This year’s parade participants Westchester Little League
produces sound by sending gas, steam or compressed air through large whistles— originally, locomotive whistles. Today, the calliope is played by Andrew Barrett. The calliope is owned and driven by Westchester resident Thaine Morris. Thank you, Thaine, for celebrating our nation’s birthday with us!
Westchester Little League (WLL) has provided youth baseball for the children residing or attending school in our community since 1954. Carl E. Nielsen Youth Park is the home of our little league. Each season, they average more than 200 boys and girls baseball players from ages 5-12 years spread throughout four divisions. The 2016 10U All-Star team made it to the state sub-division, and they finished 3rd in all of California. The 2017 11U All-Star team won district. Come support our four All-Star teams this summer! For more info, please visit westchesterll.org.
Rotary Clubs on the LAFD Firetrucks
Westchester Lutheran Church & School
In accordance with this year’s parade float theme, Westchester Lutheran Church and School is proud to introduce their entry representing the City of Los Angeles. The fantastic “Cities Across America” are what make up this great nation. All cities are expanding in diversity, technology, and—of course— entertainment! Los Angeles has its roots deeply-seated in the entertainment industry, so it only seemed fair to realize a float that carried this theme and present to Westchester its first Oscar for being such a great neighborhood in Los Angeles! The Academy Awards are always here in Los Angeles, along with some of the most prominent film and entertainment companies in the world. Westchester is the home of hundreds of great film and entertainment professionals, not to mention great families, so this is only too fitting. As you can see on this float, the many great icons of Los Angeles are shown around the Oscar and in the filmstrip that encompasses the float. From the Hollywood sign to our very local Randy’s Donuts, Los Angeles is filled with many things that make a great city, which almost makes our world-class traffic tolerable! This float is dedicated to Westchester Lutheran’s own Pastor Fred and Head of School Sandra Masted for their outstanding performance at Westchester Lutheran Church and School for the past 50-plus years. They have made this last
decade of floats possible by encouraging the skills and talents of Westchester Lutheran families to help make our entire community stronger. Together, they have been dedicated to building great heart and spirit into all of their students at Westchester Lutheran Church and School. The Masted’s commitment has been an amazing blessing, and we are all so thankful! On behalf of Westchester Lutheran School, we wish all the families of this great neighborhood a wonderful, fun and safe 4th of July! And, as you look upon the fireworks this evening, make sure to hug your parents and thank them for allowing you to grow up in Los Angeles, and enjoy the opportunity to be the next generation that will keep L.A. the great city that it is. Happy 4th of July!
Loyola Marymount University LMU is proud to once again participate in Westchester’s 4th of July Parade. This year’s float celebrates LMU’s Jesuit tradition and the 27 other Jesuit universities and colleges that are scattered in “Cities Across America.” Joining us today are members of the LMU Men’s and Women’s basketball teams. Go Lions and Happy 4th!
Grand Marshal: Salute to our WWII Veterans The Parade Committee is honored to have WWII Veterans riding in the parade as our Grand Marshals this year. The Veterans riding with us today are from Honor Flight Southland, a 100% volunteer nonprofit organization created solely to honor America’s Veterans for all of their sacrifices. They safely transport these heroes to Washington DC to visit and reflect at their memorials, with top priority given to the senior veterans of World War II. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, only 558,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were alive in 2017, so our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out. Thank you to our WWII Veterans riding in the parade today, and all of our veterans and troops for your service to our country!
Thaine Morris and the Calliope
We are proud to once again have the Calliope Car in our parade! A calliope is a musical instrument that
Give a warm welcome to the Playa Venice Sunrise and Westchester Rotarians, LAX Coastal Chamber representatives and the Los Angeles City Fire Department! These community leaders and their families are riding on a 1953 restored Mack fire truck owned by longtime Westchester resident, Pat Carey! Providing music is violinist Kiev Morales, a recent graduate of Venice High School. Rotary is a service group made up of dedicated men and women who use their “time, talent and treasure” to give back to our community, supporting such projects as the teacher mini-grants, the Teacher Eddy Awards and today’s parade. The Playa Venice Sunrise Rotary hopes to see you at their Saturday, July 28 pancake breakfast at Fire Station 5. Visit playavenice.org for more info! Let’s show our appreciation for these great volunteers!
Knights of Columbus The Westchester Knights of Columbus Council #3744 is representing the city of Wichita, Kansas, the home of its namesake Fr. Emil Kapaun. Fr. Emil was an ordained Catholic priest in the diocese of Wichita and served as Chaplain during the Korean conflict. He was taken as a prisoner of war in 1950 and is known to have risked his life countless times for other soldiers before he died in captivity on May 23, 1951. Fr. Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously) on April 11, 2013. The Westchester Knights of Columbus are proud to bear his name and proud to recognize our members who have served our country.
All parade photos by Glenn Marzano.
Page 20 • July 2018
4th of July Parade Program
Westchester • Playa del Rey • Marina del Rey • Playa Vista HomeTown News