Thanks for letting All-stars shine As...

Thanks for letting All-stars shine

As a father of a son on the AAA All Stars, a AAA manager and

member of the Board of Directors for Laguna Beach Little League, I

wanted to thank you for your coverage of both All-star teams.

Your wonderful coverage will go along way to help us build the

baseball program in town for our kids.

MICHAEL MAXSENTI

Laguna Beach

Little Leaguers should all be considered stars

Your front page spread of the 2002 Laguna Beach Little League

Dream Team was probably as annoying a front page as I’ve ever seen.

While acknowledging those 13 youngsters are no doubt fine players,

the elevating of these kids above the rest of the players in Laguna

takes away from what the heart of Little League should be about.

First of all, there are no doubt a dozen other kids talent wise

who for various reasons are not included.

The selection process is arbitrary at best with favoritism often

playing in.

I know. I coached youth baseball in Laguna for 10 years and

selecting the best of the best is always an exercise of conflicting

opinions.

Let me give you my All-Stars. They are the kids who patiently sat

on the bench while the better players played the entire game. They

are the kids who never missed practice, no matter how much they

played. They are the kids who helped the coach bag the equipment

after games. They are the kids who love baseball no matter what their

talent level was.

When I coached, there was a sign on the outfield wall of Riddle

Field that read: “Remember, They Are Just Kids.” I suggest the

Coastline Pilot remember that important motto also.

JAY GRANT

Laguna Beach Little League

Coach 1985-1995

Laguna Beach

Thank you veterans for your service

Lagunans Earl Brown, Vern Spitaleri and Ben Blount were honored

Thursday, July 18 for their part in the liberation of France during

World War II.

They were joined by 72 other veterans of the greater Los Angeles

area who received certificates, plaques and tribute at ceremonies

held at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles.

The event was sponsored by the French government and private

French citizens to express their appreciation for the USA’s role in

bringing freedom back to France in 1944.

All three served in the Normandy campaign. Brown with the Army’s

First Infantry Division, Spitaleri with Naval Amphibious Forces

(Landing Craft Infantry) and Blount with the Army’s First Amphibious

Special Brigade.

This was the first of many “Thank You America” programs in cities

across the USA ending in New York. Brown, Spitaleri and Blount are

members of Laguna’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5868.

BEN BLOUNT

Laguna Beach

Village Entrance project of no importance

The entrance project (“Village entrance concept chosen” Coastline

Pilot, July 19) should not even be on a list let alone on the top of

a list.

As far as I’m concerned this project is of zero importance. Laguna

has its own charm and does not need an entrance project.

The money would be better used re-landscaping weak areas of

Heisler Park or other city parks. The money should only be spent on

improving the quality of life for the residents of Laguna, not for

someone’s ego trip idea of an entrance project.

RICHARD SILVER

Laguna Beach

Call for caution ignored by city

On June 28 this paper published my letter headlined “Time to Keep

Pedestrians Safer.”

It asked the city to put up a sign “Watch out for traffic behind

you!” at the intersection of Broadway, Acacia Street and Cliff Drive.

Do you think any city official would have called and said, “Gus,

thanks for alerting us to this problem?”

I invite our city officials to watch Festival visitors crossing

this intersection while walking down Broadway without being aware of

cars racing up Cliff Drive behind them.

How much would it cost to put up such a sign and stripe the

crossing?

Far less than litigation at taxpayers’ expense (as in the case of

the pedestrian killed at Cliff Drive and Rosa Bonheur) -- when my

letter will be put in evidence by lawyers that the city was

forewarned and negligent.

GUS MATHIEU

Laguna Beach

Thanks for attending to signal glitch

After a long, long wait, Caltrans installed new traffic signal

lights on Broadway at Beach. LANO was appreciative, as this was to

have been a much-needed improvement.

In the past, there was the hazard of driving or walking down the

hill on Beach and not knowing whether or not it was safe to enter

Broadway where oncoming traffic would either stop, slow down or keep

coming and cause more accidents and near misses. Soon after the

lights were activated a new problem appeared: bumper-to-bumper

traffic jams on lower Beach. We knew that traffic volume in all areas

of Laguna was unusually heavy this summer, but could the new signal

be a factor?

A little study and analysis suggested that the timing of the

signals may have been a cause. At the city’s request, Caltrans

returned to the site on July 9 and adjusted the timing of the signal

lights. As a result we find that traffic flow is much improved and

the blockage on Beach has been much reduced.

Heavy traffic continues especially Downtown and on Broadway and

Coast Highway, but Beach is now just another well-traveled street and

not the catastrophe it was. We are grateful to our city and to

Caltrans for supporting and achieving the improvements on Broadway at

Beach and for quickly coming to the rescue when the flow stopped and

some fine-tuning was necessary.

DON KNAPP

Laguna Beach

A husband’s thanks for gift of life

Two and a half years ago my wife, Marcia, donated a kidney to me.

Many times, each and every day, I am awed by the realization that one

of Marcia’s organs literally keeps me going, not to mention the

magnitude and clarity of her present to me. Nice way to appreciate

each day of your life a little bit more, huh?

You hear people say that a disease or ailment was, “the best thing

that ever happened to me.” I can only agree with that quote when it

is preceded by “living through this disease and now feeling great was

... “ When friends ask me how I feel, my response is “grateful.”

I don’t know whether it is the second chance or that I literally

received parts of Marcia, but it does seem that I listen better, am

more compassionate and thoughtful (at least I think so).

At no time has marching out to buy a Harley or feeling compelled

to climb a mountain before it’s too late occurred to me. I am just so

much more appreciative of other people and all of those mundane,

typical daily life events -- how could I not be. Being able to enjoy

so many things were previously such a struggle for me is so exciting.

The handful of medication that I take twice a day somehow seems

like a privilege that only the healthy and living are able to do. I

actually look forward to it -- another reminder of how lucky I am.

I hope that you can see why I want to share with others the love

that I have for Marcia. On July 10 we celebrate our 30th wedding

anniversary and July 22 it is her birthday. I am very proud of her.

GARY SANSERINO

Laguna Beach

One solution to campsite shortage

According to Rusty Areias, director of California State Parks,

there is a shortage of 10,000 to 15,000 campsites statewide.

A great opportunity exists at Crystal Cove State Park, on the

ocean side of the Pacific Coast Highway. North of Historic Crystal

Cove District to Pelican Point sits Crystal Cove State Park flat land

that could be divided into 1,000 campsites.

Common sense says build 1,000 campsites if there is a shortage of

campsites in California.

Areias needs to focus on the property north of the historic

Crystal Cove District to help satisfy the shortage of campsites

statewide.

JACK GLAVIN

Laguna Beach