Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 2, No. 46 - November 12, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................2
Hawthorne............................3
Hawthorne Hotspot............2
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Neighborhood Therapist.....2
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Sunny
63˚/50˚
Saturday
Sunny
63˚/51˚
Sunday
Sunny
70˚/54˚
Lawndale Tribune
AND lAwNDAle News
Hawthorne Press Tribune
Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
Lawndale Salutes Our Veterans
The City of Lawndale’s 5th Annual Field of Honor Event took place on November 10th - November 12 in the plaza in front of City Hall. Hundreds of American flags were placed in a set formation and
displayed for the community to honor and celebrate those who have served in our armed forces. Light towers were present to keep the field illuminated for the duration of the event. Thank you to all
our Veterans. Photo courtesy City of Lawndale.
Ian Gittins Makes His 2020 Living Selling
and Servicing Old-School Machines
By Duane Plank
Ian Gittins, the owner of Tanner’s Sewing and
Vacuum Center located in Westchester, started
his career as a vacuum mechanic 40 years ago.
Today, he and his wife of 27 years, Teri, make
their living providing their clients old-fashioned
customer service and top-quality, state of the
art equipment, equipment that was blueprinted
and invented more than a century ago.
Massachusetts’ Elias Howe has been credited
by some with securing the first patent for a
“practical” sewing machine in 1846, although
the folks at the Singer Corporation posit that
their founder, Isaac Merritt Singer, is the
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 wealthy
Londoners residences. James Murray Spangler
of Canton, Ohio, has been credited with inventing
the first upright vacuum in 1908. So, there
is today’s truncated history lesson.
Fast-forward to 2020, with the Gittins’, El
Segundo residents, making their living Monday
through Saturday, selling and servicing the
latest, greatest generation of sewing machines
and vacuums, with all of the add-on products
necessary for a 21st-century seamstress or
seamster, like needles and other accessories, as
well as vacuum hoses, bags, and belts.
Asked about when the coupling of a sewing
sale and service business with the sale of
vacuums occurred, Gittins hypothesized that
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 workshops for
adults and kids, as well as free owners classes
for those who have purchased their machine or
software from Tanner’s. Like all businesses,
the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and
social-distancing guidelines has affected Tanner’s
currently offered services. Still, even in
these tumultuous times, the goal is the same:
be committed to quality first, providing topshelf
products for the home that will function
effectively for many, many years and not need
replacing the minute the warranty expires.
Gittins said that his sewing machine business
had added customers during the lockdown. He
said initially there was an upsurge in people
looking to make facemasks, injecting “new
sewers into the world of sewing,” and that after
See Ian Gittins, page 7
Ian Gittins
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 5