Who Gives American’s Their Freedom?

In preparation for this Memorial Day we’d like to especially honor all the men and women who have given their lives so that those of us can live as we do.

We don’t know who the author was of the following ode…..but we honor that person as well.

From Nathan Hale – – – to the last soldier who will die in Afghanistan; we dedicate our Nation’s sacred honor to these gallant men and women.

It  is the VETERAN, not  the preacher, who  has given us freedom of religion.

It is  the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us  freedom of the press.

It is the  VETERAN, not the poet, who  has given us freedom of  speech.

It  is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given  us freedom to assemble.

It  is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the  right to a fair trial.

It  is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the  right to vote.

It  is the VETERAN who salutes the  Flag,

It  is the VETERAN who  serves under the  Flag,

ETERNAL  REST GRANT THEM  AND  LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON  THEM.

Please pass these thoughts on to every veteran you know.

We should also remember other local veterans.  Here are a few:

Mike Bianco

Paul Knight

Jack Greenly

Joe Stok

Joe Rubio

Gil Hadad

Alan Mutke

Joe Boray

John Flude

Ken Able

Tom Spotskey

Don Bowen

Bob Conway

Joe Conway

Lou Faubert

Del Smith

John Child

John Clarke

D. “Willie” Williams

Bob Hamilton

Clark Mears

Sandy Hay

Ken McKenna

Jack Halpin

Don Olson

Dick Sargent

Bill Halpin

,,,,and thousands more.

Let each one know how very proud you are of their service FOR you and “yours.”

BLESS THEM ALL !

Old Seal Beach Warrior Remembers 1945

Gordon Logan was bitterly cold that January night 65 years ago.

In addition to the temperature the 19 year old was also more than a little apprehensive the there were no clouds beneath the plane.  This would certainly make them a better target for the ‘88s’ …. the ack-ack (Anti-Aircraft) guns of the German Army.

His RCAF Halifax bomber was carrying 16 five hundred pound bombs that they successfully dropped on Ludwigshaven, Germany that night. The German Army had just suffered a tremendous defeat at the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest of Belgium.  Hitler’s Army may have been reeling but his air defenses were still formidable.

Logan looked back on that evening in a conversation with me last week.  “It was a ‘good bombing’ by that I mean  ‘successful.’  No bombing is really good when civilians are killed but that raid was one I will never forget.  There were hundreds of searchlights and we felt like every German gunner was looking just at our plane.  Flak was everywhere. Hundreds of pieces of burning metal going all over the sky.   On that mission our Halifax had some holes in the skin.  Many of our missions were ‘fair dinkem ‘ but not Ludwigshaven”  he said. (Note “fair dinkem” loosely translates into “piece of cake”)

Logan, a resident of Seal Beach (College Park – East) for 40 years, was 18 years old when he went to the recruitment office in Chicago to enlist.  After a brief conversation the recruiting sergeant told him he couldn’t enlist without a lot more paperwork because he wasn’t an American.
Gordon didn’t know he wasn’t an American.  His family had moved to Chicago from Canada when he was a youngster. Rather than go through the rigmarole of collecting all the required paperwork he decided to go to Canada with a friend and enlist there. One problem was the $5 bus fare. He was a little short.  His Dad asked how much more he needed.  “Four dollars” was his answer.  Pop  reached in his pocket loaned him the four dollars which was promptly paid when Gordie returned to Chicago in 1946. (Gordie didn’t know he was an “illegal alien.”)

In Canada he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and went to Gunnery School and  then shipped out to England.  His crew was together for the entire duration of the war.  28 missions. Hanover, Hanau, Sarrbrucken, Stuttgart, Mainz, Essen, Berlin.

Logan flew on Lancasters, Halifaxs and Mosquito bombers.   His favorite was the wooden Mosquito,  a wooden plane that was one of the fastest bombers of the war. Normally the Mosquito’s went to the target early, in a sort of “pathfinder” group that dropped incendiary bombs to light the target.  (To view video of Mosquito click here.)

On one Mosquito mission, April 9, 1945, 300 of the planes went to Kiel Bay, Germany to bomb the sub-pens. An added prize was the pocket battleship the Admiral Scheer. (Similar to the  “Bismarck) The Scheer was by far the most successful German capital ship of the war and it fell to the RAF and the RCAF that day.

When I asked why he preferred the Mosquito…..I could tell by his glance I’d asked a really dumb question. “Because we got back to base a few hours earlier and that gave us more time at the Pubs!”

Gordie told me that he really didn’t mind the de-briefings that many of the flight crews complained about.  “As soon as we were debriefed we were given our ration of rum, about two ounces.  I was a youngster and two ounces was enough to quickly make me mellow.  We’d leave the  de-briefings, jump on our bicycles and ride of to the pub. “I was a pretty fair athlete in those days and could play the pub-games pretty well.  I usually won enough to pay for my pints.  I can tell you that the next mornings we’d look at those bikes and there was many a front wheel that was no longer round.”

On May 8, 1945 his notes say “Cessation of Hostilities.” His next three missions May, 8, 9 and 10, were his best of the war.  Each flight returned 24 released prisoners of war and they were rushed to hospitals in England.  In all Gordon had 456 hours in the air.

Gordon said that everyman in their crew believed that Captain Moffat, their pilot, was the best commander any crew could have had.  His only question, not really a complaint, was that Captain Moffat got the Distinguished Flying Cross and since all the members of the crew went to the same places and faced the same dangers he always wondered why the whole crew didn’t get a DFC?

The rest is history.  Gordon returned to Chicago and married his high school sweetheart Shirley in 1946. They moved to California and Logan retired from Metropolitan Life. This year the Logans celebrate their 63rd anniversary and 40 of those years were in Seal Beach, with there two sons and two daughters and their grandchildren. They  are truly a wonderful family.

Seal Beach can be happy that the flak over Ludwigshaven missed  our friend and neighbor, Gordon Logan. We’d have never heard about his gambling successes in the English pubs.
(IF YOU KNOW OF A LOCAL VETERAN WITH A STORY TO TELL – – WE WANT TO PRINT IT HERE!)

We should also remember other local veterans.  Here are a few:

Alex Gates Sr., Mike Bianco, Paul Knight, Jack Greenly, Joe Stok, Joe Rubio, Gil Hadad, Alan Mutke, Joe Boray, John Flude, Ken Able, Tom Spotskey, Don Bowen,Bob Conway, Joe Conway, Lou Faubert, Del Smith, John Child, John Clarke, D. “Willie” Williams, Bob Hamilton, Clark Mears, Sandy Hay, Ken McKenna, Jack Halpin, Gerry Halpin, Don Olson, Dick Sargent, Jason Rayburn, Bill Halpin

…….and thousands more.

Bless ’em all!

“Best Restored Beach” Award to S.B. for 2010

A press conference will be held today, May 24th, at 2 p.m. in Eisenhower Park adjacent to the pier. Seal Beach is one of only 4 cities nation-wide to receive this award by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association.

The Seal Beach project involved nourishing a popular but eroding beach east of its pier using 74,000 cubic yards of offshore dredged material and was funded by the City of Seal Beach at a total cost of $1,182,000.  This beach provides a resource to millions of people in a high-density population area on the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties.  Such investment in their coastal resource allows the city the flexibility to better manage the sand within their compartmentalized shoreline over time.  The widened beach offers improved storm wave protection to shorefront residences and has increased the recreational beachfront.

“When we first started this process, we knew we wanted to be good stewards of the beach, and we identified several objectives of our efforts.  Some key partners helped make this project a big success” said Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Michael Levitt, speaking for the City Council. “We feel we have laid the groundwork for future actions to protect one of our most precious assets, the beach.  We’re humbled to have these efforts recognized by the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association”.

“This is a clear case of many hands make light work.  We greatly appreciate the efforts of our fine City Manager and his staff, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and especially the efforts of Mr. Kim Sterrett of the State of California Department of Boating and Waterways.” said City Council member Charles Antos.

Seal Beach City Manager David Carmany added, “Seal Beach is one of the nicest beaches in California, so restoring and keeping the beach in good order is a big part of the job description for our Public Works Department.  And it’s obvious that this was a truly a labor of love for our consultant engineer Moffatt and Nichol.  There’s no better firm in this arena.”  The effort played a significant role in mitigating flood damage as a result of the recent El Nino pattern which saw high tide and wave run up at East Seal Beach.

Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce is working to bring more special events to the City’s beaches and its President, Seth Eaker, feels strongly about the beach project: “Our beach represents one of the strongest draws for our Main Street business corridor. It brings families, special events and visitors from not only our region, but all over the world to our city. It is one of the best kept secrets in coastal California, and the re-nourishment of the beach benefits all of us through improved access, a better visitor experience and a desire to revisit and spend in our community.”

For the Seal Beach project, a high level of cooperation between local, state and federal governments allowed an unconventional contracting process to succeed within a tight timeframe and budget.  Dredging was conducted by Manson Construction as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Stage 12 Surfside/Sunset project which is a Federal and State funded project. The Department of Boating and Waterways was also instrumental in the project’s launch. The Department of Boating and Waterways provides safe and convenient public access to California’s waterways and leadership in promoting the public’s right to safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound recreational boating.  For more information about the Department, please visit http://www.dbw.ca.gov/

Permit procurement, final engineering and construction support services for the project were provided by Moffatt & Nichol, a local firm with a long association with the city of Seal Beach. In 1983, after a season of extremely heavy storms, the city contracted Moffatt & Nichol to conduct a sediment budget analysis that found the loss of beach material from East Beach to be between 4,200 and 7,800 cubic yards a year.  For more information about the firm, please visit: www.moffattnichol.com .

The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) was founded in 1926, the ASBPA promotes the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. For more information on ASBPA, please visit http://www.asbpa.org/

For information contact:
David Carmany, City Manager

Another Coyote Attack Saturday A.M.

The following note from City Mgr Dave Carmany’s office.

“The beautiful College Park West neighborhood in Seal Beach has been having ongoing conflicts with coyotes, especially in the rear yards of homes that back up to Edison Park.  This morning, May 22nd, a resident reported yet another incident and saved his dog from a coyote in his backyard.

“The city recognizes that this is a serious problem, and is taking steps to address it.  A neighborhood meeting was held on May 1st; approximately 40 residents attended to express their concerns.  Since that meeting, City volunteers have distributed educational flyers to all 322 homes in the neighborhood and also posted warning signs on every street light pole.  The city put up a banner at the entrance to the tract (see attached picture) to alert residents.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by making life for coyotes in your neighborhood more difficult, you will increase the likelihood that they will go somewhere else.  Any Seal Beach resident observing a coyote in the neighborhood is encouraged to phone the Animal Services Department at (562) 570-7387 to report the sighting or encounter.

For further information:

John Keisler, Animal Control Department
Office phone: (562) 570-3051

New textbooks for Texas…but not for California?

The School Board of the state of Texas adopted a “new” curriculum last week for social studies and history in its schoolbooks.

It “weakens” or changes, (depending on your political leaning) the history most know of slavery, civil rights struggles in ’60’s and U.S. relationship and involvement with the United Nations as well as hundreds of other items. The changes were brought about with a conservative stamp of approval and hailed by Republicans throughout the state of Texas.  This new take on education will be used to teach 5 million Texas students for the next 10 years.

Of course Texas should be allowed to teach in any manner they it chooses and with that many students they will have no  trouble finding a publisher, however, what is of great significance to other states is that textbook printers sometimes use books designed for Texas in other states.

In California, State Senator Leland Yee has introduced legislation ( SB1451) to protect the largest school system in the United States (California) from using books containing the “revised studies” adopted in Texas.  Critics say the changes are historically inaccurate and minimize the efforts of minority contributions to U.S. hisotry.

For complete coverage of the story go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html

What say you about the old power-plant land?

The Bay City Partners, owners of the 10 acres near Ocean and First, have submitted a “new plan” for development.

To “What’s Up In Seal Beach” …. it looks pretty much the same as the old one.  Still a 70%-30% split…not the 75%-25% that was cast in stone several years ago by the city.  Still taking much of the land along the river for homesites.  Still offering to drop their litigation against the city if the new plan is accepted.

To many of the residents of Old Town the new plan is not new at all. They see their years of struggle to protect that land from over-development and to protect as much public access as possible for our citizens and visitors in jeopardy.

Several of our city councils over the years have adjusted the building restrictions on the 10 acre parcel in an effort to be fair to any potential developers and still protect the neighborhood.  When the present owners bought the land they were well aware of the last, and hopefully final, use restrictions.  Nothing was hidden in the purchase that we know of…and if it was perhaps they should talk to the seller.

To come and plead for additional waterfront exposure for their development many years after the fact hopefully will fall on deaf ears.  A “few more homes” translates into  “many more dollars” and also “a life time of lost access.”

The only reason the land is not a complete bluff park is that the city couldn’t afford to buy it.  To many it is a heartache that anything will be built on that beautiful piece of land.

If we take a look at our neighbor to the south, Huntington Beach, and see what they were promised by the developer of the Bolsa Chica Mesa and what they got we can understand why so many Seal Beach residents are against any change in the existing planned land use of that parcel.

We urge you all to call and/or write to our council and Mayor and tell them  exactly how you feel ..and be sure to tell them where you live!

To those on our email list we encourage you to pass this on to your friends

How to contact the City Council:

District 1 –  (Old Town & Surfside Colony) Charles Antos – 562- 431-2527 ext 1501 E-mail: mavjka2000@aol.com

District 2 – (Leisure World & College Park West) David Sloan (Mayor) 562- 431-2527 ext 1502 E-mail: sloandistrict2@dslextreme.com

District  3 –  (Hill, Coves, Bridgeport & Herron Pointe) Gordon Shanks – 562- 431-2527 ext 1503 e-mail to gorsha@aol.com

District 4 – (College Park East & Town Center) Gary Miller  562- 431-2527 ext 1504 – E-mail: miller.sb.district4@earthlink.net

District 5 –  (Leisure World) Michael Levitt – 562- 431-2527 ext 1505 E-mail: mglevitt@roadrunner.com

Re-paving of College Park Streets soon to end

The re-paving project for certain College Park East street which began on April 12 is nearing completion and should end by June 14.

The project covered the following street sections:

Street                                    From                        To

Fir Ave                                 Wisteria                   Rose

Tulip                                     Ironwood               Lampson

Goldenrod                           Elder                        Cul-de-sac

Fuchsia Circle                     Fir                             Cul-de-sac

Fuchsia  St.                         Birchwood                Elder

Candleberry                        Marigold                   Aster

Fir                                         Ironwood                  Goldenrod

Guava                                   Ironwood                  Cul-de-sac

Hazelnut                              Guava                         Heather

For additional information contact: David Spitz, City of Seal Beach -562- 431-2527 ext 1331 Or email to <dspitz@ci.seal-beach.ca.us>

Gallery 212…something special!

Gallery 212 is relatively new in town and is next door to Wacky Sushi.  Last week I was ordering sushi to go and had time for a brief venture in the gallery next door.

I was taken by a very unique plate that I thought my wife would like  and owner Ruth Harrel took the time to introduce me (figuritvely) to the artist .

Ruth said that “Many of our artists are local from Seal Beach, Long Beach and Orange County. We also have an artist from Stockholm, Sweden, one from Pennsylvania and one from Colorado. The art and artist change each month.”   Such a rapid turnover seems like a pretty good idea for young and beginning artists in addition to being an idea that will encourage constant visits by the community and tourists.

Ruth went on ” We specialize in edgy urban art and emerging artists. We also carry established artists that have a following.  We have some Seal beach artists that we carry regularly: Joan Wussow, Garret Williams, and Ron Hust.”

I went to the 212 website…which was quite good… and  there saw excellent examples from present artists that are being shown as well as previous displays.  It’s much like visiting a small museum and very relaxing. I almost forgot to pick up my sushi order.

You can check out  the gallery and the artists at http://www.gallery212.com

McGaugh Pool to close for 4 to 6 weeks

Beginning on May 17, 2010, the McGaugh Pool at 1698 Bolsa Avenue, will be closed for maintenance and repairs.  The pool has been leaking a large quantity of water and is in need   of immediate repairs in order to expand its useful life.

On April 12, 2010, the City Council authorized a contract with Commercial Aquatics Services, Inc., to make immediate repairs to the pool to address the high rate of water leakage, as well as replace all main drain covers in the large pool and skimmer equalizer covers in the small pool to meet compliance requirements with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

The City is undergoing this repair project with the goal of re-opening the pool to the public for the summer aquatics programs beginning on Monday, June 21st.  The scope of work is estimated to take 4 to 6 weeks.

The general contractor for the project is Commercial Aquatics Services, Inc., a licensed California contractor with over 50 years of experience in the commercial pool industry.

“We thank our pool patrons in advance for your patience and apologize for any inconvenience during the time of closure, and look forward to the pool re-opening on Monday, June 21st.” said Mayor David Sloan.

The McGaugh Pool was built in 1964.  It is 25 yards in length and has six lanes for lap swimming. City residents also enjoy shallow and deep water aerobics.  A salt conversion system is used to sanitize the water.

The Seal Beach Recreation and Community Services Dept. makes a positive difference in our community by encouraging resident involvement and strengthening community resiliency.

For information:   Tim Kelsey, Supervisor Community Services (562) 431-2527, ext. 1341.
Pool office: (562) 430-9612 http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us/parksandrec/index.html –

A typical “Valley Gal” ….she ain’t!

Darlene Rudisill is on her way back to what will soon be her new home in Moose Pass, Alaska.

Darlene, a native of San Gariel Valley is on her way back to Alaska in what once was her Grandfather’s plane. The valleys she loves are to be found all over our biggest state and she says the beauty of Alaska is overwhelming.

Rudisill, a well-known flight instructor who lived in San Marino and instructed at El Monte airport is flying to Alaska in the 64-year-old airplane. She originally learned to fly in the 1946 Luscombe 35 years ago.

Darlene began the restoration of the plane in 1991, three years after her Grandfather’s death and it has been a labor of love.  The trip will not be an attempt at a speed record as the plane will be lucky to average 65 mph.

There are many emergency stops along the way, however.  They used to be called “The Al/Can Highway.”

Rudisill has flown and taught in everything from the Luscombe to Lear Jets says her good Seal Beach friends Jerry and Janet Rootlieb, where recently visited.  (Jerry flies a piper cub that is older than the Luscomb.)

For the complete story and photos go to: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_15081983?nclick_check=1

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