Lawndale Tribune
AND lAwNDAle News
The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 79, No. 26 - June 25, 2020
For Jenifer Tovar, Being a Warrior
Means That You Never Give Up
Jenifer Tovar, 2020 Graduate from El Camino College, was a student speaker for the virtual commencement. She believes that being a Warrior is about picking up the armor, dusting yourself off, and living to fight another day. Her message discussed resiliency and meeting
challenges, while sending a message of love and unity. To find out more about Jenifer, visit El Camino College’s Facebook page. Photo courtesy of El Camino College.
Hawthorne Hotspot from page 3
Don Brann from front page
fit into an organization. He is also crazy smart
and has darn close to a photographic memory.
He can use history to inform the future. He
also has a beautiful heart.”
Like many people today, Brann is slogging
through Zoom virtual meetings to fulfill his
DaVinci school board commitments. He recently
participated via Zoom in a search committee
to select a new superintendent for the Hermosa
Beach School District.
“Not my best world,” he said of holding
meetings on Zoom. “I like handshakes and
hugs, but we are persevering through it,”
though he did acknowledge that Zoom meetings
are time-savers because you don’t have
to get dressed for them,” he quipped. But he
admits that he misses the human element of
face-to-face meetings. “I want to get back to
the boardroom and to the people,” he said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still lurking
ominously, Brann knows we have entered
a brave-new-world. “I think the COVID-19
virus’s impact is going to change many facets
of American life,” he said, noting trends such
as online shopping, distance schooling, and
telecommuting, had already gained footholds
in society pre-pandemic. He expects a ten-year
acceleration in many social and work-place
trends. One positive: He sees an easing of
traffic, with more people working from home,
and therefore leaving their cars in their driving,
lessening freeway gridlock and air pollution.
He notes that at Da Vinci, they were able to
seamlessly transition to distance learning over
that weekend in mid-March when the schools
were mandated to shut down. He said that as
technologically based schools, DaVinci was
“built for” distance learning, with teachers and
students well-equipped with mobile devices
and digital connectivity. “We are thriving in
this type of environment, “he said, adding
that schools that will initially do the best
are the ones that quickly have adapted to the
new educational realities and offer relevant
educational “products.”
Brann said the COVID-19 pandemic had
scuttled planned summer excursions to attend
a Texas Rangers baseball game and s
a European cruise. “Everything we planned
has been crossed-out on our calendar because
they have been canceled. We are rolling with
it pretty well,” he said.
Brann, who lives in El Segundo with wife
Sari, is a USC football fan, and devoted walker,
who at one point said he walked for 1,500
straight days, his streak finally being derailed
because of a surgery. He has competed in
three half-marathons, calling them “a really
long walk.”
Brann said his life philosophy comes in
part from one of the lyrics that struck a chord
with him from a 1965 Bob Dylan song. Dylan
penned and sang, “He not busy being born is
busy dying.” Brann tries to follow that mantra
as he continues to face life’s challenges and
serve his community. “I try to live my life being
born,” he said while noting, “people don’t
care how much you know until they find out
how much you care.” After 74 years, Brann
is still “busy being born.” •
Don Brann
other tennis playing families to bring the
community together and host tournaments
and barbecues at our former Memorial Center
Park. These families were the Turners, the
Richards and the Bryans (who spawned the
famous Olympians and World Champions,
Mike and Bob Bryan – the two that won a
gold medal in the same Olympics that basketball
legend Kobe Bryant won his in 2012).
Her mother also worked as a volunteer for a
Torrance hospital as well as a charity kitchen
in central Los Angeles for over a decade.
Her father worked as the head of the Drama
Department at El Segundo High School, then
became a city councilmember in the early
1960s, and subsequently ran for Governor
of California against Edmund G. Brown Sr.
in the 1964 primary under the Democratic
ticket. Both of her parents taught at the local
schools for over 30-35 years during this time.
Bridget is a Southern California native
and lifelong artist. She had acquired her Associates
degree from El Camino College in
1973, then later her B.F.A. at the University
of California Los Angeles in 1975. She also
studied at the Art Center College of Design
as well as the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts.
For a brief time, Bridget was the Art Director
at Leo Burnett Ad Agency in Chicago in
1983, but ultimately returned to her first love:
painting. She did custom work for theater
film, television, theme parks, commercials,
and music videos. Some of the big names
include ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, KCET, Disney,
Universal, Paramount, and Warner Brothers.
She was even asked by Astronaut Lt. Col
Kevin P. Chilton, her former classmate, to
work on a commemorative painting for his
first NASA shuttle mission, the maiden voyage
of Endeavor.
We hope Bridget’s story can bring you
some inspiration to keep on finding ways to
give back to our community and to continue
to pursue your personal goals. We thank
Bridget, her family, as well as our incredible
neighbors for everything you do for our
community. As always, stay safe and keep
on fighting the good fight! •
Duffy Family