Larchmont Chronicle OCTOBER 2016

Dr. Gogan has been a leader on Larchmont 40 years By Suzan Filipek

hen Dr. Timothy Gogan opened his dental practice 40 years ago, mom-and-pop shops lined Larchmont Boulevard and neighbors greeted each other in passing. And there was a small-town family fair. Compared to today’s extravaganza — with its Halloween children’s costume contest, talent show, haunted house and camel rides — the Larchmont Family Fair started as a quiet affair on the Friday night before Labor Day. In those days, the sidewalks rolled up at nights and on Sundays, recalls Gogan, who has chaired the Larchmont Family Fair — which has grown to 10,000 visitors — about five times; he’s lost count. In the early days, when he would dress as “Mighty Molar,” he had a booth at the fair, where, if you knocked three “teeth,” you got a goldfish. He also

brought in the fair’s first ponies for rides and a petting zoo from his great uncle’s Shetland pony farm. There were two restaurants but nowhere to sit on the street, so Gogan and his wife helped raise funds (Please turn to page 18)

Lights! Camera! Action! Class teaches acting skills By Jane Gilman

ROBERT STOLFI (top row, second from left) and the crew of the B-17 that they called “Vaudeville.”

Stolfi memoir tells of his WWII bombing mission to Berlin By Suzan Filipek

t was a clear day in March 1945 when the teenaged Robert Stolfi joined 300 men on 31 planes to fly to the heart of the Nazi empire: Berlin. “You will be airborne 10 hours and fly about (Please turn to page 12)

ou’ve seen Susan Doniger in a Crest commercial and Eva Green in a major league baseball promo on television. They are two of the dozens of students in Buddy Powell’s Commercial Acting for Adults classes. Susan, Lucerne Blvd., is a student of Buddy Powell’s at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood; one of five locations of Powell’s classrooms. Students learn professional commercial acting skills and deliver an on-

camera commercial that is videotaped; after each performance, Powell gives a critique and later plays back the video. His enthusiasm makes the two-hour, $10-a-class (Please turn to page 13)