News
Lakewood Community 30,000 delivered to Lakewood and portions of Long Beach
Volume 32 Number 9
Official publication of the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce
www.lakewoodnews.org
Patriot Day...A time of remembrance
September 2015
CityTV on hand as Lakewood hosts World Games athletes Before a single one of the 6,500 Special Olympics athletes competed at the 2015 World Games, Special Olympics delegations from around the world were treated to three memorable days of recreation, entertainment, and cultural exchange at their Host Towns in Southern California, including the Lakewood Youth Center. See a photo gallery at: www.lakewoodcity.org/ CommunityGallery. Lakewood’s CityTV was on hand to cover the Olympians visit. Their video segment is part of this month’s Community Digest news magazine airing daily at 3:30, 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. and p.m. The monthly magazine regularly spotlights community
issues and upcoming events. CityTV is working on a special profile on Dustin Plunkett, a longtime member of Lakewood Special Olympics and a Special Olympics Global Messenger. The position makes him a spokesperson for individuals with developmental disabilities as well as a Board Member of Special Olympics Southern California. He played a major role in the just completed 2015 Los Angeles World Games. Watch CityTV programs on channel 31 on FiOS TV and Time Warner Cable. Or see it stream live or see on-demand videos (in either YouTube or Vimeo format) at www. lakewoodcity.org/CityTV.
This year’s Patriot Day commemoration will take place on Friday, September 11 from 6pm to 8pm at Del Valle Park. Patriotic music will be performed by the 300th Army Band and the Golden Sands Chorus. Program speakers include Mayor Jeff Wood. The event starts with a stirring presentation of American flags by hundreds of scouts and youth from the Lakewood area (pictured). A memorial candle lighting and moment of silence bring the evening to a close. Food vendors include Super Mex Catering Truck and Mr. B’s Kettle Corn. Bring a blanket or low-rise lawn chair for seating.
Stonefire Grill “banks” on Lakewood
Options to “eat local” and “Shop Lakewood” are increasing as a new Stonefire Grill opens at Lakewood Center on Tuesday, September 1. The popular Southern Californiabased eatery is establishing its 8th restaurant at the former First Bank building located at 4325 Del Amo Blvd., at the corner of Lakewood Blvd. Stonefire was careful to maintain much of the unique interior of the original bank, designed in 1966 by famed Lakewood Community News #24 Lakewood Center Mall Lakewood, CA 90712 (562) 531-9733
Los Angeles architect Maxwell Starkman. Stonefire Grill is a growing leader in the “fast-casual” restaurant field, where customers order at the counter and food is then delivered to their table. “By eliminating the need for servers to take the meal order, food reaches the table faster and the cost savings is passed down to the guest,” said Justin Lopez of Stonefire. “All items are available ‘to go’ with a special entrance PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
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dedicated to take-out orders, an especially popular feature among busy working parents.” Stonefire Grill’s large menu features BBQ favorites like Mesquite Grilled Tri Tip, Lemon Garlic Chicken Breast, and Baby Back Ribs, a wide assortment of salads, pizzas and pastas and vegetarian options like Golden State Kale Salad and Roasted Cauliflower Pita. Starkman, the original designer of the bank building, was a giant in the field of architecture. A colleague of the legendary Richard Neutra, considered the grandfather of contemporary architecture, Starkman designed Melodyland Church in Anaheim, the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. “While this project has required significant updating,” said Lopez, “we were careful to maintain as much of Starkman’s architectural sensibilities as possible.” Architectural features in the restaurant include: 20-foot-tall ceilings, exposed brick walls, massive steel beams, custom metalwork and wood accents, colored glass designs and even the bank’s original metal vault gate. Sliding glass windows open onto the restaurant’s 1,500-square-foot patio that seats 80. Become a fan of Stonefire on facebook.com/stonefiregrill or follow them on twitter.com/ stonefiregrill.
Hand shakes and high fives greet Turkish athletes as they arrive at Lakewood’s Youth Center.
Seen a slow-moving truck spraying water on city landscaping? State drought rules say that cities can no longer use potable drinking water sprinklers to irrigate landscaping along streets. That means many city medians and service road parkways are going brown, and trees in those areas are getting stressed and are at risk of disease and death. Lakewood has come up with a solution to help our trees and landscaping make it through the drought. The city is now operating two water tankers pulled behind city pickup trucks to spray recycled water on the trees and landscaping. Recycled water is wastewater from homes and businesses that has been treated to a level safe to use for irrigation. State rules allow irrigating with recycled water, and expanding the use of recycled water for irrigation is a key component of a long-term solution to California’s water troubles. A safety note for motorists: The recycled water truck needs to drive very slowly to adequately spray irrigate each area. So when
you see the water truck up ahead with its lights flashing, please slow down and drive carefully. The water tankers are a good short-term fix, but not a feasible long-term solution for irrigating street landscaping. Lakewood is in the process of re-envisioning its street medians and parkways to use water-wise landscaping and to have curb-cuts allowing rain and runoff from the street to flow in and help irrigate the landscaping and reduce storm water runoff pollution. The new designs hold the promise over time of making Lakewood’s community landscape less vulnerable to drought and more environmentally sustainable, while still providing an attractive look to Lakewood’s streets.