Santa Monica Daily Press, December 25, 2015

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FRIDAY

12.25.15

ALL CONTENT IN TODAY’S PAPER IS REPRINTED FROM PAST ISSUES. CONTENT APPEARING TODAY WAS CHOSEN BASED ON STAFF AND / OR READER FAVORITES.

Volume 15 Issue 32

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Santa Monica Daily Press

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Best of the Daily Press Staff favorites focus on some of Santa Monicas lighter news The Daily Press is reprinting selected stories that represent some of the most popular topics from the past year. Yesterday, we printed stories based on website popularity and local readers were focused on traditional news stories. In today’s paper you’ll see

Frogmen in Shangri-La

stories that are chosen by SMDP staff and readers with a focus on some of the feature stories that highlight some of the interesting, unusual and unique stories in Santa Monica. The stories are presented throughout this issue.

Where needed, we have added

notes to the front of the stories providing context and updates on the issues. Stories that are selfcontained do not have notes but all are taken from our archives.

Regular coverage will resume in tomorrow’s paper.

Courtesy Photo

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: from SMDP and surfing Santa Mike Vaughan.

Council approves wild animal ban

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on February 18

Before they were sneaking onto foreign beaches with only a bathing suit and a knife during World War II, many frogmen were avid skin-divers and volunteer lifeguards in Santa Monica.

A recent report from one of City Hall’s historical consultants shows that Santa Monica may be the birthplace of the Maritime Unit — a group of covert operatives who used “underwater techniques” for the Office of Strategic Services (predecessor to the CIA).

William Donovan, the first chief of OSS, met Jack Taylor, a dentist and waterman, in Santa Monica, according to oral history dug up by journalists Erick Simmel and Cody Shearer and re-conveyed¬†by the city consultant PCR. Taylor spent hours skin-diving in Santa Monica in the 1940s, the report said, and later developed a friendship with Donovan, the consultants found, though it’s unclear how SEE FROG PAGE 11

Was ‘Popeye’ born in Santa Monica

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on February 5.

pecting passers-by.

Most of the pro-ban public speakers at Tuesday night’s meeting were animal rights activists, arguing that the animal displays are paramount to animal abuse.

They claim that the animals are forced to work for long hours, without water or breaks, something that the animal handlers in attendance refuted.

Similar arguments were made by activists before City Council voted last year to seek a new ven-

Welcome to the battle for Popeye’s origin story. In the left corner, hailing from Illinois, a Polish saloon worker, the reigning champion, Frank “Rocky” Fiegel. And on the right, a fisherman, a bona fide sailorman from the Santa Monica Pier, the challenger, Olaf “Oli” Olsen.

Popeye, the cartoon character dreamed up by Elzie Crisler Segar in 1929, never shied from a fight and local businessman Greg Morena is emulating Popeye’s tenacity in his attempt to get the seaman’s birthplace officially recognized as the Santa Monica Pier.

Morena, an executive at The Albright restaurant on the pier and the CFO of The Hundreds

SEE ANIMAL PAGE 8

SEE POPEYE PAGE 7

Matthew Hall matt@smdp.com

APPROPRIATE?: Exotic animal acts were outlawed. Dancers, evangelists and other performers filled the space.

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on February 26, 2015

You have until mid-April to shoulder the weight of a giant yellow snake, pet exotic birds, or feed a monkey in any of Santa Monica’s parks or high-traffic public spaces.

After very little discussion among its members, City Council banned exotic animals on the beach, in the parks, on the Third Street Promenade, on the Santa Monica Pier, on Ocean Front Walk,

and at the Downtown Transit Mall.

Animal handlers have been gathering for years near the entrance of the pier in Palisades Park, requesting donations in exchange for photos with or permission to pet colorful birds or giant snakes and reptiles.

The Recreation and Parks Commission brought the issue to the fore last year, claiming that the handlers were presenting a public safety hazard. City officials say a girl was pecked by a bird last year and that handlers have tossed snakes into the hands of unsus-

Calendar 2

Where ideas get their reality checks

BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on February 11

A couple weeks ago, just hours after giving a lecture about injury prevention, local fitness trainer Kappel LeRoy Clarke saw the footage: Professional basketball player Brandon Jennings had suffered an excruciatingly painful Achilles’ tendon injury on a routine play with minimal contact, placing undue burden on his heel as he stepped backward on defense.

It only strengthened Clarke’s conviction that his idea for an exercise product could have immense value.

Clarke believed his so-called Stumps, a series of tiered platforms meant to enhance the muscles required for base support in sports and daily activities, could transform performance training and reduce careeraltering injuries like the one sustained by Jennings.

But the concept didn’t carry much weight as a figment of his imagination, and Clarke was determined to bridge the gap between idea and reality.

It’s how he came across T2 Design, a local firm specializing in invention design and prototyping. And after meeting with Paul Berman, who runs the 7th Street company, Clarke decided to move forward in the arduous process of putting his product on the market.

“Not only are they in Santa Monica, but they’re within walking distance of where I live,” Clarke said. “I took it as a sign that it was meant to be. I found (Berman) to be very thoughtful, detail-oriented and eccentric like me. Most creative people, they see things that other people don’t see. The chemistry was noticeable immediately.” *** When Berman started in the business, inventing wasn’t the popular phenomenon that it is today. In fact, he was advertising his company’s services at trade shows and in telephone directories.

But the rise of the Internet, the growth of crowdfunding and changes in global manufacturing have democratized the inventing field.

T2 Design’s work with Clarke reflects a trend in the industry as more and more individual inventors eschew the pursuit of traditional licensing agreements, instead using Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns to start businesses, reach target audiences and harness more control of profits.

Since the economic recession, several TV shows have also fueled public interest in the invention process.

Berman was personally involved in the launch of the Drop Stop, an invention for cars that keeps cellphones and other personal items from falling through the narrow gap between the driver’s seat and the center console. After working with T2 Design, the inventors earned a deal through “Shark Tank” that put their product in hundreds of retail stores across the country.

“When China opened up and began to do business with small start-up companies, it allowed people to tool up and get into production at a much lower cost,” Berman said.

“Now, one person with a niche product can put that product on the Internet and people can buy it all over the country, all over the world. Something that wouldn’t survive in retail stores can easily survive on the

Internet.”

Berman, who studied mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, has more than a quarter-century of engineering and mechanical design experience, including about 15 years specializing in consumer product design.

Berman previously worked on the computer-aided design of the B-2 stealth bomber and other aircraft and space vehicles. He found his way into the world of invention as he developed a few products of his own, including a sipper cup for babies and a sponge rack.

Through T2 Design, he assists inventors by evaluating products, pursuing patents and constructing prototypes. He has developed more than 125 inventions.

Even so, Berman said he doesn’t always know whether a potential client’s invention is going to catch on with the general public.

“You can’t really tell,” he said. “You can get a hunch one way or the other … but there’s still a large element of unknown.”

T2 Design tries to improve success rates with initial evaluations, professional patent searches and consultations, and many people back out well before the modeling and prototyping stages.

The company, which fields calls from Santa Monica to Saudi Arabia and South America, typically develops just 15 or 20 products out of the roughly 250 or 300 it sees each year, Berman said.

“That ‘wow’ factor definitely helps move things along because it brings in investor money and brings in orders,” he said. “But even when everything looks great, you still don’t know your product will be successful.” *** At least in some ways, Clarke isn’t the average T2 Design client. The New York transplant studied civil engineering before switching to a career in sports fitness, and some of the design concepts he once learned were reflected in the rough schematics and renderings he showed Berman.

“It had been years since I lifted up a Tsquare,” Clarke said, “but some habits don’t go away. Some people have (ideas) scratched on napkins. I was able to create sketches of what I needed.”

What he needed was a durable piece of equipment that could withstand up to 1,000 pounds of pressure while facilitating agility and strength exercises that rely on the toes and the balls of the feet.

But for Clarke, a father of two girls, just developing a prototype was going to require substantial help from investors. It was a variable that proved to be a major obstacle, leading him to turn to Indiegogo.

Because he couldn’t reveal his design on the crowdfunding site – he didn’t want to share the details of his idea with potential competitors before securing a patent – he raised money through a video in which he tossed a 106-pound weight on the 2.7-mile stretch of beach from Venice to the Santa Monica Pier. The feat took him 5 hours 37 minutes.

Soon, Clarke will start another Indiegogo campaign to amass funds for production. He envisions the Stumps to be used not only by elite-level athletes but also by senior citizens who want to remain active and children who need entertaining ways to overcome obesity.

“It’s OK to have a dream, but you’ve got to be willing to make sacrifices,” Clarke said.

“I had to figure out a way to get it done.” jeff@smdp.com

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What’s Up

Westside OUT AND ABOUT IN SANTA MONICA

Friday, Dec. 25 Library Closed All library locations are closed today.

Annenberg Community Beach House Closed for Christmas. 415 PCH.

Saturday, Dec. 26 Saturday Certified Farmer’s Market The Saturday markets are both closed for a holiday break. Please visit the other weekly markets which will remain open, Wednesday downtown and Sunday at 2640 Main Street.

Gallery Exhibit: Art Bank: Selections from the City’s collection; Open through Jan 12 in Event House Gallery. Annenberg Community Beach House, 415 PCH, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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Sunday, Dec. 27 Gallery Exhibit: Art Bank: Selections from the City’s collection; Open through Jan 12 in Event House Gallery. Annenberg Community Beach House, 415 PCH, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Santa Monica Certified Farmers Market (Main St.) The Sunday Main Street Farmers Market is a well balanced blend of Certified California Farmers, tasty prepared and packaged foods, entertainment and children’s activities as well as local retail. 2640 Main St @ Ocean Park, 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

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OpinionCommentary 4

The menu features seasonallyinspired, elevated comfort-food cuisine alongside an extensive assortment of artisanal beer and specialty wines.

Jack Neworth

Originally published on November 20 NO, IT’S NOT A TYPO. ON WEDNESDAY,

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Steak dinner is 85¢ at The Galley!

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The Santa Monica Daily Press publishes Monday - Saturday with a circulation of 10,000 on weekdays and 11,000 on the weekend. The Daily Press is adjudicated as a newspaper of general circulation in the County of Los Angeles and covers news relevant to the City of Santa Monica. The Daily Press is a member of the California Newspaper Publisher’s Association, the National Newspaper Association and the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. The paper you’re reading this on is composed of 100% post consumer content and the ink used to print these words is soy based.

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Nov. 25, all the prices on the menu at the legendary Galley Restaurant on Main Street are rolled back to what they were in 1934!

(Salmon dinner is 75¢.) In 1934 The Galley first opened, making it now possibly the oldest, and among the most charming, restaurant and bar in Santa Monica.

Over 20 years ago, “1934 Night” was the brainchild of Ron Schur, aka “Captain Ron,” owner of The Galley who looks like a fit Larry David, the comedian. Coincidentally, when Ron first arrived in LA from New York, his goal was to be a comedian. While it turned out Ron wasn’t quite funny enough for a career as a stand up, for a restaurateur, he’s Seinfeld.

To give you a sense of Ron’s humor, here’s how he greeted me: “Jack, I read your columns every week, you’re so funny!”

Before I could savor the compliment he added, “Sometimes.” Is that Larry David or what?

Even how Ron purchased The Galley is humorous. He owned a fast food restaurant in the Valley, Snacks 5th Avenue, but was a regular at The Galley. (Which, pun intended, was barely staying afloat.)

He loved The Galley’s famous and “secret” salad dressing, so much he tried to bribe Millie, a waitress there for 30 years, for the recipe. Finally, Millie countered, “If you wanna know so badly why don’t you buy the @#!#* place?!” A few years later, Ron took Millie’s advice.

Ron bought it from Ralph Stephan, the colorful and eccentric owner. One memory I have of Ralph was his watching “Gilligan’s Island” on the TV in his office as his cat paraded around The Galley, finally hopping up on the bar.

As fast as Santa Monica is changing the more you should visit The Galley. When you open the big ship-like doors and go inside, it’s as though you’re stepping back in time.

(A couple of drinks from The Galley bar and some “Twilight Zone” music and I’d halfexpect Rod Serling to be drinking next to me.)

The Galley has a warm, candle-lit ambiance. The seafaring interior includes portholes for windows, a captain’s wheel, the aforementioned South Seas Bar (wonderfully stiff drinks) and an outdoor patio decorated with fishing net and seashells.

Back in the day, The Galley was a colorful dive, ever popular with steak and fish-eating and hard-drinking locals. It’s still a great hang out but it’s been given a makeover. And yet it’s a beautifully preserved California landmark with memorabilia that has been at The Galley for 81 years.

The old bamboo and rattan furnishings,

the nets and rigging that decorate the walls, and the pictures of Hollywood celebrities from the past are a few of the surroundings that make The Galley special. Some of the oldest pieces are from the 1934 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” the reason being many of the stars and crew frequented The Galley!

Two Dead Eyes, nautical equipment used in the movie, now adorns the wall. Also there are location photos of Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. The steering wheel in the movie now hangs from the ceiling, while a boat from the movie sits on the patio.

In the early 1940’s, WWII war bond posters were mailed to The Galley, sent to urge onlookers to do their part in the war.

The collection of 11 posters are framed around The Galley with the original envelopes on the back. Great stuff.

The Galley is open 7 days a week, including lunch starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, which is an excellent value. The heated patio dining is ideal for watching Sunday football on the giant screen and is never too crowded.

As for the cuisine, Captain Ron offers customers a wide variety, including mouthwatering steaks, chicken, seafood, pastas and vegetarian dishes. Among local favorites are the East Coast Little Neck Clams, jumbo shrimp cocktail and filet mignon chili. (Ron also attributes the restaurant’s success to The Galley Girls, his team of friendly, pretty and skilled waitresses.)

While Ron has a slightly sarcastic sense of humor, he also has a big heart. For 17 years he’s been on the board of No Limits For Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children. No Limits is an amazing theater group in Culver City, which uses plays and musicals to build the kids’ confidence and uncover their potential.

(Is that terrific or what?)

Annually, Ron hosts a charity softball game on behalf of No Limits. This year they raised $20,000! So, not only does he own an iconic restaurant, but Captain Ron is a mensch.

So, if you can scrape together 85¢, make it down to The Galley on Wednesday for bon appétit at 1934 prices. My guess is, given the outstanding food and drink, plus the charm of The Galley Girls and Captain Ron, you’ll likely become a regular. (Although I still can’t forget he said I’m funny, only…sometimes!)

“1934 Night” sold out in 3 hours and is now by invitation only. Available for private parties, The Galley is at 2442 Main St. and open 7 days a week. Happy hour is 5-7 p.m. at the bar and patio. For more, go to www.thegalleyrestaurant.net. No Limits is atwww.nolimitsfordeafchildren.org.

JACK is at jnsmdp@aol.com.

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5

S/he Margarita Rozenbaoum

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Three beautiful women Originally published September 17

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The world is a seriously messed up place.

The longer I live here, the more convinced I am it’s true. This is a world of homicide and genocide (also insecticide, which apparently is killing all our honeybees). Darfur, Baltimore, Ferguson-I have to stop listing things now, it’s going to make me cry in the fetal position. When I sit down to write about the world we live in it’s easy to find issues to analyze and criticize because there isn’t a shortage of bad things happening around us. It’s much harder to find something good to say.

I just came back from a month-long trip to Russia, and believe me, there were plenty of dysfunctional things I experienced (at the customs gate alone). But instead of focusing on the abysmal state of our planet, I’m going to challenge myself-and you-to not only see the homicides and the genocides, but to take a moment to also notice the nice things happening around us. So, I’m going to tell you about three women I met this past month who helped me see what’s right with our world. I’m calling my experience, “Three Beautiful Women.” Come on, it’ll be good for us.

I met the first Beautiful Woman in Saint Petersburg, Russia. There is this famous museum in Saint Petersburg that used to be the Winter Palace of Peter the Great. I had seen pictures prior to my visit, so I knew what to expect: halls of giant paintings featuring members of the Romanoff family and rooms filled with those typical busts of men in wigs from centuries ago. There would be neoclassical columns, ornamental rococo designs, gilded baroque forms.

You can imagine my shock, then, when I walked into the first hall and was met not with oil paintings and marble sculptures, but with an exhibit of scaled-down models of sleek buildings and cars. Neofuturistic lines, shiny metallics, fresh whites. These ultramodern pieces were such a contrast to the historical setting of the palace, the juxtaposition so unexpected, that when I stepped into the room, it took my breath away. Confused, I looked to the plaques captioning the pieces and searched for the artist behind the work.

Her name, I learned, is Zaha Hadid.

Hadid is an architect. She was born in Baghdad, fell in love with design, and went on to become one of the most sought-after (not to mention, controversial) architects of our time. She has award-winning buildings all over the world, is responsible for designs in countries from Azerbaijan to Germany to China, and multiple buildings throughout the United States. Oh, and she’s designing the widely anticipated stadium for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

My eyes darted over these biographical facts, printed under photographs of Hadid’s work, as I walked through what the attendant explained to me was a temporary modern exhibit at the Winter Palace. My initial surprise eventually passed, but what stayed was a sense of marvel. What’s so impressive to me is the unlikeliness of this woman’s life.

As an Iranian woman, she was born into a socio-political climate that would seem to oppose her being one of the most renowned architects in the world.

Yet here she is, celebrated from Shanghai to Saint Petersburg.

The Winter Palace has seen a lot of deaththis place was, after all, home to the Romanoff family, which was infamously

slaughtered during the Russian Revolution.

And yet the human condition is such that we go on erecting beauty, not only discovering it in the past, but continuing to celebrate it in the present- and building it for the future.

I left Saint Petersburg and took a train to Moscow, where I met with our second Beautiful Woman. Her name is Maria, but her friends affectionately call her Manya. And affectionately is the only way anybody can relate to her: she has this angelic face, the kindest heart and a head of curly platinum blonde hair. But that’s not why I’m writing about her (although those characteristics would be deserving enough, especially the hair). She just turned thirty and works for a major international corporation, speaks a couple of languages, has three kids. But it’s not her stats that make her beautiful to me either.

I’ve known Manya my whole life. Our moms were best friends, so we grew up together. After I moved to the United States, I still loved to visit her in Moscow. She and I would go out on adventures around the city: cafes, boat rides, hanging out with her girlfriends in the park ... But that was all before she had three kids. I hadn’t really seen her since then, and to be honest with you, I was a little nervous to reunite: with four-year-old twins and a new baby girl, there was just no way we would be able to have fun like we used to. But she called me up excitedly when I arrived in Moscow, so I agreed to go out with Manya and her husband one night. Of course, we had to bring their new baby, Margarita, with us (on a related note: I’m not saying Manya named her baby after me; but look, nobody said she didn’t).

That night we went from place to place as they showed me around the Moscow I hadn’t seen in four years. And each time we stopped at a park or a cafe, I watched them take little Margarita out of her car seat, set up her stroller, expertly strap her into it, keep her engaged as the adults did what we wanted, and then skillfully reload her back into the car-all in the rain. The baby didn’t cry once. I was so impressed at the effortlessness of it all, that I finally turned to Manya, unable to hide my bewilderment, and asked her how, as a young working family of five, the whole lot of them weren’t going absolutely bonkers. She just smiled and said, “When the parents are calm, the kids are calm.”

And that just floored me. Here is a woman with every reason to freak out-but she’s simply choosing not to. Convention tells her she’s entitled to it, too: the circumstances of juggling a job with a large family and a personal life give Manya permission to be as upset as she wants to be about it all; nobody would even fault her for it. But she calmly brings her new baby with her to an event if she needs to, devotes weekends to spending time with her family in the Russian countryside, and takes an opportunity to go out with an old friend on a rainy night if that’s what she wants to do. I know she would never call herself the perfect mother; but the bottom line is that she patiently does what she needs to do to keep what she can in balance.

She pulled out a photo of herself from when the twins were babies. I looked at the picture of Manya, a twin strapped to either hip, her platinum hair blowing in the wind.

“You look so hot!” I cried out. She just laughed. Manya maintains her individuality in her motherhood and doesn’t let her cir-

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Local 6

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

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Santa Monica brewery comes out swingin’

BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on April 6

Around this time last spring, the thought entered Scott Francis’‚ mind while he was watching a baseball game at Dodger Stadium.

Santa Monica Brew Works hadn’t sold any beer‚ it hadn’t even opened its doors or begun brewing‚ but the thought was too perfect for Francis to keep to himself.

“I turned to the guy I was with and said, “In one year, our beer is going to be in the stadium,” recalled Francis, the brewery’s president and CEO. “I want to be able to drink my own beer during the game.”

Perhaps it didn’t sound realistic at the time, but lo and behold: It’s Opening Day for the Dodgers against the San Diego Padres this afternoon, and fans can flock to the Loge level on the first- and third-base sides of the diamond for some Santa Monica-produced suds.

The stadium will feature the local company’s Wit beer, a Belgian-style white variety that Francis said will be available on tap all season.

“It’s anybody’s guess how much beer will be sold, but we can handle the production,” said Francis, a proud Dodgers fan who shares season tickets. “What the Dodgers did was great‚ they’re highlighting several craft breweries. … It’s nice when good things happen.”

The availability of Santa Monica Brew Works beer at one of the region’s most wellknown sports venues marks a major moment in the quiet but rapid growth of the Colorado Avenue business.

Francis, longtime friend Richard Super and former Ye Olde King’s Head bartender Carl Sharpley saw an opportunity to fill a void in Santa Monica with locally produced

beer. Super is the vice president of sales and marketing; Sharpley is the director of sales and distribution.

Also on board are two brewers, including Santa Monica native Drew Pomatti.

“Everyone who works here, almost all of us have lived in Santa Monica or live here now,” Francis said. “We love this city very much. It’s very special to us, and we decided to make great beer in the city we love.”

Santa Monica Brew Works opened last May, started brewing in June and released its first batches of beer in early July. Since then, the principals have ushered their product into about 125 bars, restaurants and hotels, including several local establishments. Their beer is also on tap at Los Angeles International Airport.

According to Francis, the company was invited to have its beer sold at Dodger Stadium after a successful partnership at The Forum in Inglewood.

But the expansion doesn’t stop there.

Santa Monica Brew Works expects to be bottling by early summer, and it plans to introduce two more styles over the next three months.

The forthcoming beers will join a list of offerings that already includes the aforementioned Wit variety as well as XPA (an extrapale ale) and PCH‚ a nod to the beachside highway and an acronym for Pale Chocolate Heaven‚ which is made with cacao nibs and vanilla beans.

Santa Monica Brew Works doesn’t currently have a tasting room, but Francis said his company’s beers have been well-received in town.

“It’s a tourist hub, it’s a business hub and it’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” he said. “My gosh, what a great place to work. It’s got a great community atmosphere.”

JEFF@smdp.com

Local Visit us online at www.smdp.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

7

The mystery of the missing statue at Gilbert’s El Indio

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on May 26

It’s the mid-’90s and Fernando Rodriguez’s friend stops by with a pair of statues. They’d be perfect for watching the door of the family restaurant, Gilbert’s El Indio, Rodriguez thinks, and he buys one for $800: a Native American, chin turned proudly up, in a feathered headdress.

For two decades, kids, their parents, teenagers, and seniors take photos with the statue, its marble eye watching them, before they head inside for pickled carrots or a super mule burrito.

Fast forward to 2015, the Friday before Cinco de Mayo. Fernando’s mother, Carmen, the owner of the restaurant, is heading into the Gilbert’s at 7 a.m.

Something’s missing. The door-watcher is gone. El Indio Perdido. The Lost Indian.

Customers start to notice his absence, too. Cinco de Mayo isn’t the same without him. Fernando calls his pastor, who agrees to give a blessing. Fernando’s son, Andres Rodriguez, puts a call out on Gilbert’s Facebook page, not expecting much.

The restaurant’s 4,500 followers are incensed. The post is shared rapidly and ultimately viewed more than 30,000 times, Andres said.

Enter Thaddeus Warth. Thaddeus has been finding lost things‚ purses, wallets, money‚ since he was a kid. Maybe it’s luck or maybe it’s the way he sees the world.

Thad has a theory: “I think God trusts me. Coincidence is God’s way of keeping his anonymity.”

As a grade-schooler, he and his father, Dart, who passed a few months ago, spent a day tracking down the owner of wallet they’d found with $21 inside.

Thaddeus, a Santa Monica resident and longtime Gilbert’s customer, saw Andres’ post.

“It was funny,” he said, “because I said:

POPEYE FROM PAGE 1

apparel company, believes that Segar, who lived in Santa Monica when Popeye was introduced to America, was inspired by a sailor who spent his last decades in Santa Monica.

Morena himself was inspired by research of pier historian Jim Harris, author of “Santa Monica Pier: A Century of the Last Great Pleasure Pier.”

Harris presents compelling evidence that Oli Olsen was at least a physical inspiration for Popeye but he refuses to make a definitive declaration. Morena is even more confident.

“This IS Popeye,” he says, pointing at a photo of Olsen from Harris’ book. Olsen is dressed in a sailor suit with a corncob pipe and a scowl.

Olsen was a local character, a Norwegian immigrant, who fought net fishing in the Santa Monica Bay, rented boats off the end of the pier, and, before moving to Santa Monica, survived a wild storm off the Oregon Coast.

Either a fraternity prank or high school prank or at a cigar lounge.”

Thaddeus is a cigar manufacturer. He’s the COO of Hermosa Cigars. He routinely ducks into cigar shops all over Los Angeles County. On Thursday, he ducks into a West L.A. cigar lounge, chats with an employee, buys a cigar, smokes it, plays a lottery ticket, wins $50 and walks back to the counter to get paid.

“Out of the corner of my eye, I look over and said, ‘Wait a minute,’” Thaddeus said.

He calls over his buddy George, pointing to a statue in the back of the lounge.

George: “Yeah? So?” Thaddeus: “Dude, that’s from Gilbert’s, bro.”

George: “That’s not it.”

Thaddeus smells wet paint. He pulls out his phone, checks the Facebook post.

“Dude, that’s it,” he said. “It’s just been painted.”

Thaddeus calls Gilbert’s. He used to play baseball with some of the Rodriguez family.

Fernando swings by the lounge. He smells the paint, sees the marble eye. He haggles with the lounge owner, who said he bought it off the back of a truck with Arizona license plates for $180. Fernando gives him $90 in restaurant certificates‚ a 50-50 loss. Two weeks after he disappeared, El Indio Perdido is home, watching the family restaurant.

Neither the Rodriguez family nor Thaddeus was willing to name the cigar lounge; the former said it wants to keep the story positive, and the latter fears retribution against the owner, with whom he is a friend.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said Andres Rodriguez. “It’s amazing to see how many people are willing to look out for the restaurant. We had the whole city looking for him. He’s a part of the restaurant’s tradition, and we want to keep that tradition going.”

El Indio Perdido is sitting outside of Gilbert’s El Indio, which has been open for 41 years, on Pico Boulevard by 26th Street.

EDITOR@smdp.com

“He retired here in Santa Monica and promptly unretired seeing that there were boating operations happening at the end of the pier,” Harris said. “He opened up couple of day boats and fishing barges. It was a career after a career and he became a very recognizable and beloved fixture at the pier.

He had a very thick accent but he loved to tell stories to children. As I understand it, the children could never understand the stories because of his accent but he was so funny telling them that they just loved visiting with him.”

Segar, Popeye’s creator, is listed in the city directory starting in 1928 until he died of Leukemia 10 years later.

Bud Sagendorf, who worked as Segar’s assistant and took over the strip after his death, notes in his biography that Segar would rent boats off the end of the pier and that the two of them, Segar and Sagendorf, would brainstorm plots for the strip out on the water. Olsen, a local legend at the time, was the most visible person renting boats to pier patrons.

When Olsen died in 1950, his obituary in SEE SPINACH PAGE 10

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Local 8

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

The mystery of Santa Monica’s city motto

BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on June 3

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Here’s what we know about Santa Monica’s motto.

It’s “Populus felix in urbe felici.” Well, every once in a while “felici” is written as “felice.”

The Latin phrase is at least as old as City Hall‚ where it appears on the inlay in the lobby‚ which was built in 1938.

Just about everything else is up to interpretation or lost in the archives.

The translation of the phrase is a bit of a Rorschach test. Some residents say, “Happy people in a happy city” and others say, “Fortunate people in a prosperous land” with variations of every kind.

The Daily Press couldn’t locate pre-1938 examples of the motto in the Evening Outlook or the Los Angeles Times archives.

Representatives at the Santa Monica History Museum were unsure as to the motto‚’s origins. The City Clerk‚’s Office, which holds many of the city‚’s old official records, also came up empty-handed.

“I don’t have a clue were the motto came from or which council approved it?” former Mayor Bob Holbrook said in an email to the Daily Press. “Several public speakers at council meetings have referred to it as Happy People in a Happy City. I never took Latin but have often wondered why the Italians no longer speak the language of the Roman Empire??”

Current Mayor Kevin McKeown did take Latin at a Jesuit pre-seminary high school.

“So for me the City slogan is‚ ‘Fortunate people in a fortunate city,’” he said in an email.

It turns out both phrases could be correct.

“To figure out exactly what it means it would be nice to figure out who made it up,” said Andy Kelly, a distinguished research professor in UCLA‚’s English department.

Sorry, Andy, we’re striking out on that one. As a result, he said, the translations are countless.

“The word ‘felix‚’ was originally used geo-

ANIMAL FROM PAGE 1

dor for the space occupied for years by a pony ride and petting zoo operator. Later this year, when the vendor’s contract with City Hall expires, a non-animal vendor will take her place.

Nearly all opponents of the ban that spoke during public testimony were animal handlers themselves.

Howard Kaminsky, “the birdman,” said he shelters his birds with an umbrella and gives them numerous breaks.

“This is what I do for a living because they bring people great joy which brings me great internal joy and personal satisfaction,” he said.

The flexibility of the job, he said, allows him to take care of his son, who has Down syndrome, and his daughter.

“I ask that the committee look at regulating us and set forth rules which we will abide

graphically speaking, as far as I know, only once in ancient times,” he said, “to refer to the part of Arabia that was fertile. It’s called ‘Arabia Felix.‚’ It’s the southern part, around Yemen, and it was contrasted with‚ Arabia Deserta, the desert part, and Arabia Petraea: rocky Arabia.’ So fertile is yet another version. And I would think that prosperous would be a good translation too: A prosperous people in a prosperous city.”

The term “felix,” Kelly said, comes into Spanish as “feliz.”

“We wish everybody a ‘feliz navidad’ which is ‘happy nativity,’ or ‘happy birthday Jesus.’ That fits,” he said. “‘Happy‚’ is a bit too informal, I would think, for what you would want here. ‘Prosperous‚’ might be better, or something along those lines.”

Then there’s “populus,” which, Kelly said, could create redundancy.

“The word ‘populus’ in Spanish, became the word pueblo: people,” he said. “And of course ‘pueblo’ not only means ‘people’ but it means the concentration of people: a town. ‘Felix populus’ by itself, would be‚ ‘feliz pueblo’ or‚ ‘pueblo felice’ so that would be enough. You wouldn’t need the second part: ‘Happy town in a happy city.’”

Even the pronunciation is up for grabs, Kelly said, laughing.

The classical translation of “felice,” a translation recreated for the time of Cicero “roughly the year of zero” would sound like “fay-leaky.”

The Italian, or liturgical, pronunciation would sound like “fay-leachy,” he said.

The English pronunciation, after, as Kelly put it, “the vowels went crazy,” would sound like “fell-eye-sigh.”

Kelly prefers the Spanish-American pronunciation, which sounds like “fay-lee-see.”

Former Mayor Holbrook had an idea for avoiding pronunciation woes.

“I have thought we should switch to English and adopt a new simplified motto,” he said. “Perhaps steal the motto of Faber College (Animal House) ‘Learning is Good.’

Obviously (our) motto has fallen short.

Several residents and a few groups are unhappy people living in a happy city!”

EDITOR@smdp.com

to keep the public acts in control and happy, entertaining yet safe,” he said.

Jesus Tapia, a reptile handler, said that people misunderstand snakes, thinking that they are all venomous or prone to constricting people to death. This, he said, is rare.

“Nobody’s actually gotten hurt, only one person out of so many years,” he said. “Please down ban us. Work with us. Allow us to be part of your community. We don’t want problems.

We just want to fix it the correct way.”

Tapia noted that he has liability insurance in the event someone does get hurt.

After a brief discussion about banning elephants citywide (they were not banned) council approved the regulations put forth by city officials.

The second reading of the ordinance will likely take place at the March 17 City Council meeting. If approved, it would go into effect 30 days later.

EDITOR@smdp.com

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

9

In elevator rescues, suspense follows ascent

BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN Daily Press Staff Writer

Originally published on July 11

David Weber is trapped.

It’s a Wednesday evening, and the avid cyclist stops at Performance Bicycle in Santa Monica to pick up a helmet he ordered online. He parks in the building’s underground lot and takes the elevator up to the store level, no problem.

Weber enters the shop, retrieves the helmet and heads back to his car. Then, as he’s riding back down to the parking garage, his errand hits a snag.

The elevator stalls.

Trying not to panic, Weber darts to the control panel. He pushes an alarm button — it produces a barely audible ringing noise.

No response. He tries the phone button — nothing happens.

Meanwhile, the bike shop is closing soon.

And Weber remembers that the subterranean lot was empty when he arrived, so now he’s convinced no one else will be trying to use the elevator until the next day.

“If I didn’t have my cellphone,” he says, “I probably would have been in there overnight.”

Feeling lucky to have reception, Weber calls the store and tells an employee he’s stuck in the building’s elevator. When he’s put on hold, he waits. After a couple minutes, though, he grows impatient and hangs up.

He dials 911.

To the rescue Elevator rescues can make for distressing situations involving businesses and property owners as well as emergency responders who don’t have jurisdiction over safety and state regulators who are rarely on-site, not to mention frightened passengers.

But Weber, who was alone in the elevator, has plenty of company. The Santa Monica Fire Department regularly handles elevator rescues, responding to 209 such incidents in the fiscal year that began July 1, 2013, and taking 214 of these calls in the fiscal year that wrapped up June 30.

That means, on average, someone reports being stuck in a Santa Monica elevator almost two out of every three days.

“It’s a fairly common call,” Battalion Chief Mike McElvaney said.

The causes of elevator failure are wideranging but often involve mechanical issues, which vary depending on the type of device.

Despite the city’s recent surge in development, rescue calls are often made from old buildings or conveyances.

The fire department’s truck company is prepared for many different scenarios.

Sometimes it’s as simple as shutting off the motor and starting it up again, McElvaney said. Other times, crews manually lower the car and release the doors with specialized tools.

“Usually they’re pretty good,” he said, “and typically they release the people in 10 or 15 minutes. Once in a while, it takes half an hour. … If we have someone with a med-

ical emergency in an elevator, we could break the doors, but we rarely have to do that. We try not to do that.”

As it does for all service calls, the local fire department reports every elevator incident to state officials. However, it does not have jurisdiction over elevator licensing or safety – those duties fall on a unit of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations in the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

In California, only state safety engineers and certified conveyance inspectors are authorized to evaluate elevators. The inspections are typically done on an annual basis.

State officials can shut down an elevator if a hazard or illegal device is found during inspection or if a compliance order isn’t followed. Not paying an invoice can also cause an elevator to be taken out of service.

“Usually we’ll release the car, get the people out and then disable it, shut it off and tell the owner or responsible party they have to fix it,” McElvaney said. “That’s the end of our involvement.”

Shut-and-open case Weber’s 911 call is answered.

A dispatcher notes the address, 1314 Wilshire Blvd., and relays the pertinent information to the fire department, which logs the time as 7:19 p.m.

The dispatcher then tells Weber to wait and says emergency responders will be there shortly.

While he’s waiting for them to arrive, Weber calls the bike shop again.

He’s told that the same elevator stalled a few weeks earlier, which doesn’t exactly appease him.

“If there’s a prior issue,” he says, “they should know.”

At 7:25 p.m., firefighters arrive. They turn off the elevator and release the doors manually. Weber exits the car, relieved after a 20minute ordeal. The scene is considered cleared at 7:42 p.m.

“I left feeling, ‘Gosh, this could happen to someone else,’” he says.

Weber shares his story with Ryan Demirdjian, a Santa Monica fire inspector.

Demirdjian visits the building, which opened as a theater in 1931 and whose facade was deemed a city landmark in 2008.

It’s owned by Office Max USA and is the relatively new home of Performance Bicycle, which was previously located at the corner of 5th Street and Broadway.

Demirdjian finds that the elevator is not in service and awaiting maintenance.

“I just went to make sure that we weren’t going to have someone else stuck in there,” he says.

On Thursday afternoon, more than three weeks after Weber’s call, a technician is seen working on the elevator. A sign is taped to its door: “Out of Order.”

“While the elevator maintenance is the responsibility of the building’s owner, Office Max USA, we take customer safety extremely seriously,” says Nick Valente, a spokesman for Performance Bicycle. “The incident was reported to Office Max USA and they are in the process of making the necessary repairs.”

JEFF@smdp.com

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THE TRADITION CONTINUES

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SPINACH FROM PAGE 7

the Evening Outlook notes that he was the physical inspiration for Popeye.

Popeye made his debut on a pier in January 1929 editions of “Thimble Theater,” Segar’s nationally syndicated comic strip.

Popeye was a bit part at first but he became so popular that he was brought back and later became the center of the comic strip renamed “Popeye.”

Earlier iterations of Popeye’s official website, Popeye.com, included an official biography of the character. It noted that he was “born in a typhoon off Santa Monica, Calif.”

The most recent version of the website does not include a biography, but it can be found through a search of The Wayback Machine, a website dedicated to archiving websites.

Morena even finds proof in Olsen’s character. Lee Storrs, a columnist for the Evening Outlook, told a story about Oli Olsen putting an end to a gas station robbery with his “pile-driver fists.” During the Great Depression, Olsen let one unemployed local fish for free each day, according to Harris.

He’d donate 10 percent of his catch to needy families.

“He was loved,” Morena said. “To his own detriment, he was more into the people and taking care of the people and stopping crime than his own business.”

Morena is bending the ears of representatives at the Hearst Corporation, which owns the rights to Popeye, in hopes that they’ll definitively name the pier as Popeye’s home.

Standing in Morena’s way is the legend of Rocky Fiegel.

Fiegel was a local character in Segar’s hometown of Chester, Ill. He was known for using his quick fists to knock out criminal goons.

Fiegel, who died in 1947, also smoked a corncob pipe. His obituary, in the Chester Herald Tribune, also credits Fiegel as the inspiration for Popeye.

Sagendorf acknowledged Fiegel’s legend in his book but fails to discern “whether these beliefs are fact or fiction.”

In 1996, a Popeye fan club had Fiegel’s unmarked grave covered with a headstone declaring Rocky the “inspiration for ‘Popeye’ the sailor man.”

When asked for proof of Fiegel’s connection to Segar, Debbie Brooks, co-founder of the Official Popeye Fanclub, cited Sagendorf ’s writing, which is simply a reiteration of the stories that are told around Chester.

“It has been proof here for years in Chester, Illinois,” she said in an email.

Brooks owns the opera house that Segar worked at for several years which was adjacent to the tavern (since torn down) where

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Fiegel worked as a “cleanup man.”

When asked if she could put the Daily Press in touch with anyone who knew Fiegel personally, she responded: “Not a lot of people still living.”

“I avoid getting into the argument of who Popeye was based upon,” Jim Harris said.

“There’s no way we’re going to know for sure.”

Harris sees shades of gray in the inspiration for Popeye. It’s possible, he said, that one man inspired the character while the other inspired the look.

“I think there’s a certain amount of credit that needs to be given to Rocky Fiegel in Illinois — that that’s the character,” he said.

“And I think there’s probably some truth to that. And I don’t want to take away from that. But it’s impossible to deny that the physical characteristics, and the hat, and the corncob pipe, and the white shirt Olaf Olsen is known for wearing, and even the character to a degree, but the physical model is certainly there.”

In the end, it may be Hearst that makes the call and, regardless of the murky facts, the internationally known Santa Monica Pier could be more enticing, from a branding standpoint, than the Illinois town with a population of less than 9,000 people.

Recently, the Santa Monica Pier laid claim to the end point of the most iconic American highways, Route 66. It originally ended in Downtown Los Angeles but was extended to Lincoln Boulevard at Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica. In 2009, the Santa Monica Pier put up a Route 66 sign that reads: “End of the Trail.” It’s one more reason for tourists to make a stop at the pier.

“There are certainly parallels there,” Harris said. “The Route 66 was never that obscure. It’s not that hard to imagine how it came about. If you end your journey at Route 66, are you really going to end it on Lincoln and Olympic? No you’re going to drive to the ocean. And at the time, when 66 was commissioned, you could drive out to the end of the pier. Drive as far as you can.

It’s really easy to put that together. The Popeye thing is a little harder to put together.”

Morena recently scored The Albright the licensing rights to Popeye, allowing them to print his image on their shirts and sign, and show Popeye cartoons in the restaurant.

“I think it’s necessary and I think it’s important,” Morena said of Popeye’s birthplace. “Santa Monica-bred and I hope it continues on with my family and for generations to come. This great statesmen. This person who loves his city. This person who loves the people in the city. Who takes care of those people. Who takes care of the business interests in the city.”

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FROG FROM PAGE 1

the two were introduced.

“They discussed how this equipment and the underwater techniques could be used for covert operations,” PCR said in its report. “In 1942, after being named Chief of the OSS, Donovan established a special operations component known as the Maritime Unit (MU). Taylor, one of the first officers assigned to the MU, played a key role in the development of policies and training programs for the new waterborne units and is largely recognized as one of the first ‘Frogmen.’”

According to Simmel, the meeting took place at the then-brand new Shangri-La Hotel. It’s further alleged that Donovan was staying at the Shangri-La when he met Taylor, whose dentist office was near the hotel.

As a result of these findings, Simmel and Shearer (who are acquaintances of the hotel’s owner, according to the report) are hoping to add to the hotel’s Historic Landmark record.

The hotel is already landmarked, but the information would supplement the record. It would also allow the hotel to apply for the construction of a plaque, which would include a city seal, commemorating Taylor and Donovan’s meeting.

The Landmarks Commission heard the request earlier this month but asked that the historical consultant return with more information.

Most commissioners did not question the oral history, which is the source for most of the information, but they did have concerns about the connection to the Shangri-La. “Even the conclusion of the report, the criterion, it begins with, ‘Unfortunately, there’s no documentation of Donovan’s visit,’” said Chair Margaret Bach.

She said she had an “uneasy feeling” about nature of the report.

Commissioner Dolores Sloan noted that

YWCA FROM PAGE 5

cumstances dictate her existence. I had more fun with Manya, her husband and her baby that night than I had a long time. And to me, that’s beautiful.

The next day, I took the metro to the other side of town to visit my great aunt Jenya. The scene at her house is familiar to me: you cannot make it through her front door without Aunt Jenya offering you three courses of the best Russian-Armenian food you’ve ever had-plus dessert. This trip was no different. As she bustled around in her kitchen, putting the kettle on to make me tea, I studied this woman in front of me.

I know she’s in her sixties, but she doesn’t look older than 45. Aunt Jenya is always elegant and fashionable: her hair is flipped just the right way at the ends, her little frame draped in a tasteful dress, her eyes sparkling with passion over the latest project she’s working on. She is one of the most positive, powerful women I’ve ever met. You would never know that she once lost everything in the Armenian Genocide.

When her family was forced to flee Azerbaijan, Jenya was a young mom. She lost her house and had to leave everything she owned behind, but she escaped with her children to the mountains in Armenia.

There, she and the other refugees struggled to find food and fresh water as news of the brutal slaughters back home reached their ranks. Aunt Jenya describes how she used to go down to the water pump to wash her family’s clothing, her hands red and raw in the freezing water; how she would steal spare parts from junk piles to sell at the market so

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

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there’s limited proof that Patricia Donovan, William’s daughter who was supposed to have introduced Taylor and William Donovan, was in Santa Monica.

“It mentioned that there’s even questions about whether the daughter stayed in Santa Monica because she was supposed to be in college,” Sloan said. “We have no evidence that she was actually there, which would have been the link that brought her father there. This disturbed me as a researcher.”

Simmel told the commission that the individuals who he interviewed about the Maritime Unit over the years were “rock-solid.”

Shearer said that they hope the plaque will be the first step in a process that ends with a museum and an exhibit honoring the frogmen.

“The fact that you don’t have a registration that Bill Donovan stayed at this hotel — no hotel has records that go back 75 years,” he testified.

Commissioner Laura Elizabeth O’Neill summed up the concerns of the commission, noting that the oral research seems intensive but that the connection to the hotel needs more research.

“I don’t think that people are suspicious of the fact that these are important persons or that a lot of these activities occurred in Santa Monica,” she said. “I think the issue is that our job is to tie it to a place and in this case we’re being asked to tie it to the Shangri-La. So we’re looking for more information, if it’s out there, on that piece of this. Not necessarily were these important people in our history – I think that the evidence bares that they were. Not necessarily that we doubt that it occurred on Santa Monica beaches. It’s the tying to the Shangri-La.” The commission voted unanimously to continue the discussion, after more information has been gathered, at a later date.

EDITOR@smdp.com

that she could buy food for her two sons.

When they finally came to Russia, she had to start all over again with nothing in the city, facing racism that she continues to experience even today.

And you know what? Aunt Jenya is now the head of her division in one of the most successful real estate offices in Moscow-and her staff adores her. Her husband left, but she still put her two boys through college, paid off a mortgage on a spacious condo in the city, regularly wins awards for her work, travels all over the world and somehow manages to look at least ten years younger than she is.

When I hear the stories about the things she’s been through, it makes me angry at the struggle, sad at the loss, confused at the senselessness. And, of course, I see those emotions in her too. But stronger than any anger or pain, I see her determination to take what life has given her and make it into something gorgeous for herself and her two sons. And as she happily handed me a cup of hot black tea in her wonderful kitchen somewhere on the outskirts of Moscow, I saw that she’s succeeded. Aunt Jenya is our third Beautiful Woman.

Okay, I know I promised I wouldn’t talk about genocide. I said we would look at the nice things. But I think that’s what makes these women’s stories-and all our storiesbeautiful. It’s not that there is an absence of pain or struggle; but that from pain and struggle something beautiful can still be born. And perhaps this is what makes these women’s beauty more potent. It may be a world of homicide and genocide, poverty and pain; but it is also a world of Zahas and Manyas and Jenyas. And I see how beautiful it can be.

Join the movement at smywca.org.

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Curious City Charles Andrews

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This magic is real, I’ve seen it Originally published April 15 CAN YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE

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SURF FORECASTS

WATER TEMP: 61.2°

MONDAY – FAIR – SURF: 2-3 ft knee to waist high Lingering WNW-NW swell. Problematic winds may return.

TUESDAY – FAIR – SURF: 1-2 ft Ankle to knee Very Small short period wind waves from the west-northwest holding during the day. Light north-northeast winds with a slight chop all day.

WEDNESDAY – POOR TO FAIR – SURF: 1-2 ft Ankle to knee Very Small short period wind waves from the west holding during the day. Light north-northeast winds with a slight chop all day.

A KID , 6, 8, 10 years old? Go there with me, if you will.

God knows we all had unique childhoods. Yours may have been pretty “normal,” or you may have had tough circumstances.

But with few exceptions, our parents were the center of our very young lives. Imperfect, yes, some much more than others, but anchors, the rock, home base from which we could make our forays into the world with our growing awareness of our place in it, feeling safe in knowing that as little, not yet physically strong or experienced people, we weren’t on our own, and could run back to safe harbor when we needed to. Our parents were, ideally, pillars of our devotion, admiration and love, kind and reliable teachers, but at the least they were the ones who put a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.

Now imagine that being taken away.

Imagine being told that might be taken away.

Very easily could be taken away, and there’s not a thing you can do to change that. Dad, or Mom, gone overnight, never to return.

Short of the actual loss of a parent, just encountering the idea, and the reality, is possibly the scariest thing a kid could ever face.

As scary as being told you yourself may die, maybe soon, as a very young child?

Maybe. I don’t know, because I’m imagining this with you, and I was never in either of those circumstances. But I’m sure they’re not only in the same ballpark, more like in the same tiny, pitch-black locked closet.

We all are aware of the many heroic organizations that address the needs of children with life-threatening illnesses: St. Jude’s Hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Cavett Kids, Ronald McDonald House. But kids facing the loss of a parent to a terrible disease have not been noticed nearly as much.

Their physical needs are certainly not as great, but their emotional ones are.

Iris Rave thought about it, and as a devoted lifelong camper she had an idea. Working with four student leaders at Stanford, she founded the first Camp Kesem in 2000 and hosted 37 campers the following summer.

Camp Kesem now has 63 chapters associated with colleges in 29 states, serving nearly 4,000 kids ages 6-16 this coming summer.

So, a week’s summer camp for kids in a very tough situation, good idea, nice break, huh? No. Please, listen carefully. It is much, much more than it seems. It’s a week at camp that becomes an anchor, a rock, a lifelong support system for young kids who fear losing theirs, or already have, to dreaded cancer. Many who have attended even just one time will tell you it’s the most important thing in their lives.

Let me repeat that: the most important thing in their lives.

When those kids get the news of their parent’s critical illness, their world is turned upside down in an instant. Cancer? Cancer!?

I’ve heard of that. It’s terrible, it’s awful! My Mom’s going to die of that? My Dad won’t be here any more? What am I going to do?!

Nothing about their lives is the same after that announcement. Doesn’t matter that much if you assure them everything will be OK, that their parent will get great treatment

from doctors and will be just fine. They know what could happen. They learn it never goes away. And they have to suffer in silence. They can’t talk about this with their friends. Few even reveal it to their best friend. They wouldn’t understand. They couldn’t understand.

Then somehow they learn about Camp Kesem (a Hebrew word for “magic,” although the camps have nothing to do with any religion and are completely free), and for one week not only can they get away and just be themselves, a mostly carefree kid having fun at camp, but they are surrounded by people who understand, the other campers and the amazing counselors, meticulously chosen from student volunteers at the associated colleges.

While it’s not the focus of the camp, there’s hiking and swimming and arts and crafts and songs and skits, there is also time for “cabin chats” in the evening, where a camper can say anything they want in a completely understanding and supportive surrounding. It’s a miracle they couldn’t have imagined existed.

They can cry, and often do, and it’s OK. Everyone, everyone, understands. And being in that space for even one week, when the other 51 are spent in mute suffering, not being able to speak a word about the most important issue in their life, is a life-changing experience.

Yes, it is much, much more than it seems.

I can tell you this with some authority because I have worked with the UCLA chapter since 2004, when it was founded as one of the first five Camp Kesems. Contact me, please, if you want to know more.

But here’s what you can do right here, right now.

The UCLA Camp Kesem gets much of its needed $130,000 from its annual Make The Magic benefit dinner, which this year will be held in Santa Monica on the rooftop of Real Office Centers (604 Arizona Ave.) on Saturday, May 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $100 each. Gourmet food and drinks, live entertainment, a raffle, camper and parent testimonials, interaction with student counselors who will renew your faith in humanity and the next generation, all with a great rooftop view, and, best of all, walking away knowing you’ve helped make a huge difference in the lives of 230 local kids who got dealt a lousy hand.

If you go to campkesem.org/ucla, you can buy tickets. If you can’t make it but would like to be part of this worthy endeavor, for whatever amount you’d like to give, you can do it through any of the counselors, who each have to raise $500-1,000 in addition to attending weekly training sessions after having gone through a rigorous selection process, all for the privilege of volunteering.

I would recommend one of the best, who has done groundbreaking work there since she was 10, “Quinkidinc,” whose fundraising page is at https://campkesem.givebig.org/c/CK13/a/ca mpkesem-ucla/p/NicoleAndrews.

CHARLES ANDREWS has lived in Santa Monica for almost 30 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world. Really. You can reach him at therealmrmusic@gmail.com.

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Sudoku Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column, and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from (easiest) to (hardest).

GETTING STARTED There are many strategies to solving Sudoku. One way to begin is to examine each 3x3 grid and figure out which numbers are missing. Then, based on the other numbers in the row and column of each blank cell, find which of the missing numbers will work.

Eliminating numbers will eventually lead you to the answer.

SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S PUZZLE

King Features Syndicate

TODAY IN HISTORY – Kilvenmani massacre, 44 Dalits (untouchables) burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.

– Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.

– Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.

– Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.

– Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceau?escu and his wife, First-

1968 1974 1974

1977

1989

Deputy Prime-Minister Elena Ceau?escu are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

– Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine’s referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

– Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill into law that officially establishes a new National Anthem of Russia, with music adopted from the anthem of the Soviet Union that was composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov.

1991

2000

Comics & Stuff 14

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015

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Speed Bump

TAKE A NAP, LEO ARIES (March 21-April 19)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

★★★★ Past holidays run through your mind briefly in the morning. Let go of any negativity that might come up by putting on some favorite music. Call and wish loved ones a wonderful day.

An older relative or friend could become challenging. Tonight: Finally, time to relax.

★★★ You continue to feel pressured by a situation around you. A friend demands a certain type of respect. However, you might not feel that he or she deserves it. Be polite without knocking this person off his or her self-appointed pedestal. Tonight: Nap between holiday events.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

★★★★★ Decide not to stand on ceremony, especially if you are having a problem with a close associate. Go with the moment, and let go of any negativity. You’ll feel playful, especially around a child. You could become the perfect playmate. Tonight: Creativity flourishes.

★★★★ Avoid a disagreement, if possible.

Accept that everyone has different ideas.

Recognize the benefit of those differences, and use it to solidify projects. Reach out for feedback from your friends who see life in a unique way.

Tonight: Put on some music, and visit with others.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

★★★ You might be running out at the last

★★★★ You could be in a position where you

minute for a quick present. You could not be happier with what you discover. Invite a loved one to join you on this errand. Catching up on news will be emotionally fulfilling. Tonight: Call a friend who might be alone this holiday season.

want to take a chance and deal with the results.

The risk you decide to take will pay off. Make sure that what you are hearing is authentic before you celebrate. A loved one lets you know how much he or she appreciates you. Tonight: All smiles.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

★★★★★ Many of you finally get to play the role of host or hostess. Someone will say “thank you” in a subtle way, and you’ll respond in kind.

You appreciate being in the driver’s seat.

Remember this moment when feeling pressured to repeat the gesture. Tonight: Nibbling away.

★★★★ You have a strong sense about how today’s events needs to unfold, yet you might not be the one in control. Don’t fuss and don’t criticize. Everyone has his or her own style; accept this variety. Curb a low-level depression. Take a brisk walk. Tonight: Go along with existing plans.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

★★★ Make it OK to play a less active role, as others seem to want to step forward. You might be amused by a loved one who easily could distort what is happening, hopefully in a positive way. This person’s kindness will last in your memory for years. Tonight: Get a nap, if possible.

★★★ Talk yourself into being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Take the lead, and pitch in with some of the work surrounding this holiday. Others appreciate your efforts, and you appreciate the time to yourself to do some thinking. A friend could be distant. Tonight: Make it OK to be tired.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

★★★★★ Zero in on what you want to do, and

★★★★★ Your imagination adds to the magic of the moment, not only for you but also for those around you. Share more of your wild thoughts and allow others to play into your day.

A fun game could make this day memorable.

Tonight: Act as if you don’t have a care in the world.

do it. Laughter surrounds you, whether you’re with your friends or your loved ones. Go to a spontaneous happening. A family member might not feel up to snuff. Give this person some extra attention. Tonight: Your imagination leads the way.

Friday, December 25, 2015

By Dave Coverly

Strange Brew

Dogs of C-Kennel

Garfield

The Meaning of Lila

By John Deering

By Mick and Mason Mastroianni

By Jim Davis

By John Forgetta & L.A. Rose

JACQUELINE BIGAR’S STARS The stars show the kind of day you’ll have: ★★★★★Dynamic ★★ So-So ★★★★ Positive ★ Difficult ★★★ Average

This year you often vanish to spend time alone. You have entered a period of deep reflection. Keep an eye on what is working in your life and what is not. Tweak whatever you can and try to make it work. Your relationships take on a volatile tone at times. You’ll learn to accept differences. If you are single, others find you to be unusually attractive. Forming the type of bond you desire will take a willingness to grow and get past your issues. If you are attached, the two of you clearly are very different; delight in the excitement that this quality creates. You never know what will happen next. CANCER is very emotional.

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