The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 46 - November 12, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................9
Classifieds............................4
Coloring Contest.........10-11
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................3
Legals.................................4,8
Pets........................................8
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.......................5-7
Weekend
Forecast
Derryl Cousins Legacy Lives On
Derryl Cousins umpired in nearly 5000 Major League Baseball games. He also was involved in some historical games including being the crew chief for an exhibition game at the Coliseum that drew a
record 115,300 fans. For story, see yellow box below.
Ian Gittins Makes His 2020 Living Selling
and Servicing Old-School Machines
By Duane Plank
wealthy Londoners residences. James Murray
Ian Gittins, the owner of Tanner’s Sewing
Spangler of Canton, Ohio, has been credited
and Vacuum Center located in Westchester,
with inventing the first upright vacuum in 1908.
started his career as a vacuum mechanic 40
So, there is today’s truncated history lesson.
years ago. Today, he and his wife of 27 years,
Fast-forward to 2020, with the Gittins’, El
Teri, make their living providing their clients
Segundo residents, making their living Monday
old-fashioned customer service and top-quality,
through Saturday, selling and servicing the
state of the art equipment, equipment that
latest, greatest generation of sewing machines
was blueprinted and invented more than a
and vacuums, with all of the add-on products
century ago.
necessary for a 21st-century seamstress or
Massachusetts’ Elias Howe has been credited
seamster, like needles and other accessories,
by some with securing the first patent for a
as well as vacuum hoses, bags, and belts.
“practical” sewing machine in 1846, although
Asked about when the coupling of a sewing
the folks at the Singer Corporation posit that
sale and service business with the sale of
their founder, Isaac Merritt Singer, is the
vacuums occurred, Gittins hypothesized that
actual father of the sewing machine (1851).
And in 1901 London, inventor Hubert Cecil
Booth began peddling his behemoth vacuum
cleaner, which looked about half the size of
an ice-smoothing Zamboni and removed dust
and particles and whatever else (think small
rodents), that was dirtying the estates of
in an earlier era, women tended to stay home
and take care of the homestead, and two of
the items on their daily “to-do” list would
have been firing-up the sewing machine and
dragging around the vacuum cleaner.
In a nod to old-fashioned customer service,
the Tanner website notes that “you can buy
our classes on this website, however not our
products,” and invites customer’s to visit their
spacious “brick and mortar” facility located
at 6230 West 87th Street.
Tanner’s does not just sell products and
service them, but typically also offers an
array of sewing and software classes and
See Ian Gittins, page 9
Ian Gittins
Friday
Sunny
63˚/50˚
Saturday
Sunny
63˚/51˚
Sunday
Sunny
70˚/54˚
Long Time MLB Umpire,
Derryl Cousins, Remembered
By Gregg McMullin
When news that life-long El Segundo
resident and former Major League umpire
Derryl Cousins had passed away, it was
one of ESPN’s lead stories. Cousins was a
highly respected umpire who worked some
of Major League Baseball’s most iconic
games. This year’s World Series umpires
wore a commemorative DC patch on their
sleeves to honor their former colleague.
The news came to a shocked community
and to the baseball world. Derryl’s resting
stone will read 8/17/46-10/19/2020,
but it’s the dash between those dates he
should be remembered by.
Cousins’ dash through life was filled
with success, envied by others, and lonely
as a Major League umpire being separated
from his family. Through it all, he made
the most of his experiences and not once
second-guessed his decision to become
one of MLB’s most prominent umpires.
Derryl Cousins was a gifted athlete in
high school. He was a two-sport star playing
football, but his passion was baseball.
He led his team to a 22-7 record and the
Eagles’ third league title under legendary
coach John Stevenson. He was an allleague
catcher who was named co-South
Bay Player of the Year. He eventually
signed a minor league contract with the
Detroit Tigers. He played six seasons
playing in the Western Carolina League,
See Derryl Cousins, page 2