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TORRANCE TRIBUNE August 17, 2017 Page 5
TerriAnn in Torrance
Summerfest 2017 is Upon Us in Downtown Torrance!
By TerriAnn Ferren
Summerfest is the brainchild of Chef
Michael Shafer, owner of the historic Depot
Restaurant in downtown Torrance. When I
asked him recently how Summerfest began,
he waxed nostalgic and told me, “It got
started 10 to 15 years ago--more than that
probably--where I just wanted to have a party
like the parties we had when I was young
at the end of the summer. We would have
a big block party. Everybody came out and
one of the local bands would play at somebody’s
house and it became this great end of
summer community thing.” He remembers it
was a big thing, and they had a communal
barbecue and everyone contributed with one
of the fathers acting as grill master, while
the mothers sat around and talked. He also
told me someone would usually get a blender
going for whisky sours…and they also had an
end of summer parade. Chef told me about
cars in the parade…and he remembers one
crazy guy in particular who had a hearse with
a fake skeleton in the back as if to say we
are burying the summer. “Crazy stuff like
that and done with such community pride. It
was a simpler time. Nobody had cell phones,
nobody had Internet. We played outside,”
added Chef Shafer. At that time, Labor Day
officially marked the end of summer, and
then all the kids would go back to school.
Chef Shafer told me he wanted Summerfest
to reflect that feeling.
Listening to Chef Shafer talk about his
memories of old-fashioned block parties
brought back memories of my own neighborhood
block parties. Obviously, it must have
Chef Michael Shafer. Leslie Cortez.
been the same with families and neighborhoods
on both coasts, with Chef Shafer in Buffalo,
New York, and me in Torrance, California.
Although I don’t remember any live bands,
we did have music--probably from someone’s
radio. Potluck was the menu of the day and
I remember, fondly, it was fun playing in the
middle of the street. New friends were made
and neighbors enjoyed each other’s company.
One big difference between the oldfashioned
block parties and the updated
Summerfest event (besides now having
to get permits to close streets) lies in the
philanthropy. As with nearly everything
Chef Shafer does, he started Summerfest
with the goal of fun, yes, but he also wanted
to raise money for local non-profits. This
big-hearted, community-minded, talented
chef has orchestrated the Summerfest event
benefiting countless organizations through
the years.
This year, proceeds from the event will
benefit the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce
Junior Leadership Program, which
begins this fall. “This program will be a Junior
Leadership Torrance program mirrored after
the Chamber’s Leadership Torrance program.
The net proceeds from Summerfest will be
designated, through the foundation to the
Junior Leadership Program. We are thrilled
Chef Shafer has provided this wonderful
opportunity to us,” said Donna Duperron,
President and CEO of the Torrance Area
Chamber of Commerce.
Sophomore students, selected by faculty
of the Torrance Unified School District,
will have the honor of experiencing and
learning about local city, state and national
government--and how it all works--including
a trip to Sacramento, plus historical tours of
the city of Torrance, courtesy of the Torrance
Historical Society, a peek into the workings
of our local hospitals, and tours through some
of the most important businesses located
in town, along with many other activities.
Under Program Directors Leslie Cortez
and Bill Samp, and Vice Chair Jennifer
Donna Duperrron, CEO of Torrance Chamber of Commerce. See TerriAnn, page 6
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
Murder in Charlottesville a Tragic
Reminder We Must Always Be Vigilant
By Cristian Vasquez
It’s heartbreaking that Heather Heyer, the
victim of Neo-Nazi rage, lost her life in Charlottesville
during the weekend because of the
savage behavior of an unhinged racist. However,
it is infuriating that the President of the United
States must have his arm bent in order for him
to place blame where it belongs: with violent
Neo-Nazi groups. I’ll be clear and state that
President Trump did not give birth to these
extreme racist groups. They have existed in one
form or another throughout our nation’s history.
These groups usually hide and only expose their
ignorance when they have a compelling reason
to make noise. The problem we have today is
that President Donald Trump is their reason
to come out in full force. And the President’s
refusal to directly call out these radical racists
for their actions is not only disgusting, but it
empowers the very scourge that killed Heyer.
After this weekend’s horrible events, let’s
stop using the label “Alt-Right” and identify
these groups for what they are: racist Neo-
Nazi groups. The longer decent Americans
continue to call racists “Alt-Right” supporters
instead of Neo-Nazis, the more these racists
are normalized and empowered. Let’s stop
sugarcoating our own reality. People like
Richard Spencer, David Duke and suspected
murderer James Alex Fields, Jr. are racist.
These three animals want nothing less than a
homogenous state--and the murder of Heyer is
only a small sample of what they are willing
to do. When the President of the United States
fails to directly condemn the actions of these
groups, the racists are empowered.
This argument isn’t hollow rhetoric either.
Neo-Nazi supporters across the country
see President Trump as that inspiration to
come out of hiding. In a video shot during
the Charlottesville “Unite the Right”
rally, Duke is recorded saying that he and
his like-minded supporters are determined
to take the country back: “We are going to
fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s
what we believed in, that’s why we voted for
Donald Trump. Because he said he’s going to
take our country back.” Duke said these words.
So it’s not paranoia from the left. It’s not an
unfounded accusation by fake news. These
are the words of a prominent racist leader
to describe how they feel about our current
President. The only thing more disgusting
than Duke’s believes is Trump’s reluctance to
condemn people like Duke.
The President condemning these actions and
ideologies is not going to eradicate them from
our country. However, it does make it clear that
such behaviors and actions are unacceptable,
which in turn will stop normalizing racism. We,
as a society, need to stop calling the Spencers,
Dukes and Fields of the world anything less
than what they are: racist. There is no “Alt-
Right”--because hard-working, kind-hearted,
God-fearing conservatives do not support these
fringe behaviors. Alt-Right is a term used to
lie to ourselves about the reality of this new
wave of racism, and it must be stopped. Since
the President won’t take them to task, then
it’s up to us. •
Fear and Loathing in Washington,
D.C. and Around the World
By Duane Plank
My summer reading list included some of
the works of the prolific “Gonzo” journalist,
the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, who often
opined on the political scene. Not a fan of most
politicians, he labeled most pols as “swine.”
My introduction to the writings of Dr.
Thompson, who penned multiple tomes for
Rolling Stone magazine when he wasn’t wasted
on alcohol, illegal drugs, or obsessing about
firearms, (or maybe he was wasted when he
wrote?) came via my son Phillip, who was
tasked to read the Thompson masterpiece Fear
and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 when
he was attending UCSB.
Phil knows of my passion for politics and
suggested I read Thompson’s seminal book on
the run-up to the Richard M. Nixon electoral
massacre of the well-meaning, but overmatched
George S. McGovern in the first presidential
election of the 1970s.
This was a period when the perennially
paranoid Nixon was forced to deal with the
fallout when some of his henchmen decided to
break into the Watergate Hotel in D.C. to glean
some intel about the soon-to-be down-the tubes
McGovern campaign. What a waste of time.
Electoral score: Nixon 520, McGovern, 17.
McGovern had about as much chance of defeating
an incumbent President as some neophyte
politician and maverick business guy named
“The Donald” did running against the Hillary
Clinton “machine” and the pseudo-criminals
like Congress gal Debbie Wassermann Schultz,
who stacked the deck against the insurgent
campaign of outsider Bernie Sanders.
There are current rumblings about improprieties
in the Sanders household, including some
possible shady dealings involving Sanders’ wife,
Jane, who is the subject of an FBI investigation
because of alleged shady financially dealings
surrounding a now-defunct college with which
she was involved.
Shocker! Do you remember how the Monica
Lewinsky “Devil in the Blue Dress” imbroglio
came to light? The investigation of Slick Willie
Clinton and Hillary began as a poke into
financial shenanigans that the couple had
allegedly masterminded back in the day. A
special prosecutor was assigned to delve into
the alleged financial tomfoolery.
Bill and Hill never faced prosecution
for possible skimming and scamming. Sound
familiar--a Clinton profiting because of
political position? While the Whitewater investigation
of Clinton fizzled, it spilled over
into other areas of his life. Special counsel
Ken Starr stumbled upon the fact that the
42nd President was becoming chummy with
a chubby intern at the White House, which
led to impeachment proceedings.
A special counsel should not nearly be
being able to bring down a sitting President
because of personal peccadilloes, but if I am
Donald Trump and they are investigating the
ruse that is Russian collusion, I would fear
that special counsel Robert Mueller and his
minions who all supported Hillary may find
nothing Russia-related, but stumble onto some
other alleged impropriety that Rachel Maddow
would scream was an impeachable offense.
With that swine Kim Jong Un threatening to
bomb Guam and detonate WWW III, don’t we
all have something a little more important to
focus our attention on these days? Nuclear war?
Now that is something to “Fear and Loathe.” • Visit us online: www.heraldpublications.com