Haunts, consuls general and crime fiction author ring in season
The end of October and the beginning of last month saw a plethora of parties and events involving locals.
Halloween, 2023! Before the sun went down, before the lights came up, and before the ghosts and goblins sprung to life, the Brookside Homeowners Association and the Levin-Hare family invited trick-or-treaters young and old to the first annual Brookside Haunted Walk on the 800 block of Tremaine Avenue.
WINDSOR SQUARE residents Nancy, Jacob and Matthew Ladner enjoy the family-friendly Brookside Haunted Walk.
I call it the “first annual” because the Oct. 31 event was such a huge success that I’m hoping they make this an annual event. Hundreds of neighbors showed up decked out in full costumes to enjoy a light buffet and beverages, candies, homemade sweet treats and spooky music that set a foreboding yet fun mood.
TRICK-OR-TREATERS old and young fill the Brookside sidewalks.
Neighbors up and down the street decorated their homes with their spine-chilling, creepy best Halloween decor. What started out as a “pre-trick-or-treating jumping-off point,” turned into an all-evening affair. Children who were dressed as witches and warlocks, Buzz Lightyears, Barbies, princesses and superheroes ran up and down sidewalks, excited for the best night of the year. Parents laughed at memories of their own childhood Halloweens, friends and families socialized in the street, and neighbors on their front porches welcomed faces new and old.
FURRY FRIENDS join Alejandra Espasande, Randy Haberkamp, Jan Wieringa and Taylor Louden.
DRESSED UP, Cy and Ray Weiss are ready to bring home the sugary loot.
The small-town atmosphere of the neighborhood wowed friends from near and far who had joined in the merriment, leaving them wondering, “How did we not know about this community?” So, here’s to hoping the second annual Haunted Walk is already in the planning stages! But in the meantime… Boo!
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PRESERVATIONISTS of long standing were guests of Amy Forbes and Andy Murr at a Windsor Square garden brunch to honor retiring Los Angeles Conservancy CEO Linda Dishman, at left at the table at left. To her right and counter-clockwise are her husband, John Hinrichs, Leslie Heumann, Jack Rubens, host Andy Murr and David Raposa. At the table in the foreground is Christy McAvoy, and the table behind her features, from left and counterclockwise, host Amy Forbes, Tom Michali, Barry Milofsky and Nancy Michali. At the far table, and counterclockwise from the right, are Doug Campbell, Howard Heitner, Marcia Hanford, Mary Alice Wollam and Regula Campbell. Not pictured is Ruthann Lehrer.
Historic preservation was very much in the news during this time period, especially because of the retirement of Linda Dishman, longtime president of the Los Angeles Conservancy. Her 31 years of service
were celebrated in Windsor Square and downtown at Vibiana and in Highland Park and in City Hall at the meeting of the Cultural Heritage Commission. The most local gathering assembled longtime local preservationists a few days before Halloween at a brunch reminiscent of the one attended by candidate Dishman when she was being interviewed for the Conservancy job 31 years ago. Held in the lovely garden of Windsor Square resident Amy Forbes (a former Conservancy president) and her husband, Andy Murr, attendees came from far and wide.
LINDA DISHMAN speaks at the Conservancy outdoor reception at Vibiana. Her successor as executive director, Adrian Scott Fine, is in the middle, and Getty Conservation Institute director and former National Trust for Historic Preservation chair Tim Whalen is at right.
Regula and Doug Campbell drove down from Santa Barbara to salute Dishman. Others attending were Marcia Hanford, Howard Heitner, Linda’s husband, John Hinrichs, Leslie Heumann, former Larchmont Chronicle columnist Christy McAvoy, Tom and Nancy Michali, Barry Milofsky, David Raposa, Jack Rubens, Martha and John Welborne, Mary Alice Wollam, and one of Linda’s predecessors as executive director, Ruthann Lehrer.
INSIDE VIBIANA, retiring Conservancy CEO Linda Dishman speaks with preservation supporter Charles Thornton. Dishman’s husband, John Hinrichs, is at her left.
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A week later, the Los Angeles Conservancy annual fundraising gala was a salute to Dishman. Appropriately, the gala took place at Vibiana, the events venue in the former Cathedral of St. Vibiana — an 1876 Los Angeles landmark that still exists because of the efforts of Dishman and Conservancy leaders commencing in 1996. At the Nov. 5 gala, an outdoor reception was followed by a more intimate (and expensive) dinner inside the former cathedral. Spotted from the neighborhood were Vivian Gueler and daughter, Nikka, among others. Dishman’s successor, Adrian Scott Fine, was among those offering remarks.
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The Conservancy’s Sunday event capped a busy three-day period that included a local history luncheon and a Scottish send-off to a volunteer supporter of historic preservation.
GUESTS OF MANY GENERATIONS were at the 2023 FCF luncheon. Shown, from left, are Henry Woodward and his father, Andrew; Carolyn Layport and her daughter, Kathleen Zlockovich; and luncheon chair Hank Hilty with wife, Diane, and son, Michael.
On Thurs., Nov. 2, the 83rd gathering of the First Century Families took place at The California Club. Attendees included Joann Clark, Hilary Crahan, Carolyn Layport with her daughter Kathleen Zlockovich, Bettijane Stuppy Pike, who grew up in the historic Victorian at Fourth and Lorraine, Chronicle publisher John Welborne and Andrew Woodward with his son Henry. Chairing the event was Original Farmers Market neighbor and A.F. Gilmore Company chairman Henry Hilty, attending with his wife Diane and son Michael.
The luncheon talk this year was presented by museum director Michael Sanborn, who discussed the “Phineas Banning Residence Museum.”
THE CALIFORNIA CLUB was the venue for Michael Sanborn’s “Phineas Banning Residence Museum” talk for First Century Families members and guests on Nov. 2.
First Century Families is composed of descendants of the pioneers who came to Southern California before or during the first hundred years after the founding of the City of Los Angeles on September 4, 1781. Chairman Hilty explained that its purpose is the Downtown Women’s Center and more.
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CANADA Consul General Zaib Shaikh and Historical Society First Vice President Judy Zeller at the consular residence — a 1923 Hancock Park home commissioned by its first resident, Harold H. Braly, and his family.
THAILAND Consul General Tor Saralamba (left) in the garden of the Consular Residence in Windsor Square with Historical Society President Richard Battaglia (center) and volunteer Beate McDermott (right).
Photo by Jane Gilman
The Saturday of that weekend — as arranged by our very own Windsor Square – Hancock Park Historical Society — found scores of interested visitors touring three local homes, two of those being consular residences. The Consul General of Canada, Zaib Shaikh, and the Consul General of Thailand, Tor Saralamba, opened their lovely, historic homes — in Hancock Park and Windsor Square, respectively. In addition, Joseph Guidera was the gracious host at his Hancock Park home, a Mediterranean Revival structure designed by architects Hunt and Burns for a descendant of the grantees of Rancho Dominguez.
The beautiful Windsor Square gardens of June Bilgore provided a setting for refreshments and a silent auction to help support the Society’s charitable and history-oriented activities.
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BLOCK PARTY for residents of the 300 and 400 South blocks of Plymouth Boulevard gathered almost all of the residents on Nov. 4.
That same busy Saturday, neighbors from the 300 and 400 South blocks gathered for a Plymouth Boulevard block party. Organized by block captains Brian Kennedy and Bernie Cummings, the gathering took place in the circular driveway of the home of Cummings and Ernie Johnson under the giant Montezuma Cypress. The home was built in 1918 by John Welborne’s maternal grandparents, by the way. The tree was planted in 1920 by Welborne’s grandfather.
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MICHAEL CONNELLY and television journalist Josh Mankiewicz are introduced to a large crowd of Connelly fans by Miles Parnegg, bookseller and manager of the oldest independent bookstore in Los Angeles, Chevalier’s Books, at the historic Ebell Club.
Still early in November, on the 7th, a large audience of locals and others gathered at The Ebell for an event organized by Chevalier’s Books. It was the international launch of the latest book by author Michael Connelly. Published that day and titled “Resurrection Walk,” the new novel features both the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, and retired detective Harry Bosch. The format for the evening event was an interview of Connelly by television journalist Josh Mankiewicz (“Dateline NBC”), followed by questions from the audience, followed by Connelly inscribing books for those who asked.
RESURRECTION WALK, the new novel from Michael Connelly, is signed by the author for reader Tom Hofer, left, at the book launch at The Ebell.
AUTHOR Michael Connelly, left, and Josh Mankiewicz discuss the world of Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch.
Things seemed to slow down a bit for the remainder of the month, as locals began preparations for Thanksgiving. Whew!
And now you’re in the Larchmont know!
Category: Entertainment