Tradition was hugged and squeezed last evening at the charged opening assemblage of United Parents of Culver City (unitedparentsculvercity.com), or the Parents Union, as it will be known.
This was the epitome of a model small town in action, direct from the history books, without a whiff of modernity in view.
It could have been a revisit to Loretta Young and Spencer Tracy showing struggling, disparate families of America their pioneering forefathers built a thriving country.
No shiny rooms, gurgling with the hum of just-invented technology, brilliantly illumined by 14 million megawatts of power.
No, sir.
In a declared attempted to “speak for the children,” since they feel the School Board and extant unions do not satisfactorily fill the task, about 80 parents gathered in a setting that could have been scripted for a grainy black-and-white family film from the 1940s.
Convening at twilight in a just-right sized backyard – bring your jackets, guests were urged, because the whole fast-paced two-hour meeting will be in the raw outdoors.
With the stars in the sky having gone to bed early, Interim President Steve Levin had to conduct the meeting the way it was done a little more than a century ago when Tom Edison lighted the world.
Against a backdrop of an old-fashioned fence where sheets of imaginative suggestions had been scrawled by curious new members, Mr. Levin had to re-position himself several times to read his prepared script. At a point, he found a miniature light that rescued him.
1912 or 2012?
The only sign of 2012 was the glow of much-congratulated activist Todd Johnson’s laptop.
Generally, the tightly run meeting impressed the most heavily motivated. But even they realized this step was saturated in easiness and fun. The sober stuff, the much more demanding, complicated chore of welding themselves into a an effective political force lies in the coming months, long after last night’s relative blip is picked up and blown away.
For the most enthusiastic parents – on folding chairs at small, circular tables sporting a most modest repaste – this was the embryonic stage of their dreams of carrying out a mission that still is being finalized.
For the smallish huddle of maybe-wait-and-see skeptics sprinkled among the strongly motivated crowd, they are holding their opinions in abeyance.
The parents approved three broad motions that will be covered in a separate report.
Mr. Levin and Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin were the lead organizers, along with parent activists Scott Kecken and Scott McVarish – and all mainly welcomed the turnout, which will be remembered for crowd-watching.
Many of the pockets of shmoozers were marked by neck-craning, both early and later arrivals constantly scanning the breadth of the backyard, checking out who was surprising by his or her presence, and who disappointed by passing on the event.
Besides the community’s best known parent voices, Laura Chardiet and Kathy Paspalis were there along with Jim Clark and Jeff Cooper from the City Council, Goran Eriksson, President of the Chamber of Commerce and former Councilman Alan Corlin.
Ms. Chardiet, who has been involved in schools since her two children started classes, told the newspaper:
“I support parents who want to become more involved in their community, who want to bring about positive change, and parents who are working together from all of the schools.”
