Photos by Zig
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Story and photos by Matthew Archer This morning I woke up early and started my day as usual. In the kitchen I prepared coffee, carried it upstairs and sat at my desk to check email. Then, I stepped out my front door in Court 10 and joined the concrete footpath leading to West Green. It was my first walk in several weeks, and as I strode into golden sunlight filtering through the olive trees, I felt bathed in a familiar tranquility. With each return to these walking paths, I wonder why I don’t do it more often. Yet here they are when I come back to them.  Photos by Zig Halloween at the Green has always brought about good times and great photos. This year was definitely no exception! Click through to see more, then click each photo to see them in full size.  By Patrick Comiskey The sound started at night, after dark, interrupting the post-twilight hours in the days after the hurricane, when the whole property, verdant and lush, had been revived by the rains. Travis Lent (Court 5) and his wife Jess were the first to hear it: a weird chirping sound, rhythmic and regular, high pitched, and very, very annoying.
Lent is no stranger to rhythmic sounds—he plays percussion for a two-person band called Mirthquake—but this, like a cross between a birdsong and a smoke alarm, was just irritating. “It sounded electronic, with perfect intervals,” he said, “like a smoke alarm with a dying battery,” adding: “That’s a sound I really hate.” However if it was a smoke alarm, it was acting strangely: the device would chirp for just fifteen minutes and then go silent. After two irritating nights he contacted Security, thinking they’d be able to help him track down which of his neighbors was too lazy to change a nine-volt battery. Photos by Zig. Many thanks to the Cultural Affairs Committee for the wonderful summer concerts this year and always!
By Nat Hutton, photo by Lucy Fried  Our neighbor Georgia Lumpkin died peacefully this past week, aged 101, just two years after her husband Ted passed away. Georgia and Ted moved to the Village Green in 2001; after Ted passed, Georgia was the Village Green’s oldest resident. We will miss her tremendously. If you did not know this lady, you missed an experience that you will never capture with any other human being in life. If you ever visited Georgia on her wonderful patio garden, she would give you a lesson on plants, their life and how to care for all the wonderful things she grew. She often extended that knowledge to area schools and students; very few people could match her knowledge of plants and trees—those trees, and all the greenery on the property, were part of the reason she loved living here at the Village Green. So long Georgia, you can never be replaced! By P.J.C. Francine Riley was born in Tennessee, where her father was stationed in the service, but moved to San Diego as a little girl with her parents. She lived in the Linda Vista neighborhood, not far from Old Town and Mission Bay, and close to the downtown airport that sends flights over large swaths of the city… one of her fondest childhood memories is eating ice cream cones and sitting near the edge of the runway while the huge planes roared overhead, rumbling to touch down to the landing strip. Francine is part Choctaw and it’s something you can see in the features of her face, which is strong and powerful with high cheekbones, her expressions full of bright energy.  By Kathy O’Brien, Court 7
By Marie Germaine, Court 12  Baldwin Hills Elementary School (BHES) is proud to be in its 80th year of successful public service to the Baldwin Village community.
Since 2016, the school has been obliged to share space as a Proposition 39 co-location (shared campus) with a charter school. In response, Village Green families and supportive neighbors formed Neighbors in Action for Baldwin Hills Elementary School and joined BHES teachers, parents, and other neighbors in advocating for BHES to become a charter-free campus. Supporters wrote letters, signed petitions, spoke at LAUSD board meetings, and met with LAUSD officials and local and state representatives. Uniting Neighbors and Cleaning House: |
| By Lucy Fried A registered architect, Linda Pollari, has been Village Green’s Design Review Committee consultant since 2018 and the Green’s fulltime facilities engineer since February. This interview introduces Linda and opens a window on the challenges of her job. It is the first of a series of VG staff interviews. |  Linda Pollari by the olive allee near the Clubhouse. Photo by Zig |
By Molly O’Brien, Court 14
Court 14 resident Asantewa Olatunji was sworn in on May 3rd as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). She had been nominated by Mayor Karen Bass.
The DCA promotes arts and culture as a way to ignite powerful dialogue and ensure that LA's varied cultures are recognized, acknowledged, and experienced. Olatunji has been an integral player in shaping the cultural landscape of Los Angeles for 30+ years as General Manager and Director of Programming for the Pan African Film + Arts Festival (PAFF). She originated PAFF’s annual fine arts show, which attracts an estimated 75,000 people annually.
Closer to home, in summer 2021 Olatunji facilitated the VG Cultural Affairs Committee's screening of To Sleep with Anger and subsequent conversation with the film's renowned director, Charles Burnett.
"I am thrilled and excited about this appointment,” she said.
Congratulations, Asantewa!
The DCA promotes arts and culture as a way to ignite powerful dialogue and ensure that LA's varied cultures are recognized, acknowledged, and experienced. Olatunji has been an integral player in shaping the cultural landscape of Los Angeles for 30+ years as General Manager and Director of Programming for the Pan African Film + Arts Festival (PAFF). She originated PAFF’s annual fine arts show, which attracts an estimated 75,000 people annually.
Closer to home, in summer 2021 Olatunji facilitated the VG Cultural Affairs Committee's screening of To Sleep with Anger and subsequent conversation with the film's renowned director, Charles Burnett.
"I am thrilled and excited about this appointment,” she said.
Congratulations, Asantewa!
Tree photos and caption by Zig, uproot damage photo by Don Dongallo
In early May, a Chinese elm was uprooted in Court 10 with limbs falling onto a resident’s exterior wall. Photo 1 below is a picture of the uproot damage. Photo 2 shows several limbs with cables attached to a neighboring tree to prevent any further damage to the building until the tree can be tactically removed. In Photo 3, all but one of the cables have been removed.
To enlarge the images, click each one.
In early May, a Chinese elm was uprooted in Court 10 with limbs falling onto a resident’s exterior wall. Photo 1 below is a picture of the uproot damage. Photo 2 shows several limbs with cables attached to a neighboring tree to prevent any further damage to the building until the tree can be tactically removed. In Photo 3, all but one of the cables have been removed.
To enlarge the images, click each one.
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