By Kathleen Mest Photo by California Task Force 5 Wade and Dallas I have the privilege of being friends with the Haller family and discovered that Long Beach Fire Department’s Live Victim Search dog is their pet, Dallas. What?! I guess I thought “fire-dogs” lived at the fire station?? So I met up with Wade Haller (Dallas’ handler) to find out more. LB908: How long have you worked with the Fire Department? Wade: I’ve worked for LBFD for 25 years as Firefighter, Firefighter/Par

By Brittany Hart Scholten Captain Christopher Duffy Last January, the Long Beach Fire Department deployed two “strike teams” to assist with the Palisades and Eaton Fires. A strike team consists of five fire engines, each staffed with four firefighters, along with a strike team leader and additional support personnel. In total, Long Beach sent approximately 50 fire personnel to assist in battling the two major fires. For Captain Duffy, responding beyond city limits is part of

By Brittany Hart Scholten Information provided by Images of America, Long Beach Fire Dept. Paul and Jim Meiers | Courtesy of Thomas Cordova & The Long Beach Post The Meiers Family Paul grew up immersed in the fire department. Backyard BBQs, station Christmas potlucks, camping trips, and helping fellow firefighters with home projects were part of life. “I’ve known I wanted to be a firefighter since I was seven, when my dad became a Long Beach firefighter,” he said. His father,

By Kathryn Wells If you walk into Elyse Gordon’s home, the first thing you notice are the photos—dozens of children from every background lining the walls. In one hallway, each picture is labeled with a first name and dates, a record that represents about half of the 143 children she fostered from 1983 through her retirement. As a former foster child, I know how much it means to see proof that someone chose to show up. That’s why I wanted to tell Elyse’s story.  She chose fos

Photo of Jim Trout by Monique Kuhlman Parade photos submitted by the Daisy Lane Parade By Brittany Hart Scholten If you’ve driven down Daisy Avenue around the holidays, you’ve surely seen adorable Christmas scenes lit up on the grassy center divider. Daisy Avenue Christmas Tree Lane and Parade is put on by a group of committed community volunteers each year and has been a community effort for over 70 years.  Jim Trout, Community Hero Jim Trout is one of those volunteers who h

By Gina Valencia For Eloisa Nuñez, Christmas doesn’t begin with gift lists and shopping. It begins with laughter, the sound of family singing villancicos navideños (traditional festive Mexican Christmas carols), and the sweet aromas of cinnamon, fruit, chocolate, and holiday dishes simmering slowly on the stove.  For many Mexican families like Eloisa’s, Christmas isn’t a single day but a season that begins on December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (the patroness of M

By Kathleen Mest With distant memories of large Christmas Eve parties and midnight mass, I wanted to reacquaint myself with some of the Filipino holiday traditions that I grew up with. What I found were traditions based on food (lots of it), the parol and a reawakening of cultural identity. The Feast The big celebration including food, games, singing, and extended family occurs on Noche Buena  (Christmas Eve), prior to midnight mass. This is the last mass of Simbang Gabi , th

Tony Gagliardi's generosity helps Long Beach Non-Profits through creative fundraising and extravagent parties

Photo by La Petite Photo, Margot Robert “SMOOTH SAILING” Lorna and Mark met at Leeway Sailing Center in Long Beach where Mark taught one...

Photo by Ja Tecson “DANCING THROUGH CSULB” If you love proposals and dancing, do yourself a favor and look up “flash mob proposal at...

Photo by Michael Farmer, f/8 Studios “TEACHING LESSONS” In 2015, Christina Crissman (a teacher at Poly High School) was sent to observe...

Photo by Cruzio Studios “LOVE & BEACH” Stephanie and Kenneth met in the fall of 2010, at a club in Long Beach called Khoury’s, now...

Photo by Zoom Theory Photography “FLYING INTO THE FUTURE” Daniel and Jaime met in 2015, at Rounding Third, a Long Beach bar. On one of...

Photo by Heidi Noelle Allen “HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS” Though Valerie and Noah were both born at (former) Long Beach Community Hospital...

Photo by Turner Acre Photo Artistry “2ND CHANCE LOVE” Andy and Dusty worked together for over 20 years. During that time, both were...

Photo by Nola Fontanez Photography "A LONG BEACH WEDDING" Their story began in 2013, when Kari and Kathryn met for a quick drink at...

By John Grossi Photo by Monique Kuhlman Your City, Your Magazine: Gia Mendez graciously responded to our call for readers and followers...

By John Grossi Photos by Monique Kuhlman For decades, Recreation Park 18-Hole Golf Course in Long Beach has been denoted as “one of the...

By John Grossi In December of 2023, I attended one of the largest and most amazing funerals I’ve ever been to. The service was for a...

By Gina Valencia Photo by Monique Kuhlman It was the dead of night. The garage door was wide open, as was the door that led from the...

By Kathleen Mest Photo by Monique Kuhlman I answered my phone. “Juan asked me to call you. He saw 2 coyotes in your front yard and wanted...

By Gina Valencia Photo by Monique Kuhlman As a 7-year-old German refugee, Barbara Sunofsky remembers what it was like to be an outsider....

Long Beach civic leader Sheriden Ann Gilbert Beebe, 87, passed away peacefully on July 27 in the presence of her loving family. Sheri was...

By Laura Graves Smith HOW WE GOT HERE Both my sets of great grandparents came to Long Beach before WWI. On my mom’s side, my great...

By Juliette Mahoney HOW WE GOT HERE In 1913, my great, great, great grandfather, George Garner, and his wife Mary moved to Long Beach,...

By JeanMarie VanDine | Photos by Alexiz Gomez So —you think you know the LBC? Have you been to our city’s Cambodia Town? This part of...

By Joseph Cerulle HOW WE GOT HERE My family came here in 1936 from Providence, RI, in search of work. It was a time of depression, and...