Matadore Boys Head North; Girls Soccer Will Host Playoff Opener
La Mirada~The CIF-Southern Section basketball playoff match-ups were announced yesterday, with both the boys and girls teams of La Mirada High School playing on the road in the first round.
The Lady Mats, (13-12, 6-6), under second-year coach Nicole Hyde, will play at No. 10 seed Wilson High School (Hacienda Heights) Thursday in a Division 3AA first-round contest beginning at 7 p.m.
Junior Lexi Vanzuillen (avg.13 pts. a game), and senior Kalena Glover (11), lead the Matadores who enter the playoffs as a Suburban League at-large entry.
They will face a tough opponent in Wilson (20-6, 10-2), who finished second in the Valle Vista League and are riding a four-game win streak.
The boys will have a more scenic route, heading 200 miles up US-101 to Arroyo Grande High School, which is a couple of blocks from Pismo State Beach and just south of San Luis Obispo.
The Matadores (17-11, 8-4), bring a modest two-game winning streak along for the ride, finishing as the Suburban League third place team.
Led by first-year head coach Bryce Jones, the Matadores will face a very tough Arroyo Grande squad. The Eagles (18-8, 11-1), finished first in the Pac-7 League. Start time for the Division 3AAA game is 7 p.m.
You can follow both games on our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/lamiradablog.
In Girls Soccer, the playoff brackets were announced today. The Matadores, one of the premier teams in the area, finished in first place in the Suburban League and will host the Division 3 post-season opener Friday against Cypress, a very familiar foe from years gone by. Game time is 3 p.m. at La Mirada High School
Copper Thieves Hit Gardenhill Elementary
Four Wings of the School Still Without Power as of Late Wednesday
La Mirada~Thieves stole copper wiring at Gardenhill Elementary School this past Monday evening/early Tuesday morning, leaving parts of the school without power all day Tuesday and Wednesday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, four wings of the school, including the kindergarten section, remained without power as district electricians, continued to work on replacing the wiring.
The wiring was stolen from underground, with the thieves accessing two manhole covers.
"At an unknown time, 110 feet of 1¼ inch copper wiring was stolen, resulting in approximately $800-$1000 dollars in damage, said Sergeant Gary Harman of the Norwalk Sheriff's station, "As a result, two wings of the school lost power."
Gardenhill office clerk Sandy Roberts told the La Mirada Blog that she, along with the custodian noticed the theft almost immediately, "We saw two big holes in the ground, it was kind of obvious something happened."
Spaghetti Dinner and Show Goes Off Without a Hitch
La Mirada~The 32nd Annual Meals-on-Wheels Spaghetti Dinner was held Friday, January 27th at the La Mirada Activity Center.
The event, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of La Mirada, serves as a major fundraiser for the La Mirada Chapter of Meals-on-Wheels (MOW).
La Mirada Kiwanis reported that over 240 meals were served and over 350 were in attendance at the social/fundraiser.
As a guitarist played in the background, and a magician roamed the dining room, attendees feasted on some fabulous fare donated by Bon Appétit contracted food server at Biola University.
"The City of La Mirada has been very generous to us over the years, and we hope that remains the same. But, you never know, with this economy that could change. So, this event is very important to us," said Executive Director Lou Piltz, who is also a former La Mirada City Councilman.
The city provides an annual subsidy, currently around $8000, evaluated yearly. The city also in recent years has provided the venue for the event, hosted in previous years at La Mirada High School.
La Mirada MOW, since its inception, has served over 400,000 meals to shut-ins, and provides food and comfort along with support and encouragement for those unable to provide for themselves, in the La Mirada community.
International “Simpsons” Hit Comes to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
The Simpsons Do Macbeth in Rick Miller's internationally-acclaimed one-man show February 16, 2012 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts; His first Southern California Appearance in Six Years Marks the 25th Anniversary of The Simpsons Debut on The Tracey Ulman Show
La Mirada~Phantom Projects Theatre Group will present the return engagement of the international smash hit comedy, MacHomer, February 16, 2012 at 10AM and 7PM at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.
MacHomer is a one-man performance featuring TV's favorite dysfunctional family in a hilarious multi-media performance of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedy, complete with video projections and puppets. The script, which is 85% Shakespeare and 100% hilarious, stars Homer Simpson as MacBeth and Marge as Lady MacBeth, along with more than 50 other well-known Simpsons characters. MacHomer has played to capacity crowds across the U.S. and Canada and recently toured the world to rave reviews and awards in Scotland, England, Australia, and New Zealand.
La Mirada Presents Community Spotlight Award to Resident
Robert Esnayra Saves His Friends' Life After He Collapses While Playing Racquetball; Look For This Story in This Weekend's La Mirada Lamplighter
La Mirada~Robert Esnayra and Marco Perez were doing their usual thing this past October 31st, playing racquetball, but the day ended in a fashion they never imagined-with Robert saving Marco's life.
The two often get together at the now closed La Mirada LA Fitness to play racquetball.
On this day, while they were playing, Robert watched in fear as his partner collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious. He noticed Marco was struggling to breath and also was gasping for air.
Robert immediately started performing CPR to his friend, applying compressions to his chest, and began to call for his friend to come out of it.
He acquired the knowledge of performing CPR at a police academy and other jobs he has worked at.
Marco was not responding. A worker at the gym brought Robert an Automatic External Defibrilator (AED) unit. "After I hooked up the device it indicated he had no pulse, so I followed the instructions on the machine and administered a shock," he said.
He continued with the compressions and about a minute and a half later, before another shock was needed, Marco miraculously regained consciousness.
La Mirada Presents Community Spotlight Award to Resident
La Mirada~Robert Esnayra and Marco Perez were doing their usual thing this past October 31st, playing racquetball, but the day ended in a fashion they never imagined-with Robert saving Marco's life.
The two often get together at the now closed La Mirada LA Fitness to play racquetball.
On this day, while they were playing, Robert watched in fear as his partner collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious. He noticed Marco was struggling to breath and also was gasping for air.
Robert immediately started performing CPR to his friend, applying compressions to his chest, and began to call for his friend to come out of it.
He acquired the knowledge of performing CPR at a police academy and other jobs he has worked at.
Marco was not responding. A worker at the gym brought Robert an Automatic External Defibrilator (AED) unit. "After I hooked up the device it indicated he had no pulse, so I followed the instructions on the machine and administered a shock," he said.
He continued with the compressions and about a minute and a half later, before another shock was needed, Marco miraculously regained consciousness.
Splash! Water Slides to Open This Saturday
La Mirada~Enjoy the California sun in February at Buccaneer Bay's large slides, which will be open this Saturday, February 4 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The cost is $4.95 for unlimited use, and includes Recreational Swim from noon to 5 p.m. in the 25-yard pool. The slides are open for anyone 48 inches and over.
For more information, call (562) 902-3191 or visit www.SplashLaMirada.com.
Matadores Girls Basketball Has Its Eye on Playoffs
Recent News in La Mirada High Sports
Girls Soccer won at Mayfair, their perennial nemesis, by a score of 3-1 this past Monday for the second year in a row. The win puts the Matadores in position to win their second consecutive Suburban League crown.
Ileen Mejia scored two goals as the Mats (14-6-3, 7-1-0) begin looking towards the CIF playoffs.
In boys basketball, the Matadores (14-10, 5-3) lost to archrival Mayfair 67-50, however the playoff-bound Mats put up a fight against a Monsoon (18-5, 9-0) squad that is very tough.
In girls basketball, this past Friday night against Artesia, the Lady Mats were down by nine with 3 minutes left in the game. With: 15 left in the game they hit a three-pointer to send the game to OT, however they ended up bowing, 51-47.
This past Monday night, The Lady Matadores were down by only two at the half, 24-22, on the road against the Mayfair Monsoons, but ended up losing 55-46.
Alyssa Acuna led the Mats with 17 points.
The Mats (11-9, 4-3) are looking to make the playoffs for the first time under second year coach Nicole Hyde. There could be a showdown with Cerritos on February 10th for the final playoff spot, but a lot remains to be seen.
Museum Exhibit Honors Early Local Artist Through March
La Habra~Visit the La Habra Historical Museum, 215 E. La Habra Blvd, La Habra and learn about Betty Lou Nichols , the local artist who operated her ceramics business in La Habra from 1945-1962.
She is associated mostly with the popular head vases of the late 1940s and 1950s, yet Nichols also made a variety of figurines and paintings as well.
The exhibit, The Life and Art of Betty Lou Nichols, opens January 7 and runs through March 31, 2012.
There is no charge for admission. The museum is open on Saturday from 12-4 p.m.
Rotary Club of La Mirada Donates First iPad to Autism Class at Benton Middle School
La Mirada~In keeping with the Rotary’s more than 100 years history of community service and forward thinking leadership throughout the world, the Rotary Club of La Mirada is helping special needs children in La Mirada with a game changing device for dealing with Autism - the iPad.
The iPad has been demonstrated to be a very effective tool for dealing with all children with special needs. In particular, the iPad has proven results with Autistic children around the world. The dramatic benefits of the iPad can be seen most easily with non-verbal Autistic children due to the iPad’s intuitive nature, easy manual manipulation and overall ease of use.
Dr. Lance Williams, Medical Director of the Finding Autism Cures & Treatment Center, said. “Thanks to the incredible generosity and leadership of the Rotary Club of La Mirada the children
at Benton are getting an invaluable tool that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to at this point in time.”
The earlier an Autistic child receives intervention and therapeutic services, the better their long term outcomes become. Christine Young, the Special Education teacher at Benton who will be working with Dr. Williams to implement and take full advantage of all the iPad has to offer the severely Autistic students said “I have been wanting to use the iPad in my classroom, but couldn’t afford one yet. This life changing gift from the La Mirada Rotary will make a world of difference to my special needs kids. My heart is truly overflowing with joy."
Members of Rotary International have a long history of making great impacts in their local communities in the over 200 countries around the world, most recently having tremendous impacts globally on eliminating Polio and improving water quality in many nations.
The Rotary Club of La Mirada invites other organizations and individuals in the community to help bring this type of cutting edge technology to the neediest children in the community. Those interested in helping to provide additional i-Pads for special needs students at Benton Middle School should contact Thomas Polley at 714-994-4299.
Pictured are (l to r) Thomas Polley, Walt Jenkins, Mark Troutten, Special Education Teacher Christine Young, and Pastor Steve DeRuse.
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