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Calendar of Events Thurs., Dec 19, 2008 Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 Now thru Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Now thru Sat.,, Dec. 20, 2008 Now thru Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Away and Christmas Luncheon Sat. Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sat., Dec. 20, 2008 Sun., Dec. 21, 2008 Sun., Dec. 21, 2008 Mon., Dec. 22, 2008 Mon., Dec. 22, 2008 Tues., Dec. 23, 2008 Wed., Dec. 24, 2008 Wed., Dec. 24, 2008 Thurs., Dec. 25, 2008 |
December 18, 2008 -- Volume IV, Issue V | |||||||||||
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'PEACE ON EARTH' THIS HOLIDAY SEASON | ||||||||||||
We Traditionally honor a local artist by displaying their work on our First District Holiday Card. This year, we featured a painting by Ofelia Esparza of an ofrenda (home altar) titled "Peace on Earth." It reflects her spirituality and the respect Esparza holds for Mexican indigena roots, especially Mayan culture. She credits her mother for her appreciation of both beauty in nature and the dignity of people, which inspire much of her work. |
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Born in East L.A. in 1932, Esparza is a lifetime resident of the area and a retired Los Angeles Unified School District teacher, where she was employed for 28 years. She now works as a freelance artist and educator teaching fine art and folk art at local schools, colleges, and community venues. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally. | |||||||||||
Ofrendas are a three-generation family tradition for Esparza, which she proudly continued through her monumental altar installations. In fact, since 1980, she has installed public altars for Day of the Dead celebrations in conjunction with Self-Help Graphics & Art -- an institution of great importance to the East L.A. community and the First District family given its history of nurturing local artist for the past 35 years. At our recent Fourth Annual First District Artist Showacase where we featured Esparza's work, we also held a special auction from the Self-Help Graphics & Art collection. Contributions to help this renowned Chicano art organization stay in East L.A. can be made through Paypal at www.selfhelpgraphics.com. For more information on ofelia Esparza, e-mail her at o.esparza@adelphia.net. |
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EAST L.A. CHRISTMAS PARADE DELIGHTS ALL | ||||||||||||
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A fun time was had by everyone at the 34th Annual East Los Angeles Christmas Parade. Approximately 5,000 people packed the Whittier Blvd. sidewalks from Eastern Ave. all the way to Atlantic Blvd. to watch the procession -- which included Rep. Grace Napolitano and Rep. Hilda Solis in addition to folklorico dancers, circus clowns and animals, floats, equestrian units, a bevy of beauty queens, local boxers, and the always enjoyable James A. Garfield High School marching band, drill team, and cheerleaders. | |||||||||||
The parade also featured Jose Jose (pictured at right), the legendary Mexican composer and singer who served as this year's grand marshall. This year organizers added a special treat -- "Santa's Fiesta Lane," featuring vendors, games for kids, music, and live entertainment. Many thanks to the East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce for organizing this wonderful Eastside tradition. |
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BASSETT PARK TOY GIVE-AWAY DELIGHTS LOCAL KIDS | ||||||||||||
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The holidays are a time for giving -- and in this spirit, we were pleased to be part of the 12th Annual Bassett Park Christmas Dinner and Toy Give-Away. Held inside the Bassett Park Gymnasium in unincorporated West Valinda, over 1,200 people attended this merry event which was sponsored by the county's Dept. of Parks & Recreation in conjunction with the Bassett Soccer League, the National Soccer League, and the Associated Parks Council. Samuel Jacobo of "Fox Sports en Español" served as the master of ceremonies and Rep. Grace Napolitano joined the festivities, too. | |||||||||||
The dinner and give-away also gave locals the chance to see all the improvements we've made to Bassett Park including new synthetic soccer fields, a refurbished skate park, and decorative fencing in addition to renovated playground areas, picnic tables, and park benches. Many thanks to Silvestre Vasquez, Raul Carranza, Ricardo Mira, Carmen Sepulveda, Armando Vargas, Raul Dorante, and Alma Palacios -- all of whom were instrumental in organizing this worthwhile event. |
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LA ALAMEDA TREE SYMBOLIZES BRIGHT FUTURE | ||||||||||||
Residents of the unincorporated Walnut Park area experienced a special treat this year through the inaugural La Alameda Shopping Center tree lighting ceremony, which we hope will become an annual tradition. This beautiful Christmas tree truly symbolizes the neighborhood's bright future. During the post-war years, Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone were home to thousands of high-paying jobs and blocks of single-family homes -- shining examples of the American Dream achieved. After local auto plants closed, the region experienced a period of decline. |
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But now things are turning around. Despite the week national economy local residents have continued to enjoy La Alameda since L.A. County and Primestar Development, Inc. opened it last summer. On the county level, in addition to this shopping center, we've invested millions of transportation dollars in building the Metro Blue Line -- and next year, residents will see investments in new parks, street beautifications, and affordable housing. Like the gorgeous Christmas tree we lit for the holiday season, Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone are bright and glowing -- and the sky's the limit. | |||||||||||
NOGALES HIGH MARCHES IN MACY'S PARADE | ||||||||||||
We could not be prouder of the Nogales High School Marching Band from unincorporated East Valinda whose members kicked off the holiday season by marching in the 82nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The prestigious parade -- which is watched by a live audience of approximately 2.5 million people and 44 million more on television -- features beautiful floats, famously gigantic balloons, and the best marching bands in America. In fact, the Nogales High School Marching Band was one of just ten bands nationally to march this year, and the only one from California. Its 175 members endured a two-year audition process but under the direction of Band Director Brad Pollock their hard work paid off handsomely. |
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While marching in the parade's two-and-a-half mile procession, the band performed "Mambo" from West Side Story, "Fire" by the Ohio Players, "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock, and "Dazz" by the 1970's band Brick. Congratulations. | ||||||||||||
1,000 PEOPLE OFF DOWNTOWN L.A.'S SKID ROW | ||||||||||||
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At least 1,000 people formerly homeless on downtown L.A.'s Skid Row streets now have a placed to call home this holiday season thanks to the L.A. County Skid Row Demonstration project. First begun in 2005, the project began with a simple mission: county health and social services representatives would visit all Skid Row shelters and missions each business day to make sure the eligible families immediately began receiving public benefits to which they were entitled. We've always operated with a "zero tolerance" policy for kids on Skid Row. But our project has evolved into a mission to save families. | |||||||||||
Now we've established a successful model by surrounding families with supportive services and helping them craft an individualized solution to their unique circumstances -- without being overly intrusive in their lives. By 2006, non-profit organization Beyond Shelter began directly administering this program and working with the City of Los Angeles to supply program participants with housing vouchers (300 at last count). Every child coming into contact with this project is assessed for children's services intervention. Every eligible family is enrolled in the CalWORKs program and supplied with food stamps, mental health services, and permanent housing as soon as possible. And all capable adults are connected with job opportunities. |
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When we first started this project, some child welfare advocates -- and even county staff -- accused us of criminalizing poverty. But we overcame that fear, earning their trust and that of Skid Row families by building a good reputation through a positive track record. Always, the family remained our focus. Three years and $9.6 million later, our project has been so successful that we honored staff working on it at an L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting (pictured). Thanks to our teamwork, at least 700 children and 300 adults are off the streets of Skid Row. | ||||||||||||
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CONGRATULATIONS TO PARENT PROJECT GRADS! | ||||||||||||
Good parenting is one of the best presents we can give to our children at any time of the year. So we want to congratulate the 25 parents who recently graduated from the Parent Project. It's a ten-week course that's part of L.A. County's successful Graffiti Abatement Pilot Program. Moms and dads of at-risk kids essentially make a commitment to learn better parenting skills and then apply these lessons to their everyday lives. The Parent Project also gives participants a chance to share experiences with one another on the struggles and challenges they've faced raising teen-agers who've made negative choices and need to be coaxed back to a productive, healthy mindset. |
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4801 East 3rd Street
Los Angeles, California 90022
Phone: (323) 881-4601
Fax: (323) 887-7286
500 West Temple Street, Room 856
Los Angeles, California 90012
Phone: (213) 974-4111
Fax: (213) 613-1739
molina@lacbos.org
3400 Aerojet Avenue, Suite 240
El Monte, California 91731
Phone: (626) 350-4500
Fax: (626) 448-1573