The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 110, No. 23 - June 10, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................13
Classifieds............................6
Crossword/Sudoku.............6
Entertainment......................3
Legals............................10-12
Obituaries.............................3
Pets......................................13
Police Reports.....................5
Real Estate.......................7-9
Sports.................................3,4
Weekend
Forecast
Celebrating Our Eagle Graduates
It’s the final week of classes for the 2020-2021 school year at ESUSD. We celebrate our Eagle Graduates for all their dedication and hard work. El Segundo High School Commencement is on
Friday, June 11 at ESHS Football Field. Guest check-in is at 5:00 pm and the Ceremony begins at 6:00 pm. Each graduate will be limited to two guests and the event will be live streamed.
ES Resident Shows his Collection
of Over Six-Hundred Model Cars
By Kiersten Vannest
“I could own all the cars of my dreams…if
I got them in miniature size.” Car enthusiast
and hobbyist Patrick Strong is a lifelong collector
John Van Hamersveld Anticipates
Another “Endless Summer.”
By Duane Plank
John Van Hamersveld may not be an El
Segundo resident, but the Rancho Palos
Verdes local and renowned graphic artist
and illustrator has established a large
footprint in the South Bay and across
the pop culture canyon for more than 60
years. “El Segundo is where my career
started, as a surfer and an artist,” Van
Hamersveld has said.
An El Segundo High School graduate,
class of 1959, ESHS Hall-of-Fame
inductee in 2017, the acclaimed graphic
artist is also the designer of the colorful
imprimaturs that grace the façade of a
Department of Water of Power tower in
El Segundo. You can view the tower as
you travel East on Grand Avenue after
making a turn from Vista Del Mar or
while traipsing to or from the beach as
we fast-forward to the summer of 2021.
Hopefully, as the pandemic continues to
abate, this will be the new Endless Summer
for fortunate beach residents like us.
Suzanne Fuentes, the long-time member
of the El Segundo City Council, helped
facilitate Van Hamersveld’s induction into
the ESHS Hall-of-Fame and his selection
to design the DWP tank mural. The tank
mural unveiling took place in April of
2018, after what Fuentes described as
a “warp-speed” design and installation
process, and was attended not only by
of diecast model cars, the owner of the
online diecast business Model Citizen, and a
long-time resident of El Segundo. He is also
the organizer of Diecast Cars & Coffee, an annual
meetup and sales event for model car fans
everywhere, hosted right here in El Segundo.
Originally from El Paso, Texas, Strong says
he was not only a car fan, but had a collector
mentality from an early age. Despite his parents
having no background in motor vehicles
and not particularly being surrounded by car
culture, he began curating the collection of his
favorite automobiles at age six, starting with
Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars.
“Models are popular among car enthusiasts
because they allow us to collect our dream garage,
our dream collection, without spending millions
of dollars,” says Strong. Diecasting is the
process of pouring (typically) molten zinc alloy
into a mold to produce a specific shape. In this
case, the mold is a perfectly scaled miniature car.
As Strong grew, so did his collection. His Hot
Wheels gave way to better quality, precisionbuilt
models. After earning a degree in theater
and professionally acting on the East Coast,
he moved out to Los Angeles, where he began
working in the music industry. All the while,
his collection expanded.
As for El Segundo, Strong says he landed
here because he “fell in love with a Manhattan
Beach native,” and they decided on El Segundo
to settle down and raise their kids. “We’re
here for the schools more than anything, and
as a small business owner, I appreciate how
easy El Segundo makes it to do business,” he
explains. More than that, El Segundo has its
own history with cars.
In the 1940s, the Nash Car Company
had a production facility in El Segundo
that manufactured race cars. In the 1960s,
Shelby American, Inc. was headquartered
in the city. After that, several specialty
race car shops operated out of El Segundo,
making it at one time the race car building
capital of the west. So why not collect
real cars?
“I think that model car are popular among car
enthusiasts in general for two reasons. Number
one, they allow us to communicate with other
enthusiasts. I can show you what kind of cars
that I like without saying a word,” he says.
By showing a fellow enthusiast his collection,
they’re able to immediately see what kind of
See Patrick Strong, page 3 Patrick Strong
See Van Hamersveld, page 5
Friday
Sunny
71˚/58˚
Saturday
Sunny
72˚/61˚
Sunday
Sunny
73˚/62˚