Sunday, June 5, 2005
By PAT BRENNAN 
LAGUNA BEACH – There are at least two reasons why
this seaside town knows how to treat victims of natural
disaster, and both were on display Saturday at a pancake
breakfast for residents displaced by last week's landslide.
First, the city's been through it plenty of times before.
"We had a landslide in '78, a fire in '93, flood
and mudslide in '94," said Mayor Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider,
who appeared bright and early to greet residents. "People
want to help. They organize the community and chip in."
And second, Laguna Beach, population 26,000, still feels
a lot like a small town. Neighbors are often synonymous
with good friends. Nearly all seem to have a strong sense
of a "Laguna" identity that is cherished in all
its quirkiness.
"I am shocked at the amount of support," said
Diane Stevens, whose home was destroyed. "Total strangers
handing me $100 bills. This is a very tight-knit community."
The June 1 landslide destroyed 15 homes, damaged seven
severely, and left residents of 26 homes with only limited
access to retrieve their belongings. A few minor injuries
were reported.
The town immediately mobilized to make life as comfortable
as possible for the landslide victims.
Denny Freidenrich, a marketing consultant, said he began
making arrangements for the pancake breakfast over the
phone while on a business trip - within hours of learning
of the disaster.
"What better way to show you care for your neighbors
than to feed them?" he said Saturday.
At the breakfast, held at Bluebird Park, a short distance
from the slide area, Jackson Christy, 13, sold T-shirts
for $20 a apiece that said "And Bluebird shall rise," with
100 percent of the proceeds going to landslide victims.
Twenty-five Boy Scouts were on hand, some delivering food
they cooked or leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Restaurants
and grocery stores in the city donated food.
"It is awesome," said Jonelle Allen, an acting
teacher and one of the stars of the 1990s television show "Dr.
Quinn, Medicine Woman." Allen was evacuated from the
slide area but has since returned home.
Such events allow people affected by the landslide to
swap information as well as gain emotional support.
"We are all affected by what is happening here today," she
said.
Some exchanged stories of awakening to cracks, creaks
and rumbling as their homes began to fall.
Kay and Lewis Wright escaped their sliding home on Flamingo
Road but became trapped on a stairway, unable to move up
or down. They waited there until a police officer and firefighter
climbed in and led them to safety.
"You really can't help but be most appreciative," Kay
Wright, 78, said of the gathering Saturday. "You know
you're not alone."
Her neighbor, Donna Kilgore, 74, who also made a narrow
escape, found something she needed Saturday: a box of donated
clothes.
There were plenty of signs that the Laguna neighborhood's
spirit was intact. Douglas Miller, an artist who has lived
in the city for 26 years, weaved through the crowd, playing
tunes such as "Getting to Know You" on his violin.
The food offerings, arranged on tables stretching across
both sides of the park, included doughnuts, sausages, omelets,
ham, pancakes and many other items, but also something
called a beignet, which Allen identified as a "New
Orleans kind of scone."
"We've been here 18 years," said Diane Stevens. "I
wouldn't be in any other place."
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