TORRANCE TRIBUNE August 18, 2016 Page 7 Wow, what a fun-filled, educationally packed, amazing time these special students will have with all their activities, not to mention the bonds being made with their host families of the City of Torrance who open their homes and hearts to our sister city, Kashiwa. So, if you see the student delegation touring around town, be sure and say ‘konnichiwa’, which means, ‘hello’ in Japanese. Fostering Aki Tsurukame, translator, Kirk Rossberg, owner of Torrance Bakery, Butch Ihde and Jen Hirashiki, adult leaders. international friendship, love and hospitality have been the earmarks of the Sister City Program, joining the City of Torrance, California and the City of Kashiwa, Japan in a very special way for over 40 years. And I will join Jen Hirashiki when she said, “And let’s hope they don’t have any ‘re-routes’ on their way home.” ‘Sayonara’, until we meet again. • TerriAnn in Torrance A Visit From Japan Story and Photos by TerriAnn Ferren Every morning I awake to the sound of the early morning news broadcast from a local radio station. This particular Monday morning, as I crawled out of bed, I heard about a Delta Air Lines global computer system outage. Wondering what could have caused the hiccup, I was thankful I wasn’t flying Delta that particular morning. But little did I know at the time, eight students and one adult leader from Kashiwa, Japan were caught in the middle of the fiasco. This group of exchange students, leaving Tokyo, Japan on a direct flight to Los Angeles, was caught in the middle of the problem when the computers crashed. Every year since 1973, the City of Torrance and the City of Kashiwa, Japan have enjoyed a sister city partnership with the goal of furthering and fostering international friendship and a sharing of cultures. This was the day the City of Kashiwa was sending their delegation to Torrance. This was a huge problem. How do you fly into Los Angeles and make your way to Torrance for a jam-packed two weeks of activities when your plane is grounded? That must have weighed heavy on the heart of Seiichi Miyata, the adult leader, and his band of exchange students; Miki Akita, Megumi Arai, Minori Hisanaga, Yuki Katsuuma, Shiori Murakami, Karin Osawa, Kanami Tsukada, and Rina Yamada. I spoke with Torrance adult leader, Jen Hirashiki who told me, “They were on the Delta flight - and they were supposed to have the Tokyo to LAX flight – but they were re-routed to Detroit, and from Detroit to Las Vegas – and from Las Vegas they were bussed into Torrance. They arrived at 3:30 a.m. at [Torrance] city hall. So all the host families met them at 3:30 and I think they were happy to arrive.” After the students arrived at city hall, met their host families, and settled in, they had little time to rest because the very next day, they were off and running. Wednesday, Aug. 10, the group had a busy morning, which led them to an afternoon in downtown Torrance and The Torrance Bakery. Through the network of my Torrance Friendships, I found out our Kashiwa students, age 17 to 19, had a day planned which would include a trip to the bakery – and it was there I would meet this special group. I caught up with owner, Kirk Rossberg as he waited for the students’ arrival inside The Torrance Bakery, which he has owned for 31 years. We were excited for the group’s arrival. Then we both peeked down the street and saw the bright-eyed young adults walking toward the bakery. They were all smiles as they eyed the tasty treats inside the bakery. Jen told them they were going to tour the bakery, and then decorate cakes upstairs – through the skill of their interpreter, Aki Tsurukame. Aki excitedly told me, “[I remember] when Former Mayor Ken Miller came to Kashiwa for negotiations [for the Sister City Program].” Tagging along on the tour, I marveled how these international travelers didn’t show any signs of weariness. After all, they had flown all night, arrived in the wee hours of the morning, and hit the day running. Amazing young group. Someone in the group asked Kirk why it said, “Top Gun’ outside the refrigerator and he said, “We name all our refrigerators after movies.” I never knew that. Upstairs at the bakery, Kirk had everything ready. Tables were set up for the students with beautiful white frosted round cakes filled with Bavarian Cream. Yum. After a lesson in making roses, flowers and edging a cake by Kirk, the students eagerly began decorating their cakes. Photographs of each student had been taken upon arrival, run off on the bakery computer onto sugar, and the images were ready for transferring onto the cakes. All the students enjoyed seeing their faces ready for the cake. They each peeled off ‘their face’ and placed it onto the cake, gently tapping it into the frosting. Already, the cakes looked amazing. I watched as they decorated their cakes with skill and delicacy. These students were quick learners. They will have wonderful cakes to share later. After visiting the bakery, a ‘Western Night’ was planned for the group at the Toyota USA Automotive Museum. “Tonight we have a chili cook-off - and so all the host families will be Kirk Rossberg showing the Kashiwa students how the bakery takes photographs and transfers them to cakes. Landscape Services from front page “After almost two years of sitting empty, the pond was renovated in August of 2010 for the enjoyment of all those that visit the park,” states the staff report. “The goal of the Wilson Park Pond Renovation project was to provide a long term, sustainable solution to the management and maintenance of the water feature that would result in a pleasant environment for the visitors to the park.” In order to comply with the state’s water conservation requirements for ponds and pools, the Park Services Division emptied and fenced the pond in September of 2015 and triggered efforts by staff to research options that would help with repurposing the pond. With the goal of finding a “sustainable and ecological solution” that would minimize maintenance costs and efforts, staff evaluated several ideas and public comments that supported keeping the pond at Wilson Park. Supporting documents presented to the council indicate that all of the wildlife close to the pond, which included 50 red-eared slider turtles, as well as a large leatherback turtle and more than 400 fish were removed from the pond. With the help of animal relocation services, all animals were successfully relocated. Furthermore, with permission from the county, the drained pond water was successfully disposed through the sewer system. Repurposing the pond was considered by the Parks and Recreation Commission in 2009-2010; at the time the idea of creating a splash pad was popular but due to a lack of funds it was there and we will share the cakes with them,” Jen said. I learned a professional ‘caller’ would be calling the square dancing part of the evening, and the Boots and Bows Square Dance Club will attend - making sure everyone learns how to square dance. The students had already chosen their ‘western attire’ earlier in the day, compliments of the City of Torrance. Jen then told me for the next 15 days the students would be visiting, among many other places, The Getty Museum, UCLA, Torrance Beach, Hollywood Bowl for a concert, Little Tokyo, the Go for Broke Monument and visit the Japanese American National Museum, the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center, Knott’s Berry Farm, Dodger Stadium for a game, and a trip to San Diego! not feasible. By 2015 the city received grant funds from Los Angeles County Proposition A making renovations possible and prompting the city to post a Request for Proposals for landscape design services. The city received three bid proposals by June 28, 2016 from HAI, Hirsch and Associates of Anaheim [$92,200], Richard Fisher and Associates from Santa Ana [$125,100], and RJM of San Juan Capistrano [$160,890]. A three-person evaluation team, all staff members, independently rated each proposal and assigned points via a 100-poount scale. The bids were evaluated based on: their understanding of the project and work associated [35 possible points], qualifications [15 possible points], experience with similar projects [15 possible points], project schedule [10 possible points] and cost effectiveness [25 possible points]. “The three independent ratings are then averaged and the rankings are made public on the City Clerk’s website a minimum of two weeks prior to anticipated Council date for approval,” states the staff report. “All vendor are notified of the rankings.” The vendor approved by the council scored a 94 in the evaluation process, while Richard Fisher and Associates scored 85 and RJM earned a 71. “The concept to take the current pond layout and turn it into a small pond, a hardscape area, and a splash pad was presented and approved by the Torrance City Council on December 22, 2016,” states the staff report. • Kirk Rossberg showing cupcakes ready to go in front of his Top Gun refrigerator.
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