Beach Cities Toy Drive celebrates 20 years
Beach City Toy Drive committee members and Hermosa and Manhattan firefighters gather for the annual toy drive photo. Photo by Chris Miller Every holiday season for the past 20 years, volunteers have gathered at Clark Stadium in Hermosa Beach, or the Joselyn Center in Manhattan Beach to wrap upwards of 5,000 toys. The toys are collected from bins, filled by beach city residents and businesses, at the Hermosa and Manhattan fire departments. The Hermosa Chamber donates toys it collects as admission to its annual holiday mixer. Hermosa Cyclery has donated two dozen bicycles a year for the past five years in memory of their founder Harold “Schu” Schumaker. This year’s wrapping part will be held Saturday at the Joselyn Center, next to the Manhattan Beach Civic Center, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. “The wrapping parties alternates between the two cities,” said Sam Edgerton, who founded the toy drive in 1992, the year he was elected to the Hermosa city council. Today, the toy drive is believed to be the largest in Los Angeles County. Joining Edgerton at the wrapping party will be co-founders JR Rivtszky and Vicki Garcia. Rivitzsky was a fellow council member and Garcia a school board member in…
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