Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 3, No. 7 - February 18, 2021
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................8
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................2
Hawthorne............................3
Huber’s Hiccups..................3
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals................................ 4-7
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
A South Bay Sport That is Taking Off
Andy Beem teaches his students to soar. He teaches hang gliding lessons at Windsports located at Dockweiler State Beach. See Andy’s story in the yellow box below. Photo courtesy Andy Beem.
Friday
Sunny
67˚/50˚
Saturday
Sunny
67˚/51˚
Sunday
Sunny
71˚/52˚
Lawndale Tribune
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Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
Jim Fenton Is Not Only an Ironman,
but Also a Community-Oriented Man
By Duane Plank
South Bay resident Jim Fenton keeps
a hectic schedule. He is a private banker,
continually active in his church, as well as
the local Kiwanis Club, serves as an advisor
to the El Segundo High School Key Club,
and, when not helping make his clients’
money, or giving back to his community, finds
time to train for high-level triathlons and Ironman
Andy Beem’s Love for
Hang Gliding is Infectious
By Kiersten Vannest
In 1982, Andy Beem ran to the edge
of a ledge and started to fly. Though
he’d never done it before, the feeling
was familiar, instinctive. He’d learned
how to do this already, in his dreams.
No engine, no propellors, just the sound
of the wind blowing through his hair and
over his wings. This was Andy’s first time
hang gliding.
In the mid-1940s, a man named Francis
Rogallo wondered what it would be like
to drive out to the edge of town, unfurl
a wing, and fly over the countryside. He
began developing some prototypes that
would make aviation more accessible and
commercially viable. In 1948, made from
recycled kitchen curtains sewn by his wife,
Gertrude, they had created a successful
flexible wing and were awarded a patent
in 1951 under the name “Flexible Kite.”
Dismissed as a hobbyist activity and child’s
play by major aviation engineers, Rogallo
worked on his design on his own time.
Fast forward about a decade, and
America was deep in the throes of a space
race with Russia. Interest in space travel
was increasingly growing, and both countries
vied for the title of first in space and
first on the moon. Enter Francis Rogallo.
Rogallo had figured out that by using
See Andy Beem, page 5
competitions.
The Fenton family moved to El Segundo
nearly 12 years ago from North Carolina, which
is where the fictional town of Mayberry was
made famous by the iconic Andy Griffith Show
six decades ago. Why the cross-country move
to a city often referred to by its proponents as
Mayberry, he was asked?
He said that he and his wife of, currently
26 years, Donna, and their four young kids
(Gabriella, Noah, Jana, and Jack) and had
moved to North Carolina because he and his
wife thought that the “Tar Heel” state would
be a great place to raise a family. He and his
wife lived in New York City and in Europe and
had “certain expectations” regarding “quality of
life, and what our kids would be exposed to.”
Fenton said that the area they lived in North
Carolina did not meet the family expectations,
so the Fentons explored other options, having
friends who had been in their wedding and, at
that time, were residing in El Segundo.
That prompted a visit to El Segundo back
in 2009. “We absolutely loved it,” he said of
his experiences in what was to become his
new hometown. After the kids wrapped-up
their schooling that summer, the Fentons
loaded-up the U-Haul, the four kids, and
the dog and made the 3,000-mile (Durham to
See Jim Fenton, page 2
El Segundo) drive across the country.
A private banker by trade, Fenton also serves
as the Kiwanis Advisor to the El Segundo
High School Key Club. He conducts weekly
Wednesday Zoom calls with the students,
motivating them to become immersed in community
service. Not too long ago, the Key Club
members built “the Great Pumpkin” float that,
in consort with the El Segundo Police Department,
motored through town, delivering candy
during the 2020 Halloween season.
A member of the City of Angels International
Christian Church, he holds weekly Zoom
adult bible-study sessions for an average of 25
parishioners. He also built a program called
LifeSkills through a partnership with the organization
Mercy Worldwide that aims to teach
young people important skills, such as balancing
a checkbook, adroitly using credit cards,
and being cognizant of the pitfalls of accrued
interest payments. He said that it is important
that once young adults jump through the hoops
to acquire a job, they take that seriously, show
up on time for work and interviews, and manage
their money effectively. “It is really about
building-up their financial knowledge,” he said
and providing career development advice.