The weekend's Fiesta La Ballona competition between the old District guard, the Parent-Teachers Assn (PTSA), and the new, up-start kids in the School District, United Parents of Culver City (UPCC), was the much-anticipated event in the city.
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Far left, Maren Neufeld and Leslie Gardner. Far right, Reginald Brunson, and at right, front row, sunglasses on her head, Laura Chardiet.
One could tell that this competition was being taken quite seriously by both teams by the amount of tension in the air.
There was no brash competitor trash talk-bantering going back and forth that one usually hears. One could feel the tension build up as starting time approached. To keep the competition on the level, City Councilman Jim Clarke and Jerry Chabola, longtime Culver High Athletic Director, recently-retired, were called on to referee the match.
Once started, the games brought out the competitiveness on both sides, especially in our feisty School Board member Laura Chardiet and El Rincon Principal, Reginald (The Bod) Brunson.
The competition was intense. Scoring was close throughout the contest. Going into the final game, the UPCC led the overall score by one point, four to three. The UPCC pulled out a conviencing victory in the third set in the Conehead Ring Toss. The final score was a 5 to 3 in favor of the UPCC, much to the chagrin of the boisterous PTA supporters.
In a nice gesture of camaraderie, after a short, but uproarious celebration and victorious photo op, the UPCC team called over the PTSA team to take a group picture.
Looking back, these games were more like the first skirmishes between sibling rivals, not that of polar opposites. It turned out that the games were a competition among friends, not unlike like that seen between in-laws at a family picnic.
In winning or losing, both teams showed class. They may find that they have much more in common than they thought coming into these games. Maybe, in coordinating their efforts jointly as allies, they might hasten bringing about the needed changes at our local schools.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
