Hollywood Heritage Elects New Board Members At Annual Meeting

By John Clifford

The Hollywood Heritage Annual Meeting of the membership was held on Thursday, November 20 at the Hollywood Heritage Museum in the historic Lasky-DeMille Barn. One of the largest turnouts for an Annual Meeting in recent memory attendees enjoyed snacks and soft drinks graciously provided by Thaddeus Smith of the Music Box (Henry Fonda) Theater and outgoing board member Anne Epstein. After mingling and some catching up on what everyone has been doing for the past year, the meeting was brought to order by President Kay Tornborg.

The first item of business was the election of Board members. There were ten seats that were up for election. Kay turned the meeting over to Secretary/Parliamentarian John Clifford who conducted the election. The nominating committee of Hollywood Heritage, headed by Stephen X. Sylvester, came up with a commendable slate of candidates who were elected by unanimous consent of the membership. Returning board members who were elected were: Robert Birchard, Fran Offenhauser, Marvin Paige, and Natalie Shivers.

New to the board this year are (left to right):

• Richard Rownak: Richard is a photographer, videographer, and serves as the Webmaster for the Noarus Auto group, maintaining 16 automotive dealer web sites. His long-time interest in Hollywood and the movies, along with his specialized skills will make him a valued addition to the board.
• Marian Gibbons: One of the original founders of Hollywood Heritage, Marian was instrumental in setting up the stewardships for both the Lasky-DeMille Barn and Wattles Mansion and Gardens for Hollywood Heritage. Marian returns to us after a long absence.
• David Greim: David is a long-time friend (and member) of Hollywood Heritage. He serves as a docent at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. He has been very involved in film history and serves as president of the Al Jolson Society, which had a very successful convention this past year at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
• Aaron Epstein: Owner of Artisan’s Patio (LA Historic Landmark #453) on Hollywood Blvd, Aaron is the son of Pickwick Bookstore founder Louis Epstein and has a long history with the Hollywood community including previously sitting on the board of the Hollywood Business Improvement District (BID).
• Andrew Schwartz: Andrew is an attorney who brings a wealth of experience with non-profit organizations. He has sat on the boards of the Schoenberg Institute, LACPS, and the Cactus Foundation. In addition, he has a life-long passion for the history of motion pictures.
• Marc Wanamaker: Long-time Hollywood Heritage special consultant, Marc is a historian, author, owner of Bison Archive, frequent speaker, and guest on various television and radio shows regarding the history of Hollywood.

Once the important business of the elections was over, Kay Tornborg presented a review of the many important accomplishments of the past year, including the highly successful evenings at the barn, the historic designation for the Toberman House, the $75,000 Getty grant for irrigation plans for Wattles Gardens, and the improvements and additions made to the Hollywood Heritage Museum. Looking toward the coming year, Kay announced that we’re looking at hosting a “Home Tour” of historic homes in the Hollywood area. She made an impassioned plea for docents, especially those who like to talk about historic homes. While not dwelling on it, she also acknowledged the big disappointment of the past year was the loss of the historic Hollywood Bowl orchestra shell despite three years of trying to save it (see story on page 1).

Next on the agenda was a presentation by Hollywood Heritage Board member Bill Roschen who is also one of the architects on the new project being planned at Hollywood and Vine. Bill showed architectural massing studies and site plans for the block bounded by Hollywood Boulevard, Vine Street, Selma Avenue, and Argyle Avenue. (see the extensive article on page 6 under Preservation Update). There was a lively question and answer period with the large crowd showing a lot of interest in the issues surrounding such a project.

The final item of the evening was a presentation by new Hollywood Heritage Board member Marc Wanamaker of “Rare Hollywood Photographs.” Marc’s slide show consisted of recently unearthed images that had not been publicly shown before, including several recently acquired by the Hollywood Heritage Museum archive. These included images of Hollywood street scenes from the 1910s through the 1970s. Of special interest were his photographs of some of the early studios that included the sets from Intolerance and Thief of Bagdad. Also among the gems were scenes of buildings that had not been previously documented, as well as early tourist snapshots taken at such sites as the DeLongpre house.

The meeting adjourned at about 9:30, but the crowd didn’t thin out until after 11:00 pm, with many discussions with board members old and new, congratulations on past successes and excited discussions about future projects. All in all, it appears to have been one of the best annual meetings we’ve ever had.