The Gold Award and Eagle Scout mark the highest heights that young people involved in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, respectively, can achieve. In addition to the years of dedication to a troop needed to be eligible, each requires a demanding service project that benefits the scout’s community.
This year, Hermosa Beach was the target of not one but two local youths pursuing scouting’s highest honor. Sean Berens refurbished a pocket park in North Hermosa, while Kelly Kumpis created programming at the Hermosa Museum to encourage interest among younger Hermosans.
‘Most people drive right by’
The Roy and Bunny Seawright Park sits near the intersection of 22nd Street and Manhattan Avenue, and is the kind of treasure easily missed by anyone in a hurry. Sean Berens restored the park earlier this year, putting in new trellises and drought-tolerant succulents, but maintaining the park’s local-secret charm.
The park began life as a bureaucratic accident. In 1979, Hermosa resident Bill Schneider was working for the city’s building department. He was looking at a city surveyor’s map when he noticed that Loma Drive appeared to deadend into Palm Drive. (Each street runs north-south, but Loma curves west at its northern terminus.)
But despite what was on the map, the street had fallen out of use, and a home bordering the area had taken over the city property, staking a claim with a barbecue and lawn chairs, Schneider said. So, with the city’s blessing, he and others got the owners to clear the area, then used a public works crew to build steps and pour concrete. They erected a small park in honor of the 50th wedding anniversary of Roy and Bunny Seawright, who lived nearby.
“Their house was where everyone would hang out,” recalled their granddaughter, Annie Seawright-Newton. “Everyone loved them.”
While Sean Berens tried to figure out a project, a home just to the south of the park was undergoing a remodel. Local contractor Chris Lombardi was handling the work, and had to dig up the park’s original steps to connect to a gas main. With the construction in progress, Seawright-Newton suggested the project to Berens.
It was a natural choice. Berens grew up nearby, and knew the park as a place where his family and the Seawright-Newton family would occasionally gather, decorating the area at Christmas.
He began tackling the daunting paperwork from the Boy Scouts of America. A lengthy packet required him to set out a design, identify funding sources, and offer a step-by-step plan to complete the project. Many candidates have to submit their applications multiple times.
“They intentionally make this difficult,” said Sean’s father Norm. “They want to see if you have what it takes to see something through.”
The project benefitted greatly from local support. Learned Lumber gave Berens the wood for the project at cost. Lombardi offered guidance throughout, and set new stones that would hold the garden Berens would plant. And, when the city informed Berens that he would need official schematics, local engineer Eric McCullum donated his time.
McCullum said that Berens already had pretty detailed plans when the two met, and that McCullum helped blend those ideas with code standards, trying to be sensitive to the park’s history and Berens’ vision.
“It’s kind of an iterative process. He has a design, he wants to keep a certain aesthetic,” McCullum said. “One of the thing he needs to look at is seismic safety should earthquake hit. I’d say, ‘Does this meet what you want?’”
Demolition and construction took place over three weekends with the help of local scouts. In keeping with the rules for Eagle Scout projects, Berens was on site, but spent his time delegating and directing. He gave a speech on safety each day, and showed participants how to use various tools.
Berens owes his longevity in Troop 860 to his mother Suzi Berens, who passed away Dec. 15, 2014. Suzi served as den leader for his four years of Cub Scouts. A sign will be erected at the park later this year honoring her memory. Having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, Berens plans to continue on, serving as a mentor to those just starting out in scouting, and remembering what it meant to have someone to look up to.
“[Eagle Scout] might be the highest rank you can achieve. But that doesn’t mean you’re done,” he said.
Typewriters and jukeboxes
Kelly Kumpis has always loved learning about the past. But this year she realized that she associated history with far-off places, and museums with vacations. She had neglected the history right here in her hometown, and had not set foot in the Hermosa Museum.
After speaking with friends, she realized that many of them had not either. Thanks in response to a suggestion from her Mira Costa cross country coach — who in a delightful coincidence is Annie Seawright-Newton — she decided to devote her Girl Scout Gold Award project to expanding interest in the Hermosa Museum and the work of the Historical Society.
Kumpis taped video interviews with long-time Hermosa residents. The videos are intended to be shown to Hermosa Valley students in 4th grade, the year in which students study California history, and will eventually be posted on YouTube.
Among the first to work with Kumpis on the project was Chris Uebelhor, curator and manager of the Hermosa Museum. He said he appreciated the way in which Kumpis’ work could make the museum more of a go-to resource in the debates that engulf a rapidly changing city.
“Everything becomes a pretty big issue here, and every issue has some precedent in the past. And they can learn a lot about it in the museum,” Uebelhor said. “Whether it be school, oil, housing issues, it’s not the first time these issues have come up in the city. It’s certainly helpful to have perspective”
Along with the videos, Kumpis created activities to make visiting the museum a more interactive experience for youngsters. This included a coloring book and a photo scavenger hunt.
Her research exposed her to the many businesses that have come and gone from the city. In addition to places like the Bijou Theater and Either/Or Bookstore, whose legacy lives on in their buildings, she came across the Ocean Aquarium, which once sat just south of the pier.
Having cataloged the treasures lurking throughout the museum, she started seeing Hermosa everywhere. While reading a poem in English class, she recognized the author’s name, recalling that the poet had once performed at the Insomniac, the cafe, favored by Beatnicks, that used to sit across from the Lighthouse.
“Now I’m always saying to friends, ‘Did you know this person was born here?’ or ‘‘Did you know this movie was filmed here?’” Kumpis said.
To complete her project, she organized tours of the museum for Valley 4th graders. The tours had happened before, Uebelhor said, but Kumpis’ project revamped the experience.
Kumpis said she was struck by the way in which having tangible objects in front of them made the experience of history more approachable for young kids. These were children, she noted, for whom the technology like latest iPhone was commonplace. And yet…
“No one knew what a jukebox was. And every single kid played with the typewriter,” Kumpis said.
Seawright-Newton, whose family has been in the city since the 1920s and who is involved in the historical society, said she was impressed with the way Kumpis’ project displayed commitment and reverence for her hometown.
“I’m touched to see other generations getting interested in the history of Hermosa,” Seawright-Newton said. “In a town that’s changing so quickly, it’s nice to have kids develop respect for the past, and carry on past traditions.”
