About Town - Hermosa Beach

Education lovers

A shoe worn by Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O'Neal will be among the items auctioned as the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation hosts its fourth annual Valentine's Dinner Dance and Auction on Saturday, Feb. 12 at Pointe 705, located at 705 Pier Ave.

The public schools' largest fund-raiser of the year will feature a live and silent auction, gourmet dinner, music and dancing. Last year's event was a sellout and raised more than $60,000 for the schools.

Other items to be auctioned this year include a one-week trip to Aspen, Colo., a ride aboard the Goodyear Blimp, and tickets to a Staples Center luxury suite.

The Education Foundation currently provides the salary for a science teacher for fourth and fifth grades, a fine arts teacher for middle school grades, computer hardware and software for the libraries at Hermosa Valley and Hermosa View schools, and technology staff development for grades K-8.

Tickets for the big fund-raiser are $100 and are available at public school offices or by calling 372-1785 or 374-0193.

Clearing the air?

Hermosa councilman Sam Edgerton last week said that an aviation official did promise to halt certain late-night jetliner flights over the city, but did not promise that those flights would be grounded at LAX until a change in the wind allows another route.

Edgerton said last week that he was not told how the flights would be halted, just that they would be halted.

Edgerton refused to name the aviation official who made the promise, saying he did not want to jeopardize his work with the official by prompting others to contact him.

The flights in question have occurred when wind conditions force some of the heaviest westbound jetliners to take off to the east, then loop back over Hermosa, Federal Aviation Administration officials said.

Making history

The Hermosa Beach Historical Society is offering $100 and a year's free membership to the winner of a contest to design a Historical Society logo.

Participants are encouraged to visit the society's museum at the Hermosa Beach Community Center, Pier Avenue and PCH, to develop logo ideas from artifacts and memorabilia on display. The museum is open 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. weekends.

Clearly readable logo images four to six inches tall may be submitted on eight and-a-half by eleven inch white paper, no matte. Entrants are asked to place their name, phone number and address on the paper's backside. Students should list school affiliation.

Entries may be mailed or delivered to Hermosa Beach Historical Society, 710 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach CA 90254. Deadline is 3 p.m. Sunday, March 12.

For more information call John Hales at 372-1510.

Helping the youth

Craig Casner of the South Bay's Casner Construction Co. last week gave $35,000 to the local Kiwanis for the organization's youth programs.

The Kiwanis help to fund a wide range of programs such as those offered by local schools and youth sports organizations, said Kiwanis board member Dallas Yost.

Sand and Strand

Registration forms are available at the beach cities' libraries and city halls for the popular 48th annual Sand and Strand Run, Sunday, Feb. 13 in Hermosa.

Advance registration fees, in the form of checks made payable to HBSS-Project Touch, are $15 for the 2.5-mile race or the 5-mile race, and $7 for the "Munchkin race," in which kids 4 years old to 10 years old run in three age divisions.

The racecourse, half on the sand and half on the Strand, starts on the north side of the pier at the water's edge, and finishes on the south side. The Munchkin race takes place along the Strand wall north of the pier.

The 2.5-mile run begins at 8 a.m. and the 5-mile run begins 9:15 a.m. For the kids, a "jazzercise warm-up" starts 8:15 a.m. and the race is at 8:30 a.m.

On race day, limited free parking will be available along upper Pier Avenue between Hermosa and Manhattan avenues and on Hermosa Avenue between Eighth and 16th streets.

The Sand and Strand is sponsored in part by the Easy Reader, the Beach Reporter, the Good Stuff restaurant in Hermosa, Project Touch, Balance Bar, BFI Waste Systems, Encore Music, Fastsigns, and www.racegate.com.

Proceeds from the race fees benefit the 27-year-old Project Touch, which offers services such as counseling, adult and teen parenting education and recreational activities to at-risk youth.

For more race information call 318-0280; for information on Project Touch call 379-2797. ER