February 21
Eric Garcetti
"Why I Want to be Mayor"

President Dwight called the meeting to order with the greatest of ease. Brian Whitney led us in the Flag Salute, followed by Paul "Sinatra" Aslan with the Invocation.

Our Guests were Terry Tegnazian and Bob Whittle for our Merchant Minute and Safia Benyahia, who was chosen by our Global Grants Scholarship Committee to represent our club in the District Competition. Our speaker Bruce Torrence also brought his wife Chris.

'Admiral' Ed Gauld led us in a rousing round of "God Bless America" using his trusty right-hand chopstick.

Announcements:

• Pres Dwight had a correction for the Windmill (which several members swore they actually read): Don Park, PP Ed Jackson, and Phil Gabriel and his daughters were also judging at the Uni High Dance and Art Contests last week.
• PP Chris Bradford announced the successful conclusion of our Global Grants Scholarship work this year and introduced our nominee: Safia Benyahia.  An American and French citizen, she told us she grew up in France, speaks some German, and is graduating with her Bachelors in Theatre Arts from UCLA this spring.  She wants to attend the American University in Beirut next fall, focusing on political routes to world peace.  This is one of the six categories of study the GG Scholarships are aimed it.
• Pres Dwight reminded the members that the Sweethearts Luncheon is at Lawry's this Sunday, Feb. 10 at 12:30 and that they still can make a reservation on Clubrunner.

PE Mark Rogo introduced the Merchant Minute: Terry Tegnazian is a

"Pillar of the Westwood Community." She is President of the Westwood Hills Property Owners Association and put together the LA Musical Salon, a 501(c) 3 charitable organization that nurtures young talented musicians and gives them a venue to perform and interact with audiences and potential patrons. They have three upcoming shows, you can visit their website for more information or to purchase tickets.

Terry started Aquila Polonica Publishing, the only independent publisher headquartered in Westwood, to publish books about Polish history during World War II. The idea started while doing research for a book and she found so many amazing facts and stories about Poland during the war that were lost or suppressed under Stalin. They currently publish five books and a DVD, all of which has won one or more awards.

Mark Rogo followed by auctioning off two tickets to Saturday's LA Musical Salon concert at Skylight Gardens and a bottle of wine-SOLD for $150 to Marsha Hunt.

Pres Dwight told us that February is World Understanding Month at RI.  It is painful to consider all the news about our country's image in the Middle East, but we haven't given up.  Our club joined the San Francisco Chinatown club in a project to build computer labs and libraries in Lebanon last year.  This year, our Global Grants scholar candidate will attend the American University in Beirut to study political solutions toward world peace.  We are not just accepting the media's headlines because these are real people and events that matter.  RI is your link to the world, much of which is suffering and in conflict.  Watching the Parade of Flags with 40,000 other Rotarians  at the International Meeting last year in Bangkok was a Rotary Moment for him.  

Sally Brant, our Program Chair, was called to introduce our speaker. Bruce Torrence maintains an internationally-recognized collection of Hollywood photographs and memorabilia. He began his collection in 1972 with about thirty photographs. During the following thirty-three years, Bruce amassed over 12,000 photographs along with hundreds of books, brochures, periodicals and memorabilia of Hollywood. In 1979, Bruce's book, HOLLYWOOD: THE FIRST 100 YEARS was published. This 286-page coffee table book was the first to chronicle the history of the world's most famous community. Fully indexed, this masterpiece is richly illustrated with 325 historic photographs, many of which had never previously been published. Currently, Bruce is penning a book on another Hollywood legend -- the Hollywood Canteen.

Bruce opened by talking briefly about the subject of his current project. The Hollywood Canteen was run by Bettie Davis and John Garfield for three years during World War II. It was a place where servicemen could go to dance and mingle with Hollywood stars before being shipped overseas. Everyone who was allowed in had to work in the motion picture industry. In that short period it saw over three million servicemen and interestingly, was not segregated even though the armed forces were at the time.

Our speaker showed us many amazing photographs of the early years of Hollywood. Hollywood got its name in 1886, before which it was called the Cahuenga Valley. It was incorporated in 1903, but annexed into Los Angeles in 1910. Our speaker's first photographs were from his grandfather, who was a real estate developer in Hollywood in its early years, building many of Hollywood's landmarks, including the Chinese Theater.

He showed photos of Hollywood's first film company- the Nestor Film Co. Apparently in the early years, all filming was done outdoors, so the initial attraction to Los Angeles was because of its climate. The Nestor Film Co. opened in 1908, but within three years, there were 15 film companies in Hollywood.

The 1930's brought movies with sound, and he showed us how the cameras had to be encased in boxes because they were so loud the microphones would pick up the noise. It also brought the Pep Boys- Manny, Moe, and Jack. Our speaker showed us the original stars on the Walk of Fame, and several of the celebrities whose hand- and foot-prints are in cement outside the theater. As an aside, he mentioned that the original formulation for that cement died with its inventor, which is why earlier hand prints are so much better preserved than some of the later ones.

Our speaker ended his talk with the disrepair and subsequent rebuilding of the iconic Hollywood sign in 1978.

Next week: Michael Galvin, Director of Special Projects of the Port of Los Angeles

-YGE Colby Smith