The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 110, No. 4 - January 28, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Business Briefs...................3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................3
Legals..............................7-10
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.......................5-6
Weekend
Forecast
LA County’s First Locally Distilled
Bourbon is Made in El Segundo
The Herald profiles local El Segundo business, R6 Distillery. Read about Rob Rubens (pictured above), founder of R6 Distillery. This is part of our “Love Thy Neighbor” series. Send your nominees to
letters@heraldpublications.com. Please get the nominee’s permission to be interviewed, before submitting to us. See the Rob Ruben story in the yellow box below. Photo courtesy R6 Distillery.
Tracey Miller-Zarneke Wields the Gavel
at El Segundo School Board Meetings
By Duane Plank
Tracey Miller-Zarneke, the new President
of the El Segundo Unified School District
(ESUSD) School Board, seemingly checks all
the boxes necessary to justify her ascension
to her new post.
Two-plus year member of the School
Board, check; School Board Vice President,
check; ESUSD PTA President and School
Site Council President, check; Program Chair
for Character Counts and Grades of Green,
check; Chairperson for Parents on Campus and
Parliamentarian for the El Segundo District
PTA Council, check. She also played a key
role in bringing Green Ribbon accreditation
to Center Street School (CSS), earned PTA
Honorary Service Awards at both CSS and El
Segundo Middle School, as well as garnering a
Continuing Service Award at CSS; has served
on the district level Technology Committee,
and has held long-standing membership in
the Superintendent’s Roundtable through the
El Segundo Education Foundation.
With a sterling resume like that, it is no
coincidence that the New Jersey native was
tabbed by her fellow School Board members
to lead them during these (hopefully) oncein
a-lifetime pandemic times.
ESUSD Superintendent Dr. Melissa Moore
feels that Miller-Zarneke has exuded leadership
From Vaudeville to Vodka,
Rob Rubens Raises Spirits
By Kiersten Vannest
The year is 1926. A grand vaudeville
movie palace opens in Joliet, Illinois,
right next to Chicago, to the tune of two
million dollars. “New Rialto Square is
One of Country’s Finest Theaters” reads
an opening day headline in the Exhibitor’s
Herald. Founded by the six Rubens
brothers, the Rubens Rialto Theater
opening week included twenty-foot-long
banners above Main Street, one hundred
custom pennants hung on trolly wires,
ten thousand stickers, a parade, three
bands playing in separate parts of the
city, fireworks, confetti, and a giant
searchlight.
Three generations and about eightyeight
years later, Rob Rubens took a
trip to New Orleans as a management
consultant to speak at a convention. On
a whim, his sister-in-law invited him on
a distillery tour while he was there. They
went to the New Orleans Rum Distillery,
and Rob knew right then that his path
was about to change.
“I absolutely fell in love with the idea
of making spirits. [It was a] lightbulb
moment, totally.” He describes the New
Orleans Distillery as an “eclectic mix of
European tanks and equipment” that were
once used for perfume manufacturing long
qualities since her tenure on the Board
began in 2018. “I am immensely grateful
to Tracey for serving as President of the
ESUSD Board of Education at one of the
most challenging times facing public education
and ESUSD,” Moore emailed. “She is a
tremendously talented leader who ensures all
stakeholder’s voices are considered and heard.
Tracey’s skill set truly aligns with what is
needed in the role of Board President. She is
always prepared, considers issues thoughtfully,
thinks deeply, and is extremely empathetic.
President Miller-Zarneke maintains a strong
moral compass on what is best for students
at all times.”
Longtime Board member Emilee Layne,
currently filling the VP slot, emailed that
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with
Tracey for two years now on the Board, and
I can honestly say that I haven’t met another
person who cares about others and wants
to do the right thing as much as she does.”
Continued Layne: “She is very thoughtful
in every decision she makes.”
Board member Paulette Caudill, who also
started performing her Board duties in 2018,
on Miller-Zarneke’s leadership: “I think she
See Miller-Zarneke, page 11 Tracey Miller-Zarneke at El Segundo High School.
See Rob Rubens, page 12
Friday
AM Rain
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Saturday
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Sunday
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