Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 2, No. 30 - July 23, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................2
Hawthorne............................3
Hawthorne Hotspot............3
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals............................. 4,8,9
Pets......................................12
Real Estate...................10-11
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Mostly
Sunny
70˚/61˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
71˚/61˚
Sunday
Sunny
72˚/61˚
Lawndale Tribune
AND lAwNDAle News
Hawthorne Press Tribune
Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
WWII Veteran Corporal Walton
Comes to the South Bay
Our Inglewood Police Department was honored and privileged to host a special guest, Mr. Sidney Walton who at 101 years young, is one of America’s Oldest WWII Veterans. Corporal Walton and
his son, Paul are on a one-of-a-kind NO REGRETS TOUR on behalf of America’s WWII veterans to remind people of the sacrifices they made to save this country and offer everyone an opportunity to meet
a WWII vet before they’re all gone. Photo courtesy Inglewood Police Department.
Remembering Bill Field
By Gregg McMullin
made the necessary contacts and ended up
His name was Bill Field, and for those who
purchasing their prized organ for $2000.
knew his passion of playing an elaborate organ,
Now that they had their Mighty Wurlitzer,
they will never forget his well-known talent.
they needed to set it up. Luckily, they knew
He didn’t just play any organ; he enjoyed
the right people who worked for the Wurlitzer
the fruits of his enthusiasm on a Mighty
Company to help reassemble the behemoth
Wurlitzer. It is quite frankly the holy grail
instrument. Initially, they set the Mighty
of organs with its more than 2,000 pipes and
Wurlitzer up at relative’s studio, but they had
244 keys arranged on four keyboards. Along
bigger plans for their treasured instrument.
with stop keys that trigger the sounds of bells,
They saw a newspaper ad for a ‘theatre for
cymbals, trumpets and drums, it is in short,
rent’ in El Segundo. What they found at 140
a full orchestra. Bill passed away on June
Richmond Street couldn’t have been more
28, his death likely a result of a stroke he
perfect. This former theatre, which was built
had suffered many months ago; he was 80.
in 1921 and the community’s only theatre
To trace Bill’s connection to El Segundo,
house, had also been home to a community
you have to go back to 1951 when he was
center, storage building, and used as a church
12 years old. He found his avocation and
over the years. It was on the perfect tree-lined
future while wandering through a Barker
street in an ideal vintage building and was
Brothers Department store in downtown Los
just what they envisioned.
Angeles. He was captivated by the sound
After making some well-needed modifications
of a pipe organ roaring and mesmerizing in
and remodeling the inside of The Old
the background as shoppers browsed. His
Town Music Hall, it was transformed back to
obsession with learning and playing the organ
its 1921 elegance, beauty, and glory. Thanks
consumed him. Soon after, he was hired as
to Bill Field and Bill Coffman’s vision, it
the organist at the Los Angeles Theatre on
transcends patrons of the theatre back to the
South Broadway Street, and he would also
silent picture era with its royal carpeting,
play in church and at community centers.
ornate moldings, oversized chandeliers, and
As he got older Bill’s interest in music
the Mighty Wurlitzer sitting center stage
and the organ increased even more. He’d
behind the thick golden curtains. Part of
made friends with Bill Coffman, a fellow
Field’s vision, for his theater, was re-creating
organ enthusiast, and together they purchased
an early American tradition of spending an
the Mighty Wurlitzer built in the 1920s. In
afternoon or evening at the movies set in the
1968 The Fox West Coast Theater chain was
1920s and 1930s.
disposing of all the instruments they had at
For nearly fifty years, the Old Town Music
that time. The West Coast Theater in Long
Hall has been the home for silent movies,
Beach had the largest and the most intact
ragtime concerts, and grand organ performances,
collection of vintage instruments, including
all because of Bill Field. At each
the cherished Wurlitzer. So the two Bills
show, audiences experience a pipe organ
medley followed by a sing-along, short
comedy, and a feature film. It didn’t matter
whether Casablanca or It’s a Wonderful Life
came to life on the theatre’s screen or silent
films. For instance, Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Gold
Rush’ transformed on screen, Field was at the
keyboard serenading visitors with whimsical
song renditions of the period.
The Mighty Wurlitzer transformed Field’s
passion into a magical moment for those
in attendance. He became this fun-loving
uncle of the music world as he playfully
put together tunes from yesteryear. Instead
of keeping the organ’s mechanics enclosed
as some theaters do, Field used glow-in-thedark
paint and black lights to show off its
insides. With Field in charge, the mallets on
stage danced, hitting chimes and drums of
all sizes transform the room into a musical
See Bill Field, page 6
Bill Field sitting at his vintage Mighty Wurlitzer was the co-founder
and proprietor of the Old Town Music Hall for more than 50 years