Crossover Special from the La Mirada Blog on Facebook: Growing Up in La Mirada
This story is a compilation of several forms of correspondence sent in over the years, by former La Mirada resident Russ Tice. Russ is one of the very early "fans" of the La Mirada Blog, even before Facebook. He grew up in La Mirada in the 50's and 60's.
An Apple Valley resident now, I grew up in La Mirada. I have wonderful memories of La Mirada. My parents bought a brand new home on San Cristobal Drive in 1955 for $15,000, across from a vacant field. That vacant field soon became Rancho Elementary School.
Neff Park was truly a kid's adventure paradise in the late 50's and early 60's. Chickens, forest like trees, the main house, and best of all, the caretaker's house. A sweet older lady lived there, and she would sit and tell stories to we kids about the place. Even better, Neff Park was right next to Rancho School, which was across the street from my house.
I don't recall we kids needing much in the early 60's. We all had a bicycle, and some other toys of the day. It's all there was, and that looks better to me every day. We did fairly well, even without any wireless communication devices. We all had one phone, usually in the kitchen of our home. The lucky kids had two phones in their house. All, of course, were still on party lines. Two or three homes were hooked into one phone line. That seems scary....
La Mirada To Host Number One Team in Nation
La Mirada~After facing five Division I opponents to start the season--including a nationally ranked team in Edison--it might have seemed that things would get a little easier for the struggling La Mirada High School baseball team.
Think again.
Lakewood is the nation's new No. 1 squad in the maxprep.com rankings, and guess who the Matadores face in not one, but two games, at home Thursday? Uhmm, Lakewood.
Yep, the same team that clobbered the Matadores, 10-0, in a second-round Loara Tournament contest March 6.
However, the doubleheader will be an opportunity for La Mirada (2-3), a multi-talented and experienced squad itself, to regroup and rebound and prove that its lofty rankings in numerous pre-season polls weren't without foundation.
The Lancers (5-0), fresh off winning the brutally tough Loara Tournament championship by outscoring their opponents 39-7, are led by a terrific player in senior Jeff Yamaguchi, a Long Beach St. signee who earned the event's MVP.
In the first meeting against La Mirada, Yamaguchi hit a monumental atomic blast to the top of Lakewood's leftfield Chainlink Monster, an entity which is cleared less than the times Godzilla destroyed Japan.
The first game is set for 12:30 p.m., with the nightcap approximately 3 p.m.
Not a Saturday at the Park
La Mirada~If the Matadores continue to hit and play defense as poor as it has the past two games, a promising season will not materialize.
La Mirada added another of its trademark Saturday clunkers with an uninspiring 5-1 loss to visiting Dana Hills to complete the Loara Tournament a very disappointing 2-3.
Four hits--4-for-24--and 11 strikeouts in a shocking and alarming trend doomed the Matadores even before two more late errors led to the defeat.
Totaling 12 strikeouts the previous game against reknown 6-foot-7 lefty Henry Owens of Edison was completely understandable. The kid is ridiculously overpowering and polished and he will easily average double figures in K's a year before he's expected to be a first round draft pick in the 2011 amateur draft.
You Can See Ed Asner as FDR This Saturday in La Mirada
Multi-Award-Winning actor Ed Asner gives a Tour-de-Force performance as "FDR" Saturday Night at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
La Mirada~Ed Asner, recipient of seven Emmy Awards ("Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Lou Grant") and 16 nominations, five Golden Globe Awards, member of the TV Academy Hall of Fame, and the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's newest film, Up, will star in the solo performance drama, FDR based upon Dore Schary's Broadway hit Sunrise at Campobello, which ran 70 weeks on Broadway.
FDR explores the life of one of America's best-loved presidents and the events and decisions that shaped a nation. This powerful play follows the iconic president as he reflects on his years in office, from inauguration to the trials of World War II.
Sunrise at Campobello, Dory Schary's play depicting FDR's early battles with polio, made its Broadway debut on January 30, 1958. Later made into a successful movie, the play chronicles FDR's personal journey.
This one-man show takes through FDR's White House years including the Depression, the steps leading up to WWII and the war years. Ed Asner shows us why this president was known as "that man in the White House," scorned by many and admired by most.
Ed Asdner is magnificent as FDR and elivers a fearless performance of this dynamic and powerful world leader.
Performance is scheduled for this Saturday, March 20, 8 p.m. at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Individual tickets are $65, $50 and $40. Call 562-944-9801 or visit www.lamiradatheatre.com
Matadores Miscues Prove Costly
Huntington Beach~You don’t usually win with one hit but visiting La Mirada came oh so close Thursday in the Loara Tournament against Edison, a nationally ranked team which is also No. 1 in the state.
Baca Touts Decrease in Crime
Monterey Park~“With the 15 percent reduction in homicides from 2008 to 2009, and their continued decrease over the past five years, homicides are at their lowest level in Sheriff’s patrol
areas since 1975,” said Sheriff Lee Baca.
During a press conference recently at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Headquarters, Sheriff Baca discussed the continued decline in reported crimes for Sheriff’s contract cities and unincorporated areas. Overall, homicides, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assault crimes in Sheriff’s patrol areas decreased by over 11 percent between 2008 and 2009. Lancaster, Malibu/Lost Hills, Century, Compton, Norwalk, and Walnut Sheriff’s Stations showed the most substantial reduction in serious crimes,with decreases ranging between 12 and 21 percent.
Matadores Rout Golden Hawks
La Mirada~That's more like it.
Just a few days after a pathetic two-hit day at the plate against Lakewood, La Mirada High School stormed back to rout visiting El Dorado, 13-4, in Tuesday's third round of the Loara Baseball Tournament.
It took only the third game for the Matadores (2-1), the Los Angeles Times' No. 20 pre-season squad and the Whittier Daily News' No. 2, to reach their low point of the season after giving up three runs in the first inning to the Golden Hawks following an 11-0 rout to Lakewood. But just like that, the black clouds lifted and La Mirada put on its first display of offensive lightning.
Torres Wins Game for Matadores
Anaheim~La Mirada’s baseball team wasted no time in taunting and thrilling its fans in the season opener of what could be a memorable one in a long history of great baseball squads at the campus.
Down and out not once but twice in a Loara Tournament game against Fountain Valley at Brookhurst Park, the Matadores got off the mat and escaped with a 5-4 victory in 10 innings.
J.T. Torres, fresh off CIF Player of the Year honors in football, came up Buffalo again by hitting a towering, game-winning double to the left-center fence for a 5-4 win over the snakebitten Barons.
If Youâre Not Counted in the 2010 Census â Youâre Invisible
We all need to participate in the Census
The Constitution of the United States mandates that a count of the population of the be conducted every ten years. This count, or census, is conducted at the beginning of every decade, usually on April 1st. Our next Decennial Census is scheduled for April 1st, 2010.
How does the Census Bureau accomplish this?
Census operations are the largest non-war effort put forth by the Federal Government. It will take approximately 1.5 million temporary workers to complete this enormous task. All of the workers have to be hired, trained, given tools with which to complete their work (ie. computers, telephones, offices and supplies), and then after the Census process is complete, Decennial Census operations come to a close and the whole structure has to be dismantled. 
It begs the question, why do these workers want to be a part of the process? “Census workers are passionate about ouir work because we believe what we’re doing is important,” says Sandra Alvarado, Media Specialist with the Census Bureau. “Not to mention that 1.5 million people get to work and receive a paycheck which helps individual families who are struggling to get through these difficult times, and helps the economy at large.”
Participation in the Census is everyone’s civic duty and responsibility. Furthermore, it is of vital importance to each individual, their families and their communities. It is an opportunity, once every decade, to do something that will positively impact our lives for the next ten years.
Matadores Yet to Find Hitting Shoes
Lakewood~When the vast majority of the core of this year's La Mirada varsity baseball team were freshmen, they went and had their heads handed to them at Lakewood in a 10-0 loss.
The casts on both sides have changed little and, unfortunately, neither did the results Saturday in the second round of the Loara Tournament.
With a rainstorm blowing through just as the Matadores were going to take the field for warmups, getting in the contest was in deep jeopardy. But the dark clouds disappeared and so did La Mirada's bats for a second straight game to open the season in an 11-0 shellacking at the hands of the Lancers.
La Mirada (1-1) will likely play a home game Tuesday in the third round against either Vista Murrietta or El Dorado, one of which will also carry a 1-1 record into the meeting.
Recent posts
City Recognizes Public Safety Poster Contest Winners
La Mirada Library Events November 2024
