Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLI NO. 14
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
In this issue
Remembering the LB Petroleum Club
NEWS
www.signaltribune.com
March 29, 2019
SH City Council selects Woods as new mayor, Copeland as vice mayor
As the establishment closes its doors at the end of the month, the remaining members recall the history and memories that brought them together. Daniel Green Production Manager
A
As officials broke ground, resident talked struggles with illness
Blesing describes her battle with ‘debilitating condition’ during groundbreaking of Vistas del Puerto. Page 2
COMMUNITY
At tsunami drill, officials stress ‘know your zone’
home away from home. This is how Peter Allen described the Long Beach Petroleum Club (LBPC) as it ends its 62-year history. “Every weekend, and some nights during the week, we always had entertainment,” Allen, the club’s president, told the Signal Tribune in an interview on March 12. “We didn’t have to go up there to downtown Long Beach. We had it right here at 3636 Linden Avenue.” During its history, the LBPC acted as a meeting place, where the oilmen of Long Beach could drop in during their lunch for a drink and a few games of gin rummy in the Red Room. Members lived it up at the club with glitzy parties, and neighborhood children enjoyed its Olympic-sized pool. It was a place where business was done with a handshake and where guests could dine on fine food in the Red Room, where members brought children and grandchildren to visit Mr. and Mrs. Claus during the Christmas
season or gather to countdown the new year. “[People] wanted to be members of the club because we had great parties and super food,” said Ron Dulin, a former club president and second-generation member, told the Signal Tribune on March 8. However, as times have changed, so has the club. Declining membership and a lack of new recruits has made it impossible for the current board to continue the club’s operations. On Feb. 19, the club announced it had sold the property at 3636 Linden Ave. and will cease operations on March 31. Despite the impending closure, the remaining members would rather remember the good times and the tightknit friendships that the club forged. Founding the club In 1954, two men lounged in the steam room of the Pacific Coast Club, where they began to go over a familiar topic. The two men, Lee Foust and C.L. “Slim” Fowler, had discussed the idea of opening a club for the oilmen see PETROLEUM page 14
Working with neighbors and having a plan also emphasized at preparedness event. Page 3
Transforming from hangar to eatery
After a soft opening last month, LB Exchange’s Hangar food lot officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Page 3
Courtesy LB Petroleum Club
The Long Beach Petroleum Club was known for its high-end parties that featured big bands and dinners. Here, partygoers pose for the photographer in an undated photo.
Photos by Anita W. Harris | Signal Tribune
Signal Hill Mayor Lori Woods during the Signal Hill City Council meeting on March 26, shortly after being appointed to the position by the council, during its March 26 annual reorganization
New members sworn in to city council, positions; Forester, Blunden step down. Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
With a packed public audience at its March 26 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council reorganized, rotating in a new mayor and vice mayor– Lori Woods and Robert Copeland, respectively– and swearing in four newly elected members: City Clerk Carmen Brooks, Councilmember Tina Hansen, City Treasurer David Hopper and Councilmember Keir Jones. The council also heard a general-plan progress report and approved its submission to the State, as required by law. Reorganization Before reorganizing– as it does each year per the city’s charter– the council approved a resolution certifying the results of the March 5 general municipal election. Deputy City Clerk Kim Boles said those results show that Tina Hansen and Keir Jones were elected as members of the city council, Carmen Brooks was elected as city clerk and David Hopper was elected as city treasurer. She added that while each was elected to a four-year term, they would be shortened because of a four-month earlier vote date established by Measure N approval, which changes the municipal election date to coincide with the statewide election date in November rather than March. Boles then swore in the four new-
ly elected members, each of whom promised to defend the constitutions of the nation and state and faithfully discharge their duties. Outgoing mayor Tina Hansen invited the other three newly elected members– Brooks, Hopper and Jones– to briefly introduce themselves. All expressed enthusiasm for contributing their skills to serve the city. see COUNCIL page 10
Now former mayor Tina Hansen (right) presents outgoing City Treasurer Larry Blunden (left) with a proclamation recognizing his service at the March 26 Signal Hill City Council meeting, during which the council reorganized to choose a new mayor and vice mayor and swear in councilmembers.
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