(Left to right) Brothers Jon, Mike and Chad Wilhite eat pepper-bellies at last summer’s Hometown Fair in Manhattan Beach. All three attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting on behalf of a proposed wall at Marine Park commemorating outstanding people in the community who have contributed to youth. The proposed wall was inspired by a 2009 car accident that took the lives of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, baseball player and Manhattan Beach resident Henry Pearson, and Courtney Stewart. Jon Wihite was the sole survivor of the accident, which was caused by a drunk driver.
A committee representative of the local baseball community hopes the wall will serve to deter young people from drunk driving. Tears poured during an emotional hour at Tuesday’s meeting, during which the City Council considered the installation of the wall and heard from several residents in support of it. Council members unanimously approved the wall, which will be funded mostly through private fundraising and subsidized by the city’s public art fund. Photo by Andrea Ruse
