The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 53 - December 31, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................8
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................2
Legals.................................4,7
Neighborhood Therapist.....2
Pets........................................8
Real Estate.......................5-6
Weekend
Forecast
To a Very Happy and Healthy 2021
May the New Year bring you happiness, peace, health and prosperity. Herald Publications wishes you a joyous 2021.
El Segundo’s Minnie Carr
Builds Her Ice-Skating Resume
By Duane Plank
OK, so I am one of many who only pay
attention to figure skating every four years or
so when it is put before us by, whichever network
has maybe overpaid to gain the rights to
broadcast the Winter Olympics. And who knows
when the next Winter Oly’s will take place,
right? My one and only spin on the ice took
place about 50 years ago, when I, with great
trepidation, took to the ice at a long-ago demolished
ice-rink in Culver City, fell on my butt
after three skitterish strides, and was ridiculed
by some losers who were in the stands, for my
lack of skating talent. That was enough for me.
So, I have no clue what an ice skating salchow
jump is or a double axel. I think I have a couple
of axels underneath my Toyota vehicle, but…?
OK, I will get to the story. Before the phone
interview for this profile took place, this El
Segundo Herald scribe watched the delayed
by a day final round of the frigid Houston
Women’s U.S. Open Golf Championship.
Women and, in some cases, girls, have taken
hold of athletic opportunities and thrived in
the world of sports.
That being the case, file the name of El
Segundo resident Minnie Carr in the memory
bank. The 10-year-old figure skater has been
polishing her talents on the ice for four years or
so and is heck-bent on thriving in the incredibly
tough climate of competitive figure skating.
On-ice sports are not inexpensive for parents
to bankroll. When the COVID-19 scourge took
hold in America, Minnie’s mom, Rebecca, said,
with rinks shutting down, including El Segundo’s
Toyota Center, she asked Minnie to explain
to her what her escapades on the ice meant to her
and contemplated why the family, which includes
a husband, and two siblings, brother Peter and
sister Annie, should continue supporting her
skating endeavors. After all, a substantial amount
of time and money is invested in on-ice-sports,
ice-time, coaching stipends, and competitions.
Not like you can buy a soccer ball or basketball,
chuck it to your kid, and say “go have
fun” at the local playground, right? So, when
Minnie was queried about her love of skating,
here is what young Carr penned: “What I love
about ice skate is that I always feel free when
I do it. I work very hard in the sport, but I
am always happy because I love it when I am
skating. A lot of my friends are at skate when
I go so I am so glad to see them!!! During
summer, when it is blazing hot, I get so blessed
when I get to go to the rink and spend time in
the cold. I owe a lot of my thanks to all my
wonderful coaches who helped me through thick
and thin and who taught me all my moves that
I needed to learn. Jumps are my most favorite
moves of all. When I am jumping, I feel like
I am passing through a part of Heaven. “All
my thoughts, all my worries just … disappear.
I feel like I am on a big cloud when I skate.”
Husband Craig Carr chimed in about Rebecca’s
efforts to support their family: “Call it
selfish, but I really think my wife, Rebecca, has
done something very special for her neighbors,
parents, children, and the community of El
Segundo. Two years ago, Rebecca decided she
wanted something different for her children and
how (they were) educated. Rebecca decided to
leave “their learning environment” and take our
children out and planted a new hybrid home
school program here in El Segundo - that was
more affordable to all.
“In this new world of Zoom classroom
schooling, Rebecca has brought a charterbacked
hybrid home school program that is
still to this day meeting physically and having
actual in-classroom lessons with real teachers
(not video teachers). That is now a saving
grace for so many El Segundo parents and
children that were drowning in remote/Zoom
educations at the K-5 levels.”
Rebecca Carr said she moved to SoCal
from Texas to chase the perfect beach wave
and enjoy the pleasant climate, calling herself
a “river rat with water knowledge.” An avid
surfer, she met her future husband on the paved
See Minnie Carr, page 2
Friday
Sunny
65˚/46˚
Saturday
Mostly
Sunny
63˚/46˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
60˚/49˚