Sunday, July 4
1-4 p.m.
2425 Gramercy Park (one block north of Adams Boulevard at Gramercy Place)
POTLUCK
Bring the kids, and wear your summer whites or patriotic attire at WAHA's annual 4th of
July picnic.
WAHA's 4th of July is kid-and-family oriented, with historic preservation and plain
old-fashioned neighborliness thrown in.
Owners Karen and Robert Carrere are hosting WAHA's annual event celebrating America's
birthday in their fab Gramercy Park gardens, which sprawl across two lush green
parcels.
Live music, courtesy singer/actor Matt Braaten, who will entertain us. Braaten performs
as half of the singing duo Blue Sky Divide (though he will be performing solo for WAHA),
and he'll be releasing his first solo CD later this year.
Pool time from 1-2 p.m. (only) is also on the schedule, along with the presentation of
awards (at circa 2:45 p.m.)
Extra this year: Broadway Brian Pollock presents "Gravinipulation" -- a dazzling
Vaudeville show for kids and grown-ups alike, featuring juggling, balancing and a little
bit of magic.
As always, Wa-hot dogs will be on the grill, cold drinks are on the house, and the potluck theme is summertime picnic -- please bring salads, main dishes, desserts, or fruits (enough for at least 10 people, please! And, let's avoid food that will melt on a summer day) to share. For planning purposes, please RSVP to
if you already know what you are bringing to the potluck. Thank you.
2). AN ABUNDANCE OF KOI – STOCK YOUR OWN POND FOR FREE
Saturday, July 3
1421 Oxford (Harvard Heights – enter from the driveway on 15th Street)
WAHA member Steve Moyer has three ponds full Koi and Goldfish, and they need new homes.
FREE. Bring your own container(s) – nets will be provided on site. Questions? Call
Kathleen at (323) 559-8949.
3). WELLINGTON SQUARE FARMERS MARKET OPEN ON THE 4TH
Sunday, July 4
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Wellington Square Certified Farmers Market will be open for July 4th. (It is open
every Sunday of the year.) This week, the market is welcoming a French Crepe booth and a
new certified organic farmer, Menos farms, who sells an assortment of vegetables including
tomatoes. Stone fruit is at the peak of the season – look for cherries, nectarines
and peaches. Dinosaur pluots, greenish purplish dinosaur egg-looking fruit that are
orange and red on the inside, taste somewhere between an apricot and a plum. Tomatoes are
spectacular right now, and last week there were little grape-sized tomatoes in yellow and
red, and luscious beefsteak tomatoes. Strawberries and blueberries are still available.
There are so many wonderful vegetables to put on the grill, including round zucchini, long
Japanese eggplants, fresh corn, and sweet onions. The Wellington Square Farmers Market's
farmers never use pesticides and the produce is picked within a day of the market. The
melons are never tugged off the vine, they are truly vine ripened and then brought to the
market full of flavor. Come check out the market on the morning of July 4th, and pick out
your perfect potluck ingredients for WAHA's picnic in the afternoon.
4). HISTORIC/CHARACTER HOUSE SLATED FOR DEMO – CAN YOU GIVE IT A NEW HOME?
John Paulsen has asked us to forward the following message: "The Unitarian Church is about to demolish a three-story Craftsman house and its backhouse on W. 8th St. soon. It's all boarded-up and ready to be razed. Maybe somebody in WAHA has a vacant lot that the house could be moved to. The house is at 2916-18 West 8th St., two properties to the east of the Unitarian Church. The church has already demolished the house right next to the church. I think the house would fit on a 50' wide by 150' deep lot. This house is going to be gone very soon maybe after the 4th." Please contact him for more information,
.
5). THEIR RIGHTS AND NOTHING LESS: THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN
AMERICA
On view weekends through September 26
Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St. (Highland Park)
Women of the 19th century fought to obtain the right to vote, a struggle which finally
culminated in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Featuring memorabilia of the early women's rights movement, this exhibit examines the
activities, ideologies, obstacles, and triumphs of the Suffragettes and focuses on some of
the some of the lesser-known but key women in Los Angeles who helped to change the
political landscape. The ephemera, artifacts, and arguments of that social revolution
reveal profound parallels to modern social and political philosophies and help us
understand and appreciate our own role in the civic process.
Heritage Square Museum is presenting this exhibit to honor women of achievement and their struggle for the ballot. The exhibit includes original, rarely seen ephemera and artifacts from the early years of the suffrage movement. The exhibit is on view until September 26, open weekends from noon until 4:30. Entrance to the exhibit is included in the museum admission fee of $10 for adults. Heritage Square Museum is located in Highland Park, off the Avenue 43 exit of the 110 Pasadena Freeway. For more information, visit www.heritagesquare.org.
6). STEPPING OUT WITH WAHA: THE LIFE OF DINAH WASHINGTON, AND SINGER SYDNEY WEISMAN
INAUGERATE NEW SERIES IN JULY
Saturday evening, July 17 (Dinah Washington)
Thursday evening, July 29 (Sydney Weisman)
WAHA is beginning a series of low stress, no volunteering, much fun events for WAHA
members and friends. All you need to do is show up (and pay for your own ticket, if
required). It's called "Stepping Out with WAHA."
For WAHA's first event, folks are stepping out to the Vintage Hollywood, 4000 West
Washington (at 10th Avenue), for a night in the Life of Dinah Washington (performed by
Bobbie Lee Anderson), on Saturday, July 17. Tickets are $25 –– Call for your own
reservations, 323-216-7528. The box office (and bar) opens at 6:30 p.m. and the show
starts at 8 p.m. (If you didn't join WAHA for the Preservation Beat event in May, you'll
see how special a venue Vintage Hollywood is).
Please remember, you are on your own to make your reservation; WAHA friends and
neighbors will meet up at the venue.
Then, on July 29 at 7 p.m., WAHA member Sydney Weisman will be performing with The
Chicago Trio at Thursday Night Jazz at Farmer's Market, Third and Fairfax. Just join
fellow West Adams neighbors and friends on the West Patio for an evening of fun and great
music. If you have not heard Sydney sing, you are in for a treat. A marvelous selection of
fine food and great beers and wine will be available for purchase. Hope to see you
there.
7). "THIS OLD HOUSE" SEEKS LOS ANGELES (WEST ADAMS) PROJECT SUBMISSIONS
Deadline: July 15
The Emmy-winning television series "This Old House" is looking for a historic home to
renovate in Los Angeles County. The TV crew is hoping to find a family with a classic old
house in need of help, with plenty of things to save and update. However, the project's
scope must be "just right" – not a whole house, but more than just a kitchen. The
renovation must be able to be completed in about five or six months, with construction
potentially beginning as early as August 2010 and finishing by January 2011. The ideal
project should already be underway with architectural plans and/or have the ability to be
"fast-tracked" to the building phase.
The selected project will be featured on multiple "This Old House" episodes airing on
PBS in early 2011. The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2010.
Please note that the renovations are completely funded by the homeowners and not by
"This Old House," though the show coordinates product discounts and donations where
possible. All donated items are considered gifts, on which the homeowners pay taxes.
To be considered, submit the following: >> Brief description of the renovation project – be sure to also include
house style, location and year built
>> Low-res digital pictures of the home's interior and exterior
>> Brief description of the current owners
>> Low-res digital pictures of the homeowners
>> How much you plan to spend
>> When you need to start and conclude the project
Please e-mail proposals to
or submit them via regular mail to: This Old House Project Proposals, P.O. Box 130, Concord, Massachusetts 01742.
8). SUBMIT YOUR NEWS
We welcome your contributions to the WAHA E-News and West Adams Heritage Association's
monthly publication, "West Adams Matters." Please understand that we do have deadlines.
Material for the print newsletter should be submitted no later than the 1st of the prior
month (i.e.: April 1 for the May issue). If your event is scheduled for early in a month,
we suggest you request coverage for the prior month (i.e.: May issue for a June 3 event),
because it's entirely possible that not all of our members will have received their
newsletter by then (we do try hard.) We reserve the right to edit submitted material. For
the WAHA E-News, we prefer to only send it out once or twice a month. Please don't wait
until two days before an event to let us know about it. It may not be sent out.
EXCEPTION: If you suddenly hear of an important city hearing or other public meeting
that is important to West Adams, we will endeavor to send out a special bulletin.
