I know that this probably seems like a very odd and macabre “Trip of the Week”.  But with my love of history and social justice both areas could be fulfilled with a trip to this cemetery.   Evergreen Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the City of Los Angeles.

Evergreen Cemetery was founded and developed by a private development company after many months of disagreement by the City Council. The argument was whether a private company had the right to engage in the business of Burials. After all the controversy had settled, the City Council agreed and allowed the private development company to engage in the business of Burials and to create a cemetery. Thus on August 23, 1877, Evergreen Cemetery was established.

Within the cemetery, you will find an ethnicity that is as colorful as any that can be found. From pioneering Families such as the Hollenbecks, the Workmans, the Lankershims and the Van Nuyses, to such notable individuals as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Jack Benny Program), Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Jr. (Little Rascals), Los Angeles Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, to families that bear Armenian, Asian, Black, Anglo and Hispanic surnames. In addition are the first librarian of Los Angeles, Banning, the first African American Aviator, and “Biddy” Mason, a former slave who was the first African American woman to own land in Los Angeles.
This wonderful diversity of people who have helped in the raising of this great city, are laid to rest among the Pines and the Palms, the Willow and the Wisteria, all in the City that is Los Angeles. Some of the ethnic groups to have burials within our Cemetery were the early Russian-Armenians who settled in Los Angeles just after World War I. They brought with them the tradition of pictures on the grave markers, which is just one of the many different ways cultures contribute in some fashion or form to our society, eventually bringing us all closer together in a World not so far apart.

In another part of Evergreen Cemetery is the final resting place for many Nisei-Second Generation Japanese Americans who died in the Pacific, in Italy during World War II, and the Korean Conflict. And among these valiant soldiers lie Sadao Munemori, the first Japanese American Soldier to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

In another section of the Cemetery, you will find a small set of graves in which are interred veterans of the Civil War. Sometimes just a name or a date, a rank or company division, or just a name and State, is all that provides a simple tribute to those who participated in the making of this Country.

On the Lorena Street side of the Cemetery, you will find an old Chinese Shrine built in 1888. This Shrine was used for the burning of clothes, paper money and incense for the purpose of insuring the decedent had plenty of these items in the next world. To this date, this custom is still practiced by many Chinese as part of the Funeral ritual.
The City of Los Angeles, through the efforts of the Chinese Historical Society have designated this Shrine a Historical Cultural Monument.

Yet still in another part of this Cemetery, you will find the Pacific Coast Showmen's Association and the Women's Auxiliary. This section was founded and dedicated by the Circus and Carnival troupe in 1922, for their members and spouses.

As you walk through the Park, you are walking through Culture and Tradition. You are walking among Men and Women who have built our City. Truly, this is a treasured capsule of time. Thank you for visiting with us! We sincerely hope this has been a small inspiration for you and we hope you will visit us again!

As interesting as all of this rich diversity and history is, my main reason for visiting this cemetery was because it is Los Angeles’ Potters Grave… the final resting place for the city's lost and forgotten. It's a small graveyard of mostly unmarked plots. There are no headstones here and few visitors. Buried here are peple who have no known next of kin or whose next of kin cannot or will not make funeral arrangment for them.  Among them are newborns, elderly, immigrants,  homeless, and even some John and Jane Does, bodies that were never identified.
In speaking with the caretaker, anywhere between 1600 and 2000 unknown, poor, or homeless people are cremated each year and stored at the cemetery in urns for four years.  They are held for four years in case someone wants to claim their ashes.  After four years, all the people cremated that year are buried in a mass grave in December.  Each urn contains a plastic bag of ashes and the only individual item included in this mass burial is a tag marked with an identification number assigned to the body.

After the ashes are buried a small plaque with the “year” is placed on top of the mass burial grave.  Thousands of dead men and women are marked only by small plaques displaying the year they died.
I couldn’t help but leave the cemetery feeling haunted.  Haunted knowing that literally 1000’s of souls are buried there each year.  Each one an individual that was at one time a  child, perhaps a family, he/she had hopes and dreams and in the end ended up lost and nameless in death.

Not one of my usual "trip of the weeks" but a great weekend nonetheless.  Actually it was more of an "emotional" trip of the week than a physical trip of the week. 

 The three day weekend started off with an old friend and fraternity brother coming out this weekend from Washington DC for our Homecoming Reunion at my old alma mater, Pepperdine University.   He arrived on Saturday morning and we hung out for a while catching up.  We then headed up the coast to Malibu where Pepperdine University is.   I had not been back on campus in several years and it felt odd going back.  Upon arriving there one of the first people I met was Dr. David Baird my History Professor and mentor and overall great person.  We chatted and caught up for a while.  My friend Mike and I, then ran into another fratenity brother David and again caught up.  We kept talking about "pushing 40" and how some of the freshmen on campus were not even born when we started school.  I never really think of myself as getting older. I feel forever 25.  So it was sort of a reality check..that yes, I am getting older.  We then had lunch on campus and walked around reminescing the whole time about our lives on campus.   In the evening we had dinner at one of the professors homes.  It was even fun to drive around Malibu recalling memories of dances, parties, and "happy hours" we used to go to.

At the end of the day it was rather bittersweet.   It seemed like just yesterday we were there...and yet it was over 15 years ago.   It was a reminder of how fast time goes by and the paths our lives had all taken.   In addition there was part of me that wished I could go back in time with the knowledge I have now. I took so much for granted then...the beach, the sunset, the mountains, friends...thinking it would always last.   But I also realized that I did the best at that time that I could with what I had.  It reminded me to really appreciate each day and each interaction as you never know how long it will last. 

When Mike and I got back to my place we looked at old photos and year books recalling all the fun we had.  It seemed like such a carefree fun time in our lives.   Sunday we drove around Westwood and Beverly hills to some of our old stomping grounds and it seemed like every restaraunt, theater, bar, and intersection recalled some memory.   We ended up at Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade where both of us had spent many of our Pepperdine Weekends dining, dancing, shooting pool, movies, and drinking.  We ended up seeing Pans Labyrinth at the theater which was good and then went out for dinner in addition to meeting up with another friend of Mike's.

My friend left this morning....it is raining and cold...and I'm left with the memories of college days and a great weekend with an old friend who was able to share in those memories.  In all, the lessons I learned this weekend were great...cherish each day, cherish your special times with family and friends, and live life to the fullest as it really does go by very fast.  My dad always said when I was young that the older you get the faster time seems to go...I never believed him until this weekend!

This weeks "trip of the week" was not really a trip..but an outting but it felt like a trip around the world in 8 hours!  This weekend was the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show at the Long Beach Convention Center.  This was my fourth year attending and this is usually the foundation of how I start deciding where to go next.   This year the Travel Show was even larger than previous years with over 400 exhibitors representing thousands of destinations from all over the world.  Included were tourism boards, travel companies, adventure outfitters and others.

 As has been the case in previous years, I needed to make four trips to my cars with the bags of free maps, brochures, booklets, and give aways.  I started off in the California section and continued on to the United States/Hawaii/Alaska Section.  Dumping a load of brochures in my car I returned for the booths that I love!  The International Booths which are broken down into Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America.  I literally spent hours chatting and collecting information.  There were also two guest speakers on the main travel stage which were Huell Howser (which most of you Californians know as the host of "California's Gold") and Rick Steves from PBS.   There were also several seminars on travel tips, digital photography, family vacations and various other topics.  I went to the seminar on Travel Writing which was hosted by Catherine Hamm, Travel Editor of the Los Angeles Times, and Don George, Editor of Lonely Planet Books and a host of other travel writings/books.

 Aside from the booths and great seminars, there was continuous live performances by world performers--Inka Dancers and Peruvian Flute Players, dancers from the Cook Islands, Mariachi Bands from Mexico, Dancers from Japan, and a plethora of other world performers!  Lastly, Lonely Planet books were on sale for 50% off so I bought a few for possible destinations.

The last few years, the travel show has been the foundation for picking my next trips.  So ...drum roll please....the nominees are:  India,  Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, malaysia, and Singapor), Nicaragua/Honduras, or Paraguay/Argentina!  I just added a new poll to this website so be sure to vote for where you think I should go next!

 Until next week...Peace!

The first "trip" of the week was more of an outting to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.   Disney bought the theater a while ago and refurbished it and now premier Disney Movies as well as re-releasing old Disney Classics.   The movie this month was Mary Poppins.

The El Capitan Theatre debuted on May 3, 1926, as "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama." That evening, limousines pulled up before the theatre's elaborate cast-concrete Spanish Colonial exterior (designed by architectural firm Morgan, Walls, and Clements) and deposited Hollywood royalty, who were attending the play "Charlot's Revue," starring Jack Buchanan, Gertrude Lawrence, and Beatrice Lillie.

Inside, the audience enjoyed one of the most colorful and lavish interiors they had ever seen, featuring an elaborate $1.2-million East Indian design, created by San Francisco architect G. Albert Lansburgh.

Between 1926 and 1936, more than 120 live plays were produced at the El Capitan Theatre, including "No, No, Nanette," "Anything Goes," and "Ah, Wilderness," and its stage was graced by such legendary stars as Will Rogers, Clark Gable, and Joan Fontaine. In 1941, Orson Welles' Academy Award™-winning "Citizen Kane" made its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre. After the successful screening of "Citizen Kane," the El Capitan Theatre closed for remodeling. A year later, it was reborn as the Hollywood Paramount, a sleek, new "art moderne" movie house.

In 1989, The Walt Disney Company joined forces with Pacific Theatres to begin a two-year archeological dig, which led to a museum-quality restoration of the legendary palace. Under the supervision of the National Park Service's Department of the Interior, and with guidance from conservator Martin Weil, architect Ed Fields, and renowned theatre designer Joseph J. Musil, the certified national historic site was restored to its former grandeur and reopened to the public in June, 1991, with the world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' "The Rocketeer."

The El Capitan Theatre was an early participant in Hollywood's recent revitalization efforts. In 2001, the Hollywood & Highland entertainment complex which houses the permanent home of the Oscars at The Kodak Theatre opened directly across the street. As an exclusive first run theatre for Walt Disney Pictures, The El Capitan Theatre hosts live stage shows, world premieres, and other special events that have helped restore showmanship to Hollywood Boulevard.