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The Buzz this Month!

It's now July and welcome to the ninth edition of the Torrance Centennial eNewsletter!  The Centennial celebration has been going very well and so many events and activities have shown what a great community we have.  June started with and excellent look back with the  Riviera Historic Homes Tour,what a wonderful slice of time it was to see so many well preserved homes.  The City did a great job and in sharing the City Yard Open House and Car Show, Disaster Preparedness Expo and Environmental Fair. 

Speaking of looking back, have you had a chance to enter the weekly  Where's Jared Photo Location Contest?  Each Monday, by 9 a.m. a new photo will be posted.  All you will need to do is figure out where the picture was taken, and then sends an email to Centennial@TorranceCA.Gov 

with your best guess.  We will accept responses until Sunday, at 5 p.m.  Winner(s) will be notified via email no later than Monday at noon.  For contest rules, click here.  Prizes include your choice of a Centennial T-Shirt, a Women's Visor, or (2) Tote Bags. There's still time to enter this week! 

This month we draw your attention to the 6th annual 1950's style family summer event,  

Leadership Torrance

2012, a program of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce will host a recognition and exhibition of the Torrance Centennial Photo Contest - Our Torrance Photos: A Family Album at the Toyota USA Automobile Museum on July 22.  The photos will also be on display the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library in November.   The contest purpose is to collect and create a rich repository of images to capture the history of Torrance.   For more information go to www.OurTorrancePhotos.com,

And you know I have to remind you, we've Centennial programs on-demand produced by our very own CitiCABLE. 

  June features:  Torrance Benefits from The New 

Deal (25 Years/25 Weeks), Torrance Flower & Tree, History of Hollywood Riviera, JST Award Recipient Look back Stanley Remelmeyer, Centennial Plaza Groundbreaking, The All-America City,  and much more!  See the debut of each new program on Thursday's at 7 p.m.  You can also go to TorranceCentennial.Org/ or TorranceCA.Gov/CableTV/23738.htm.  

Donna Duperron

Editor-in-Chief

LOOKING BACK

Torrance Area Youth Band Members to

Participate in Centennial Hometown Parade on September 16th

Patti (Arnett) Fielding played bass clarinet in the Torrance Area Youth Band in the 1970's.  She enthusiastically recalls so many fond memories that she is planning a reunion of former Torrance Area Youth Band members to participate in this September's Centennial Hometown Parade.  Patti lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho and is corresponding with alumni through Facebook.  The Facebook page has over 200 alumni and in excess of five hundred photographs.

"The Torrance Area Youth Band performed almost weekly.  We had gigs on the Fourth of July; we played in San Francisco, Colorado, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Diego, Fresno, Canada, and Hawaii. We performed annually at places like Lompoc, the Pomona Fair and Disneyland. Many of our trips were sponsored by service groups like Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions", explained Fielding.  "It was simply an amazing experience.  The parent organization was phenomenal.  They were so supportive and found a way for us to compete in so many wonderful places."

The Torrance Area Youth Band began in 1946 under the direction of Jim VanDyke.  With a growth in popularity, two divisions were created; a senior band and a junior band.  Band directors from 1946 through the mid-1990 have included Jim Davidson, Norman Bailey, Ronald Large, Alex DeLao, Jeff Plum, Carlos Anwandter, Coby Martinez, and Rocky Robles.

The Torrance Area Youth Band, extremely popular in the 1960's and the 1970's, practiced one night a week and on Saturday mornings at Sea Aire.  The band was made up of students who lived in Torrance and surrounding cities.

"Many former members are professional musicians now or are band directors.  I have received confirmation from 30 Torrance Area Youth Band members, to date, that they will march in the Centennial Hometown Parade.  We are planning an enjoyable weekend with a spaghetti dinner and a movie night, golf outing and a picnic," explained Patti.

Information about the Torrance Area Youth Band marching in this September's Centennial Hometown Parade can be obtained from Patti Fielding at Patti-Lou@TAYB.Org

"The Torrance Centennial Committee is encouraging non-profit, youth, school, church, neighborhood and service groups to participate in the parade.  Groups small or large can sign up by going to the home page of  TorranceCentennial.Org, download the parade application and send it in," stated Dee Hardison, co-chair Torrance Centennial committee.

HISTORICAL MINUTE

First page of minutes from the Torrance City Council Meeting held on May 21, 1921 Click to enlarge

Think current city issues are new?  Think again.  

History is often simply revisiting issues with fresh eyes.  Some of the issues taken up by city councils may not come around again (i.e. removing the dairies - 1958) but many do.  And we have learned to never say "never" for we often find the need to research the old records for the "why" decisions made years ago.

The City Clerk's office is pleased to offer the public a look at Torrance history through its City Council minutes from 1921 through 1951.  

A new Torrance History page can be found at the City Clerk website www.TorranceCA.Gov/114.htm with the historical minutes - a look at the history of Torrance government.   The first few years are just a beginning; more will be added as time permits.    

The minutes offer the reader an opportunity to compare and contrast the issues being considered by the City Council to the stories printed in the "Torrance Press" and the "Torrance Herald".  Follow the links to the Historical Newspaper Archives at  www.TorranceCA.Gov/LibraryArchive/.