Paramount Chamber 2016 Golf Classic
The Paramount Chamber of Commerce recently held its annual Golf Classic at Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier. The fund-raiser was a great success thanks to the event sponsor Carlton Forge and other local businesses who donated to the occasion.
Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day on the course while visiting tasting tees that offered a variety of foods, Triangle Distributing donated beverages, and Transcom Telecommunications donated lunch on the course.
A Champion Long Drive Hitter sponsored by ACE Clearwater made some amazing shots, and Mid-Cities Honda/ Kawasaki/Sea-Doo brought a Can-Am Artic Cat for the Holein-One prize.
After the tournament winners were announced at the awards dinner, golfers had the opportunity to win some incredible prizes including an Amazon Echo, 43” television, and $2,000 set of golf clubs donated by Fenico Precision Castings. There was a silent auction which included sports tickets donated by ACE Clearwater and California Screw Products, as well as theme park tickets from Knott’s, SeaWorld, and Legoland. Zamboni put together a basket of collectibles and Friendly Hills donated a foursome.
The Paramount Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone who made donations and all those who volunteered their time to make the event successful.
First place team scramble; Kris Kazarian, John Andikian, Greg Sherman, and Larry Sherman.
Second place team scramble; James Rocco, Shemus Hunter, Jay Hunter, and Ben Robson.
Third place team scramble; Steve Coumparoules, Taijiro Sasada, Jon Tanklage, and Pastor Jameson.
Recipient of Senator Ricardo Lara 2015 Excellence in Business Award
Live Well Paramount!
“Be Smart, Be Creative, Be Fit.”
That’s the theme for Live Well Paramount (formerly the Smarts, Arts & Healthy Hearts Fair). Come out to Paramount Park on Saturday, May 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and celebrate education, local artists, and fitness/ healthy behaviors.
The morning will start off with a 1K & 5K Super Hero Fun Run (everyone is encouraged to wear their favorite Super Hero costume). The top ten Paramount High School students from each grade will be recognized by the City Council and Paramount Unified School District Board of Education. There will be live musical entertainment as well as food
available for purchase.
The 1K (at 9:30 a.m.) is for adults and children 3rd grade and below, the 5K (at 10:00 a.m.) for adults and anyone 4th grade and above.
Registration forms can be obtained and turned in to the Community Services and Recreation Office (15300 Downey Ave.), Paramount Park Community Center (14400 Paramount Blvd.), or City Hall (16400 Colorado Ave.). They can also be downloaded from the City website, www.paramountcity.com. You can register the day of the race from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for the 1K and 8 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for the 5K. There is a $5 fee to take part in each run. Participants will receive an official race t-shirt.
Contact the Paramount Recreation Department at (562) 220-2121 for more information.
Summer Recreation Activities Around the Corner – Sign-Ups Start in May
Swimming Pool Passes and ID Bands
Paramount Park pool will open for the season on June 11. Residents and PUSD families can receive special rates for recreational swimming – $1 per entry for ages 17 and under and $2 per
entry for adults, or a season pass ($20 youth/$30 adult) that provides admission to the pool all summer without having to pay the entrance fee each visit. The passes will also give priority entry during recreational swim hours.
To qualify for the special rates you need an ID band, which costs $1 and is good for the summer. You need to bring it for every visit to the pool. (Per-visit rates for non-residents or those without an ID band are $3 for youth and $4 for adults. No band is necessary if you have a season pass.)
You can buy the ID bands and the season passes beginning on May 17 at the Recreation Office, 15300 Downey Ave., Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. They can also be purchased at the pool beginning June 11. Proof of residency (photo ID or current utility bill) or proof of PUSD enrollment (current-year school ID) is required.
Register for Swim Lessons
You can register for swimming lessons at Paramount Pool online from May 2 -13. Go to www.paramountcity.com and click on the “Recreation Classes” tab at the top of the page. First you need to create an account at the Recreation Office, 15300 Downey Ave. Bring proof of residency or PUSD enrollment.
A special live registration event for swim lessons for residents and PUSD families will be held at Progress Plaza East (15500 Downey Ave.) on May 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. To register, bring proof of residency (photo ID or current utility bill) or proof of PUSD enrollment (current-year school ID) along with proof of age.
After that you can register in person at the Recreation Office (15300 Downey Ave., Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) and Paramount Park Community Center (14400 Paramount Blvd., Monday - Thursday, 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.).
Registration for non-residents begins May 24.
Summer Day Camp
The City’s Summer Day Camp provides a fun and safe place for 5-to-12year-olds to spend the summer. Registration starts online or at the Recreation Office (15300 Downey Ave.) on May 16.
The camp runs from June 15 through August 7 from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for July 4. A healthy breakfast and lunch is included, and swim lessons can be added. The cost for Paramount residents is $75 per week, per child. For an extra $5 per week you can include the swim lessons. Non-residents pay $85 per child per week, with an additional $15 per week for swim lessons. (Additional fees apply when using an alternate form of payment such as Cal Works.)
Positions for junior volunteers are available.
Summer Program Offers Kids Free Meals and Activities
The Paramount Unified School District and the City of Paramount are once again providing a free Summer Nutrition and Activity Program (SNAP) for local kids.
The federally funded program offers meals and activities Monday through Friday for children 18 and younger at all elementary and middle schools in the District (except for Jackson). It starts June 13 and ends August 5. It’s a walk-in program with no registration. Children can participate any time during operating hours.
Breakfast is served from 9:00 a.m.10:00 a.m. Staff members lead sports, arts and crafts, and physical fitness activities from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Then lunch is served from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
SNAP gives the kids of Paramount a place to have fun and some delicious meals during the summer break, all at no cost to them or their families.
For more information, please call (562) 220-2121.
Mayor, Daryl Hofmeyer
– Will Smith
Remember, you can have Coffee with the Captain and Chat with the Deputies at Starbucks on the Paramount Pond on the second Wednesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
There are plenty of facts, figures, and details about distracted driving, but the California Office of Traffic Safety wants you to know the plain and simple ones:
• 80 percent of vehicle crashes involve some sort of driver inattention.
• Up to 6,000 people nationwide are killed in crashes where driver distractions are involved.
• Talking on a cell phone or texting is the number one source of driver distractions.
Depending on schedules, Lakewood Station Captain Allen Castellano, Lieutenant Dave Auner of the Paramount Station, and various deputies who serve in the City will be on hand for informal discussions about community and public safety issues. In May, for instance, the meet and greet will be on the 11th. So come out and express your opinions and ask questions about public safety and law enforcement in town.
Starbucks address is 16280 Paramount Blvd. For more information, please call (562) 220-2002.
• Texting takes your eyes off the road for an average of five seconds, long enough to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph. Most crashes happen with less than three seconds reaction time.
Rules for Business Banners in Paramount
Each year, On Patrol provides a review of the City’s ordinance that allows the use of hanging banners as a tool to help businesses with advertising.
• The act of talking on a cell phone, even hands free, can give you “inattention blindness,” where your brain isn’t seeing what’s right in front of you. You aren’t even aware that you are driving impaired. If you think you can handle both driving and talking on a cell phone or texting, you are kidding yourself and putting us all at risk.
Each business is permitted one banner, except for businesses located in corner suites (which can have two banners) and businesses occupying single-unit buildings (which can use four banners). One banner is permitted per building side.
All banners must be professionally man-
Distracted driving is anything that takes your eyes or mind off the road or your hands off the steering wheel – especially texting and cell phone use, whether hands-free or handheld. Who’s doing it? Most of us. It has been estimated that, at any one time, more than 10 percent of drivers are using a mobile device.
A ticket for $159 for texting or talking on a cell phone is a major distraction to your wallet.
What can you do? Most important, obey the law. It’s there for a reason. Also, do your best to eliminate distractions:
• Never text and drive.
• Turn off your phone when you get behind the wheel.
• Don’t text or call someone when you know they are likely to be driving.
• Make a pact with your family, spouse, and caregivers never to use the phone with kids in the car.
• No eating or drinking while driving.
• Don’t program your GPS, MP3 player, or other devices while driving.
• Pull over and stop to read maps.
• No grooming.
• No reading.
• If something falls to the floor, pull over before trying to reach it.
Project LEAD Sending Positive Message to Paramount Fifth Graders
ufactured, and they need to be installed flat against the wall or facade and anchored at all four corners – they can’t hang in midair, be suspended only by the top edge, or be strung between buildings or trees. Businesses utilizing banners need to get a no-fee permit from the City, and renew it on a yearly basis. (It’s a simple, one-page form.)
Paramount has its own dedicated District Attorney – Kelly Tatman – who works out of the Sheriff’s Station. Her duties include making sure that criminal investigations and prosecutions in town receive full attention and don’t fall through the cracks at the larger County D.A.’s Office.
This type of marketing can be of great benefit. There can, though, be a downside – if not maintained, banners will wear out and create a bad visual image. Paramount and its businesses have focused on creating an attractive cityscape, something a tattered, untended banner can compromise.
The banner ordinance in Paramount is meant to provide an effective advertising tool for local merchants. If these signs become damaged, or if they hang badly, it’s in everyone’s best interests to set them straight and make repairs.
Summer Vacation Home Checks
Tatman has been visiting a class of 36 students at Jefferson School as part of Project LEAD. The program, which goes into the classroom once a week for 20 weeks during the school year, uses volunteers like Tatman from the D.A.’s Office to teach fifth-graders about the law and help them recognize the social and legal consequences of criminal behavior.
With summertime approaching, remember that if you’re going out of town for an extended period of time, you can schedule a home check.
Sadly, too many young people first become acquainted with the justice system as delinquents. Project LEAD is designed to avoid that scenario.
Paramount residents can contact the Sheriff’s Station about having Volunteers on Patrol keep an eye on your home or property while you’re gone.
The class from Jefferson recently went on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance. (They will also go to a local courthouse). In addition, Project LEAD’s curriculum includes speakers connected to the criminal justice system and a mock trial involving either drug selling or gun possession on campus. Students are assigned roles and argue a criminal case to a jury consisting of other students. Teachers and parents attend, too.
Call (562) 220-2002 to ask about vacation checks.
2016 Baker to Vegas Lakewood Station Running Team
At the end of the program, the kids will participate in a graduation ceremony and receive a certificate of completion from the D.A.’s Office at a meeting of the Paramount
• No watching videos.
• Try not to get too involved with passengers.
The 2016 Baker to Vegas Lakewood Station running team took second place in the station category; twenty runners ran various legs of the 120 mile course. The Lakewood Station team was supported by generous donations from Paramount Petroleum, Tam’s Burgers, and CalMet Services. Team members included Paramount Deputies Colon, Duff, Manjra, Moreno, and Rojas.
Emmanuel Reformed Church First Annual Tea Party
Emmanuel Reformed Church held their first annual tea party to celebrate the end of Bible Study for the season. On group of women added a little something special by wearing tea time hats to the event. From left; Ellen Blyleven, Shirley Grayson, Joan Sharp, Nadiene White, and Gail Dingle.
A Massive Eruption of Pennies for PEP!
This past March there were containers in all Paramount Unified elementary and middle schools, the high school campuses, the adult school, at the District office, and at City facilities. They were there to receive spare change for the annual Pennies for PEP fundraiser.
It turned out to be a record-breaking year – over $20,000 was dropped in the receptacles, all going to PEP scholarships for college-bound Paramount kids.
While everyone who gave deserves an appreciative thank you, special congratulations are due to Lincoln for being the biggest elementary school contributor ($869.25) and Jackson for giving the most among middle schools.
In fact, we need to make a particular mention of Jackson Middle School. They raised, by themselves, a mindboggling $10,058 this year. That’s how much the entire District raised last year!
Kelly Anderson, principal of Jackson, and Topekia Jones, principal of Lincoln, were at the May 3 Paramount City Council meeting to receive this year’s Piggy Bank Awards for the generosity of their schools.
As always, the PEP Moms from the Paramount Petroleum Community Learning Center at Spane Park were invaluable in this process, spending many hours of their time throughout the month counting the coins.
Here’s the breakdown of the top contributors:
Elementary Winner Lincoln – $869.25
Middle School Winner Jackson – $10,058
Top Elementary Class Collins, Teacher Katie Lee – $539.95
Top Middle School Class Jackson, Teacher Carlos Sierra – $2,500.22
Top PHS Senior Class Teacher John Teeples – $482.47
Top PHS West Class Teacher Daniel Minton – $175.17
Top Buena Vista Class Teacher Hector Ramos – $41.30
Thank You, Horchateria Rio Luna
Big thanks to Horchateria Rio Luna for holding a PEP fundraiser in April. With 25% of any order that mentioned PEP going to the college scholarship fund, the day produced over $650 to help Paramount students.
If you have a business that would like to get similarly involved with PEP, please call (562) 220-2121. And thank you, again, to Horchateria Rio Luna, 15729 Downey Ave., for giving back to the community.
Clubs & Organizations
Volunteer Appreciation Month
There’s no better way to make a difference than to care about someone and make an impact on their lives. It takes very little to show compassion for a fellow human being—a smile, a simple hello. But becoming involved in the life of another person, taking care of them, talking to them, visiting with them, and listening to them, takes a special kind of person.
When someone volunteers to be one of our caregivers, hospice companions, friendly visitors, or grief support facilitators, they donate a part of themselves—allowing their heart to be open to someone else’s life. For 30 years, Pathways has owed so much to the strength and compassion of volunteers.
In April Pathway’s “rounded up their volunteers” for a great western awards party at beautiful Monte Verde Park in Lakewood.
Foggia Italian Deli & Market provided food and Jacqui Schrubbe from the Weingart Senior Center gave line dancing lessons.
Each year awards are given to those who go above and beyond. This year’s recipients are: Caregiving – Lupe Luna; Hospice – Hank Cierpach; Bereavement –Clovia Hunt; the Dynamic Duo – Bob & Pat Montague; and Heart of Hospice – Chuck Corrigan.
“Without volunteers it would be incredibly difficult to do what we do at Pathways. We need our volunteers and so many others to help us continue to provide compassionate support to those suffering with illness and loss.” said Meg Fisch, Pathways Volunteer Coordinator.
If you would like more information on how to become a volunteer please contact the Pathways office 562.531.3031.
P aramount C ity C oun C il a wards n ight
The winners of the Paramount Traditional Artists Guild’s 18th annual competition for Paramount students in kindergarten through high school were celebrated at the April 5 Paramount City Council meeting. Out of more than 1,100 entries from all the schools in town, there were artists recognized in each grade level as well as seven special categories.
The City Council proclaimed April as National Donate Life Month, which highlights the importance of organ, tissue, and blood donations. A single organ donation can save up to eight lives. A donation of tissue can save and heal up to 50 lives. A single blood donation can help three people in need. In California, the DMV has a Donate Life Registry that allows people to identify themselves as organ donors on their driver’s license. You can sign up for this when getting or renewing your license or ID card. For blood donations, you can contact the American Red Cross. Accepting the proclamation was Ambassador Dave Hollon from the organization One Legacy. From left, Councilmember Gene Daniels, Mayor Daryl Hofmeyer, Hollon, Councilmember Tom Hansen, and Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons.
The Council proclaimed April 10th - 16th as National Library Week with its theme of “Libraries Transform.” The local library opened as the Clearwater Branch in 1913 with 121 books in a one-room building. Over the years it outgrew that location and two others. The current building, on Jackson and Colorado, has been open since 1968. The Council was joined by library staff and members of the Friends of the Library.
The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), which is sponsored by the U. S. Armed Forces in high schools across the nation, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The Paramount High School JROTC has been on campus since 2007 and currently has 170 cadets. At the April 5 meeting, the City Council recognized the JROTC anniversary and expressed the City’s appreciation for the high school students and the fine job they do representing the community.
The City Council recognized April as Fair Housing Month, which highlights antidiscrimination laws. The Fair Housing Foundation serves Paramount residents with workshops, training, and community events and provides mediation and counseling while also investigating discrimination in housing. The Council presented a proclamation to April Overlie of the Foundation. From left, Councilmember Gene Daniels, Overlie, Mayor Daryl Hofmeyer, Councilmember Tom Hansen, and Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons.
The Council recognized Donald Vale, a resident of Paramount for 20 years, on the occasion of his 100th birthday and issued a special certificate to be delivered to him at home. From left, Councilmember Gene Daniels, Mayor Daryl Hofmeyer, Councilmember Tom Hansen, and Vice Mayor Peggy Lemons.
P aramount C hamber 2016 g olf C lassi C
Sponsored by:
MAJOR SPONSORS
Event Sponsor: Carlton Forge Works
Major Prize Sponsor: Fenico Precision Castings
Awards Sponsor: Supervisor Don Knabe
Cart Sponsor: CalMet Services
Mystery Prize Sponsor: paramount petroleum/ altair paramount
Beverage Sponsor: Triangle Distributing
Lunch Sponsor: Transcom Telecommunications
Long Drives & Closest to the Pins Sponsor: City National Bank
Tee Sign Production Sponsor: 360 studio
tastInG tee’s
Antojitos Mexicanos restaurant Café Corleone
Mariscos Mi Lindo Sinaloa
Marukan Vinegar USA, Inc.
rosewood restaurant
tee sIGn DonatIons
Ace Clearwater Airgas
All-Pro Building Services
Alondra Brake & Wheel
Alondra Hot Wings
alondra tire Center
AppleCare Medical Group
Bennett-Bowen Lighthouse
Bianchi Theatres
BrightView Landscape Services
Busby-Stone Risk
Management an Acrisure
Agency Partner” California Screw Products
Carlton Forge Works
Casa Gamino
family restaurant
Cleantime Bldg.
Maintenance Co.
Clinica Medica Hispana
Demaria Electric
Denyce’s Beauty Spot
Domino’s pizza
Dr. Thomas Hansen
Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care
Encore Welding Supply
heavy Industrial Tool Services Co.
Herald’s Garage Inc.
Hunter Security JBC Construction
Winner of the grand prize Al McCormack; full set of Taylormade clubs, bag, and covers valued at more than $2,000 donated by Fenico Precision Castings.
Tournament volunteers; Erika Estudillo De Ponce (Wavefront Technology), Dr. Linda Timmons (Advocates for Family Unity), and Annina Brown (Paramount Petroleum).
Lew Gluesing (Willdan) won the 43” TV.
Marukan Vinegar Tasting Tee.
Artic Cat.
Paramount Chamber April Networking Breakfast
T.O’Z Collectibles & WHATKNOTS won “Best Table Top Display” and a $25 cash prize at the April Networking Breakfast; pictured is co-owner Canisha Overstreet.
More than 40 businesses attended the April Networking Breakfast where Mr. Hiatt spoke about customer service. Hiatt gave tips for improving customer service and talked about what customers value most. From left; Director Ted Hiatt (LBCC SBDC) and Jon Tanklage (Marukan Vinegar USA, Inc. and Paramount Chamber Past President).
Joe Abed (Herald’s Garage) spun the wheel to win a free ad in the Paramount Pulse Beat.
Paramount Chamber of Commerce
Make A Difference • Join A Service Club
