2013 Long Beach Y Strong Kids Campaign and the Youth Institute
As many will recall, when my wife Karen Dinning Gibbs passed away in November 2011, I requested donations be made to four organizations in her memory. One of them was the Greater Long Beach Y Community Development Branch for their Youth Institute. Over the last several months, I have served as the annual campaign chair for the Long Beach Y Community Development branch to help raise $80,000 as part of the greater Long Beach Y $800,000 annual campaign. We are getting close to our goal to benefit this nationally and locally recognized "At Risk Youth" after school and summer programs managed by the LB Y CD Branch. Tomorrow night at the Victory Dinner, I would like to announce that we have reached our goal.
Pictured above is Bonnie Lowenthal then Long Beach City Council member (now Assembly member) providing recognition from the City of Long Beach to the Youth Institute for engaging Long Beach youth and getting them to stay in school. The award is being accepted by Long Beach Y Vice President Bob Cabeza. Google even recognized this program several years ago and made a grant to the program to help teach teens how to be safe online.
The LB Y Youth Institute technology program was replicated last summer at a dozen Ys in California and other USA locations with help in California from their Emerging Technology Fund. Purpose of the summer program is to engage teens in digital movie making technology and build bridges across different cultures and lifelong learning skills. Teens learn how to develop a story, then work in teams to storyboard, write scripts, act, film and edit, compose original music and title animation, and celebrate the completion of the 5 minute live action short or documentary at their own film festival or shown below as a slide show (use prior link for those with an Ipad).
My pictures above and on Flickr demonstrate the diversity of this program.
With a desire to keep this short, please take a look at the Youth Institute site, and consider making a donation of any size by going to this Long Beach Y Strong Kids donation site. In the drop down menu's indicate that the donation is for the Community Development branch, and you will also find my name as a campaigner. Thanks for looking at these links and cosidering a donation to the Long Beach Y Strong Kids Campaign on behalf of the Community Development Brach and their Youth Institute. And as Bob Cabeza would say. PEACE.
My Eulogy for My Wife Karen Dinning Gibbs (1-4-53 to 11-19-11)
Curtis Gibbs eulogy for My Wife Karen Dinning Gibbs 11-23-11
Thank you for being here to honor my wife Karen and to support me, my family, and my closest friends who are also like family.I have known Karen since I was 15 at Venice high school where we met in 11th grade French.That was the only class we ever had together.On a whim and a chance I asked Karen to go to the Judy Collins concert at UCLA with me.Little did I know that Judy Collins was Karen’s favorite music artist.That semester marked the beginning of a friendship that lasted for 43 years, including 29 years of marriage, and 32 years living together.During that spring of 1969, we were companions going to movies, picnics, and discussing our dreams in life.Even at that age I learned that Karen had exceptional cooking and baking skills, such that she was bringing homemade brioches to school.
Our discussions over the last year have revolved around Karen’s desire to retire from her professional life and spend her time fixing our historic California bungalow, gardening, canning, sewing, scrapbooking,and helping shoshanah plan a wedding.Who knows what other projects she had in mind.And notice there is nothing about travel here.Maybe because we had already done so much, or maybe it was because it was a given that we would be travelling to Louisiana every six months, and that was a country onto itself.In the last 5 and a half years, all post Katrina, Karen and I visited Louisiana eleven times, and we would joke with Shoshanah that we had seen more of the state than she.
But getting back to Karen’s desire to retire.Karen loved working for Jewish Family Service Los Angeles.She loved the people, her job, and its mission.But Karen was frustrated that she had to wait for social security in order to retire, and thus wanted to win the California lottery to retire in style and write a big fat check to JFSLA.
From the beginning we have had very similar music tastes along with our passion for food.In fact our first two years living together in Seal Beach was cooking our way one country at a time thru The Complete Asian Cookbook by Indian-Australian Charmaine Solomon, the definitive Asian cookbook at that time, now considered a classic.But when it came to reading, we for the most part had very different interests.Yes there were some travel books we both read like the ones on Provence along with both of us having read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings back in high school.And then without encouragement from her, I noticed the Hunger Games trilogy that she had just read on loan from Shoshanh, which I picked up and devoured.Very troubling but first rate young adult fiction now being made into a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence from Winter’s Bone.
But there was one book series she couldn’t understand why I hadn’t read and that was Harry Potter, especially since Shoshanah had discovered Harry Potter as an American first edition at Borders.Shoshanah told Karen that this book would be great for her brother Joshua.No one had heard of Harry Potter in America yet.Just Shoshanah.No wonder she is a book critic on her blog today, and possibly discovering the next Harry Potter or Hunger Games, while Joshua masters the healing arts.
So when Karen left the Long Beach Jewish Federation seven years ago, we became carpool and public transit buddies, on her way to Jewish Family Service in Beverly Hills.Boy was she glad when JFS moved to Koreatown, so she wouldn’t have to ride the Wilshire Rapid Bus which felt like third world service due to the overcrowding and the awful road conditions of Wilshire.The sooner we get our subway to the sea the better.Thus Karen was ecstatic when JFS moved to Koreatown.Only the Redline to work, after transferring from the Blue Line.
Anyway, back to Harry Potter.I told Karen that I would read the books, but we were going to do it by audio books during our carpool commuting time.It took us about 3 weeks per book to get through all seven, thus it turned out to be a six month project.The audio version with Mr. Dale doing all of the parts is like seeing the movies on steroids.After finishing a book in the car, we would then watch the movie.I am so glad Karen got to see book 7 on the screen.
We actually grew closer on these car rides, so close that I told Karen she would be taking thoughts right out of my brain, even with no outside stimuli.In addition, she would get annoyed at me, such that I would be having a conversation in my brain with her, and I would then speak in mid-sentence.Karen would say, what is going on, where is the first part of the sentence.I actually thought I was talking to her.
Our music interests and food interests evolved over the years such that the Stagecoach Music Festival for four years running was a major highlight. In addition to the music, we loved the barbeque competition. Karen adored the pictures that I took of country music stars such as Taylor Swift, Neko Case, Sara Watkins, and others which will take me to the next story.
So several years ago at Stagecoach, Miranda Lambert was playing on the Mane Stage and the stars of the former LA based punk band X, Exene Cervenkaand John Doe were playing on one of the smaller stages with their country western band the Knitters.I wanted to take pictures of Miranda Lambert, and Karen along with her best friend Carol wanted to go see the Knitters.We went our separate ways, reuniting back at the Mane Stage later, and Karen said that I missed perhaps the greatest performance ever at Stagecoach.She said I had made a big mistake.
Anyway, a high school friend of mine also recently died.Scott Wannberg who in some ways is the John Fante of our time.I went to a memorial reading and party for Scott at Beyond Baroque and who should be there but Exene as her former husband Vigo Mortensen was Scott’s poetry publisher and Exene was a personal friend of Scott’s.Exene would be reading a poem later in the afternoon about Scott.And coincidentally, I had recently taken pictures of Exene at the Prospector around the corner from our house due to a heads up from Alice Wallace who will be playing for you and the end of this service.
So I told Exene that I was there at the Propsector taking pictures when she was raising funds for the spay and neutering clinic in Long Beach, and I proceeded to tell Exene how I had gone to see Miranda Lambert instead of her and John Doe for the Knitter’s performance. And how Karen thought I had made a major mistake. Exene then told me that sometimes one has to learn from their mistakes in life.And then she said to me. “Who is Miranda Lambert?”
TO BE READ BY RABBI LAIBSON FOR ME.IT IS TWO FINAL MOMENTS OF KAREN’S LIFE AND WHAT I WROTE IN KAREN’S VENICE HIGH SCHOOL ANNUALYEAR BOOK IN JUNE 1969
The last thing Karen did before she consented on her own to go on the ventilator was to order three Nicolette Larson CDs on my Ipad.Without my Ipad at the hospital, which was my lifesaver at Long Beach Memorial and was a vital communication link to the outside world, I would have gone nuts.I recently nominated the Hospital IT department for an Applause award for their blazing fast WiFi hotspot during the one month at the hospital.
The other final action was something Karen had started six months ago, in support of her sustainability goals.She had ordered and configured a 2011 Nissan LEAF, including color. This is a 100% electric vehicle.The car arrived at the dealership, three days after she went on 90 day disability.I asked Karen how in the world are we going to take on lease or car payments.Disability payments will run out in 90 days, and who knows, wemay have a told loss of your income before you might get put on permanent disability.Karen said.I really want this car, and we will find a way to make those lease payments.So I signed the lease documents, all in my name, since Karen was not up to going with me to the dealer.Yes she test drove a LEAF.Yes she road in our new LEAF.But she never drove her dream car.
Anyway, this is what I wrote as a 11th grader in Karen Dinning’s Venice high school annual.I was already smitten with Karen, but a relationship was not to occur until 10 years later.
Karen -For some strange reason I like to be the first to write on a blank page. Maybe it symbolizes something in my character and maybe it doesn’t.I really could say a lot as the “files” in your mind can tell you.At the moment I think this should be written in such a way that it will mean something in the distant future.No matter how your philosophy is, you will always be a friend to me.Maybe one day we will be able to relate to each other with an understanding that has not existed for the 20 weeks I have known you.Then maybe you can reclassify me in your mind.Even though you think of me as being pessimistic and having no passion in being able to go all the way, one day I shall prove differently to you. Because I suppose that I managed to keep a part of me hidden from you.Maybe you shall one day see through it, and discover an aspect of me presently unknown to you.I am sorry that I proved to be a person with unrealistic ideas in regards to you, as I didn’t mean to. I sincerely wish you all the luck in the world in your private and public life..Make those dreams come true.
Curtis Gibbs
P.S. Sorry I wrote so much, but there are really a lot of thoughts locked up in my mind from the past 20 weeks of my association with you.
While visiting ryolite Nevada, Joshua noticed a sign for hot springs five miles north of beatty Nevada. Thus joshua added another hot springs to his visit list. Bailey's hot spring and RV Park which is for sale had 3 large private baths for rent at $5 a person for 45 minutes. The medium heat was available which was around the temperature of a hot tub.
So if ever out in the middle of nowhere Nevada - 120 miles north of Las Vegas near the northern entrance to death valley, take a relaxing mineral spring bath.
This is a test of this free android blogger application. I am out in armagosa valley near back door of death valley. A must stopover when coming from socal is the mad Greek in Baker. Here you can see a pix that i earlier loaded on facebook of my gyro breakfast. Wonder if there is an easy way to share this post onto twitter.
Been travelling 2 weeks now, and I have been posting to the Gibbs family private blog. I did do a blog posting on ExperienceLA about Paris going green. While in Paris I stumbled upon this 100 year anniversary trip of Fiat winning the Paris to Peking Road trip. They are recreating it, and there was a press conference today. I think they thought I was part of the press. I have 3 pictures posted up on Flickr.
Karen andI made it off the QM2 early this morning and caught the 9 am train to London from Southampton. By choosing to carry off our own bags, we were able to leave the ship at any time, rather than having to wait until 10:30 am for our assigned deboarding.
I have one picture on Karen's camera of the QM2 on the dock at Southampton which I took from the taxi on the way to the Southampton train station. We rode a new train into London Waterloo Station which took around 1 hour 20 minutes. From there we rode the tube out to East London to our trendy Hoxton Hotel, but we choose the wrong tube station, as it was closed for repair causing us to go to another one. Then rode in one of the classic London cabs for the short distance to the hotel.
The picture above is of me relaxing on the first day out on the Queen Mary 2, one of only a couple days of sunny weather. However, the seas were flat.
A Blog that will slowly evolve to track my travels, both here and abroad. A history of my overseas experiences and pictures can be found right now on Flickr as ExperienceLA. You can also find video on YouTube as TrekNTravel and follow me on Twitter as trekntravel and Facebook and LinkedIn. I am also an admin on the the FB group The Hippie Trail.
Founder of ExperienceLA.com and ExperienceLA WiFi. Travelled overland around the world in 1977 - 1979. Several pictures from those travels have been published in the London Sunday Times Magazine and other publications.
Combined my interest in travel and promoting Los Angeles to launch www.experiencela.com in July 2003 as a public service of many government agencies. Web site promotes public transit and cultural tourism in greater Los Angeles. Also, includes official Los Angeles County Cultural Events calendar which is a feed into the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau website.
Back in the 1980's, used to volunteer leading workshops in travel in Europe and Asia. Also, on How to Work Your Way Around the World. This was for American Youth Hostels - Los Angeles Council now known as Hostelling International. Organized travel fair that hosted Tony and Maureen Wheeler from Lonely PIanet Books. Maureen gave workshop on travelling with children. Had a chance to meet with Tony Wheeler again after the 2004 LA Times Travel Show which resulted in Tony introducing me to Rory Maclean author of The Magic Bus.
I have been told many times that I look like Steven Spielberg.
