Kiwanis Awards $1000 to Five La Mirada High School Seniors
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| Fom right to left: President Steve Jones, Dante Gonzales, Michael Caplan, Vittoria Reynoso-Avila, Tori Pflanzer, Madison Friend, Scholarship Chair Pat Ruiz |
La Mirada~The winners of the 2015-2016 La Mirada Kiwanis Senior Scholarships were honored at the May 18th breakfast meeting of the club. Each will receive a $1000 award which will be deposited in their student account at the college of their choice.
All of the awardees are senior students at La Mirada High School graduating in 2016. Dante Gonzales will study Environmental Science at UC Berkeley. Michael Caplan will seek a career in Law at UCSB. Vittorio Reynoso-Avila will study for an Engineering Degree at Princeton U. Tori Pflanzer will study Psychology at Biola University. Madison Friend will attend UC Davis to become a Veterinarian.
In the past few years, Kiwanis has distributed over100 computers which were brought up to standard by Chris Staples, Kiwanian and owner of Advanced Network Consulting. They were distributed to children at Elementary Schools in La Mirada for their home use. Also, children with special needs were thrilled to get 10 IPads for their classroom use.
This year, $5000 was allocated to Middle School teachers who applied for the grants for projects or equipment to benefit students in their classrooms, their MP Rooms or their grade level studies. Teachers from Benton, Los Coyotes and Hutchinson Middle Schools benefitted from this special grant program from Kiwanis.
Kiwanis President, Steve Jones, said, “We are proud of the projects that La Mirada Kiwanis night and morning groups have chosen to fulfill the motto of Kiwanis International “Serving the Children of the World.” These projects have enriched the lives of the children of La Mirada in sports, in schools, in Scout groups, in the arts and more.”
Matadores to Play in 49th 605 All-Star Classic
Whittier~Paul Tully and AJ Rivas from La Mirada High School will participate in the 49th 605 All-Star Football Classic Friday, June 3rd.
The game, pitting schools on the east side of the 605 freeway against teams on the west side, was started in 1967 by the Whittier Kiwanis Club and showcases high school seniors many playing in their last game.
This year, the game has been moved to Pioneer High's new Titan Stadium. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
La Mirada Paramedic Unit Collides With Vehicle
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| The paramedic unit from LA County Fire Station 49 in La Mirada collided with another vehicle this afternoon at La Mirada Boulevard and Oakwood Drive. Photo La Mirada Blog Twitter feed @LaMiradaBlog via Joe Flores |
La Mirada~A paramedic vehicle from L.A County Fire Station 49 in La Mirada collided with another vehicle today at the intersection of La Mirada Boulevard and Oakwood Drive.
The incident occurred about 1:30 p.m.
La Mirada Blog fan Joe Flores reported the paramedic unit was traveling northbound on La Mirada Boulevard. A female was driving southbound on La Mirada and attempted a left turn on to Oakwood.
It is unclear was caused the mishap. It is also unclear if the emergency vehicle had its lights and siren on at the time of the incident.
No injuries were reported at scene.
La Mirada Community Members Remember Our Fallen Heroes
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| La Mirada community members line up for the Presentation of Colors Monday at Olive Lawn Memorial Park as Reverend Richard Bergquist addresses the crowd. The park has been hosting the ceremony since 1961. Photo Alondra Urizar |
Approximately 200 community members attended the annual observance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 30 at 11 a.m held at Olive Lawn Memorial Park. The park has hosted the event each of the last 55 years-since 1961.
To commemorate the event, American flags were placed on gravestone markers of fallen service men and women by members of the Veteran Foreign Wars, the Boy Scout troops 438 and 919, and Cub Scout pack 919. The VFW post 9148 has served La Mirada and veterans for 57 years.
Cathy Moreno has led troop 919 as Scout Master for two years and previously led Cub Scout Pack 919 for four years. She has attended the event for nine years.
“This weekend is really special to us because it’s a lot of service. We provide to the veterans and the fallen veterans and families and so it’s kind of a work week for us but our boys don’t mind it and they get up early and do what they have to do,” Moreno said.
The Boy Scouts troops 438 and 919 and Cub Scout pack 919 gather at 7 a.m. to place flags on the gravestone markers. Flags are placed on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to allow others to observe and respect the veterans. The troops and cub pack also placed 3,000 flags at Rose Hills Memorial Park at 5 p.m. the day prior.
Post chaplain of Gold and Blue Star Families and Reverend Richard Bergquist welcomed and introduced speakers before the posting of colors, flag raising and pledge of allegiance was given.
Chaplain major Kenneth S. Valardi of the United States Air Force Reserve gave a passionate Memorial Day address, reminding members of the La Mirada community why veterans should be remembered.
Memorial wreaths were placed by La Mirada City Council and Mayor Steve DeRuse, the Ebell Club, Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus, Olive Lawn Memorial Park, Rotary of La Mirada, VFW Post 9148, VFW Auxiliary and past commander and president club.
Safely Dispose of Hazardous Waste for Free This Saturday at Regional
La Mirada~There will be a free Household Hazardous Waste & E-Waste Recycling Roundup for La Mirada area residents on Saturday, May 21, at La Mirada Regional Park, in the Tennis Court Parking Lot on Adelfa Drive, in La Mirada from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Safely dispose of household hazardous waste such as antifreeze, unused pharmaceuticals, car batteries, used motor oil, paint, pesticides, home-generated sharps waste, e-waste, and more. It's a free and easy way to safely dispose of items that are too toxic to trash.
For more information, contact the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works at 1(888) CLEAN LA or www.CleanLA.com or the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County at 1 (800) 238-0172 or www.lacsd.org.
Oxman’s to Unveil New Purple Parking Space on Armed Forces Day
Santa Fe Springs~Oxman's Surplus, an Army/Navy Retail Surplus Store, will be hosting a celebration Saturday, May 21st, Armed Forces Day, to unveil their new “purple parking space” to be used exclusively by combat wounded, injured military personnel, and all veterans.
There will be free hot dogs and soda to the first 200 visitors. Hot dogs, will be served at 12:00 noon and at 1:00 p.m. there will be short comments by the Oxman family, Joe Enriquez of Point Man Ministries, and short impromptu comments by some of the Veterans in attendance. The purple parking space will then be unveiled.
Oxman's Surplus, founded by Jerome and Miriam Oxman in 1961 has been in the same location for 55 years. Jerome Oxman (1915-2013) was a WWII veteran and dedicated his life to buying, selling, collecting military memorabilia, and creating a store that is also a museum. Mr. Oxman wanted every customer to find what they wanted and learn a little bit about our military history and understand that "FREEDOM IS NOT FREE"
Oxman's is still under the watchful eye of Miriam Oxman as two of her sons, Murray and Jason, have taken the reins and are going strong.
On Saturday, Oxman's will be offering a 10% discount on all items in the store and a 20% discount on cold weather gear.
The Oxman family would like to thank Point Man Ministries for the generous food donations.
Oxman's Surplus is located at 14128 Rosecrans Avenue at Valley View Avenue along the border of Santa Fe Springs and La Mirada.
Please feel free to Contact Murray, Jason, or Miriam during the business hours of Mon.-Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at 562.921.1106.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY: Relay for Life Information
La Mirada~The entire community is invited to come out to this year’s La Mirada Relay for Life event Saturday, May 14 at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 15.
Visit relayforlife.org/lamiradaca for the entertainment schedule, theme lap log and other information.
Cancer survivors are encouraged to show up by 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning to participate in the Survivor Parade.
No food trucks this year. Only La Mirada Restaurants will be represented and they are donating part of their proceeds. They include: Green Chile, Sizzler, Pizza Hut, Jersey Mikes, Tom's Tailgate and BFF Itailan Ice.
The Luminaria Ceremony will begin at 9 p.m. Saturday evening. Fun activities will be held throughout the event including riding down the Buccaneer Bay waterslides on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.
Admission to Relay for Life is free and open to the public. For more information contact Relay for Life specialist Silvia Constanza at (213) 700-7485.
Hutchinson Middle School Student to Appear on National TV Cooking Show
La Mirada~When a young child prefers to watch cooking shows on TV rather than cartoons, it has to be a sign of things to come.
La Mirada resident Bella Coonis will be appearing and competing on the Food Network's television program, Chopped Junior this Tuesday May 17th at 8:00 p.m. PT, after being chosen to appear on the show.
Bella went through an interview and tryout process to be considered and got the call late last year that she made the cut. She flew to New York City this past February to film her episode, but there is a hush-hush about the outcome of the show so you will have to tune in to find out what happens.
The 13-year old creator of fare is the oldest child of La Mirada natives Nick and KC Coonis, who have three other children. Bella is a big fan of the Food Network.
Her Mom KC told me, Bella has been in the kitchen since she was around two and didn’t think anything of her TV viewing habits at first. However, she knew something was up in later years when Bella would ask for kitchen appliances, such as torches and mixers, at Christmas time instead of toys.
She said her daughter “has a passion for what she does and it shines through.”
I asked Bella what one of first memories is of cooking or baking and she said making sugar cookies with her mom, “She inspired me. I loved watching her and I wanted to help her in the kitchen.”
She produced YouTube videos showing how to make such dishes as tuna casseroles when she was five years old. She was around “seven or eight” when she first began preparing complete dinners for the family.
Talking with Bella I sensed she gets a special joy out of pleasing people with her food, such as when she made spaghetti & meatballs for her Uncle Johnny, who apparently hadn’t had it prepared a certain way in a long time.
Bella attends Hutchinson Middle School and is an honor roll student. Her principal Sara Siemens said it has been low-key on campus because of the sensitivity of the outcome of the show but offered, “We are extremely excited for her and it is quite an accomplishment. It is especially enjoyable when our students take their passions and expand on them.”
As for her future, Bella said she would like to attend the Culinary Institute of America and get a business degree in hospitality. After that, she would like to open her own cafe.
See Bella’s casting video from last year here.
Recently, Bella entered a cooking competition at the Anaheim Citrus Festival. Her dish was her own original recipe called Indulgent Citrus Cake with Mascarpone Cream, and she won against an all-adult panel.
Everyone is invited to join family and friends for a viewing party of her episode "Go Fish!" this Tuesday, May 17th at 8:00 p.m. at Chili's, 1600 West Imperial Highway in La Habra.
UPDATE: Bella beat the other three contestants and was named a Chopped Junior Champion! Although she had a challenge in the desert round, she rose to the occasion to make La Mirada proud!
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