Guest Conductors to Make Their Rounds in La Mirada
La Mirada Symphony Association
Imagine the excitement and variety of a concert series featuring 4 talented guest conductors playing the music of your favorite composers - past and present!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Alan Mautner, Guest Conductor
“Music of the Masters”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:: Overture to Don Giovanni
Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 77
Thi Nguyen, violin
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony #5, Op. 107 “Reformation”
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Clyde Mitchell, Guest Conductor
“Theme and Variations”
Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Yin Yin Huang Acevedo, Piano
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
LAST NIGHT: FIRE NEAR WHITTIER HIGH SCHOOL; RAW VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE
Whittier~Fire near Whittier High School at 12224 Philadelphia St.; Plumbing & Industrial Supply Co. founded in Whittier in 1968.
RAW VIDEO: www.youtube.com/lamiradablog
Superintendent Explains La Mirada High School Reassignments
La Mirada~La Mirada High School's administration was replaced because of pressing needs elsewhere in the district, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ruth Perez said.
The team, headed by principal Don Jones, has been assigned to other schools in the district and replaced by a new team headed by former John Glenn High School vice-principal Bill Seals.
"With regards to [former principal Jones], we needed him in more challenging situations," superintendent Dr. Ruth Perez said, who noted that Jones has accepted a position outside the district in Chino. "The administration serves at the pleasure of the school board and the superintendent. Where we're needed in the district is where we plugged them in."
She noted that this year, the school district went into program improvement because it was not performing as part of No Child Left Behind. A school district is placed into program improvement if it does not make Adequate Yearly Progress for two consecutive years. As a result, she said the district needed the expertise of La Mirada High School's administration elsewhere.
While the school district comes to grips with its troubling performance, she said that La Mirada High does a lot better in academic performance in comparison to the other high schools. She credits strong teacher and parental involvement as a factor to its performance.
"[La Mirada] has extremely supportive parental involvement, a strong teaching staff and great leadership among its teachers as well," Perez said. "I expect La Mirada to continue to do well."
Still, she said the school always has room for improvement and she hopes that the new team led by Seals will continue to improve on its accomplishments.
"Bill Seals is an excellent fit for La Mirada High School and the team has a strong background in areas that will continue to move the school forward," she said. "I expect the new team to work with the community, establish trust with the teachers as well as the community and have a strong professional learning community to allow the work to continue."
Come and Celebrate La Mirada Living Past and Present This Saturday
La Mirada~The 1st annual La Mirada BlogFest, a reunion/gathering of La Mirada residents past and present, will take place this Saturday, August 14th at Regional Park, 11:30am-6:00pm.
Come and see the La Mirada band, "The Shakedown" perform beginning at 1:00.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own food, games, supplies, bbq's, etc. The event will be in the general area of the old La Mirada plunge site.
The vision for the future is to have an art/food/music festival every August to celebrate the legacy, heritage, and traditions of La Mirada.
Later in the evening, Neff High School will be holding it's 40th reunion at the Fullerton Marriott, and a picnic the next day at Neff Park, Sunday, Aug. 15th at 1:00pm.
VIDEO: Firefighters Make Quick Work of Dumpster Fire
EARLIER TODAY: Dumpster fire on border of Santa Fe Springs/La Mirada, adjacent to homes in La Mirada.
http://www.youtube.com/user/lamiradablog#p/a/u/0/t3LHziT75bU
First Parent Meeting With New Administration at La Mirada High
La Mirada~A parent meeting will take place Wednesday, August 11th, at La Mirada High School from 5:00-7:00 pm.
This will be the first opportunity for parents to meet the new principal, Bill Seals, and his staff, who will share their professional backgrounds and goals for the upcoming school year at La Mirada.
Signs on campus will direct you to the location of the meeting, not yet determined. More than likely it will be held in the MPR room or gymnasium.
After the initial introduction, the staff will split up into smaller groups so parents can introduce themselves to the new administration.
Scout Gives His Final Thoughts of Jamboree
La Mirada~After returning from the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree celebrating 100 years in the United States on August 4, I spent the next few days relaxing and looking back before I headed off to another week long camp. I can honestly say that the Jamboree was the best experience of my life so far. Exploring our nation’s capital was an extra added bonus. We were constantly moving and doing things at the time I don’t think I fully realized what was going on until now.
Everyday was a new adventure just waiting to be lived. I loved waking up to a new day, smelling the fresh air and making decisions on what I was going to do that day. The choices were endless with no shortage of things to do. Jamboree was one big playground of challenges for us. There were obstacle courses, archery, BMX bike racing, skeet shooting, fishing, swimming, rappelling, canoeing, over 100 merit badge booths and many more wondrous activities and exhibits that kept me and my fellow scouts busy. With the 45,000 scouts that were at the Jamboree, it was easy striking up a conversation with someone. Along with meeting scouts from across the country, I also ran into scouts from Japan, Puerto Rico, Russia and Africa. All of us coming together to celebrate scouting. 
Food itself was an adventure. For breakfast and dinner, we ate a wide variety of foods like pancakes, french toast, chicken jambalaya, chicken stir fry, beef stew, and many other varieties of food. Each of our troop’s four patrols cooked and did cleanup together. If it was something we didn’t like to eat, we could walk to the concession tents and get hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza or chicken strips. For lunch we had tickets to get box lunches out of trucks that were setup around the camp.
The Jamboree ran like a well oiled machine. Volunteers were always eager to help scouts reach their full potential. Not only were they willing to help, they even paid to work at the Jamboree and live in the same conditions as us. It would not have been the success that it was without their efforts. Along with the volunteers, the soldiers of Fort A.P. Hill also helped with security, traffic, supplies and merit badge booths.
The closing arena show was spectacular with guest stars like the bands Honor Society and Switchfoot. Even Mike Rowe, Eagle Scout and host of Discovery Channel's “Dirty Jobs” dropped by on a bulldozer to talk to us. I really enjoyed his message about how scouting changed his life and his take on the scout laws especially the one referring to how a scout is clean. “A scout is clean...but not afraid to get dirty.”
La Mirada Salaries Are Middle-of-the-Road
La Mirada~La Mirada pays its city officials significantly less than that of Bell, which has recently been under fire for its exorbitant salaries of local officials.
According to City Manager Tom Robinson, his annual salary is $187,380, which he said has not changed in three years. Robinson's salary is vastly different from the disgraced Bell city manager Robert Rizzo's $787,637 annual pay.
In addition, the Mayor and four City Council members each earned $12,114.36 a year, with an addition $8,138 in benefits. City Clerk Anne Haraksin's annual salary stands at $106,988.
Robinson said that the situation in Bell is the opposite of La Mirada's fiscally conservative tradition of governance.
"There is no justification for the types of salaries that have come to light recently in Bell," he said. "They are not at all in keeping with the City of La Mirada's long standing tradition of being fiscally conservative."
He stressed that La Mirada wants to fairly compensate its employees "at the mid-range of what other similar positions are paid in the competitive marketplace."
"La Mirada does not want to be the highest paying employer, nor does it want to be the lowest," Robinson added. "The City of La Mirada wants to hire and retain good employees at reasonable pay levels to deliver quality services."
While Robinson's salary remains unchanged, La Mirada has made cuts in its annual budget and its personnel, resulting in a reduction of its full-time workforce to 82 employees, and freezing cost of living adjustments for a second year in a row.
Patch Trading is Scout’s Favorite
With the many activities available for scouts at the Jamboree, it is without a doubt that patch trading is everyone's favorite. The roadsides especially after dinner become filled with scouts displaying patches on their cots or towels. It is a sight to behold as patch flea markets spring up everywhere. Patch trading is one of the best ways to meet new people, make friends, and have a good time.
A council patch (CP) is worn on the left sleeve of a Boy Scout uniform. It is the most common patch available for trade. It has the council name, location and a unique logo. Jamboree CPs are specially designed and made available to the troop members. In addition to the ones worn, extras are purchased in case a scout wants to participate in trading. Because this is Scouting's 100th anniversary, this makes them even more rare and valuable.
If a council patch catches a trader's eye, the scouts first make introductions giving names, troop numbers and hometowns. A person from California could trade with a 
person from New York and swap patches. This may get them talking and soon they may become friends. Once a fair deal is made, the agreement is completed with a scout handshake.
The BSA has rules for trading. A scout can only trade with another scout and adults trade only with adults. No money can be passed and each trade must be fair and end with a handshake.
Oxman’s Debuts Military Museum
Santa Fe Springs~Oxman's Surplus reopened its doors to the public in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday with a new museum of military memorabilia and a new mess tent café.
Long-time customers, new customers and officials from the La Mirada City Council and the Chamber of Commerce attended the ceremony that included many speakers and military history enthusiasts in World War II-era uniforms.
"Oxman's Surplus is a passion that came from a man who served in World War II," said Jason Oxman, the son of store owner Jerome "Mr. O" Oxman, before the ribbon-cutting ceremony began.
The store, located near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue and Valley View Street in Santa Fe Springs, has been a fixture for La Mirada and nearby residents looking for surplus military equipment and other accessories since it opened its doors in 1961.
For the first time, the front of Oxman's Surplus will serve as its entrance, where customers will enter Mr. O's collection of military history, ranging from the Medieval period to Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, a restaurant serving mess hall items like hot dogs and meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) is located in the renovated wing of the store.
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