Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - August 6, 2015 National Night Out Fosters Fun and Neighborhood Awareness Hawthorne Dances Up National Night Out as Maxine Waters Makes a Guest Appearance By Derrick Deane Hawthorne residents, law enforcement and city leaders danced, ate free food and brought to life the city motto of “Good Neighbors” in the annual National Night Out celebration Tuesday evening in front of City Hall. Hawthorne was one of a number of South Bay cities to participate in the annual event, but only the City of Good Neighbors could bring out the Laker Girls, long-time Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and a horse which spent most of the evening taking photos with residents and munching on the lawn in front of City Hall. The three hour event also included music, dancing, a raffle, photo opportunities with distinguished guests, a couple of games of musical chairs and of course, the annual chili cook-off. Even Mayor Chris Brown got in on the fun doing the Cupid Shuffle dance with some residents. All was kosher until the mayor suggested his fellow councilmembers join him in a game of musical chairs. He called out to Councilman Alex Vargas twice who was in the middle of a conversation with a guest. Vargas nonchalantly shook his head at the mayor. “We should do something together. Can we at least do musical chairs?” Brown said into the mic and after being ignored, recruited some residents to take the council’s place. Politics aside, Waters took time to address the attendees and in particular the home owner associations who were represented at the event. “Home owner associations are so important to our cities,” Waters said. “They are important because they are organized by home owners to make sure they have the best neighborhoods, that they have safe neighborhoods, and that they get to know their neighbors. Home owner associations are the foundation of a good, strong community.” National Night Out was founded by Target in 1959 in an attempt by the company to partner with local law enforcement to try and cut down on crime in cities where their stores were located. The event went so well and crime dropped so much that it has become an annual event ever since. “It’s simply about, pausing all over this country and saying to our neighbors, ‘Let’s get together in solidarity, let’s get together to make sure we’re working together with our local police officers, let’s get together to make sure that we’re getting to know each other,” Waters said. “Let’s get together to make sure that are communities are safe and that our children are safe and our schools are working.” Waters also handed out certificates of merit to representatives of the various home owner associations throughout Hawthorne. “When you have National Night Out, we remind each other that we are neighbors and we ought to act like it,” Waters said. “If you go inside your house and close your door and close your blinds and don’t want to talk to anybody, then you don’t understand what a good neighborhood is all about. You don’t understand what a strong city is all about.” While the event may seem like a mammoth undertaking for any organizer, Holly Park Home Owners Association President and City Council nominee Katrina Manning actually enjoys it. “I’ve been doing this for five years and I have a formula that I use for everything,” Manning, who has a background in television production, said on planning the event. “I used to work with a crew of two to three hundred people, so because of that experience, this is nothing.” Manning booked vendors and companies in advance to participate in consecutive months of events to help cut down on the hectic nature of planning and development. “This is my third or fourth event this year, so I tell them I need them on certain dates and book them and I’m done with it,” Manning said. “It can be really complicated and hectic for some people, but for me, it’s really easy and I enjoy doing this. It is like a hobby.” Manning has been captaining the event since Hawthorne began participating in 2010. Back then, Manning hosted the event at Holly Park, but as the event has grown, they’ve since moved to City Hall. This year was the second year National Night Out took place at City Hall. “It keeps getting bigger and bigger every year,” Manning said. “It seems to work because it’s centrally located and it brings out a lot of people. This year I’m grateful because we had a total of seven home owner associations participating,” Manning said. The event is funded by donations and fundraisers by the HOAs. Target, McDonalds, Costco, and Superior Foods were among the local businesses that donated food like hot dogs, chicken wings, and baked goods for the event. “Every year, Republic Waste always supports us and the Hawthorne Police Officers Association give us money and I use that to pay for some of the services at the event,” Manning said. “In addition to that, we get people to donate and we give everything out for free.” As for the chili cook-off, Hawthorne resident Robert Hoffman took home the first place trophy while the runner-up award went to Holly Park representative Charles Andrews. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Classifieds............................3 Film Review..........................2 Finance..................................7 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....2 Legals............................... 6, 7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................4 Sports....................................3 Weekend Forecast Friday Partly Cloudy 75˚/64˚ Saturday Sunny 74˚/63˚ Sunday Sunny 75˚/64˚ Distinguished guests including Representative Maxine Waters, Mayor Chris Brown, Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Valentine, organizer Katrina Manning, law enforcement and the Laker Girls pose at City Hall for National Night Out on August 4, 2015. Photo by Derrick Deane.
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