THE EAGLE ROCK ASSOCIATION
The Best Investment You Can Make in Your Neighborhood


TERA
e.letter

June 3, 2004

Learn more about us
and how we are changing our community for the better.

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Go to
http://www.TERA90041.org/teraform.htm

Now more than ever, please support your residents association --
more than 1,000 members strong, and growing every day!

And don’t forget to encourage interested friends and neighbors to join TERA
so that they, too, may enjoy the many benefits of membership, including
a complimentary subscription to the TERA e.letter.

This week:

  Councilmember Villaraigosa on safety
(item #2)

  The big red ball rolls your way (item #3)

  Where in the world is our newest high school? (item #4)



Table of Contents:


1.  PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2.  COUNCILMEMBER VILLARAIGOSA TO HOST SAFETY FORUM — JUNE 5

3.  CENTER FOR THE ARTS, EAGLE ROCK PRESENTS THE SECOND ANNUAL BEAUX ARTS BALL — JUNE 5

4.  FIND OUT WHERE THE LAUSD PLANS TO BUILD OUR NEW AREA HIGH SCHOOL — JUNE 8

5.  THE CITY ATTORNEY IS COMING TO EAGLE ROCK — JUNE 8

6.  REWARD OUR TEENS — JUNE 11

7.  EAGLE ROCK SIGHTINGS IN THE LA TIMES

8.  OCCIDENTAL SUMMER INSTITUTE OF FUN TO TEACH THEATER TECHNIQUES TO CHILDREN — THIS JULY AND AUGUST

9.  THE LAST WORD —  OSCAR WILDE



1.  PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

There’s a lot going on this week in Eagle Rock, including a number of late breaking issues that TERA’s hard at work on as this issue of our weekly e.letter goes to press.  Rather than delay the e.letter, we’ve decided to send this week’s edition in two parts.   In today’s issue, you’ll find our calendar of upcoming events in Eagle Rock.  Later this week, watch your email box for a special edition e.letter that will bring you up to date on the most pressing issues in our community, along with a description of the progress that TERA is making on addressing them.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in making Eagle Rock a wonderful place to live!

-- Hilary Norton Orozco, TERA President



2.  COUNCILMEMBER VILLARAIGOSA TO HOST SAFETY FORUM — JUNE 5

From Eagle Rock’s City Council Field Deputy Michael Cathey comes this invitation to Councilmember Villaraigosa’s Public Safety Forum on June 5:

Councilmember Villaraigosa presents

A district wide Public Safety Forum
June 5
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
LAC/USC Medical Center Main Auditorium
1200 N. State Street
Los Angeles


The focus of this forum will be crime prevention and neighborhood watch organizing. The guest speaker will be Professor George Tita, the author of "Operation Ceasefire," a gang violence prevention plan based on the successful Boston model.   Neighborhood watch groups and other informational groups will be present to share stories and ideas about how to better our crime prevention efforts, and there will be a breakout session with LAPD officers from both the Northeast and Hollenbeck divisions.
 
For those folks who do not want to drive or are unable to do so, free bus service to and from the event will be available.  The bus pick folks up at Toland Way Elementary (4545 Toland Way) at 8:50 a.m. and will leave for the site at 9:15 a.m. sharp.  The bus will return to Toland Way Elementary at approximately 12:30 p.m.  If you’d like to take advantage of the bus service, please RSVP our office at (323) 254-5295 by May 28. Thanks and I look forward to seeing you!

-- Michael Cathey, District 14 Office of Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa



3.  CENTER FOR THE ARTS, EAGLE ROCK PRESENTS THE SECOND ANNUAL BEAUX ARTS BALL — JUNE 5


THE BIG RED BALL
June 5th, 2004
8:30 PM
Live Music, Raffle and Silent Auction, midnight buffet


On June 5th, 2004, The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, will present “The Big Red Ball: the Second Annual Beaux Arts Ball.”

The Party of the Year will begin at 8:30 p.m., and a memorable evening of revelry will ensue.  The evening will feature the fabulous chanteuse Morganne and the rocking rhythms of the John Brown Band.  There will also be a silent auction, raffle and midnight buffet.  Costumes and festive attire are encouraged, but not required.  Admission is $20.00, and proceeds will support the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock.

The Center is pleased to be working with local artists to transform this Carnegie library into a vision in red.  The décor will feature multiple special effects and designer lighting.  The Center will glitter and glow, adding steam to this red-hot night.   Morganne, a globetrotting artist, most recently gave a dazzling inaugural gala performance at L.A.’s landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The chanteuse has also been heard at the House of Blues, Montreal Jazz Festival, and opened for megastar Barbra Streisand at the Kodak Theater, as well as for The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.  

Following Morganne’s concert will be the John Brown Band.  The John Brown Band has been performing in and around Los Angeles, the Valley and the South Bay for over 20 years, and has played just about every venue in the area.  Joining lead singer, John Brown are Korey Mall, Bob Gross, Bobby Mostol, and John Thomas.  Their lively concert covers an impressive array of rock and roll classics, plus a sprinkling of standards, and will have the crowd rocking the night away.

Finally, a scrumptious “midnight” buffet will be served, hosted by The Coffee Table.  This magnificent spread will feature pastas and salads galore plus a dessert of red devil cake.  This event is sponsored by Adelphia Communications, Capital Group Companies, Bank of America, Pagnone Realty and Bob Taylor Properties.  Come join us for this celebration of the arts!  As an added bonus you will be helping keep our Center open to serve the northeast communities of Los Angeles.  

The ERCCA is a non-profit organization, supported solely by grants and donations, providing low-cost art, music, dance and computer classes to children and adults of surrounding areas and communities.  The ERCCA also hosts two free festivals yearly and numerous concerts and exhibitions.  For more information, call the Center at (323) 226-1617.   For Ball reservations, call (323) 226-1230.  The Center is located near the corner of Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard at 2225 Colorado Blvd.  



4.  FIND OUT WHERE THE LAUSD PLANS TO BUILD OUR NEW AREA HIGH SCHOOL — JUNE 8

Items 6 and 7 are a pair of dispatches we received from the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council’s busy bee, Jessica Wethington McLean.   Both sound like great events, but here’s Jessica to tell you more.

LAUSD Community Meeting
Tuesday June 8
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Irving Middle School (Main Auditorium)

3010 Estara Avenue

Los Angeles


As you may recall from previous ERNC board and land use discussions, the LAUSD will be building a new high school to relieve overcrowding at Franklin High School and Eagle Rock High School.  On Tuesday, June 8, 2004, LAUSD staff will hold a community meeting to announce the preferred site for Central Region High School #13.

-- Jessica Wethington McLean, Co-Chair, Land Use & Planning Committee, Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council



5.  THE CITY ATTORNEY IS COMING TO EAGLE ROCK — JUNE 8


Meet Our City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo
6:30 p.m Tuesday, June 8

Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Meeting
Eagle Rock Library

5027 Caspar Avenue

Eagle Rock


The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council invites you to meet City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo this Tuesday!  Come meet your local City Attorney and hear about the exciting programs he is implementing city wide.  Join us for a special Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Full Board Meeting this Tuesday, June 8 at the Eagle Rock Library.

-- Anita Hultman, President, Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council



6.  REWARD OUR TEENS — JUNE 11

ROCK Center Reward Party and Open House
June 11
3:00 - 5:30 p.m.
ROCK Teen Center
1597 Yosemite Drive (at Townsend)
Eagle Rock


The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council will sponsor a reward party, pool tournament and open house for area teens at the ROCK (Reach Our Community
Kids) Teen Center
on Friday June 11, 2004.  There’ll be pizza, games and prizes for teens and attendees!

The ROCK Teen Center is a non-profit organization which offers local teens a place to come after school to socialize, get tutoring, use the computer lab, play games and take part in programs geared toward channeling energies to positive endeavors.  The teens also organize to do community service throughout the year, and have been active in community clean-ups and other service projects.  It is in recognition of these activities that the reward party was designed.

Playing pool is a popular pastime for teens at the ROCK, but the worn and tattered pool table leaves a lot to be desired.  At the party, the ERNC will unveil a newly covered, perfectly playable pool table surface and sponsor an inaugural pool table tournament with great prizes to the top three teen winners!

The ROCK Teen Center, under Director Donna Robey-Sullivan, is the recent recipient of grant funds which covered the cost of new flooring, updated outdoor lighting and security, as well as ceramic tile mosaics on its fixed outside seating area.  Please join the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council in celebrating all of the ROCK’s accomplishments and encourage the teens in our community to keep up the good work!

-- Jessica Wethington McLean, ERNC, Director, Sub-district 2



7.  EAGLE ROCK SIGHTINGS IN THE LA TIMES

Perhaps you saw this letter from TERA President Emeritus (and frequent e.letter contributor) Joanne Turner in the Real Estate section of Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.  If not, here in its entirety is Joanne’s letter, written in response to an earlier piece in the paper’s real estate section that made the casual (if dubious) observation that because Eagle Rock schools happen to be part of the LA Unified School District, they must somehow be inferior to those in neighboring Pasadena.  Of course, as anyone who reads the e.letter knows, our Eagle Rock schools have been publicly lauded a number of times in the past year--so frequently, in fact, that we find it hard to believe that our city’s paper of record allowed such a disparaging statement to run unquestioned.  But, then, that’s what Letters to the Editor are for, as Joanne here demonstrates.

Honors for Eagle Rock

I must take issue with the woman who passed over Eagle Rock as a place to buy a home in which to raise her children because it's part of the Los Angeles Unified School District ["Factoring in Schools," May 16].  She obviously didn't do her homework.  Although the LAUSD overall has a less-than-stellar reputation, there are pockets of very good schools located within it, and Eagle Rock is one of them.

I'm raising my kids in Eagle Rock and am happily putting them in local schools, which have excellent highly gifted, gifted and high-ability magnet schools on our campuses, as well as on-site gifted programs.  Our junior high and high school also offer very good honors and advanced placement courses. Parents are very involved.

On the other hand, Pasadena's schools have suffered remarkably since busing began in the 1970s, although things are beginning to turn around.  The woman who decided to overlook Eagle Rock and buy in Pasadena, in which real estate is even more expensive, will likely be spending even more money sending her children to private schools.

-- Joanne Turner, Eagle Rock

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/printedition/la-re-letters30.1may30,1,3566749.story



8.  OCCIDENTAL SUMMER INSTITUTE OF FUN TO TEACH THEATER TECHNIQUES TO CHILDREN — THIS JULY AND AUGUST

The Occidental College Children's Theater is inviting applications for its Summer Institute of Fun, weeklong workshops in July and August that will teach children techniques in physical theater, group improvisation, tumbling and movement. Participants must be between 7 and 12 years old. Enrollment is extremely limited, so sign up as soon as possible.

Children's Theater actors will offer individual attention in a positive and fun learning environment. All children will receive a T-shirt, and each week concludes with an informal folktale performance.

    Sessions, which will cover different material each week, are scheduled for 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The schedule is as follows:

    Session 1: July 19-23
    Session 2: July 26-30
    Session 3: Aug. 2-6
    Session 4: Aug. 9-13

    Fees are as follows:

    $150 for one session
    $280 for two sessions
    $410 for three sessions
    $520 for four sessions
    
    (There is a 10 percent discount for each additional sibling.)

    For more information, or to have an enrollment form sent to you, call (323) 259-2771.


9.  THE LAST WORD —  OSCAR WILDE

In America the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs for ever and ever.”

-- Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)


Distributed weekly via email and as a regular feature on various internet discussion groups, the TERA e.letter is read by well over 2000 readers with an interest in Eagle Rock and Northeast Los Angeles.  Please encourage interested friends to send their full name and email address to us at e.letter@TERA90041.org so we can keep them informed, too.  

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TERA -- The Eagle Rock Association -- YOUR COMMUNITY IN ACTION --
http://www.TERA90041.org --
P. O. Box 41453, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 -- (323) 259-TERA -- a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation


The TERA e.letter
A publication of
The Eagle Rock Association
(TERA)
Vince Waldron, editor
e.letter@TERA90041.org