was shot down in during World War II. Since the movie Unbroken was released on Christmas Day the City of Torrance hopes that this float, dedicated to the memory of Louis Zamperini, can once again bring international recognition to the city.
Sunday\’s visit required a little imagination as all the floats essentially had most of their big items removed so flowers and seeds could be added prior to the reassembly which must be completed by Tuesday night. If you would like to see the progress that has been made over the last two weeks, you can see a few of my photos on CNN\’s iReport. I will return one more time, on New Year\’s Eve, so I can get some up close and personal shots of the finished product. Continue reading
Candy Cane Lane returns to Sleepy Hollow
It is that time of year again, when the residents of the Seaside area of South Torrance, also known as Sleepy Hollow, show true community cooperation by decorating entire blocks in an extravaganza of Christmas lights, transforming the neighborhood into Candy Cane Lane.
A tradition that, by all verifiable accounts, began in 1985 has become seemingly more popular with each successive year; if not with the residents most definitely with the visitors that come to view the lights. In prior years it seemed that you had to know where you were going in order to find the decorated neighborhood. This year I have spotted several signs directing drivers to the Christmas lights and some streets seem to have been modified to keep the traffic flowing and to keep people from becoming lost in the maze of streets that all seem to look alike when the sun goes down and the lights come on.
These photos were taken on Tuesday and Wednesday nights because I wanted to get some photos in before the crowds got too big. Even though it is still two weeks before Christmas several long lines of cars can be found driving up and down the decorated streets. It is a safe bet that the weekends will be even more crowded with both car and pedestrian traffic. The lights at Candy Cane Lane are on from 6:00 until 10:00 PM and will be on every night until at least New Years. If you decide you want to visit the decorated area, I highly recommend parking and walking the streets. It may be chilly but there are plenty of people selling hot chocolate, home-baked cookies and popcorn. There are carolers, musicians and an occasional Santa Claus sighting has been reported. It is a good time for young and old, you will enjoy yourself. Continue reading
Louis Zamperini Celebration of Life Photos
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The following photos were taken Thursday evening at the Louis Zamperini Celebration of Life which was held at Torrance High School\’s Zamperini Stadium. I should probably preface this by saying that I am not really in the habit of going to memorial services for people I do not know but over the past couple of years Mr. Zamperini\’s name seemed to pop up more and more in conversations so much so that I felt like I did know him slightly. As I was walking the dogs last night I recalled how our family moved to Torrance [almost] 50 years ago and that even then my dad would mention the Zamperini name; even if I did not really appreciate who this man was. By the end of last night\’s event I felt that I knew Louis much better and I wished I had made more of an effort to learn about him while he was alive.
The remembrance to honor Louis Zamperini\’s life was a very moving and educational event. From local juvenile delinquent to hometown and national hero, we learned a lot about Zamperini. We were able to hear from people like former Torrance Mayor Ken Miller whose family moved next door to the Zamperini family 80 years ago when Miller was a freshman at Torrance High and Zamperini was a senior. Zamperini\’s daughter Cynthia, his son Luke and his grandson Clay all spoke of their lives with a living hero that was, by all accounts, a very humble man. We then got to hear from people like Kyle Gauthier that had only recently met Zamperini who had donated several thousand dollars to help send this young man to Victory Boys Camp, a camp he established in 1952 for wayward youth, where he taught other juvenile delinquents the skills to succeed in life. Speaker after speaker pretty much had the same things to say; this was a man that endured a lot, but was made a better man for it. Continue reading
The City of Torrance has a new mayor and council
On Tuesday evening, the Torrance City Council went through a major changing of the guard, with Pat Furey being sworn in as our new mayor; and Kurt Weideman, Heidi Ashcraft, Tim Goodrich and Geoff Rizzo being sworn in as new council members. Weideman had been appointed to the council a year ago when Councilwoman Susan Rhilinger resigned due to health; and Ashcraft was appointed in December when Cliff Numark was elected to the El Camino College Board of Trustees. They have a combined year and a half of experience compared to the 30 years of experience between the departing Mayor Frank Scotto, and Councilmen Bill Sutherland and Tom Brewer. It is going to be an interesting time for Torrance; no doubt.
The evening began with a ceremony marking the departure of City Clerk Sue Herbers who retired after 20 years of service. In her farewell address she mentioned that she will still be around and be as active as ever; even if it is as an audience member. She did mention that if the council decided to accept applications for the vacant seat that we now have since Furey became Mayor, she would apply. More on that later, but personally, she would be outstanding.
Herbers last official duty was the swearing in of Council members Weideman, Ashcraft, Goodrich and Rizzo; Pat Furey as Mayor and Rebecca Poirier as the new City Clerk. And with that we lost 50 years of experience in one swoop. Continue reading
The Stanley Cup returns to the South Bay
Sorry, for the delay; it has been a busy week. These photos were taken Wednesday on Pier Avenue where it meets The Strand as the Los Angeles Kings brought the Stanley Cup back to Hermosa Beach for the second time in as many years. Unlike last year when the parade basically went down Pier Avenue from the fire department to the plaza, this year\’s parade began at the Redondo Beach Police Department and ended in Manhattan Beach. Continue reading
Torrance: No Parking on Street Sweeping Day
Torrance residents have a new issue facing them and that is the fact that due to Federal, State and County mandates we must cut down to zero the amount of trash that enters our storm drains; failure to comply will result in fines of up to $10,000 a day. One method of cutting down on the trash and debris is to improve the efficiency of our street sweepers; in order to accomplish this the City of Torrance is proposing the addition of no parking signs on street sweeping days. This has caused quite an uproar as many people are suggesting that this is not necessary; that people will voluntarily keep their cars off the street on street sweeping day. I saw one comment on Facebook that suggested, \”Street sweeping has been going on for years in my neighborhood – WITH NO SIGNS! Crazy, isn\’t it, to think that people might actually do what is best and right for their neighborhood WITHOUT forced government intervention? Every Monday there is NOT ONE car parked on the street as far as I can see. CRAZY!\”
I decided to watch the video of the April 22 City Council meeting (http://torrance.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=8) and it seems a large number of the people that are against the no parking signs are from the same part of Torrance as the person that made the Facebook comment, so I decided to head out there on Monday. These are the photos of what I observed.
If you have an opinion about this proposal you should head to the Torrance City Council meeting tonight, Tuesday May 20 at 7:00 PM. Continue reading
Photos of the 55th Annual Armed Forces Day Parade
Saturday afternoon, the City of Torrance hosted their 55th Annual Armed Forces Day Parade, the longest running military parade sponsored by any city in the United States. Each year a different branch of the military is honored with this year being the Navy. The Grand Marshal was United States Navy Rear Admiral Patrick J Lorge.
In addition to the dignitaries, high school and military marching bands, and military equipment there were several aerial flyovers and a mass swearing in of about 600 young men and women to various branches of the armed forces. While it was a pretty hot day, there seemed to be a consensus that it was a fun parade and the 20 degree drop in temperatures was quite welcomed.
The military equipment is on display at the Del Amo Fashion Square until 3:00 PM on Sunday. Continue reading
The 55th Annual Armed Forces Day Celebration in Torrance
It is that time of year again, the Torrance Armed Forces Day celebration is this weekend with the highlight being the 2014 Armed Forces Day Parade, the nation\’s longest running military parade sponsored by any city which will be held Saturday from 1:30-3:30 PM. Every year a different branch of the military is honored and this year it is the US Navy. The parade runs down Torrance Boulevard from Crenshaw to Madronna. If we are lucky and the weather forecast is correct, it should be a lot cooler than it has been.
These photos are of the military exhibits which can be found at the Del Amo Fashion Square, by the Macy\’s entrance and will be viewable from Friday through Sunday. You can visit the City of Torrance website for all the pertinent Armed Forces Day celebration information. Continue reading
Mooneyes Mother\’s Day Show & Drags
Regular readers of GotBaddog may recall that since 2010 I have been attending and photographing the Mooneyes Christmas Party, Car Show & Drag Races at Irwindale Speedway. This past December the weather did the unthinkable by raining out the event; if you can imagine rain in December. As a result, Mooneyes rescheduled the event for Saturday, May 10 and renamed it the Mooneyes Mother\’s Day Show & Drags. Even though I had other plans, I decided to stop by Irwindale to check out the morning action.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a much smaller crowd that I have ever seen at the Christmas Show; so much smaller that the parking situation which usually causes the most complaints was not an issue at all. As I made my way through the car show to the drag strip it suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to bring my ear protection. As I usually like to get situated a little ways down from the staging lights I decided my ears would survive without them. After I signed my waiver and prepared to get situated I was informed that things were different this year and photographers had to stay in one small area right by the staging lanes. To those unfamiliar, this is where the cars typically do their burnouts to make the tires sticky; it is also about the loudest place one can stand. After one of the first cars hit a wall it caused a fairly significant delay while debris was removed from the track; the next set of cars that staged were far too loud for my unprotected ears and I decided that I was not going to be able to get the shots I wanted so I called it a day. Continue reading