BOOMER by Tim Engel (smallest ebook reader txt) 📕

the G.I. Bill of Rights, which let buyers put little or no money down and pay for their mortgages with low-interest 30-year loans.”
I recall lots of kids in the area about our same age. Tom had several friends on the street. I had my friend Gerry Greenwald lived right across the street from us. He and I were the same age. He had a dog named Cissy and a chicken. Each year at Easter they would dye the chicken with food dye. It was really cool. And Cissy was a sort of terrier who was a lot of fun. Cissy would hold on to this plastic steak while we twirled around in circles – cissy’s legs splayed out in mid air. I don’t think we thought a lot of what might happen to Cissy if she were to go flying off the steak or if we were to accidentally let go of the steak. Gerry’s Mom and Dad were great and would help to take care of me – sometimes we would ride to school together or go for walks around the block.
“As the unincorporated Lakewood grew from a small village in 1950 to a community of more than 70,000 residents in less than three years, so grew its municipal needs. Lakewood thus had three choices: become annexed to nearby Long Beach, remain unincorporated and continue to receive county services, or incorporate as a city. In 1954, residents chose the latter option and voted to incorporate as a city, the largest community in the country ever to do so and the first city in Los Angeles County to incorporate since 1939. However, the incorporation had a twist: while the new City Council would set policy and budgets at the local level, members would continue to contract with Los Angeles County to receive a wide range of county services such as road repair, water and sewer services, and fire protection. This novel arrangement-which let the city retain local control of its government while tapping efficiently into existing services-was spelled out in a document called the Lakewood Plan, that was adopted and modified by many other communities in California and the United States that wanted to incorporate as well.”
1954 – that was the year I was born. And Lakewood voted to incorporate as a city. Growing up I never remember hearing about beet fields or that the city sprang up nearly over night. But I do remember later my Step-Dad Virgil saying he was concerned about Lakewood; since the city had been built over night, it might just fall into urban / suburban decay just as quickly. A drive through Lakewood today will alleviate his fears and I’m thankful that Pop as we called him never saw this happen. Lakewood is still good old solid middle America as far as I’m concerned.
Mom and Dad put little or no money down (I think). Well, regardless – they paid about $9,000 for the home in 1951. Now days $9,000 might buy you a decent motorcycle, or a good used Honda Civic.
“ Today Lakewood-with 26,000 housing units, most of them single-family detached homes-remains known for its community services and quality of life as a bedroom community. The community is studied by historians and city planners because of its distinction as a ground-breaking type of suburb and because of the Lakewood Plan's visionary combination of local and county services. Among other things, Lakewood introduced a number of innovations into suburban development-such as assembly-line house construction-and is often compared to Levittown, New York.”
Our home may have been built on an assembly line, but it’s still standing (see pic in beginning of story). You’ll notice a couple of things in the picture - a large picture window and wrought iron. My Dad and his Dad Steven worked together and took out the multi-paned windows in the front of the house and replaced them with a large picture window. They also installed wrought iron on the porch. I’m amazed that the wrought iron looks just like it did when they installed it nearly 50 years ago.
They made some other modifications. They split the inside of the garage and left a space to park one car. In the other half of the garage, they built a beautiful den. Now – I’m not sure about how to describe the den. It had blonde furniture along with a nice, red leather couch. The walls were covered with light colored paneling – possibly birch. The walls were covered with Dad’s collectibles. Guns, knives, swords, tomahawks, rifles, spears and the like. There were nice display cabinets where Dad had other items like Indian beads, moccasins, bonnets, trains, model airplane engines and more…Dad liked to collect things and had lots of hobbies.
In a letter written in 1954, the Lakewood Speakers Bureau talked about looking into a crystal ball. “Have you taken the time to drive around our community of Lakewood?” “Have you taken the time to evaluate the facilities that are here?” “Have you taken the interest to look at a map and see what the future holds for your children and mine? If you have done these things then you are a good Lakewoodite. Then you have evaluated the beautiful propescts for us all as citizens of a modern community.” The crystal ball letter was written to help build momentum for Lakewood as an independent city. There was a push for annexation to Long Beach.
I suppose I was a good Lakewoodite. I noticed that it was only 1 block to walk to school – or to ride my bike. I would sometimes stop to pick up my buddy Erick Parkridge. He played the violin. One time I asked him how much it cost. He replied “it’s priceless.” Huh? I answered. How could a ‘thing’ be priceless? I would have to become a bit older to understand. I figured his violin must be worth oh, maybe $100. Tops. But I digress. We’re off to school and it’s a block away. James Whitcomb Riley Elementary school was a 5 minute walk. And right across the street was another wonderful amenity; Simon Bolivar Park. At Bolivar park was a beautiful, big pool, BBQ’s, large permanent shelters where people could huddle and have picnics, parties, quincineras; you name it. Riley Elementary school was I think built after a model. The model was put your classrooms in the middle along with offices and a cafeteria; or cafetorium. Add a teachers lounge. Surround this with only blacktop. Because, after all, grass took maintenance and care. Or perhaps it was a cost savings.
Add sprinkles of equipment like the ‘jungle gym’, merry go round, sand box, monkey bars, and some swings. Include some markings for kick ball, dodge ball and the like. You must have an incinerator to burn the trash. Now surround everything with a chain link fence and you’ve pretty much got the picture. I really liked my school. A few years previous I won an award for building a creative structure in the sand box (Kidergarten). What was this structure you ask? A bear cave! Of course!
Now – my Kindergarten teacher was amazing. She was elegant, beautiful, well-dressed and fixed her hair in a French roll. Mrs French wore formal white blouses and 2 piece skirts. I was only 5 years old, but Mrs French made my heart go pitter pat. I was especially eager to go to school and get to see my teacher. I suppose I had a crush on her. I wasn’t so excited about leaving Mom. We had been inseparable. At the time she didn’t work and of course, I didn’t go to pre-school. So we had a lot of time together. But when I met Mrs French, I was quite taken.
She was probably the reason I started wearing my black, wool suit with mactching hat with feather to school. You heard right – Kindergarten, black suit, playing in the sand box. Oh, and one day I went home with a note from teacher in my pocket. I had no clue what the note was about. Perhaps it was in praise of my master crafted bear’s den in the sand box competition. Or maybe it was the way I in praise of my helping to get the cots ready for nap time. So that night after dinner, my Mother opened the note and read to me – “Dear Mrs Engel. I am writing this note to you in the hopes that you will address a little problem we are having with Timothy.
On those days when he wears his suit, he refuses to remove his hat when he comes into class. We would appreciate it if you could talk with him and help him to understand that it is customary to remove one’s hat when entering a building.”
My heart was broken! Evidently, Mrs French was not in total awe of my cool chapeau. So that was then end of wearing my ‘complete’ suit – with all of the accessories! It was a sad moment. A moment of discovery. The sun would come up tomorrow; but somehow it would not be quite as bright! Of course I should try to remember that JFK helped to phase out the wearing of the hat by men. Perhaps it was the big, thick, reddish shock of hair that made it happen. If he had been bald, that cultural standby might not have gone by the wayside.
More recently Lakewood won a prestigious award – Playful City USA! ‘This award coming from a group in WASH, DC promoting children’s recreation and creating new safe places for kids to play. Part of the reason they got the award was for maintining and upgrading their parks. Included in the list is Simon Bolivar Park! That was our little park! I am glad that Pop didn’t need to worry about Lakewood going downhill all at once due to it’s being built ‘overnight’. With City leaders focusing on continuous improvement, Lakewood should continue to be a shining beacon on the hill.
Since the city was founded in 1954, it has been dedicated in providing good recreation facilities for kids. The award was given by Ka-boom – a non-profit organization. Darrell Hammond reminds cities that play and recreation for kids is not a luxury but a necessity!
On the city’s 50th anniversary and Sports Illustrated’s 50th anniversary, the famous magazine named Lakewood California’s “Sports Town”. When Lakewood was being planned, they had the foresight to leave plenty of room for parks and schools. The city has grown much in the 5 decades – with population now near 80,000. But recreation continues to be a focus. Parks and other facilities were a priority by City Management and Lakewoodites enjoy these places for fun in the outdoors. More than 13,000 take part in Lakewood sports programs each year. In addition, approximately 325 volunteers keep these programs going by working in various capacities including coaching.
The National Arbor Day Foundation also designated Lakewood as Tree City USA. Lakewood received this award for 26 years for its’ commitment to community forestry. "Lakewood is proud of receiving this honor and is