Actor Keanu Reeves at last year’s Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, one of six main-event attractions of the annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

A star-studded cast of some of America’s favorite celebrities from film, television, sports and music will take to the streets of Long Beach this weekend to challenge a group of professional race-car drivers in the 35th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, one of six main-event attractions taking place during the 37th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Hollywood stars are prepared to meet the high-speed challenge to support Racing for Kids, a national nonprofit program benefiting children’s hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County.
As the world’s longest-running and most prestigious celebrity racing event, the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race has introduced more than 540 celebrities to the sport of race-car competition. Pitting popular personalities against professional racers, the 10-lap sprint around the 1.97-mile downtown Long Beach street circuit begins as an even field, as drivers get behind the wheel of identical race-ready Scion tCs.
The lineup of 18 drivers includes celebrities, proven professionals and a charity auction winner. The 2011 field will include: Good Day LA anchor Jillian Barberie Reynolds; CSI:NY’s AJ Buckley; FX hit series Sons of Anarchy’s Kim Coates; character actor William Fichtner, who has appeared in the films Armageddon and Black Hawk Down; actor Daniel Goddard of The Young and the Restless; Brian Austin Green, from Desperate Housewives and Beverly Hills 90210; two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou; Kevin Jonas, of the pop group The Jonas Brothers; Stephen Moyer, who plays vampire Bill Compton on HBO’s Golden Globe–nominated series True Blood; actor-turned-pro racer Frankie Muniz, who played the eponymous character on the Fox series Malcolm in the Middle; ultimate fighter Tito Ortiz; actress Megyn Price, of the CBS comedy Rules of Engagement; and actor Michael Trucco, of the new USA Network series Fairly Legal.
Vying for a win in the pro category alongside last year’s celebrity winner Green and Muniz are Ken Gushi, Chris Rado, and Kody Swanson. Mike Sullivan, owner of Toyota of Hollywood and Toyota of Santa Monica, is filling the Southern California Toyota dealer seat. Rounding out the field is the charity auction winner, Jerry Westlund, who is returning for the second consecutive year. He won the opportunity to race due to his generous donation in a charity auction.
Toyota will donate $5,000 to Racing for Kids in the name of each celebrity racer and another $5,000 to the winning racer’s charity of choice. Additionally, a $15,000 donation will be made in conjunction with the 14th annual People Pole Award. Sponsored by People magazine, the award honors the pole-position winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race qualifying session on Friday, April 15.
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race takes place the following day, Saturday, April 16. In addition to participating in a practice session and a qualifying race on April 15, the drivers’ schedules include a visit to Long Beach’s Memorial Miller Children’s Hospital, which receives a charitable donation in their names from Toyota.

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Rae Gabelich

Ray Grabinski

By Rachael Rifkin
Staff Writer

The zingers were flying on Thursday, Sept. 30 at the Rae-Ray Roast at the Law Offices of Keesal, Young and Logan in downtown Long Beach, as community leaders paid homage to special guests of honor: former 7th District Councilmember Ray Grabinski and current 8th District Councilmember Rae Gabelich. Proceeds from the fundraising event benefited the Pythian Youth Foundation of California, a nonprofit organization established in 1946 to develop and operate a camp for underprivileged boys and girls. Every summer the foundation sends 300 local at-risk youth between the ages of 9 and 11 to the 19-acre Pythian Youth Camp in the Sequoia National Forest.
Before the dinner-roast began, Mel Pinkham, chancellor of the Lakewood/Long Beach chapter of Knights of Pythias, spoke about the camp.

Before the dinner-roast began, Mel Pinkham, chancellor of the Lakewood/ Long Beach chapter of Knights of Pythias, spoke about the organization’s camp for inner-city kids, for which the event was a benefit.

“These children who have never been to the corner of the block get to see the opportunities out there,” Pinkham said. “It’s a beautiful camp. They learn how to share, fish, swim, dance, and look at stars. A scholarship of $400 sends one child to camp. Our honorees Rae and Ray are longtime supporters. They have been big allies for us.”
The roast began after dinner. Roasters included Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, County of Los Angeles Supervisor Don Knabe, Signal Tribune Publisher Neena Strichart, George Rendell and Dr. Rachel Surls from the UC Coop Extension, businessman John Morris, and former 7th District Councilmember Tonia Reyes-Uranga. Gloria Cordero of the ABC Advocacy Group was the roastmaster. Also in attendance were State Senator Alan Lowenthal and his wife Debbie, former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill, former Long Beach Vice Mayor Val Lerch, Lillian Kawasaki from the Water Replenishment District, Roberto Uranga from the college board, and former Long Beach Councilmembers Evan Braude, Doug Drummond and Jeff Kellogg.
Back in the 1970s, Gabelich, who would be elected to the Long Beach City Council in 2004 and re-elected without opposition in 2008, was a flight attendant. This became the fodder for many a joke. Assemblywoman Lowenthal remarked, “Rae was a flight attendant but never made a fed-up announcement. She never would have been able to make it through the last six years with that attitude.” Whereas former Councilmember Reyes-Uranga informed Gabelich that, “United called. They want their uniform back.” The other Ray, who served as 7th District Councilman from 1986 to 1994, was described by several roasters as an enthusiastic talker who “liked to hear the sound of his own voice” and went by the nickname “Gab”inski.
Then it was the roastees’ turn to speak. After some brief comments on their roasts, they turned the attention back to the Pythian Youth Foundation. “My goal is to provide these kind of opportunities to those who often don’t have them,” said Gabelich. Grabinski closed his speech by saying, “I want to remind people that the really important gifts are the gifts we give kids.”

Still from the film Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian, which explores the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema.

Community Cinema, presented by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), will come to the Long Beach Public Library with the premiere of Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian. Now in its sixth year, Community Cinema is a free monthly screening series that uses the power of film to inspire debate on important social issues and connect communities.
Community Cinema will bring a free preview of Reel Injun to the Long Beach Public Main Library, 101 Pacific Ave., on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 6pm. In the film, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an insightful and often humorous look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema and examining the ways that the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding– and misunderstanding– of Natives.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring: Craig Stone, professor of American Indian Studies and Art, California State University at Long Beach; Claudia Jurmain, director of Special Projects and Publications at Rancho Los Alamitos and co-author of O, My Ancestor: Recognition and Renewal for the Gabrielino-Tongva People of the Los Angeles Area; Cindi Moar Alvitre (Tongva) Ph.D. candidate, UCLA Department of World Arts & Cultures; and Larry Smith (Lumbee Nation), co-host of KPFK Radio’s American-Indian Airwaves.

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Survivor: Nicaragua contestant Na Onka Mixon is an elementary-school physical-education teacher and YMCA personal trainer who grew up in Long Beach.

By Brett Ashley Hawkins
Editorial Intern

As television viewers evaluate the shows they wish to watch this fall, one of Long Beach’s own will grace the small screen as one of the latest castaways on the 21st season of CBS’s Survivor. Appearing on Survivor: Nicaragua will be Na Onka Mixon, a 27-year-old elementary-school physical-education teacher and YMCA personal trainer who now resides in Los Angeles.
Mixon spent a large portion of her childhood and adolescence in Long Beach. “My time at Poly (High School) was the time of my life,” Mixon said. “I went to PAAL (Poly Academy of Accelerated Learning) my senior year and graduated with honors.” While attending Poly, Mixon played basketball and ran for the track team, earning four conference championships, three state championships, and MVP at the latter as a long jumper. She also took a place on Poly’s Associated Student Body as a member of the Student Commission and won the Miss Jackrabbit 2001 pageant. She asserts that although her life is now in Los Angeles, she frequently visits Long Beach to see her aunt, Karona Mixon.
Survivor premiered in 2001 and sparked the beginning of a major movement for reality competition programming. The show has been nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. The show’s premise involves a maximum of 20 strangers marooned in a remote location. While trying to survive the elements with their own outdoor skills, the castaways must vote to eliminate one person from the game every three days until only one remains. That one person claims the title of “Sole Survivor” and $1 million. “I thought it would be fun to try something new and out of this world,” said Mixon. “I am always into trying new things, and what better thing to try than Survivor?”
Every season of the show includes several twists to make that particular season special. For the season during which Mixon competed, the contestants were separated by age into two 10-member tribes. Mixon was a member of the La Flor Tribe, consisting of cast members under 30 years old.
Mixon hopes that Long Beach will tune in to Survivor. “This season is going to be like no other season,” said Mixon. “You can’t predict what will happen.”
Survivor: Nicaragua premieres Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 8pm on CBS.

Long Beach Playhouse's new managing director, Lauren Morris

David Haberbush, president of the board of directors of the Long Beach Playhouse, recently announced that Lauren Morris has accepted the position of managing director as of June 7. In addition, Sue Snead has been named the marketing director and Andrew Vonderschmitt, who served as the interim managing director, will continue as the artistic/technical director.
“We are very excited about our new team at the Playhouse,” said Haberbush. “Lauren is a recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach with a joint masters degree in fine arts and business administration in theatre management. The chair of the theatre arts department, Joanne Gordon, told the ad hoc committee that Lauren is the most outstanding graduate of the program in the last 20 years.”
“I am honored to be leading an organization that has been so integral to the arts in Long Beach for 80 years,” said Morris. “Our 81st season promises to be full of changes that we hope will galvanize and energize the present and future Long Beach Playhouse community.”
Lauren Morris’s experience in theatre management in both Indiana and California has included being the associate producing artistic director at the Shawnee Summer Theatre, the marketing and literary intern at South Coast Rep and the theatre management consultant for the Summer Stock Stage in Indianapolis. Morris is also a freelance theatre artist performing as a director and actor, and she is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association.
While receiving her bachelor’s degree in theatre from Indiana State University in 2001, she worked as the advertising manager for the Indiana Statesman newspaper. Her experience also includes ticket management, public/media relations, marketing, electronic communications and web management, and teaching theatre in Indiana and at Cal State Long Beach.
Sue Snead has been in the advertising and marketing industry for the last 26 years. She is the owner of Snead Custom Publishing and Advertising since January 2010. Most recently she was the retail advertising/specialty products manager for the Press-Telegram. Snead has worked with major businesses and organizations in the greater Long Beach area, such as the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Press-Telegram, Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, Belmont Shore Business Association, and the Downtown Long Beach Association, along with many small business owners.
Snead is an alumnus of Leadership Long Beach and will soon receive her professional certificate in online teaching from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and her Master of Business Administration from the University of La Verne. Snead has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Pepperdine University.
Andrew Vonderschmitt has directed more than 30 productions in Long Beach and Orange County. In addition he designs lighting, sets and sound for as many shows. Prior to joining the Long Beach Playhouse as artistic/technical director, he served as technical director for Deep Blue Sea Repertory and the Garden Grove Playhouse.

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• The Southern California premiere of Medea by Luigi Cherubini
January 29, 2011 and Feb 5, 2011 at the Expo Building in Long Beach
• The West Coast premiere of Akhnaten by Philip Glass
March 19, 2011 and March 27, 2011 at The Terrace Theater in Long Beach
• The Southern California premiere of Cherry Town by Dmitri Shostakovich
May 15, 2011 at the Center Theater in Long Beach
May 18, 2011 at Irvine Barclay Theater in Irvine
May 22, 2011 at Barnum Hall in Santa Monica
• The Southern California premiere of The Difficulty of Crossing a Field by David Lang
June 15, 2011 and June 18, 2011 at a location to be announced at a later date

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