World War II pilot Walter "Pat" Hollywood, a longtime Arcadia resident, celebrated Veterans Day and his 90th birthday yesterday. He was born in Pasadena in 1919 and served as an Army C-46 Commando pilot during World War II. He works out at the Fortanesce and Associates Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Center in Arcadia and walks for an hour at the Los Angeles County Arboretum every day.
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden has hired a new Chief Executive Officer named Dr. Mark Wourms. Wourms has a B.S. degree in botany from Ohio University, a Ph.D. in ecology and animal behavior from Boston University, and a certificate in business administration from New York University. He recently left the Kansas City Zoo, where he had been the zoo director since 1992.
Arcadia High School and University of Southern California graduate Bruce Matthews was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, August 4, 2007. He played for the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans.
University of Southern California (USC) teacher Sam Watters' two-volume book "Houses of Los Angeles 1885-1935" features 700 or so photographs of splendid Los Angeles homes. Twenty-two of the seventy-five houses listed come from Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, and La Canada Flintridge.
John Kemp, a native of Arcadia, will play for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program (NTDP). Kemp played for the Los Angeles Junior Kings last season.
Gifford P. Eastwood died unexpectedly on June 14, 1977. He had been associated with the Los Angeles Turf Club since 1946 and owned Arcadia Stationary on North First.
Arcadia resident Bob Wieland, 62, lost both legs in the Vietnam War, but that didn't stop him from majoring in physical education at California State University Los Angeles. He has walked on his hands and biked across the United States, competed in 6 marathons, completed a triathlon, and set world weight-lifting records. He will be inducted into the California Powerlifting Hall of Fame today.
A Scots or Scottish pioneer Hugo Reid, came to Southern California in 1832, from Scotland. He was the first private owner of Rancho Santa Anita and an elementary in Arcadia carries his name.
Robert Seares, born in Pasadena in 1909, had an amazing career as a journalist, photographer, and police official. He was chief of police in Arcadia and remained there for 15 years until retirement. He wrote a memoir called "Eighty Years: a Memoir." A copy is in the Pasadena Museum of History library.
The Association is asking the Los Angeles Division of the League of California Cities to back a resolution calling for a state wide study of urban-county reform.
Arcadia resident Thomas V. McKernan, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Automobile Club of California, has been elected president of the non-profit Los Angeles Police Foundation, which was created to help fund police safety programs.
Obituary/death notice. Radio personality and singer Veeva "Suzy" Hamblen has died at the age of 101, in Santa Clarita, California. She and husband Stuart Hamblen (died 1989), also a radio entertainer, had a ranch in Arcadia for many years and were known as some of the leading trainers at Santa Anita Race Track in the late 1940s. Stuart and Veeva rode their Peruvian Paso horses in the Rose Parade from 1979 to 1989. Veeva was also famous as a gospel songwriter.
William Norgaard of Temple City celebrates his 106th birthday. He came from Denmark and owned the Daily Home Bakery at 1820 Marengo Street in Los Angeles for 38 years, starting in 1959. The Norgaard family lived in Los Angeles, Alhambra, Pasadena, and Arcadia over the years.
Actor Doris Roberts from TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond" was the keynote speaker at a conference on aging at the Arcadia Community Center. It was sponsored by the Los Angeles Commission for Woman and the County Commission on Aging.