Adam McCreery throws the ball and his big frame at a batter.

To the list of Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson and Andre Ethier, prepare to add one more — Adam McCreery, a senior left-handed pitcher for Bonita High School. Bonds, Jackson, and Ethier were all Sun Devils who played for Arizona State before going on to great careers in Major League Baseball.

McCreery, who went 8-2 in his junior year at Bonita, including 2-1 in the CIF playoffs, signed his letter of intent to play with Arizona State earlier this week. His selection was notable for a couple of reasons. ASU leads all schools with 368 picks in the Major League Baseball draft, including Rick Monday, the first pick ever in the MLB draft in 1965. ASU also has the third most alumni to put on a Major League uniform.

At 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds, neither McCreery nor his talents could remain hidden long. Bonita Coach John Knott showcased McCreery early in the 2010 CIF baseball season, giving his big lefthander the ball in the opener against Ayala, and he only improved from there, giving Bonita three reliable, front-line starters, including seniors Brian Tuttle and Josh Yepez, who took the Bearcats to the CIF finals.

Ironically, McCreery was on the hill for one inning of Bonita’s Glendora tournament debacle against Claremont, allowing seven earned runs on three walks, three hits, one hit batter and one wild pitch. Only hours earlier, McCreery had been home in bed, battling a sinus infection, but he, being new to the team, suited up and was called into the game when the Bearcats had few other options. After that loss, Bonita reeled off 12 straight victories, including McCreery’s complete-game, nine-strike-out win over arch-nemesis Northview 2-1.

If you throw out McCreery’s one-inning aberration against Claremont, he would have completed the season with a 1.60 ERA instead of his season-ending 2.35 ERA.

After Bonita’s CIF run finished, the Bonita southpaw really began to stir interest among college coaches. Over the summer he played for the So Cal Bombers 18U travel team. He also made the Milwaukee Brewers Blue team as part of the Area Code games. Over five games, he pitched a total of three innings, showcasing his fastball, which topped out at about 88-89 mph, and his curve, slider and change.

At that point, college coaches never stopped calling the McCreery house. As a result, Adam and his family visited the campuses of UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State, University of Oregon and Arizona State. He also received calls and spoke with coaches from USC, UCLA, Long Beach State, UC Davis, New Mexico State, UNLV, the University of San Diego, UC Riverside, Santa Clara University and the University of Arizona.

In the end, the tradition of Bonds, Jackson and Ethier won out. Fortunately, for Bonita fans, however, McCreery will be a Bearcat for one more season.

Behind every tattoo, there's a story, according Ink'd Chronicles owner Terry Dipple

Terry Dipple, owner of Ink’d Chronicles, will host the 3rd annual Tattoos for the Cure – a breast cancer charity event on Saturday, October 9, 2010. From noon until midnight, artists will be tattooing pink breast cancer awareness ribbons and other color ribbons, as requested, with all proceeds going to the Breast Health Program at the Lewis Family Cancer Care Center. The minimum tax-deductible donation is $80, depending on the size and detail of the tattoo and $35 for body piercing. Terry hopes to exceed last year’s event, which raised $6,000 for the cancer care center.

In addition to tattoos and piercings, there will be a “street scene” with a fashion show and live music from 7:30 PM until 11:30 PM. Inside Ink’d Chronicles, there will be a free art show featuring tattoo-inspired art, raffles, prizes and VIP party for all participants and guests.

Breast cancer touches everyone and Terry Dipple is no different. Two years ago, his fiancé was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated at the Lewis Family Cancer Care Center, which is part of Pomona Valley Community Hospital and today she is cancer free. To show his love and support, Terry got a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon tattoo and so did other tattoo artists at the shop.

The slogan at Ink’d Chronicles is “Every tattoo has a story” and at the first Tattoos for the Cure, Terry heard many stories from cancer survivors, friends and relatives who had lost a loved one to breast cancer. His fiancé’s daughter also got a pink ribbon tattoo. The event moved him and his artists to make Tattoos for the Cure an annual event.

If you want to get a breast cancer awareness ribbon or other tattoo at the event, you can sign up by contacting Ink’d Chronicles. However, you do not have to get a tattoo to attend and support the event. You can become a corporate or individual sponsor by making a donation. Sponsors will also receive tickets to the VIP party.

Terry Dipple, tattoo artists and participants will be available for photos and interviews during the event.

Ink’d Chronicles is located in the Arts Colony of Downtown Pomona at 264 W. 2nd Street, Pomona, CA 91766. For more information, contact Terry Dipple at Ink’d Chronicles (909) 622-5351, cell (818) 968-9088 or terry@inkdchronicles.com.

Last year, LaVerneOnline profiled Terry Dipple in detail. For that story, go to the following link:

http://www.laverneonline.com/2009/09/23/ex-mayor-bonita-and-ulv-grad-runs-tattoo-studio-couldnt-resist-inking-one-more-big-deal/

Mikey James Quevado

Mikey James Quevedo has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor in the Boy Scouts of America. He is the first in his troop to receive this honor for the 100-year anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. Mikey began his scouting experience with Cub Scout Pack 102 at 1st Christian church in Pomona and earned the rank of Arrow of Light, the highest award in Cub Scouting.

Mikey continued his Boy Scout experience at Troop 411 at the United Methodist Church in La Verne. His Eagle Scout Leadership project was planning and helping build a baseball field for the David & Margaret’s Girls home in the city of La Verne. Mikey is a recent graduate of Bonita High School.

Mikey is the son of Mike and Adrienne Quevedo. The date for his Court of Honor is Saturday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in La Verne.

      For Dorothy and dog it was Munchkin Land.   For Rob and I, it was the relative culture shock of taking in a baseball game at Cleveland’s Progressive Field the other day (globetrotting sportsmen that we are), compared to, say, a night at Dodger Stadium.

      Here’s my report.

      For starters, the first thing that is obvious about baseball in Cleveland is that nobody comes to the games.   Check out the picture:

      The second thing that’s obvious about Cleveland baseball is why no one comes to the games….They have a crummy team.   And I don’t mean a crummy team like the Dodgers, a collection of talented yet under-achieving stars who have lost their way.   I mean a really crummy team.   As in a glaring lack of talent and big-league credentials.   The 2010 Indians resemble a Double-A minor league team far more than a big-league team.   People like winners.   No wins, no fans.

      My son had no trouble figuring this out.   After a few innings of watching the Indians go three-up-three-down, Rob finally exclaimed, “Dad, these guys suck!”   See?   The kid’s a genius.   Truth is, all one needed to do to verify his claim was examine the scoreboard; not a single hitter on their team had a batting average of over .268, and no one had clubbed more than a few home runs.   In fact, I had not heard of a single guy in their starting line-up.   Not one.   I can honestly say that that has never happened to me in all my 40+ years of watching professional baseball.  After all, I am the Sports Philosopher….

      The rival Oakland A’s lineup wasn’t much better.   When one particularly youthful, fresh-scrubbed Oakland batsman named Jeff Larish strode to the plate with an average of .154, Rob exclaimed, “Dad, this guy sucks too!”   But almost the moment he said it, literally on the very next pitch, something happened that can only happen in baseball.   Young Jeff clobbered that ball deep to center field for a home run.   His first of the year.    The ball traveled 425 feet.   The Indians would kill to have a guy on their team capable of such awe-inspiring, triphammer power.   “Larish for MVP!” I called out.   We laughed till we cried.   Rob went for more food.   I cried a little more.

      Speaking of food, here’s a checkmark in the plus column for Cleveland.   When you travel around the country and visit its ballparks, one of the things you soon become aware of, by comparison, is how tired and out-of-date the food is at Dodger Stadium.   The same tired old Dodger-dogs, peanuts, frozen malts and soda.  Conversely, the ice cream at Progressive Field is hand-dipped and fabulous.   The sandwiches range from Italian sausage to terrific, build-your-own subs.   You know.   Real food.

      Even the soda comes to the consumer in a far more interesting way.   One of the vendors walking up and down the aisles lugging his cooler of drinks had some very strong views on soda.   “Real baseball fans drink soda!” he would bellow.   “You need to watch baseball while holding a soda, people—a soda with lots of ice, and then you have to drink it down fast and then get another soda right away!” he fairly screamed.   Everyone laughed.   I think his job was to take the fans’ minds off of how pathetic Cleveland’s lineup is (By the way the Indians lost 5-to-nothing, managing only five base hits—all singles—all night long.).   In honor of his dad, and in recognition of that vendor’s strong and obviously well-thought-out opinions, Rob nicknamed the guy “The Soda Philosopher”.   I was touched.

      Another checkmark in the plus column for Cleveland (compared to Dodger Stadium) was the ridiculous friendliness of the ushers.   Now I’m not saying the ushers at Dodger Stadium aren’t friendly.   I suppose they are.   Sometimes.   They’re just not pleasant and accommodating like Cleveland baseball ushers.   We were headed to our seats and one of them was grinning at me kinda funny.   Since we were able to easily procure seats only four rows behind the dugout in this largely empty sports theater, and since, accordingly, I felt like he felt I was trying to get away with something, I asked him if he needed to see my ticket.   He said, “Nope!   Enjoy the game.”   Wow.   And then later on, a half-dozen snot-nosed lads snuck into the empty row right in front of us.   Obviously they could not afford tickets that good, and all had very guilty looks on their faces.   “Poaching”, we used to call it.   Anyway, the usher came by at once.   Here it comes, I thought, remembering the many times Dodger Stadium ushers had rudely and insensitively kicked me and my own snot-nosed friends out of just-poached seats over the years.   “How you doin’, boys?   Why don’t you fellas come back around the seventh inning,” he said in a warm and fatherly tone.   I wanted to kiss the guy….

      But the main thing I liked about Cleveland’s Progressive Field (compared to Dodger Stadium) is where it is located.   Right on E. 9^th St.   Right smack in the middle of Cleveland’s downtown.   Dodger Stadium is hidden away from the rest of L.A., sequestered as if some sort of a local embarrassment in a secluded ravine, with no view beyond its bleachers other than its ugly sterile parking lot.   That feeling of utter “separate-ness” at Dodger Stadium has always bothered me.  A ballpark should be the living heartbeat of the city around it, part of the skyline, wedged tightly into the throbbing hum of its city’s busiest streets.   Boston’s Fenway Park is like that.   So is Chicago’s Wrigley Field.   Ditto, Seattle’s Safeco Field.   San Francisco’s AT&T Park, Baltimore’s Camden Yards, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, they’re all wedged right smack in the middle of their cities, part of that singular heritage of freedom and excitement that characterizes urban America.   It’s who we are.

      So as the beleaguered Indians hitters continued to heroically strike out, and as Rob munched contentedly on a huge salted pretzel, I studied the Cleveland skyline.   It was beautiful.   As the sun went down the city’s most famous building, the needlesque Terminal Tower, bathed itself in orange lights seemingly just a few yards beyond the left-field foul pole.   When the Terminal Tower was built in the late 20s it was the 2^nd tallest building in the entire world, topped only by the Empire State building.   They even look alike, these two century-old skyscrapers.   Nowadays, at “only” 52 stories, the Terminal Tower is only the 104^th tallest building in North America.   It’s not even the tallest building in Cleveland anymore; that honor goes to the majestic Key Tower (otherwise known as the KeyBank Building), just a stone’s throw beyond the same center-field fence which Larish’s mighty home run had cleared.   Quicken Loans Arena, “The Q”, where the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team plays (and where LeBron James used to play), sits right next to Terminal Tower, clearly visible from our 4^th-row seats.   Several other cool buildings old and new loomed over the outfield fences to sneak a peek at the game.   Yes, it was a beautiful skyline.   In fact, Cleveland is a surprisingly beautiful city.   Who knew?

      When the game ended, and after I said a jaunty good-bye to our wonderful ushers, Rob and I followed the few fans who had joined us that evening out into the lively pulsing streets of Cleveland.   On the way to our car we walked right past bars, restaurants, shops, music clubs, all going great guns, as if all waiting for we the absent corpuscles of the city’s lifeblood to re-integrate ourselves back into the rush and circulation of the city’s nightlife.   That’s the way it should be.   We smiled at each other.   It wasn’t a great ballgame, but it was surely a great baseball experience.

      Maybe it’s time for a new stadium here in L.A.   Maybe take out a couple of ghetto city blocks just south of Downtown and put up a stadium with character.   And maybe give that sad area of town a much-needed economic boost in the process.   What do you think?     

T.S.P.

*Oh, and one more thing.   As you leave Progressive Field, right beyond the right-field foul pole, there stands a big bronze statue of Cleveland’s greatest-ever ballplayer, the legendary Bob Feller.   He of the blazing fastball, 250+ wins, and three no-hitters.   One of the greatest right-handed pitchers to ever hurl the horsehide.   I actually met Bob Feller once, as a 7-year-old kid living in Iowa, when fellow-Iowan Feller was visiting some fast-food restaurants he owned in and around the state.   I snapped a picture of Rob in front of that impressive metal sculpture of Bob.   Rob and Bob….It seems only fitting and timely now that our wonderful shared baseball experience ended with the Feller statue, as it was recently reported that the great Feller—at 91 the 3^rd-oldest living baseball Hall of Famer—is perhaps dying of leukemia.   I’ll always remember Rob standing in front of that statue.   It’s one of the wonderful aspects of most of the newer sports stadiums around the country; you erect a statue to the greatest player in that city’s history in that sport, and then you put it right in front of the venue.   It sets just the right historical tone.   St. Louis has a Stan Musial statue, SF has a Mays statue, even our own Staples arena has statues of Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson, right out front as you walk in the door.   So then where is our local baseball statue?   Why doesn’t Los Angeles honor it’s greatest-ever baseball player?   Where’s our very own inspiring Sandy Koufax statue, you cheap stupid backward endlessly squabbling Dodger owners?   Wasn’t Koufax good enough for a statue???   Yeah, we need a new stadium….

 

meet….The Sports Philosopher!

Brad Eastland is an author, historian, film buff, undiscovered fictioneer, and protector of the sacred church of baseball — in no particular order.   Brad’s other recent columns for LaVerneOnline can be found in Sports under ‘The Sports Philosopher’, in Viewpoint under ‘Brad Eastland’s View’, and in Arts & Entertainment under ‘Upon Further Review’.   Brad has also written 4 novels and over 20 short-stories.    Samples of his best fiction work can be discovered within the mysterious links below:
 
http://www.bosonbooks.com/boson/fiction/gamble/gamble.html
http://www.bosonbooks.com/boson/fiction/basket/basket.html
http://www.bosonbooks.com/boson/freebies/freebies.html

Where Is Everybody? It’s a Baseball Game, Not a Funeral. Rob’s T-shirt says it all….

       We were only about 45 minutes early.   I thought maybe we’d come to the wrong ballpark.

Where Is Everybody? It’s a Baseball Game, Not a Funeral. Rob’s T-shirt says it all….

Christian Laire

 Imagine every day tasting fresh, fabulous food prepared by an outstanding French chef. For residents of Hillcrest in La Verne it isn’t a dream.

Their executive chef is Christian Laire, who was born in Lyons, France, and was educated in the French system of culinary education known as Culinary Aptitude.

Although he earned his culinary certificate at just 17, he actually knew his way around the kitchen far earlier. One day with his parents away on an errand, he opened a can of peas for his two brothers and him to eat. What was remarkable is how he prepared the peas.

“I added a little bacon, some onion, a little flour for texture,” he said in his soft-spoken French accent. He was 12-years-old.

“When my mother came home, she said she liked them very much and told me I should be a cook.”

Once overcoming his still boyish reaction that cooking was “women’s work,” he enrolled in culinary school at 14 and graduated three years later. After apprenticing in Lyons, he worked in restaurants in France and Switzerland before moving to Los Angeles when he was 32.

“I like diversity,” said the slender and smiling chef, with an ever-present twinkle in his eye.

Here in the Southland, he again put his culinary talents to work at several popular dining establishments from Mi Piace in Pasadena to Le Chene in Canyon Country, all the while studying nutrition, health and wellness and the role food can play in helping people achieve a happier and more active lifestyle.

When Hillcrest began its search for a new executive chef to mirror its concept of total health and wellness, Christian stood out like a fresh garden salad exploding with flavor. Since his hiring, three years ago, Hillcrest residents have been spoiled by the variety and balance of his lunch and dinner offerings.

Preparation at the exhibition station.

“Balance is an important aspect of cooking and of life,” Christian said. “As a chef, you need to not overpower the natural flavor of your food. You must allow its true taste to come through.

“Cooking is a natural progression, he added. “You begin with fresh, quality ingredients, add spices or sauces to enhance the flavor and cook with passion, energy and good intent to create food that makes people happy.”

Christian knows his diners are happy because he regularly chats with them in the spacious dining room and solicits their feedback. “You’re food is simply the best,” said one Hillcrest resident, dipping carefully into her Dutch apple pie. He also encourages more diffident diners to use the suggestion box for their critiques.

“This is my family,” Christian said. “When you can see the joy of people, when they are so happy to eat your food, this makes me feel good.”

In addition to the regular daily menu, Hillcrest features a daily exhibition station for lunch and dinner. Headlining the “Expo” for the week of August 22-28 were flank steak and Caesar salad (Sunday); roast sirloin (Monday); beef Asian salad (Tuesday); chef salad (Wednesday); four cheese pizza (Thursday), Asian stir fry (Friday); and turkey burger (Saturday).

Hillcrest also features frequent special occasion menus. On Friday, Aug. 27, the Luau menu featured organic baby mixed greens with choice of dressings; Hawaiian shrimp and crab salad; grilled vegetables; salmon with tropical relish and mandarin orange sauce; Kalua pig and many other delicious offerings. For dessert, there was a choice of pineapple upside down cake or cheese cake with island topping bar.

The recent luau menu.

Christian is no less committed to the satisfaction and happiness of his staff, which includes sous chef Jose and Alma, Eva, Nicolas, David, Gia, Enrique, Jose, Norma, Omar, Melby, Billy and Martin. Every day, their unique talents and collaboration in the kitchen under the direction of Christian make Hillcrest a culinary standout.

“People are energy, food is energy,” Christian explained. “When the people preparing the food feel good, the food is going to taste much better. How you feel when you cook is felt by the people you serve.”

So not only must Christian be a great chef, he must be a great mentor to his culinary staff.

“The chef is creating the harmony in the kitchen, the balance,” Christian said, stopping to taste-test the garden vegetable soup. (Nothing ever leaves the kitchen without first being sampled by the chefs.) “I love my staff and respect them and they respect me, and this feeling comes through the food.”

The Hillcrest kitchen is a marvel of organization and cleanliness, adding to the harmony Christian deems so important to creating a culinary connection with diners. Not a pot or a ladle is out of place. Every food item is date-stamped to ensure freshness and safety. In row after row in the stand-up refrigeration section, the beef is kept separate from the chicken, the chicken is kept separate from the fish, and so on.

“It’s all about sanitation,” Christian said. “It’s no bother,” dismissing the suggestion that keeping countless logs, files and other paper trails are an occupational hassle.

Recently, two of Christian’s grandchildren returned from his native Lyons, raving about the food. “The food in France — the dairy, fruits, the vegetables, the cream – has a little bit more flavor,” Christian said, ascribing the subtle differences in taste to the production methods of French farms that are smaller than their American counterparts.

Yet he loves his adopted country and the opportunity Hillcrest has given him to express his passion, on his own terms. It’s been the ideal marriage, like a perfectly prepared chicken tender complemented by a palate-pleasing pineapple mango sauce.

As Hillcrest’s reputation for great food offered in a beautiful setting continues to grow, it is hosting more and more large community events. Christian welcomes the challenge of preparing for this new extended family of guests and visitors.

A garden outside the dining hall.

“I like the variety and the diversity,” he said. The more who can experience his message of achieving balance, harmony and happiness through the enjoyment of great food, the better.

“When you are happy,” said Christian, “you are more healthy, you have more energy and you feel and look better. That’s why I am here.”

***

Special Events
   
The Meeting House at Hillcrest is a perfect venue to host mixers, business gatherings, retirement parties, luncheons, holiday celebrations, weddings, and  graduation parties.  The room accommodates up to 400 guests (auditorium style) and 50 to 272 guests for fine dining.  
     
Weddings / Anniversaries / Plays
Retirement Parties /  Concerts
Fashion Shows /  Festivals
Retreats /  Dances
Workshops /  Birthday Parties 
Seminars /  Rehearsal Dinners 
Training Meetings /  Worship Services 
  
     
Catering Services
   
The Meeting House at Hillcrest features a wide variety of entrees for both formal and casual events. Dining services can include either self-service buffets or formal table-service.  
     
Hillcrest’s Catering Services Team, led by Chef Christian Laire, will answer your questions and seek to accommodate personal preferences and requests, including menu items, dessert and beverage selections, and the ambiance to ensure your event is a complete success.  
     
For more information, please call Event Planners: Katherine Kahau-Lopez (909) 392-4396 or Karen Clobes (909) 392-4362.

*** 
 

The local community is invited to enjoy the food at Hillcrest or many of the other upcoming events at Hillcrest. For more information or a calendar of upcoming events, please call (909) 392-4375. Bon Appetit!

Hillcrest is a remarkable 50-acre retirement community in La Verne, featuring new and established residential homes, a beautiful Village Center, a progressive Aquatic and Fitness Center, the Dean Kieffaber Chapel,  outstanding healthcare facilities, a fun and varied social calendar of interests and events, and, of course, great dining. For more information, please call (909) 392-4375.

Bonita Head Coach Eric Podley addresses the Bearcats moments after the scrimmage against Damien High School.

Bonita scrimmaged Damien High School on Friday, a useful exercise to help the Bearcats gauge how far they’ve come in their pre-season practices and what they still need to fine-tune before the team’s September 3 home opener against San Dimas in the Smudge Pot.

“It was invaluable,” said Bonita head coach Eric Podley shortly after the scrimmage wrapped up. “It’s better to learn now what needs tweaking than next week in the middle of the game.”

Podley and his coaching staff saw inconsistency in the field goal unit. “We missed some kicks; we weren’t as efficient as we wanted to be,” he said. “But that’s understandable for a young kicker going (Grant Davis) against varsity guys for the first time. We expect him to be nervous, and we want to get those nerves out tonight, and we think he did.”

Bonita also practiced punts (K.C. Huth) and punt coverage. Again, there was more inconsistency than Podley liked. “We had some good ones and some inconsistent ones.”

At the quarterback position, Greg Spathias, Huth and Aaron Burgett each took snaps.

“Huth was very nervous in the beginning,” Podley said. “His first series was very shaky and he’ll admit that he was nervous out there, but that’s why we want to have a scrimmage to work those things out now rather than later. At the same time, he showed some good passing ability and arm strength and a willingness to keep running and getting better. We also some big hits out of him on defense.”

Spathias, taking over for the injured pre-season No. 1 quarterback Garrett Pendleton, “played well,” according to Podley. “He made a couple of mental errors, which we’ll have to eliminate before Smudge Pot.”

The defensive coaches led by Ray Medina weren’t happy about some of the tacking. “Too many single-arm tackles,” said Medina, shaking his head.

The players will be able to make amends quickly. They are back on the field this morning, practicing for Smudge Pot, now less than a week away.

“Every day when you practice against your JVs, you get a false sense of your abilities,” Podley reasoned. “By coming out here today, you start to realize you’re human and see the stuff you need to work on.”

For now, the players are still just humans, not Bearcats yet.

Before after the game, head over to the Pizza Barn for Mario’s fabulous pizza, sandwiches and other great offerings. Taco Tuesdays, All You Can Eat Spaghetti Wednesdays for a price so low you’ll have money left over to buy a program with your admission ticket to all Bearcats football games! The Pizza Bar: A Proud Sponsor of LaVerneOnlilne.com

Panera Bread opens Tuesday at 6 a.m.

Finally, you can have your Panera Bread, and eat it, too. This Tuesday, Aug. 31, the bakery-café will open its doors at 6 a.m. Regular café hours will be 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

“We are so excited, we’re just ecstatic,” said Laura Berrie, general manager of the new La Verne location at the corner of Fruit and Foothill.

Berrie added that Panera Bread has hired about 50 associates, about 90 percent from the local area. Many in the morning crew are moms with children off at school while many working the afternoon and evening shifts are students, ages 19-24. For the past weeks, they’ve been training up, in anticipation of Tuesday’s grand opening.

“I’ve been in this industry for a long time,” Berrie said, “and I’ve never seen a crew like this. They’re great, wonderful people. They are just extremely enthusiastic and team players. Maybe it has something to do with their upbringing in this community.

“Even my boss said how wonderful this group is. We’re just so delighted with the people we’ve hired.”

When word first leaked that Panera Bread, a company-owned St. Louis-based chain of about 1,400 restaurants  was coming to La Verne, the café was bombarded with applications, the good news for Panera being it was able to select absolutely the best people.

“When we hire, we’re always looking for the ‘Face of Panera,’” Berrie said. “Associates who have big smiles and are warm, friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.”

Those qualities mesh well with Panera Bread’s emphasis on customer service and its LASTing corporate values:

L - Listen to the customer,

A – Apologize if any part of the customer’s dining experience is unfavorable.

S – Solve any unfavorable situation, and

T – Thank customers for allowing Panera Bread to serve them.

These values must be creating success and a positive dining experience because in August, Fortune magazine named Panera Bread to its 2010 list of 100 Fastest-Growing companies, one of only two restaurant concepts to make the 2010 list.

Further, Zagat Survey®, the world’s leading provider of consumer survey-based leisure information, in August named Panera Bread the most popular large restaurant chain in the United States in its 2010 Zagat Fast-Food Survey. Panera was also recognized with No. 1 rankings for its salads and facilities.

As for its La Verne facilities, which includes a beautiful patio area, Panera Bread can accompany about 120 people.

“We are an everyday oasis for customers,” Berrie added.

Panera’s identity is rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread.

“We are committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust,” Berrie said.

The La Verne Panera Bread will feature signature soups, salads, sandwiches and other wholesome offerings, complemented by new items introduced seasonally, which are called “celebrations.”

Berrie’s personal morning favorite is Panera’s power-breakfast sandwich, which features whole grain whole grain bread, ham, shirred eggs, and aged white Vermont cheddar. For lunch and dinner, all of Panera’s signature Panini sandwiches are popular. “They’re phenomenal,” Berrie added. She also raved about the macaroni and cheese, consisting of a tangy Vermont cheddar melted over a shell pasta. “It’s light, fluffy, and very cheesy, but not heavy and thick,” she said.

Diners can also mix and match, selecting from several soup, salad and sandwich combos. There is also free WiFi and free refills on coffee and sodas.

It all starts on Tuesday.

*******

 Panera Bread is located in the same shopping center as La Verne’s one and only The Corner Butcher Shop. So after picking up a baguette or loaf of multi-grain bread from Panera swing over to The Corner Butcher shop for great deli meats and the best beef and fish selections in town. John and Will offer daily specials!

Panera Bread and The Corner Butcher Shop –

 A Great Combo Any Way You Slice It!

Coach Flores know where his players and his family members are at all times.

Do you know where your kids are? Dave Flores knows where his are. His two sons Alex and Andrew, both Bonita High School football standouts, are helping him coach the La Verne San Dimas Pop Warner Lancers this season. Together, they are also coaching little brother Dylan Flores.

Meanwhile, Dave’s daughter, Chloe, is a heartbeat away as a senior Bonita cheerleader. So, if there’s a football field in the area, chances are a Flores family member will be nearby.

Did we mention that Flores is also a member of the Bonita Bearcats coaching staff? Makes you wonder when he has time to do his electrical contracting work.

Some people just get it done. That label describes Flores and his team, which is still conditioning and sorting out roster spots.

Right now there’s a quarterback battle going on between Caleb Franzen and Joseph Espinosa. Flores said the competition is spirited and healthy. Whoever gets the first call will get plenty of running help from Xavier Wilson, an outstanding running back. More offensive threats include Flores and Ryan Sneed. Others are sure to emerge as opening day approaches.

On defense, Flores is counting on several returning players to hold down the fort while some of the newer players establish themselves.

Among the returning cast are linebacker Nick Stone, defensive line specialist Brandon de la Cruz and corner/safety Ismael Perez.

In early scrimmages, the team has performed well, first against an athletic Pasadena team and then a tough Pomona squad on Tuesday.

In August, it seems Flores barely has time to grab a cup of water running from the high school practice to Pop Warner practice, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m out here just to teach kids the game of football,” he said. “It’s the best team sport out there.”

In Flores’ case, it’s all the best family sport going, too.

Before or after the game, head over to the Pizza Barn, the home of great pizza, super sandwiches and the Ulimate Sandwiches. Taco Tuesdays, All You Can Eat Spaghetti. The place rocks. Click on the ad on the home page for spicy deals.

Lancer Roster

Dean Brosche

Daniel Castro

Vanda Cobb

Marcus Colasuonno

Brandon DeLaCruz

Tristen Erwin

Joseph Espinosa

Dylan Flores

Caleb Franzen

Kenneth Garcia

Nicholas Gasparo

Tyler Huston

Jackson Mackliff

Brandon M.

Matthew Madrid

Joel Magdalik

Mason McLaughlin

Elie Nalbanian

Corbin Novell

Benjamin Ogas

Lex Pena

Ismael Perez

Evan Rodriguez

Nicholas Rodriguez

Ryan Sneed

Eric Stevens

Nicholas Stone

Xavier Wilson

The 2010 La Verne San Dimas Spartans

Even if a player on the La Verne San Dimas Spartans enjoys playing the piano or video games more than football he just might want to stick out the season. That’s because the coach is one smart guy. The player just might learn something.

Head Coach Michael Cirrito is the founder of and chief executive officer of Investors Trust Realty Group, which has developed, syndicated and renovated more than 15,000 apartment units and 2 million plus square feet of industrial and office space throughout Southern California. He has been involved in more than $2 billion worth of real estate investments, developments and transactions and he manages and advises a private client asset group of consisting of numerous high net-worth individuals exceeding $1.4 billion in real estate value. Here in La Verne, he also started Zap Realty.

Cerrito is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School and he has an undergraduate degree from the Southern California Marshall School of Business.

So when the Spartans were looking for a head coach, the league came knocking. What’s the saying? “Want something done, ask a busy person.” That’s Cerrito. He’s coached baseball, soccer and he served as co-leader of his daughter’s Girl Scout troop. He also played football at Bishop Amat for years.

Although this is his first season at the helm, he’s already put his imprint on the team. He runs the team like a successful business, assigning each of his seven coaches to manage one part the team, like the offensive line or the defensive backs. Early in the season, the emphasis is on walk-throughs, where players step through plays in slow motion to help them better understand and eventually master their particular roles and assignments.

Like a top CEO, Cirritos has recruited lots of top talent to make his job easier. Among his stellar coaches are Coach Gene who played for Terry Donohue at UCLA and Coach Jackson who coaches varsity girls basketball at San Dimas.

Yet despite all these blue blood lines running through the Spartans, Cirrito said the team will have “blue collar,” lunch-bucket work ethic.

“No player is a standout,” Cirrito said. “Everybody plays great instead of one player playing great. We play as a team.”

That said, Cirrito has about 10 returning players, many of them exceptional.

Expected to light up the scoreboard will be quarterback Jalen Palacios. He’ll also be handing off to a couple of fleet-footed running backs, Elijah Jackson and Chandler Auguste.

On defense, linebacker Lucas McGill will once again be asked to plug a lot of holes.

“We will field a very good team,” Cirrito said. “We have some very strong, capable players,” including his son Nicholas Cirrito, out for his first season of football.

As a coach and a businessman, Cirrito is also a realist.

“It will be it’s an adjustment, for first-years players, getting their pads to fit or getting use to use to the coaches telling them what to do,” Cirrito said. “Some of the kids may not be as active we were when we were kids growing up. But if they stick with it and keep working, they’re going to see improvement and be successful. That’s why I encourage them to put forth that extra 10%. It’s going to make a difference.”

Coach Cirrito sounds like a coach and CEO worth following.

Where’s the beef? It’s at The Corner Butcher Shop, which carries only the finest selections and choicest cuts. Specials every day!  Stop by before or after the game. Click on their ad on the home page or better yet stop by in the Marshall’s Center at Fruit and Foothill.  

Spartans Roster (by jersey number)

Nos.

1 Evan Pascowicz

5 Elijah Jackson

7 Jalen Palacioos

9 Jonathan Bombardier

18 Nolan Jenkins

21 Jacob Norrie

22 Robert Moscoso

24 Chad Murphy

25 Chandler Auguste

32 Lucas McGill

34 Conner Cervantes

41 Michael Patton

43 Jonathon Brown

44 Aaron McCraven

47 Johnny Lopez

51 Dylan Ware

54 Nathaniel Macklin

55 Joshua Krupa

56 Ryan Webster

62 Jacob Garcia

64 Justin Saenz

75 Hector Almarz

77 Jess Hurt

80 Nicholas Cirrito

81 Omar Legardi

82 Joseph Browning

85 Dylan Hill

88 Felipe Diaz

92 Daniel Lopez

Some things you can always count on: The sun coming up, Tax Day on April 15, and Patrick Bearse returning to coach another year of La Verne/ San Dimas Pop Warner football.

“I love watching the kids grow and develop as players and young men,” he said, about to blow his whistle signaling the start of another hot August practice. “Football offers the kids not only a great athletic experience, but a great life experience. We’re a family out here.”

Bearse, like most football coaches, is tough, but he has a sentimental streak as wide as the Grand Canyon and as long as Foothill Blvd.

“The memories these kids make out here last a lifetime,” he said. “I love seeing it. The evidence that I’m doing something right is having a past player, from high school or even out of high school,  stop by and say hello and root us on.”

For example, the Bonita varsity’s Justin Darbyshire, a defensive back, and Jake Riley, a quarterback, played for Bearse and now practice and play on Friday nights on the Bearcats’ artificial turf inside Glenn Davis Stadium.

Bearse believes he’s got some new up-and-comers that will soon be filling out the Bearcats’ and San Dimas Saints’ rosters.

“Quality, yes,” Bearse said. “There’s a lot of talent on this team. They’re very coachable and very moldable. They’re good kids. They have a lot of enthusiasm. Their attendance has been strong.  Now, we’ve got to coach ‘em up and get ‘em to where they need to be.”

In two early-season scrimmages, LVSD tied Diamond Bar and beat Pasadena. But lying in wait are regular-season powerhouses Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga, teams that draw from much larger cities. Still, Bearse like his team’s chances.

The Romans feature quarterback Andrew Garcia, an outstanding baseball player who is trying football for the first time. ”He’s still learning the position,” said Bearse, who clearly sees enough potential in Garcia to start him in such a strategic role.

The Romans’ running back corps includes standouts Romeo Gutierrez, Eric Ware and Richard Cochran.

Opening the holes for them will be top players like David Label and Jesse Toro. “My ‘O’ line is outstanding,” Bearse added. “They’re outstanding.”

On defense, Bearse again said he was pleased with his players’ intensity, citing the efforts of Nick Provenzano, Nathan Evarez, Amir Ainsworth, and Nathan Smedley, in particular. He added that other players on his team will also soon be making names for themselves as the season progresses.

It’s not certain how this year’s season for the Romans will unfold. You can count on one thing, however. Bearse will be back win, lose or draw.  Bearse is assisted by Mario Provenzano, also in his 13th year of coaching, Christopher Bearse, Steve Ojeda, Steve Sizemore and Mark Lowary.

“I’d like to start over with another young team and take them through every division,” said Bearse, an L.A. County Sheriff.  His wife, overhearing the conversation nearby, just smiled.

Player and parents both need to be in great shape all season long. For the best results, call Fitness Results at either its San Dimas studio at (909) 305-0188 or our Upland fitness center at (909) 608-1780. Also, visit the Fitness Results website at www.fitnessresults.com.

Romans Roster

Amir Ainsworth

Brett Browning

Ryan Cheyne

Richard Cochran

Nathan Collier

Matthew Corona

Christian Fitoria

Al Franco

Andrew Garcia

Romeo Gutierrez

Matthew Johnson

David Label

Blake Lowary

Jaylyn Medina

Danny Muller

Grant Muller

Nathan Nevarez

Tristan Newlon

Steven Ojeda

Tyler Pina

Nick Provenzano

Christian Sims

Kevin Sizemore

Nathan Smedley

Baylee Smith

Adrian Sosa

Jess Toro

Tarrant Vinciguerra

Eric Ware