EPIAn Ways August 2004

8/9/2019 EPIAn Ways August 2004

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Echo Park Improvement Association

Meets at 7 p.m. the 1st Thursday of each Month

in Williams Hall at Barlow Hospital 2000 Stadium Way in Elysian Park

It almost seems impossible to imagine, but Pio-neer Market is gone from Echo Park. With its reasona-bly priced produce and its Western-style coveredwagon logo, Pioneer has been a touchstone for multi-ple generations of Echo Park residents. Pioneerclosed August 1, deciding to lease a majority of itsbuilding to Walgreens. The remainder of the buildingdoes not yet have a tenant.

Pioneer Market has been in the neighborhood insome form for at least 72 years, operating in differentlocations with different owners. According to the EchoPark Historical Society, the earliest record of the mar-ket can be found in 1932, when it was located half ablock to the east and was known as Kampmann’sMarket. The market moved half a block west a fewyears later, settling at 1609 Sunset Boulevard andcoming under the new name – Kampmann’s PioneerMeat Market, according to a 1935 city telephone di-rectory. In those days, the butcher shop was operatedby Dorrell B. and Norvie "Nettie" Kampmann, wholived nearby at 1825 Scott Avenue.

The market had dropped the Kampmann name by1939 and by the time the U.S. had entered World WarII, the store was run by a new meat cutter: WinstonSchaefer, a resident of Glendale. Most Echo Park resi-dents know Pioneer, however, for its current owners,the Leum family, which has been affiliated with thestore since 1947. By the time Leonard Leum ownedthe store in 1965, it occupied the northwest corner ofSunset Boulevard and Echo Park Avenue and was em-

blazoned with neon signs, including a toy top near theroof and the vertical "FOOD" sign which greeted motor-ists from the facade.

New earthquake standards imposed in the after-math of the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake led the Leumfamily to seek the city’s help in building a new store.With a no-interest loan, Pioneer constructed a newsupermarket building that, unlike its predecessor, hada parking lot in front. The brand-new store opened in1984 and was mentioned in a Los Angeles Times arti-cle from the mid-80s about the resurgence of the

n e i g h b o r -hood’s busi-ness dis-trict.

Mike Leum,the son ofL e o n a r d ,

had a presence in our neighborhood, serving with theEcho Park Chamber of Commerce and making contri-butions to neighborhood cleanups and other commu-nity activities. Leum was involved in the annual holi-day parade and the LAPD stop-in center. Residentswith no access to cars were allowed to use the mar-ket’s shopping carts to transport their grocerieshome.

Word got out two months ago that Pioneer wasabout to close. Echo Park residents, including theneighborhood council, made frantic calls to verify therumor and had hoped for a way that another grocerycould move into the Pioneer building. But Walgreen’salready had the inside track and Echo Park residentswere offered little opportunity to mobilize a campaignto find another neighborhood-serving supermarket tooperate at the corner of Sunset and Echo Park.

Echo Park will continue to offer other grocery loca-tions, from Vons sandwiched between Alvarado Streetand Glendale Boulevard to the A-1 Grocery Warehousefurther east on Sunset. There are smaller markets inthe neighborhood, from Guadalupana to El Rancho,

and larger, such as Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake andWhole Foods in Glendale. But Pioneer had a specialplace in Echo Park. And it will be sorely missed.

PIONEER MARKET GIVE$ UP, LEASES TO ©





August

(323)

girl’s teen yoga

Pilates

EPIA Shines at Lotus Festivalby Lynn Barbé, EPIA President

Every year the EPIA booth at the Lotus Festivalinforms Echo Park residents and visitors about what ourorganization has done to improve our community. And,while this year was no exception, we expanded ourmessage thanks to the many volunteers. Beside EPIAmembers, we had volunteers from the Echo ParkCommunity Garden, people talking about the newlibrary, literature about the Echo Park SecurityAssociation, the Greater Echo Park ElysianNeighborhood Council and even voter registration. If youwanted to find out anything about Echo Park, our boothwas the place to be.

Not only did we have lots of visitors to our booth, wehad lots of volunteers. And they all seemed to have a great time. Our booth was definitely the place to be forthe Lotus Festival.

Special thanks to Susan Borden for making our wonderful display and to Steven Arthur for setting up andtearing down each day. Assisting Steven were Ron Emler, Suzie Rodgers and Matthew DuBois. Boothvolunteers included Suzanne Kimbraugh, Dan King, Rosie Bentanos, Cynthia Flock, Helen Kanno, Victoria Thor,Andrea Beving, Judy Raskin, John Pirone, Dana Byall, Susan Borden, Luisa Mavropoules, and Gloria Soto.



August 2004

1911 SUNSET BOULEVARDLOS ANGELES, CA 90026

(213) 484-1265

The Echo Park Historical Society will host itssecond annual home tour on Sunday, November 14,11 a.m. to 4 p.m. In keeping with this year’s theme

of Hillsides and Hideaways, the 2004 Historic EchoPark Home Tour will feature a variety of homes, fromearly examples of the Spanish Colonial, Craftsman,and transitional styles of architecture that dot therolling hills and steep bluffs of Echo Park.

The tour serves as the Historical Society’s majorfundraiser for the year, an event thataims to promote our neighborhood’spast and encourage preservation andrestoration initiatives.

Some of the homes retain theiroriginal character, while others havebeen restored in a variety of ways. Ina year that has not been kind topreservation, this is of specialsignificance in our continuing effortsto protect our neighborhood’s naturalspaces and architectural past.

This is your chance to look up-close and personal at

what some of your neighbors have done to preserveand restore their homes.

Tickets will be $12 in advance, or $15 on the day of

the event. EPHS needs volunteers, researchers,docents and ticket sellers.

Local businesses will also be able to purchaseadvertisements in the home tour program.

Last year, the first-ever Historic Echo Park HomeTour attracted about 350 people from across

Southern California. The tour goersincluded Huell Howser, the host ofKCET's popular "California's Gold"program, and his crew. The programfeaturing the home tour has beenbroadcast several times. Video tapecopies of the program are availablefor sale through KCET.

The Echo Park Historical Societywants to express its thanks to themore than 90 volunteers in additionto home owners who opened their

houses to the public.

Get Ready for Historical Society's November Home Tour





August 2004

ECHO PARK CALENDAR

Event Date Location Comments

EPIA Meetings 1st Thursday, 7:00 p.m. Sept 2, Oct 7

Williams Hall at BarlowHospital, 2000 StadiumWay in Elysian Park

Call EPIA message phonefor additional information

EPIA SteeringCommittee

Meetings

Sunday, Aug 15, 10:00 a.m. Monday, Sept. 20, 7:15 p.m.

August – call (323) 882-4835 for location

September -Taix

French Restaurant

Take an active part in EPIA.Join the Steering Committee

Chamber of

Commerce General Meeting

Echo Park C of C informa-

tion/message 213-630-3032

Citizens Commit-tee to Save Ely-sian Park Mtg.

1st Wednesday,7:30p.m., Sept 1, Oct. 6, Nov. 3

Williams Hall at BarlowHospital, 2000 StadiumWay in Elysian Park

Call 213-666-9651 for meeting location

Greater EchoPark ElysianNeighborhoodCouncil Meeting

4th Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Aug 24, Sept 28, Oct 26

Logan Street SchoolAuditorium, 1711 W.Logan Street

Call (213) 413-3196 for infoor visit www.GEPENC.org

Deadline for Au-gust

EPIAn waysNewsletter

Friday, Sept 24 Send submissions to EPIA,Attn: EPIAn Ways Editor

SPECIAL EVENTS

ECHO PARKDODGERNIGHT

Friday, September 10Night Game, FireworksSt. Louis.

GO DODGERS! Special Seating$17 section for $10

Call Echo Park Chamber of Commerce information/message line 213-630-3032for tix. Leave Name & Num-ber

UPCOMING EPIA TOWN HALL MEETINGS Belmont! ● Our Two Libraries y ● L.A. City Wildlife

The EPIAn ways is sad to see the epark2park LAwebsite cease publishing. We salute webmaster Kurt Rademaekers for an original effort to give acyber-voice to our communities. His continuedreporting of the goings-on and resources in thisarea of LA were greatly appreciated. THX: Kurt.



August



August 2004

September

Library Computer Classes9 & 23; Thu. Computer Comfort Learn to use theLibrary’s electronic catalog to search for materials, renewitems, and place your own holds. Learn the basics of surfing the internet. Introduction to various databases andsearch engines. Bring your library card. Adults only.Familiarity with the keyboard and mouse is recommendedbut not mandatory. Call 213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch,4pm.13 Mon. Introduction to Basic Web Design Learnabout HTML codes to create a simple web page.Computer experience is mandatory. Call 213/250-7808.Echo Park Branch, 6pm.

Events27 Mon. Tarot Reading Program Come andreceive short mini-tarot readings. Sign-ups arerequired. Adults only. Call 213/250-7808. EchoPark Branch, 6pm.

Fun for Kids Daily Grandparents and Books For days andtime call 213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch.

October

Library Computer Classes7 & 21;Thu. Computer Comfort Learn to use theLibrary’s electronic catalog to search for materials, renew

items, and place your own holds. Learn the basics of surfing the internet. Introduction to various databases andsearch engines. Bring your library card. Adults only.Familiarity with the keyboard and mouse is recommendedbut not mandatory. Call 213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch,4pm.18 & 25; Mon. Introduction to Basic Web Design Learnabout HTML codes to create a simple web page.

Computer experience is mandatory. Call 213/250-7808.

Echo Park Branch, 6pm.Events

23 Sat. Tarot Reading Program Come andreceive short mini-tarot readings. Sign-ups arerequired. Adults only. Call 213/250-7808. EchoPark Branch, 3pm.

Fun for KidsDaily Grandparents and Books For days and time call

213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch.30 Sat. Halloween Storytime Need something to chillyour bones? Come hear creepy Halloween stories. Call213/250-7808. Echo Park Branch, 3pm.

LIBRARY H APPENINGS

Library Hours

Mondays 10:00 am - 8:00 pmTuesdays 12:00 pm - 8:00 pmWednesdays 10:00 am - 8:00 pmThursdays 12:00 pm - 8:00 pmFridays 10:00 am - 6:00 pmSaturdays 10:00 am - 6:00 pmSundays CLOSED

Library Address

1410 W. Temple Street

Los Angeles CA 90026Phone 213.250.7808

FAX 213.250.3744

World Wide Web Address

http://www.lapl.org24 Hour Renewal: 888-577-LAPL

Come out to Vote or Run for anoffice yourself! Anyone who lives,works or is an Echo Park stakeholder,member of a community Organization(Church, Community Group, School,etc.). Stakeholders must be 16 yearsor older and be committed to improv-ing their Echo Park Community! Theelection is set for Saturday October 23rd from 10AM until 3PM.

A Candidates Forum will be heldone week before on Saturday October 16th from 11 AM until 12 Noon. Boththe Candidates forum and the GEP-ENC Election will take place at LoganSt. Elementary School - 1711 Mon-tana Ave. in the Auditorium.

If you would like to run for a Boardposition or simply have questionsabout our Neighborhood Council,

please call (213) 413-0372 (English)or (213) 487-9804 (Espanol) or writeto The Greater Echo Park ElysianNeighborhood Council at P.O. Box26514, LA 90026.

Greater Echo Park Elysian NC to Hold Elections October 23



August

Central City Action Committee has been busy,

busy, and busy. In June the off-track kids (thosewho go to year round school) had 4 rummage sales.The sales managed to finance a two day campingtrip at Bonilli Park. Paul, Sam, Maryanne and Ivanwent along with the kids. This trip proved to be oneof our better sites for camping. There was aswimming pool, lake with boat rentals and grassyareas for campsites. Some of the kids hiked allaround the park while others stayed in the pool orat the lake. The even had enough money to rentbicycles one afternoon. Everyone came backrefreshed. They all insisted that I would like thiscampsite. I still insist that there be a motel for me.

At the end of June we changed tracks. We nowhave 15 kids off-track. So far, they have had severalrummage sales. They went bowling, to a Dodgergame and plan to go to six Flags in a few weeks.

The Lotus festival is an annual affair forus. I enlisted the help of our veteran leimakers, Angelica, Itzell and Natalie to helpme organize the downstairs and transform itinto a flower shop. Thanks to Julie, from TAIXrestaurant and her friend for helping us onFriday to assemble the hakus. Also thanks toAngelica Bejar for her assistance and

guidance when I knocked down all the leis.After the booth was put back together, all ofus creatively worked together to make leisand Hakus. Everyone at the center was bothleery and excited this year as our booth wason the Glendale side of the park. We wereexactly in front of the shuttle bus stop soeveryone who got off the shuttle wasimmediately at our booth, how convenient!The cool breeze just flowed through ourbooth. It was one of our most comfortableand profitable Lotus Festivals. A specialthanks to King Kukulelee (hope I spelled your

name correctly). He came by on Sunday andserenaded us with Hawaiian songs. Maryannewas dancing and singing right along with him.All our kids thought he was terrific. Check thepicture, as you can see everyone was“hamming” it up.

Now the Festival is over and our next big

production will be an event with LA Bridges. We willbe cooking, playing games, have a jumper, sackraces, egg toss and guessing beans in jar (with or

without chili). David is planning on taking severalkids to the Hollywood Bowl. Staff at CCAC likes toexpose our kids to many different venues.

We are planning a rummage sales on July 27and 29, August 2 and 4. If you have any unwanteditems, drop them off at the fire station or give us acall and we can come and get the items from you.

Central City Action by Gloria

King Kalukalelle joins Maryanne Hayasi and Central City’sskilled Haku and lei makers in front of Lotus Festival booth



August 2004

The famous lotus beds of Echo Park Lake first ap-peared in photographs of the lake starting in the

1920’s. However, there is apparently no recorded his-tory of how the lotus came toEcho Park. Thus the origin of oneof the main attractions of the parkremains a mystery. The only the-ory I came across surmises that amissionary from the nearby Ange-lus Temple brought seeds backfrom China and threw them intothe lake.

There are many varieties oflotus, a member of the genusNulembo, found around the world.

The pink blossomed specimenswe see in our lake are native to Asia. The seeds of thelotus remain fertile for hundreds of years. This meansthat the original seeds could have been brought toCalifornia from Asia long before they were actuallyplanted.

This exceptionally beautiful water plant has beenconsidered sacred by numerous cultures throughout

world history. The flower opens in the morning andcloses up again at night. This cyclereminded ancient Egyptians of thecycle of the sun. The sun worshippingEgyptians considered the lotus asymbol of the divine and its image isoften seen in their artwork. In Chinathe lotus was honored as a symbol ofsummer as well as purity and fertil-ity. The lotus is also sacred in theHindu religion where it is a symbol ofre-birth.

All parts of most varieties of lotus

are also edible. The seeds can betoasted, the leaves or petals eaten in a salad, and theroots can be eaten raw but are most popular whenpickled. But please, don’t eat them from the EchoPark Lake, these are better left for our visual enjoy-ment.

by Lora Hall

SERVICE

ENTHUSIASM

EYE FOR DESIGN

RESULTS



August

On July 21st, 2004 during the Dodger game half-time, Echo Park's own Team L.A Shadow was honoredby all present. Team L.A. Shadow participated in the

Dodger 5k race where team members Sandra Pradoand Belmont alumni Reymundo Castillo took firstplace overall in the female and male divisions,respectively. Coaches Miguel and Jeni Zambranocouldn't have been happier. They are seeing first-handthe fruits of their labor with all the training. OK! Don'tforget they are holding fundraisers to buy runningshoes and uniforms. If anyone out there can help, callJeni at the local Echo Park library, (213) 250-7808ask for Jeni she's the children’s librarian.

What fun the Lotus Festival was this year. I reallyliked the new set up for the booths and hope theycontinue the new arrangement. Yours truly was

invited to lead a Spanish language bus tour of EchoPark. It was so funny when we came to an incline andencountered a stalled car. All the men, including thedriver, who just put on the parking brake, left the vanto push the car out of the way. All the ladies in thevan started screaming in Spanish "aqui nos muremosel coche se va a dar para tras asta ya abajo". Sorry I

have a funny sense of humor: seeing the ladies facialexpressions made me laugh. We all cheered the guyswhen they came back to the van and we continued on

our tour.Welcome to new EPIA member Gloria Soto. Gloria,who is bi-lingual, assisted at some long shifts at ourfestival table. The EPIA booth was a hub ofinformation about many groups in Echo Park. Gloriaand all the volunteers provided answers to dozens ofquestions about our community.

Registration is now open for Arts and Craftsclasses on Wednesdays from 3pm to 4pm via theEcho Park Youth Empowerment Council. It's a 6 weekprogram; there is no fee. The class is open for up to 6kids ages 7-12. Call me at (323) 662-2081 for moreinfo.

For the record we at Echo Park YouthEmpowerment would like to thank Mr. Mike Leum forall his years of service to the community of EchoPark, he was a true friend to the E.P.Y.E.C and will bemissed my many.

Well till we write again this is your Echo Park lovingfriend, signing off. Abrazos y besos

by Luiza Padilla-Mavropoules

SaturdaySpecialTypicalHaitian

Food

Mon — Sat

11 am — 7 pmSundays — Group of 10or more byReservation Wood Burning Rotisserie

309 N. Glendale BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90026

www.tigeorgeschicken.comEmail: [email protected]

MICHAEL BECKLERPAPERHANGING

650 MALTMAN (323) 644-1922LA 90029 INSURED

Book Store for Sale

C&M Book Shop 2388 Glendale Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90039

323-913-9677

(Please call for information)



August 2004

THE ECHO PARK BUILDING BOOM shows nosigns of slowing down, with new projects appearingon the drawing board every month. The latestproposal comes from a developer who wants to build52 units in the 1400 block of Temple Street, oppositethe Echo Park Public Library.

The neighborhood council has already heardfrom another firm seeking to build more than 60units on Temple Street near Rosemont ElementarySchool, while other companies have proposed orbegun building dozens of units on Sunset Boulevard,Echo Park Avenue and Alvarado Street.

SPEAKING OF ROSEMONT, the school will bethe location of a community meeting on Friday,August 6 at 7 p.m., where officials from the LosAngeles Unified School District will talk about theirplans for mowing down a square block of homes andbusinesses to build a new elementary school.

One proposal for the new school would be a placeon Alvarado Street, just north of the 101 Freeway,according to Bennett Kayser, acting president of theGreater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council.

On a vaguely related note, Bennett showed someof his athletic prowess last month, climbing over afence at Logan Elementary School after the new

principal forgot to unlock a room for theneighborhood council’s regular monthly meeting. Itlooked for a moment like the council would have tomeet in the parking garage, but a custodian avertedthe crisis.

PROMISES BROKEN: In 1997, the city’s CulturalAffairs Department relighted the Jensen’s RecreationCenter rooftop sign on Sunset Boulevard, thewhimsical pre-neon sign that featured a man in agreen shirt bowling a strike. When the sign came on,the department promised it would pay for repairs for10 years.

Surprise! The city reneged on that promise last

month, killing the sign program three years beforethe grant was supposed to run out. Cultural Affairsblamed the decision on the City Council and themayor, which made deep budget cuts to thedepartment this year.

SHOPPERS IN ECHO PARK HAVE BEENGNASHING their teeth for weeks over the impendingclosure of Pioneer Market, voicing theirdissatisfaction with the decision to lease out thespace to Walgreen’s. But another longtime businesson Sunset Boulevard has been undergoing its ownquiet transformation. Carmelo’s, the Cuban bakerythat has been in various hands over the past decade,has being remodeled and reworked, and will likelyreopen under a new name, Masa.

The neighborhood’s housing market appears to

be cooling off a bit, with some housing sitting a littlelonger on the market than they used to. But thathasn’t stopped homeowners on Park Drive fromlisting what may be Echo Park’s first million-dollarlisting. With a sweeping view on the west and ElysianPark on the east, the house is advertised for $1.1million.

ECHO PARK MAY BE SEEING double in the nearfuture, unless someone has a serious talk with thecity’s Department of Recreation and Parks. As they

made their way through this year’s Lotus Festival,park planners said they want to build a new bridge tothe island at Echo Park Lake, then build a second one

extending to the other side. Such a project wouldforever change the iconic quality of the Echo Parkbridge, which has been a lasting image for ourneighborhood for more than a century.

Opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the writers

and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Echo Park

Improvement Association

LOTUS PAD NOTES NEWS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM ECHO PARK & ANGELINO HEIGHTS by E.P. Lagoso

Documents

EPIAn Ways August 2004