Castle of dragons closes for good

BARBARA DIAMOND

My heart is broken.

Ron Rodecker closed his castle Sunday at the Sawdust Festival for

the last time.

“It’s been like a two-month wake here at the festival,” Rodecker

said.

Rodecker and his wife Katherine are moving to Nevada City in

Northern California.

“I am so excited,” Katherine said. “We have 5 1/4 acres of pine

woods.”

She’s excited and I guess I have to be happy for her, but I am sad

for me and all of Rodecker’s fans.

Rodecker’s dragons have been favorites with my family since they

first saw his work at the Sawdust. Several of us have prints of

“Crossroads,” a dragon trying to decide which life path to follow.

When my eldest granddaughter, Julie, was old enough to visit me

without parental supervision, he sketched a picture of her and her

friend taking flight on the back of a dragon.

My younger grandchildren have all watched “Dragon Tales,” a

television show based on Rodecker’s characters and experiences as a

teacher. I have a love letter from “Dragon Tales” sweetie pie,

Cassie.

Well, the letter is really a picture of Cassie, but it’s signed

with love from Ron and her, versions of which have adorned my

bulletin board for almost 10 years, when Rodecker was first

approached about a television series.

Every time, he came into my office to update me on the series,

Rodecker would look at my bulletin board and say, “We can do better.”

He’d crumple up the existing portrait of Cassie and replace it with a

new drawing on any old scrap of paper he found on my desk.

I’ll miss that.

Even though Rodecker is leaving, his castle will stay.

“I am leaving it for the Winter Fantasy” [the Sawdust’s

Thanksgiving festival -- everyone who hates shopping at a mall, gives

thanks], he said.

Rodecker has been a fixture in Laguna Beach since 1963. He taught

Councilwoman Toni Iseman’s son; Nick, Coastline Pilot cartoonist,

John Lara; and a host of students at the now-closed Aliso Elementary

School and at Thurston Middle School.

He met his future wife at Thurston when she did her student

teaching. The couple have four children and nine grandchildren.

Rodecker loved teaching kids, but something was missing from his

life.

When he woke in the hospital after by-pass surgery in 1977, he

realized that what was missing was the commitment to himself as an

artist.

He returned to teaching, but devoted enough time to art in the

next year to be juried into the Festival of Arts, shifting in 1981 to

the Sawdust.

Serendipity means making fortunate discoveries by chance. Rodecker

should have named one of the characters on “Dragon Tales”

Serendipity.

In 1985, (the same year he had his second by-pass surgery) he

glanced at some books on sale at a local market. The stack included

“Encyclopedia of Legendary Creatures,” which Rodecker bought.

The book was the incubator for Dragon Tales’ Cassie, Ord, Wheezie

and Quetzel and all the dragons that came before and after them.

Watercolor was their mother’s milk -- he had previously worked in pen

and ink.

Serendipity sent Rodecker down another road in 1995, when Lisa

Bach chanced on his castle during a visit to the Sawdust. Her job was

to help find new products for Sony Television. She found a winner.

Rodecker not only had the characters, he had story ideas and an

underlying theme for a television series that combined his art and

his philosophy as an educator: “To teach children to meet challenging

situations that occur in every child’s life.”

Sony took the concept to Children’s Television Workshop, which

produced the series for PBS. Since its debut in 1999, “Dragon Tales”

has been nominated for three Emmys.

Although Rodecker sold the rights to the show, he still is the

credited creator and producer of the series, in charge of devising

new characters.

Rodecker’s dragons are based on the personalities of his two

beloved golden retrievers, Tessa and Remington. They too will be

moving north.

“Every 30 years we take on a new challenge,” Rodecker said. “It’s

time.”

From my point of view, he’s looking at the wrong clock.

FLIPPING OFF SUMMER

The annual Labor Day Pancake Breakfast is the antidote to

complaints about how Laguna has changed for the worse.

For decades the breakfast has been the locals’ celebration of the

end the tourists’ summer and the beginning of theirs. This year a

record crowd attended. More than 600 people were served.

“We ran out of everything, even utensils, by 9:30 [a.m.],” said

Derek St. John, son of Generalissimo Sande St. John, who organizes

the breakfasts, sponsored this year by the Exchange Club of Laguna

Beach.

Her troops included firefighters Gary Zumbo, John Luna, Tom

Padden, Alex Landa and Michael Holloway and Battalion Chiefs Jeff

LaTendresse and Mike Macey.

Volunteer Carolin Miller gave everyone a scare. She collapsed from

dehydration and was taken to South Coast Medical Center for treatment

and released.

“She was here since 5 a.m. this morning,” St. John said. “It was

102 degrees and she is 82 and never stops. Firefighters at the scene

rushed to assist her.

Devin Rosen performed his magic. The Very Good Fairy distributed

watermelon along with good wishes. Blond, leggy Marlene Malkawi, a

new resident of Laguna, was dressed as Beauty Queen Barbie from Aunt

Sande’s capacious costume closet.

Al Oligino’s morning began at 5:30 a.m., when he picked donated

supplies.

Dave Schaar, a major underwriter for the breakfast, arrived early,

looking fit after his 6:30 a .m. volley ball game at Main Beach. Bill

Deland and Mark Fleming also contributed.

“We had absolutely no expenses, even for the free kids drawing and

every kid got a prize,” St. John said. “But we could never do it

without the generosity of Las Brisas and Jolly Roger, who contributed

all the food.”

Proceeds from the breakfast benefit child abuse prevention

programs and local nonprofit organizations.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652, hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite 22;

call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.