Residents Show the Power of Community

Wits, resources and perseverance is what it took for neighbors to reclaim Leland Park from its reputation as a haven for homeless, drug abuse and all around decay. Long-time residents recall the park being lively, with families enjoying family outings and little league teams using the green space for softball games before city budget cuts began to take its toll.

When budget cuts forced the Recreation and Parks department to stop sending maintenance workers to keep the park cleaned and well kept, the grass died throughout and the park equipment was covered in graffiti. The park resembled a dumping ground and eventually, locals who had long called the park home stopped coming.

So fed up with the park’s deterioration, Debbie Rouser, who lives in front of the park, launched a one-woman, letter-writing campaign to force Councilman Joe Buscaino’s office and the Recreation and Parks department to clean up and begin maintaining the park.

“It got to a point where it was so bad,” Rouser said. “There was no other way.”

Rouser’s barrage of letters and phone calls resulted in few results. One day, a friend told her about a Leland Park Facebook page created by another local resident to raise awareness about the park’s state of disrepair and hopefully spark community action on the issue. In a word, Rouser found “allies.”

“It was like a spontaneous eruption,” Rouser said. “Certain people just started volunteering to do different things.”

Afterward, things began moving swiftly. Neighbors organized the Leland Park Advisory Board and began documenting the park’s problem areas with pictures and notes and emailed them to every city department with jurisdiction.

The tenacity of the organized residents caught the attention of Michael Shull-- the Superintendent for the Recreation and Park’s Planning and Development Division--and led him to partner with the park advisory board to transform Leland Park into a fully functioning park.

“The City of [Los Angeles] should never try to do things alone,” Shull said. “Everything should be born out of what the community needs.”

Since combining forces, Shull and the advisory board have created plan that includes installing an  irrigation system, building pathways that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replace the dead grass with new landscaping, and redo the ball fields.

Outdoor exercise equipment will also be installed, adding to the variety of activities at the park. Recs and Parks are also planning to install new security lights and cameras and additional parking spaces on Capitol Drive.

Shull and the advisory board are also discussing ways to increased security at the park, which includes installing lights, cameras and putting up a fence around the park with two entrance gates.  

Rouser is pleased with the attention law enforcement is paying to the park, a significant change from the days when even complaints of drug transactions was acted upon slowly.

“[It’s] Night and day compared to what it used to be,” Rouser said. “I think a lot of it is because the public has stood up and said we’re not going to stand for this anymore. “People would come at 11 o’clock at night and open their car doors and they’d have the huge, loud, supersonic stereo systems,” Rouser said.

“I would call the LAPD and I would get that fax sound… and you would never get through. And when you did it was like, really, I guess we’ll send somebody. And they wouldn’t come. Then they’d call at five in the morning... and ask me if they still needed [for us] to come.”

Rouser said that at the neighborhood council meeting residents attended to raise the issue of the park’s status, Captain of the Harbor Division, Nancy Lauer, swore to begin patrolling the area and respond in a timely manner.

“[Captain] Lauer stood up and said we got your back,” Rouser said. “And we saw that. I’d see undercovers out here. I saw a lot of black and whites.[Police Patrol Cars]”

Eastview Little League baseball teams have inquired about using the baseball field for practice after the completion of the redevelopment. The Dodgers have promised to provide the field a new scoreboard.

Shull acknowledge the importance of community involvement in addressing quality of life issues.

“Every park thats successful in this city has a community group around it that’s conserved and keeps a watchful eye,” Shull said. “It just takes organization; It takes people that care.”

The city is planning to begin construction within the following two months. If everything goes according to schedule, they are expected to be completed by the fall season.

Veterans Ride 600 Miles for Fallen Brothers

Fourteen veterans wounded in combat took the Never Quit Challenge, from Sept. 8 through 11. The challenge that included a 600 mile jet ski course from Morro Bay to San Diego.

In the challenge’s second year, veterans who received purple hearts stopped in Santa Barbara, Long Beach and Catalina Island. The challenge concluded on the evening of Sept. 11  at the Stone Bistro’s Liberty Center, Point Loma for a 9/11 tribute.  

“It’s great, getting back together and having that camaraderie that you don’t get in the real world — the civilian world,” said 3rd Ranger Battalion Kyle Butcher, one of the veterans who was part of the challenge.

The prior year’s challenge took place between Key West, Fla. and New York City. Event organizer Shawn Alladio said the location change each year is what makes the competition unique.

The event supports the Marsoc Foundation, Station Foundation, and Phoenix Patriot Foundation. All three support veterans and the families of fallen soldiers.

It’s called the Never Quit Challenge for a reason: The waters are choppy and unpredictable, creating a greater challenge for wounded veterans. One rider was using prosthetic legs, but zero riders complained or quit.

“It’s kind of a hardship,” Alladio said. “The challenge is very difficult. It’s painful at times because it’s a lot of hours on the water. What we’ve experienced the last two days, it’s been very windy. And, so, the wind has affected the surface texture of the water and that’s really slowed down a lot of the projections of the timelines,”

“The Pacific Ocean doesn’t play any favorites,” Barry Baker said, who was one of the event’s organizers. “It delivered some smooth riding and then there were times where it was very challenging, knocking people off of jet skis and such. It was great. It was challenging.”

Baker is one of three riders who never served on active duty. He is an alumni with the K38 Rescue Program. Barry rode from Long Beach to Catalina and back, while the second of the three, Allatio, rode the whole 600 miles.

Butcher was shot three times while on duty in Iraq. He enjoys the brotherhood that he experiences with the riders who are fellow veterans, which he says is lacking in his day to day life.

“It’s a hardship,” Butcher said. “It wasn’t fun. Most people think riding jet skis is fun, but we’re riding jet skis 600 miles in some pretty rough water. Each one of those boats have a fallen brother on it. We look down at that when times get hard and tough, it’s like, you know it’s not about me, suck it up. That’s why its called the never quit challenge. There’s no quitting.”

Next year’s challenge will take place between Galveston, Texas and Miami.

Queen’s Cup Doesn’t Fail to Impress in Debut

Racers kept their heads down. Their eyes pointed straight ahead as they steered their wheels went for the gold at the All-American Queen’s Cup Soap Box Derby race.

The derby took place Aug. 23 and 24 at the parking lot adjacent to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. A ramp was placed at the beginning of the track. Racers were released from the top, gathering enough speed to push them to the finish line. The finish is 40, or 50 feet ahead of the ramp. Haystacks outlined the track to cushion a driver in the event of a crash and cones divided the two lanes.

Most of the races were neck-and-neck from start to finish. Some ended with about a second, or a second-and-a-half, between them. Some ended with finishes that made your heart skip a beat. That instance alone was enough to fill the gap that separated the racers. Most importantly, none of the races were one-sided, which called for an exciting event.

The races began at 11 a.m. There were four different races for each of the three different classes: stock; super stock; masters. The double elimination race had drivers race each other, mark the time difference, trade wheels and lanes and go at it again. The time difference was recorded after the second race and whoever had a better accumulated time would advance. The switch was made to ensure a fair game.

Eleven-year-old Michael Nuñez placed fourth and brought home a trophy in which happened to be his first ever race. He said his mom persuaded him to race by promising him a surprise if he did. The trophy he won saw to it that he ends the day with two surprises. He said his favorite part of the race was zooming down the ramp at the start. He definitely is going to race again in the future.

Regional Director Brian Graham, said he was looking for a race director who can find racers and permanent venues in Long Beach willing to host annual races. As for the Queen Mary being host to its first soap box derby, Graham wished that the track would've been longer, but said they did a great job in providing them the possibility to run a flawless event.

“As a host site the Queen Mary was perfect,” Graham said. “Everything we could want was provided, maybe some things we had maybe not thought about to. We are looking into a longer track and longer ramps for future events. With any program the first time out there are always some things to improve. However, with our intention for this race, we hit a home run.”

Contact Graham by emailing him at rallycomish@aol.com.

All-American Soap Box Derby Comes to a Track Near You.

The All-American Soap Box Derby is taking place Aug. 23 and 24 amidst the shadows of Queen Mary.

The event is scheduled to stay open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be two official races where riders can accumulate points towards being invited to race in a championship in Akron, Ohio 2015.

The Queen Mary, in an attempt to create some liveliness in their corners and better serve the community, approached Brian Graham, regional director at All-American Soap Box Derby and offered to fund a race which would be held adjacent to the Queen Mary. The ship continues looking for new ways to attract and connect the people of Long  Beach and abroad.

Graham is excited that the sport’s popularity seems to be on the rise recently. He said that registration for this event has risen the last year and a half.

Graham also said the race gives an opportunity to children and adults to come together and build these cars and race them. He says that it offers participants a chance to bond and build cohesiveness, not just between racers, but all who are present around them.

“Having an event focused on children and their adult companions is a way of serving the community,” Graham said.

The All-American Soap Box Derby  is a national sports organization that was founded in 1934. The The All-American Soap Box Derby is divided into 12 regions, with each region representing four to five states throughout the nation. The Long Beach race is part of Region 2, which represents Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

There are three car classes that each have a minimum required age participants must be to race in said class. These age groups are split like this:  7-9; 9-17; 11-17. Every racer competes to earn points so that by the end of the season, they’ll have a spot in the championship race Akron, Ohio.

Beside seeing who can drive faster and feeding the racers’ competitive spirit, Graham stressed the more important lessons--are lessons that children will carry with them for the rest of their life.

“There’s so many wonderful things about this sport that far supersede the idea of coming out with just a trophy,” Graham said. “We’re talking about long-term growth, a long-term understanding, long-term empowerment of the person.”

The core values of the American Soap Box Derby are teamwork and hands-on learning. The derby is a natural supporter of STEM or, science; technology; engineering; mathematics education. All racing teams have to design, build, test, and race their vehicles for competition.

You’re teaching kids “independence, self-reliance [and] confidence,” Graham said. “Then we throw in learning a bunch of math, science and technology programs.”

Nine year old Veronica Stagnaro from Danville, California has been racing for a year and a half. Her interest in the Derby stemmed from her father’s love of the sport. She said she likes the challenge that it brings and making new friends through common grounds.

Stagnaro has won four races this year, and hopes to reach the championship race in Akron. She already has a trophy on her mantel from her win at the Silicon Valley Local race in 2013.

“Competition is rough. The kids I race against are all good drivers,” Veronica said. “Anyone of us could win if we drive a good race.”

The soapbox derby is one of the few sports in which boys and girls compete on the same field. When asked about how she felt about competing against boys, Stagnaro said she didn’t even think about it.

Chris Harris, co-regional director has been involved with the derby for nine years. He became involved when his son, who was 14 at the time, came home disappointed after losing to two younger girls. His younger sister who was 9 at the time heard the story and decided she wanted to take it up herself. Eventually, she was invited to the world championships five times and placed second once out of those races.

“The derby races are truly the greatest amature racing events in the world,” Harris said. “It brings families together and gives kids a chance to compete on a level playing field with cars that they have built and tuned themselves. Nothing compares to the feeling of winning a race in a car that you built and raced yourself.”

Soapbox derby fans can catch the show without admission. Visit the link below for further details.

Information: http://www.queenmary.com/events/all-american-soap-box-derby/

There's More to Boxing than Just Boxing

The punches flew fast. So fast, you could hardly see them. So fast, you can hear them cut the air as they hit the target.  

The target in this case was Christine Rodriguez behind some protective gear. Each time Kira DeMorales threw her gloved fist, it sounded like a baseball being thrown at a 100 miles per hour landing dead smack in the middle of a catcher’s mitt.

The boxing world and the fighters she trains refer to Christine as “Mom’s.” Christine and Kira conduct their one-on-one training session in the southeast corner of the JackRabbit Boxing Academy in Long Beach.

The gym has one boxing ring. A few heavy bags ring the left side of the boxing square in an L-shape and several speed bags surround them. In the ring there’s an older man training a boxer in his 20s. There were a couple of fighters alternating between speed bags, each serving a different function.

The heavy bag is used to practice uppercuts. The 300-pound bag is used to help fighters strengthen their power shots. The double-n bag, which moves at you, is used to sharpen fighter’s defensive reactions. Fighters practice ducking and evading the slip bag and also their overall footwork. Last, but not least, the good ol’ fashioned speedbag helps fighters narrow their focus.

Christine was in the southeast corner working with Kira when I was at the academy. She had on a body protector and mitts on each hand to absorb Kira’s blows. Kira was working on her footwork and combos, while Christine was checking her flaws.

Kira moved around slowly, side-stepping and throwing a two-punch combo into Christine’s mitts. The pace of the training increased as the exercise continued. The punching combos, which began with two punches, increased to three then four punch combos and so on.  

Kira’s side-steps turned into a light skipping and her eyes zeroed in on Christine’s mitts before she began throwing out five, six and seven hit combos. Christine’s body protector became the second target, but her face registers no emotion. Christine absorbed each punch Kira threw as if she were a heavy punching bag hanging from the ceiling.   

Christine trains her students like she was taught by her coach, Bill Slayton. Slayton died when he was 82. He had such a remarkable impact on Christine, that she decided to mimic his training regimen for her students when it comes down to the ring and outside of it.    

Christine says there’s little difference in the training regiments of amateur, professional and Olympic boxers, except that women train harder and with more intensity than men.

“I was the only woman at Broadway Gym for about five years and I always wanted to do more than the men, more rounds, more weights [for when I shadowbox.] I would use [eight-pound weights,] while the guys were using [five-pound weights.]”

Christine fought professionally in the late nineties and early 2000s. She regrets entering the professional ranks after only boxing in the amateur ranks for three months--attributing to this her lack of success in her boxing career.

Women boxers still struggle to find good management to represent them.

“We have had many meetings with interested investors and sponsors,” Christine said. “They aren’t willing to be pioneers and sign a female fighter with a female coach. They don’t have any projections for that.”

Still, she feels good about the future of women in the sport.

“The right people will appear when the time is right,” Christine said. “Faith has not failed me yet. Patience, I have learned well.”  

Kira credits Christine for sharpening her skills and tremendously improving her diet.

“Christine is one of the best to me and I’m honored to fight for her,” Kira said. “A friendship on top of just [a] coach and fighter [relationship].”

Kira was not always on track to become a professional boxer. She was initially California State University Dominguez Hills student on a basketball scholarship from Hawaii.

She took up boxing during an off season to stay in shape. At the time, Christine was coaching the school’s women’s boxing team. Christine immediately saw in Kira raw talent and potential, along with natural length and size.

After two years in the basketball program, Kira chose boxing over basketball, believing that her earnings potential would be much higher if she succeeds. Also, she found that she preferred the individualistic nature of boxing where her success or failure depended on her effort alone in the ring. Of course that meant losing her scholarship. To help offset the cost of losing that scholarship, Christine invited Kira to live with her and her son.

Amongst her many jobs, Christine works as a traveling nutritionist to various camps. These camps are where fighters prepare their bodies and minds a few days before their fights. Christine is also a certified massage therapist. She also trains two other boxers.

Christine became a trainer after Coach Slayton died, though it seemed iffy at first. She still wanted to be a champion.

“I didn’t make that choice,” Christine said. “I didn’t think I’d ever make that choice. What happened was my trainer died and then there was a stable of fighters left. I was the next person in line after he died to be their leader. It was just natural. They looked up to me. I instilled and carried his morals and values.

“Once you make that transition to coach, it is a very hard transition if you were a boxer because you want to be the fighter.”

For Christine, the path to becoming a professional boxer is spiritual one that she learned from Coach Slayton. The principles she learned as a boxer are principles she wants to pass on to the boxers she trains.

“It’s about life in general, how to respect each other, help each other ...about sacrifice and giving back. That’s how boxing works,” Christine said. “To boxing, I owe my life, my humility, my faith [and] my wisdom. Everything. I became more heightened spiritually watching Bill die. He did it with grace and dignity. He made me know for certain he was going back home.”

Christine hopes to one day run her own boxing camp, preferably in Big Bear or some similar location.

For now, her home is the JackRabbit in Long Beach and her job is to transfer the lessons that she learned from her trainer to her pupils. She now sees more value in helping fighters reach the best of their abilities.

“It’s not about me being champion, it’s about building many champions in and out of the ring,” Christine said.

Kira will make her professional debut Aug. 21 after posting a 6-0 record as an amature. Her fight will be at the Fight Club OC in Costa Mesa.