The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 110, No. 31 - August 5, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................11
Classifieds..........................10
Crossword/Sudoku...........10
Entertainment......................3
Legals................................ 8-9
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.......................5-7
Sports.............................. 2,11
Weekend
Forecast
Congratulations State Champs
El Segundo Little Leaguers celebrate their 2-1 historic win over Sherman Oaks. For story see Sports on page 2. Photo courtesy Danny Boehle. For story see Sports on page 2.
“Poppa” Craig Parker was an
El Segundo Legend
By Duane Plank
When I spoke with Patrick Bentley recently,
one of the takeaways that seemed to sum up
the life of El Segundo’s Craig Parker, who
passed away from dementia on July 15 at the
age of 76, was that Parker and wife Joan were,
in his opinion, “Mr. and Mrs. El Segundo.”
Bentley said that he has lived “around here”
since 1986, and “I have never experienced
people who were so involved in the community.”
Bentley said the Parkers got him immersed in
the El Segundo scene, dragging him to Friday
Night Lights high school football games, as
well as encouraging his participation in the El
Segundo Education Foundation,
Bentley knew Parker for 20 years, as he
was coming to town in 2001 to take part in
the building of a studio on Main Street for
comedian Roseanne Barr. Bentley said that
Parker, an electrician by trade, lived right
behind the Barr building on Main Street, the
soon-to-be christened Full Moon and High
Tide Studios.“Roseanne loved her some Craig,”
Bentley said. “Craig could crack her up, which
is saying a lot.”
Parker “helped me to navigate the community,”
Kimberly Bredberg Explores Alternative
Learning Methods for El Segundo Students
By Kiersten Vannest
The public school system in El Segundo
is notoriously renowned. El Segundo
high school ranked in the top 5% of high
schools in California for math proficiency
and reading proficiency, and the graduation
rate is top tier. But what if the traditional
method of learning doesn’t work for your
child? Standardized teaching methods have
worked for decades, but what happens to the
children who don’t work well under these
methods? This is a question Kimberley
Bredberg set out to explore for her own
child in the form of a new K-12 microschool
called Waterhouse Guild.
A mother of four children, Bredberg’s
present journey began with her oldest
daughter in the first grade. “My daughter was
a super curious and precocious first-grader,”
says Bredberg. Her daughter was in a
classroom of only eight students at a school
Bredberg worked at in San Luis Obispo.
Having a heavily pencil-and-paper policy at
home, straying away from electronics, her
daughter was already very versed and excited
about reading and writing. The problem,
she explains, was that her teacher would
not let her read above the first-grade level.
“That made me so sad, because at the
time she was reading at a high level, chapter
books, and she would sit on the swing
with a book in one hand and a slice of
watermelon in the other,” she says. So, in
the transition to second grade, she pulled
her daughter out of her school and decided
Bentley said, helping me to “put the (Barr
studio) together.” Bentley noted how the Parkers
were instrumental in upgrading or establishing
multiple El Segundo facilities, including
the high school football field, the Military
Entrance Test Site on Grand Avenue, and the
Whole Foods establishment located on PCH.
Parker lived at 419 ½ Standard Street for 34
years and was always involved in El Segundo
activities until his onset of dementia two years
ago. One of Parker’s daughters, Jennifer Parker
Fogg Lickteig, shared that she had gone through
his garage recently and found “tons of photos,”
including those of Parker hanging lights
on Candy Cane Lane, painting handprints on
“Handprint Alley” on the west side of Main
Street. A trove of mementos was in the house,
from “city accolades” to letters from prior El
Segundo mayor’s.
Parker was considered a go-to guy by El
Segundo civic leaders, who would often beseech
him to lend a hand when the city had a
need or a possible project in the works.“And
Dad would do it,” Jennifer said, whether it
be something needed by the city, or the fire
department, or the police department. Parker
would secure whatever was needed and then
donate it to the city.
Jennifer said he helped set up the initial
version of the Farmer’s Market. “Most notable
for me,” she said, “was that when my Dad’s
See Craig Parker, page 12 “Poppa” Craig Parker. Provided by Jennifer Lickteig.
See Kimberly Bredberg, page 4
Friday
Mostly
Sunny
73˚/62˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
72˚/61˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
70˚/61˚