The hard-fought contest ended in a 1-1 draw.
Graves scored the sole goal for her team.
]]>Winning kids were, front row from left, Noah Hagerstand (boys division), Allyson Tan (girls division), and Joshua Tan (Allyson’s brother).
Congratulations, kids!
]]>Pinewood Derby, you say.
Been there, done that?
Seen it all?
Maybe not.
The Pinewood Derby held in Garden Grove recently rivaled the Long Beach Grand Prix — well, in miniature — with flags, actual Nascar tires donated by the Irwindale Speedway and signs relating to car racing.
George Shearer of Garden Grove is the master-mind of the annual event for Cub Scouts, all Wolves, Bears and Webelos.
Shearer was the Cub master for Garden Grove Pack No. 548 from 2003 to 2014 and now is the ad hoc Pinewood Derby go-to-person.
“I’ve been in scouting since I was 8 years old and I’m an Eagle Scout,” said Shearer; “I came from a scouting family. My mother was involved on the council level. My boys also participated in the scouting programs, so I’ve been working with Scouts for more than 30 years and doing the Pinewood Derby for the Garden Grove LDS Stake since 2003.”
Shearer said he decided he was going to make the Pinewood Derby interesting and fun and so he began promoting it through the automotive-parts industry to raise money.
“I received donations of money, posters, banners and fliers. With the money, we were able to purchase the $500 aluminum race track we use, that’s 32-feet long,” he said.
Some big name suppliers who helped the Garden Grove Derby look top-notch professional include Federal Mogul Performance & Racing Parts, Goodyear tires, Nascar (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), Wagner Brake Components, Valvoline Oil and several smaller speed-shop suppliers.
No detail was overlooked by Shearer.
The track has an electronic finish-line controlled by a computer, so there’s no guessing as to who wins each heat. Each Cub Scout gets to race his hand-made car three times, once on each of the three tracks on the raceway, then points are tallied to find the top three winners overall, with a final race to determine the one top winner and then trophies are awarded. “
Twenty-one Cub Scouts participated.
“I set the track up the same way each year and hang flags from the ceiling the same way also, for consistency,” Shearer said. “And I like to keep the sign-in table in the same corner to keep it organized and to move the Scouts in and out of check-in quickly.”
Shearer said the Pinewood Derby is yet another activity for Scouts that provides help with the development of boys.
“They learn good sportsmanship and it’s a hands-on-building project with a family member, generally their father,” he said. “The boys sand the wood and paint and decorate the car, which encompasses so much in the way of a hands-on activity.”
Shearer said there are many different Cub Scout packs involved throughout the area and that he wanted to make sure the derby was a fun event for the whole family. That support was evident as not only parents, but grandparents and friends showed up to cheer the boys on.
“The Boy Scouts of America is a good organization for boys 7 to 10 years of age and we encourage them to join a local Cub Scout pack,” said Shearer. “Outside of the scouting program, there is also a National Pinewood Derby Association that boys can join.”
For those interested, there’s a Boy Scouts of America website on the Internet that lists all of the local Cub Packs and Boy Scouts in the area.
Cub and Boy Scouts are generally sponsored by schools and/or churches.
The Friday-night heat was sponsored by the LDS Church in their Valley View Building in Garden Grove and took in the cities of Garden Grove, Stanton, Westminster and some of Anaheim and Cypress. One Samoan family lives in Costa Mesa but travels to Garden Grove to attend church in the LDS Samoan Garden Grove 2nd Ward and also to have their Cub Scout boys participate with the other Scouts in Garden Grove.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Kyle Brodowski, a councilor in the Valley View building, and a real “master” of the art, drawing the boys in with a few questions here and there to keep their attention.
]]>The winning team from La Quinta will go on to compete at a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) sponsored eSport tournament on Nov. 11 at the University of California, Irvine.
Nearly 125 La Quinta High School students competed in a cutting-edge eSport tournament held at the school last week.
The winning team from La Quinta will go on to compete at a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) sponsored eSport tournament on Nov. 11 at the University of California, Irvine.
“It is exciting to see CIF expand its reach and sponsor this new genre of eSports, which continue to gain popularity from young people across the nation,” said Denise Halstead, La Quinta High School principal. “The high school experience is evolving by the day and we are committed to offering students so many new and different opportunities to get involved.”
La Quinta’s League of Legends video game competition attracted 25 teams of 100 students with Team Rizette taking first place. Students on the winning team who will compete at UCI, include Mikey Nguyen, Louis Le, Randy Chung, William Le, and Brandan Tran.
The school’s classrooms, cafeteria and multipurpose room on any of the given nights were filled with students watching a live broadcast of the competition.
]]>It's summertime, and the temperature is rising outside. What better way to cool off than in a nice big swimming pool?
Garden Grove offers three swimming facilities: the Gary Hall Pool in Eastgate Park, Magnolia Park Pool and the Woodbury Park Pool.
There's recreational swim time and lesson time.
Enjoying some recreational swimming this week were brothers Phyodore, 4, and Phoelyx, 6, who were accompanied by their father, Patrick Lu of Garden Grove.
BY LOREEN BERLIN:
It's summertime, and the temperature is rising outside. What better way to cool off than in a nice big swimming pool?
Garden Grove offers three swimming facilities: the Gary Hall Pool in Eastgate Park, Magnolia Park Pool and the Woodbury Park Pool.
There's recreational swim time and lesson time.
Enjoying some recreational swimming this week were brothers Phyodore, 4, and Phoelyx, 6, who were accompanied by their father, Patrick Lu of Garden Grove.
"This is my first time this year to be at the pool, but the boys have been here before with their mom," said Lu. "The pool is really safe because the lifeguards watch out for the kids and tell them, 'No running,' and give them proper discipline."
Also enjoying recreational swimming was Xander, 8, whose Westminster grandmother, Sandra Aarvig said she sees that he gets pool time every day so he keeps busy during the summer.
"They always have three or four lifeguards who watch the kids closely and see that the kids follow the rules," said Aarvig. "My grandson loves it here and there are really nice kids here at the pool for him to associate with."
Aarvig said Xander started out by bringing safe pool toys to share with others to make friends.
Two Garden Grove sisters, Faith, 10, and Hope, 8, are taking swimming lessons at the Gary Hall Pool. Asked what they like about the pool, their response was, "This pool has warm water and it's bigger than others we've been to. This is our fourth day of swimming lessons."
The sisters noted that last year they were "Guppies" (level 2 for 6-13 year olds} at the Magnolia Park Pool.
Their mom, Juliet Campbell, said her daughters want people to know that they love going to the Gary Hall Pool because it's so big and that the teachers are friendly, "And let you go to the bathroom whenever you need to, and they like how the lifeguards say, 'No running,' because it keeps people safe."
Warm water seems to be a big hit at the Gary Hall Pool.
"They also like Eastgate Park because it has a fun playground and basketball court with a lot of room for trees to grow and for kids to run and play," said Campbell. "I would like to say that this is the second year I've enrolled the girls in the Garden Grove Aquatics Summer program because it's the most affordable that I've found at $50 a class and it's conveniently located."
The girl's teacher, Water Safety Instructor Melissa Bell, said that private lessons last 40 minutes, where students are taught safe swimming practices and they focus on the basics of swimming skills. Students learn what to do if they fall into a pool and also what steps they should take if someone else needs help in the pool, with the objective of swim lessons to teach safety to children in a fun and positive atmosphere.
Lifeguards take instructional courses to become certified; they need to know First Aid and CPR/AED, among other skills.
Children 6 months and older, plus adults, can take private, semi-private and group lessons. The lower the age of a child, the lower number of students in the swim classes and swimming is something children will remember for a life time.
The pool is named for Gary Hall, 66, who gained Olympic fame, and also grew up in Garden Grove; he's a former competition swimmer who made it a point to swim every day after his medical classes. He and his son, Gary Jr., formed "The Race Club," swimming club.
Recreational swimming in Garden Grove's pools goes through Sunday, Aug. 20 at the Magnolia pool and Sunday, Sept. 3 at the Gary Hall Pool. The fee for recreational swimming is $2 per visit for children 3years and older; a punch pass is $18 for 10 visits or $45 for 25 visits.
For more information, call the Community Services Department at 714-741-5200.
]]>Although it had rained through the night, Saturday dawned with a little sunshine and lots of clouds with teams dressed in their respective uniforms, looking very official.
BY LOREEN BERLIN: West Garden Grove Youth Baseball and West Grove Girls Softball held their opening day Saturday morning. It began with a parade starting at Edgar Park and culminated at Bell Intermediate School for baseball and Enders Elementary for softball.
Although it had rained through the night, Saturday dawned with a little sunshine and lots of clouds with teams dressed in their respective uniforms, looking very official.
However, the playing fields, even though protected by being covered, needed extra time to dry out. The only drawback was each participating group would start one-hour later, but other than that, all proceeded as planned.
Parade cars were provided by the Model T Club of Long Beach.
During the opening ceremonies, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Boy Scout Troop No. 1103 and Cub Pack No. 271, followed by Miss Garden Grove Missy Mendoza singing the National Anthem.
Mayor Steve Jones was the Grand Marshal for the parade and was also asked to give some opening remarks, which included, "Have a wonderful season; have fun and play fair.”
California State Sen. Janet Nguyen was on hand for the opening ceremonies. She noted that baseball has been a favorite American pastime since the 1800s when baseball was played in back yards.
Nguyen asked the young participants to give their parents a "hand" for all of their help.
"It's a team effort," she said. "Your parents and all of the volunteers and your coaches do this because they love you and want to help you learn teamwork. I echo what the mayor said: play fair, have fun and make friends for life.”
In attendance were Garden Grove city council members John O'Neil, Kris Beard, Stephanie Klopfenstein and Kimberly Nguyen, along with Garden Grove Unified School District Superintendent Gabriela Mafi and school principals from Enders, Garden Park and Patton.
Also in attendance was softball Olympic gold medalist Amanda Freed, who is a Garden Grove Pacifica High School alumni and former Pacifica varsity softball team member. She was also a UCLA Bruin.
Local Garden Grover Carly Hatcher Dalton said she stepped up to Freed and introduced herself, remembering the time she played against Freed while attending Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach.
"I remember how super-excited I was to play against Amanda Freed, because our coach had prepared us for how good of a player she was," Hatcher-Dalton said. "I played against Freed in my freshman year and got a hit off of her!”
The opening day ceremonies is sponsored by the City of Garden Grove, which provides the mobile stage and police officers to block-off streets for the parade.
All of the youth teams were announced and acknowledged by West Garden Grove Baseball President Terry Anderson and Auxiliary President Joi Stewart.
Six baseball players read a poem from the stage. It was titled “He is just a little Boy," and the poem’s author is not known:
He stands at the plate, with his heart pounding fast.
The bases are loaded, the die has been cast.
Mom and Dad cannot help him, he stands all alone.
A hit at this moment, would send the team home.
The ball meets the plate, he swings and he misses.
There's a groan from the crowd, with some boos and hisses.
A thoughtless voice cries, Strike out the bum!
Tears fill his eves, the game's no longer fun.
So open your heart and give him a break. For it's moments like this,
a man you can make.
Please keep this in mind, when you hear someone forget.
He is just a little boy, and not a man yet.
]]>And there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.
Could we see an all-Garden Grove finals in CIF playoff action?
Who knows?
One thing's for sure: our teams are peaking at the right time.
The Pacifica High softball team scored three runs in the first inning and never let Long Beach Poly into the game as they Mariners rolled to an 8-0 win in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs last Thursday at Pacifica.
BY TED APODACA: Garden Grove girls softball teams are on a roll.
And there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.
Could we see an all-Garden Grove finals in CIF playoff action?
Who knows?
One thing's for sure: our teams are peaking at the right time.
The Pacifica High softball team scored three runs in the first inning and never let Long Beach Poly into the game as they Mariners rolled to an 8-0 win in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs last Thursday at Pacifica.
Hannah Boos pitched seven innings, scattering six hits with seven strikeouts. Junior Hannah Martinez was 3 for 3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Irieanna Naea was 2 for 3 with a home run, double, two RBI and two runs scored. Jaymee Campbell, Dejah Mulipola and Alison Seng also drove in runs for the Mariners
In other softball news, Garden Grove High beat Flintridge Sacred Heart in the first round of playoffs
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Candelas pitched a five inning three-hitter to help the Garden Grove softball team to a 12-1 win over Flintridge in the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs last Thursday at Garden Grove High.
Senior Alyssa Fernandez was 3 for 3 with three RBI to lead the offense. Sophomore Andrea Corrigan drove in three runs as well. The Argonauts advanced to the second round.
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