Red Car Brewery Party - October 11

Yesterday's Y We Care About Z Schools party was a great grassroots event put together by a group of families with kids in the Torrance schools, who did all the work to bring this together (including underwriting the expense of the party so all donations could be used to promote the bond measures). Terry Ragins passes on that $3,000 was raised (!!!) and the money will be used for a parent focused mailing from the campaign.

I was going from a phone banking gig for another cause to join the party in progress, so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. Here are a few that I did get, which hopefully gives you a good flavor.
I heard most of the speeches including Torrance Board of Education members Terry Ragins and Al Muratsuchi. The point that made the most impression for me was what Al Muratsuchi said about what why the bond measure failed two years ago: parents did not turn out in big enough numbers. We have to talk the bond measures up with our fellow parents and get the word out.

The band S'cool Daze provided the tunes for the afternoon.


Terry Ragins and Sue Herbers, Torrance City Clerk (she handles city election matters, but as the bond measures are done at the County level, this isn't in her jurisdiction)
A good crowd enjoying the wonderful pulled pork sandwiches, artichoke dip, and microbrew served up by the Red Car. I recommend the Pumpkinhead ale.

Torrance Council members Cliff Numark and Tom Brewer were out to support the measures as well.

Because I had to arrive late I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I'd hoped, and I haven't had the pleasure to meet all those who are making such great efforts for this campaign, either, so I should note that I don't have pictures of a whole bunch of folks who deserve to be recognized.

However, from the party invitation I have the names of the party hosts, who made it possible to have this great event to build the enthusiasm for the campaign AND raise thousands of dollars at the same time. The parent organizers below deserve a lot of thanks:

Craig and Alpa Brown, Bob and Laurie Brandt, Gary and Donna Duperron, Keyomars and Monica Fard, Steve and Lucy Hemingway, Frank and Gail Kantrowitz, Hiro and Izumi Koh, Rob and Katy Maloney, Bill and Pam Milroy, Alex and Faith Moy, Al and Hiroko Muratsuchi, Jim and Michele Nadeau, Scott and Terri Nishimura, Rick and Desiree Palmer, Sabine and Nick Peters, Brian and Ginny Rickey, Bill and Andrea Ruof, Larry and Laura Savitz, Brad and Pam Suzuki, Mark and Janis Seraydarian, Linda Tookey, Jimmy and Heather Wakimoto and Red Car Brewery and Restaurant Depot!

[I've updated the post to reflect the grass roots aspect of the party and to add the impressive fundraising total.]