P A R A M O U N T
PULSE BEAT December 2012
Serving the Community Since 1990
www.paramountchamber.com
Annual Thanksgiving Celebration Salutes Local Seniors The City of Paramount recently held its Annual Seniors Thanksgiving Dinner to honor elders community. The event featured great food served up by an assembly line of Paramount Rotary Club members, Banco Popular employees and City staff, and was delivered by the enthusiastic kids of the Paramount High School Corsairs service club. The lively entertainment included the jazzy sounds of the Little Big Band and Bill Pellegrino of the Rotary Club leading the room in a nostalgic sing-a-long. There were plenty of prizes handed out too, in the festively decorated Paramount Park gym. Donations that made the party, and the giveaways, possible were provided by the following:
Donations
Rosanna Messer, 90 Born in Salina, Kansas, raised in Joplin, Missouri, she has lived in Paramount for over 40 years. A housewife, Mrs. Messer also worked for many years at a five and ten store in Bellflower. “Keep walking if you can,” she offered as a tip about living a long life. “I still walk almost a mile a day. Try to take care of yourself.”
$500+ Services; Walmart. Ace Clearwater; Communication Workers of America Local 8400; Gamberg Metals Co., Inc; Paramount Petroleum. Administrative Services Cooperative/Fiesta Taxi; Banco Popular; Up to $300 Big Bens Car Wash; Cafe Corleone; Aramark; Cal Met Services; Casa Gamino; Enrique’s Mexican Clinica Medical Hispana; FENI- Restaurant; Gus’s Deli; Rosewood CO Precision Casting; Knights of Restaurant; Subway. Columbus; Standard Catering. Each year at the celebration, those in the crowd age 90 and Under $200 above are acknowledged and given Demaria Electric Motor Ser- flowers or a plant. A few of them vices; Front Page Communica- this year talked with the Pulse Beat tions; Taqueria 2 Amigos; The to share some comments. Water Store; Vicky Professional
Bartolo Reynoso, 92 Born in Jalisco, Guadalajara, established U.S. residency at 21 and has lived in Paramount for 20 years. He had a career working for the railroads. “Eat healthy food and get plenty of exercise,” was his mantra for a lengthy existence. “I’m still exercising.”
Peggy Chandler, 97 Born in Wales, immigrated to America 50 years ago, she was a housewife whose husband was an electrician for Disney and helped build “It’s A Small World.” “I have two daughters, one in Santa Clara, one in England. Having good children helps build a good, long life.”
Emelia Defour, 98 Born in Trinidad, Tobago, West Indies, Emelia arrived in California “at four o’clock on a Friday morning in 1974.” “I enjoy California, and have led a happy life. I have 14 kids, no problems, all of them happy, with no fighting, no quarreling. Work hard and feel good and proud. If anything happens to me now, I’ve been happy and full of love.”
Paulina Ortiz, 92 Born in Carson. “I have God in my life,” she related as a key to her longevity.
Mike Boersma, 91 Born in The Netherlands, came to Paramount in 1951 from Michigan. He opened a public accounting office in town and worked it for 40 years. Mr. Boersma ran for City Council in 1957, the year of Paramount’s incorporation, and has volunteered at the Senior Thanksgiving Dinner with the Rotary Club since the event began. “I raised a family of eight children. My first wife passed away in 1985, and I was very fortunate to meet a nice lady from our church and we’ve been married 23 years now. Eat good, drink moderately, be nice to people, enjoy life and be thankful for all your blessings.”
Clarence Lester, 93 Born in Missouri, he moved to this area when it was still known as HynesClearwater, and worked at Firestone for 38 years. “I remember when Paramount Park was the Jerseymaid Dairy. The City’s made a lot of improvements over the years. But it was nice years ago, too. I had an acre and a half and during the war, when you couldn’t get meat, I’d butcher a pig, or whatever I wanted. But it’s better now than it was then, even though I liked it then. Advice for living a long, good life? No, I’m still working on it myself.”
Gift Certificates
Paramount Chamber of Commerce
PULSE BEAT
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What’s inside Ask The Expert..........................10 Business Card Directory.............12-13 Business Corner.........................11 Cityscape..................................15
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