BBHS Graduate Thom DeGriselles Completes Basic Infantry Training at Fort Benning

Big Bear City, CA — In military news, sent to us from the Army and Air Force Hometown News Service, 1999 Big Bear High School graduate Thomas DeGriselles has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. During his nine weeks of training, Army National Guard PFC DeGriselles received training in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, core values and traditions. Additional training at Fort Benning included basic combat skills and battlefield operations and tactics. DeGriselles has since returned to his hometown of Big Bear City with his wife and young son and, last month, he applied for appointment to the Big Bear City Community Services District Board of Directors. PFC DeGriselles has also studied Civil Engineering at San Jose State since graduating from BBHS, and is now a member of the California Army National Guard and serves as scoutmaster for a local Boy Scout troop.

Memorial Day Procession and Ceremony at Veterans Park Planned for Monday, May 31

Big Bear Lake, CA — Military veterans will once again be honored by the Big Bear Valley, as the local Marine Corps Detachment 1038 and the American Legion Post 584 host the annual Memorial Day procession and ceremony, to be held this Monday, May 31. This year’s Memorial Day procession will begin on Village Drive in the Village of Big Bear Lake starting at 9:30am; the bagpipes-led procession will make its way down Pine Knot Avenue to Veterans Park on Big Bear Boulevard at Knickerbocker for a lakeside ceremony to begin at 10am. Big Bear resident and highly decorated combat veteran Chief Master Sergeant Noel Furniss, who has served with the U.S. Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the Air Force, will be the keynote speaker. The entire community is invited, and encouraged, to participate in this tribute to our military servicemen and women on Memorial Day.

Mountain Communities’ Robert McKee and Robert Wilder Graduate from Military Training of the U.S. Army

Big Bear Valley/Running Springs, CA — Tomorrow marks the first-ever Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in California, which will be celebrated with a 5pm reception at our local American Legion Post 584 (click on this link for more info). This will be an opportunity for all patriotic citizens to recognize those who served in the Vietnam War. And speaking of those in military service, the Hometown News Service of the Army and Air Force has shared with us recent graduations for two young men from the mountain communities. Army Private Robert McKee, son of Danny and Karen McKee of Big Bear City, has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. Army Private Robert Wilder has been in training at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, and this month graduated from Multiple Launch Rocket System Crewmember Advanced Individual Training. Private Wilder, son of Davey and Velvet Wilder of Running Springs, is a 2008 graduate of Mountain High School in Crestline.

American Legion Honors Veterans on California’s First “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” on March 30

Big Bear Lake, CA — It was during last November’s Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park in Big Bear Lake that it was announced to our community that a bill, written by our 65th District Assemblyman Paul Cook, had been passed by the California Legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, designating March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” The first of these holidays, honoring servicemen and women who served in Vietnam, including the 5,573 from California who were among 58,000 to lose their lives during the Vietnam War, will be recognized by the American Legion Post 584 and the Big Bear Valley U.S. Marine Corps Detachment 1038 on Tuesday, March 30. The 5pm celebration, long overdue and open to all patriotic citizens of the Big Bear Valley, notes the Legion, will be an opportunity to say “welcome home” to those who served our country over a 10-year period in Vietnam. Our local post of the American Legion is located at 41606 Big Bear Boulevard at Crane in Big Bear Lake, and is reachable at 866-4845.

Former Big Bear Lake Mayor Bill Speyers Passes Away Today at Age 86

Big Bear Lake, CA — The Big Bear Valley lost one of its more distinguished contributors with this morning’s passing of former Big Bear Lake Mayor Bill Speyers, who died in the 4am hour with Paddy, his wife of 65 years, at his side and one of his beloved boxer dogs nearby. Speyers had, citing health reasons, resigned from his post as Treasurer for the Bear Valley Community Healthcare District on December 31, ending a long career of community service since moving to the Big Bear Valley in 1985.
Since relocating here upon his retirement from a career in engineering and aerospace, the World War II veteran served on the Big Bear Lake City Council for four years and was Mayor Speyers in 1988 to 1990; he also served as a Department of Water and Power Commissioner from 1991 to 1999, and again from 2001 to 2007, before joining the Healthcare District Board for a period of over 10 years. Speyers and wife Paddy, the parents of three daughters, were also active with Friends of the Moonridge Zoo; he is also a past president (or chairman) of SANBAG, the Valley Water Study Association, AARP, the Bear Valley Human Services Foundation, the Big Bear Amateur Radio Club, the Mining Monitoring Committee, the Association of California Healthcare Districts, and Friends of the Performing Arts, among other activities and groups, including the Elks and VFW.

It was on a walk one day in Big Bear that Speyers said he saw a sign on a porch that read, “He who rocks, rots,” prompting his extensive foray into public service. Those who have worked with him have nothing but praise for his dedication, among those DWP Board Secretary Robyn Bratton, who tells KBHR, “He was very dedicated to this Valley, and totally supported DWP in every way. Bill Speyers was a good Board member, and he was a good man.” Michael Perry, who had been the DWP’s General Manager when Speyers was Mayor of Big Bear Lake adds, “He was a great Council person and Mayor, and he really cared about the City. He was really forward-looking, to assure that what we did today would make sure the City was healthy in the future.” And yet his commitment was not without a dose of humor, as the healthcare district’s CFO Rudy Shutta recalls. “I always knew he read the financial statements,” Shutta says, “because, with a little twinkle, he commented on my spelling errors.” Services for Speyers, who passed at age 86, have not yet been announced.
Update: As of March 23, still no announcement with regard to services to honor Speyers.
Update: The family of Bill Speyers will celebrate his 86 years at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 17 at 1pm. Paddy Speyers, the former Big Bear Lake Mayor’s wife of 65 years, says that Bill had a wonderful life and this will be a celebration of that. The PAC is located at 39707 Big Bear Boulevard in the Big Bear Lake Civic Center.

Alex Acheson, Elijah Solomon and Timothy Gatewood Graduate From Military Training

The Hometown News Service of the Army and Air Force has shared with us three recent graduations which, they say, when shared with the community serves as a boost to the morale of servicemen. With that, we are pleased to share that Alex Acheson, a 2006 Big Bear High School graduate and son of Robin Acheson of Sugarloaf, has just completed basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Having graduated from an intensive, eight-week program, he is now Air Force Airman Alex Acheson. In January, two young men from our area completed nine weeks of basic combat training and are now graduates of the Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia; those graduates are Army Private Elijah Solomon, a 2008 graduate of Chautauqua High School and brother of Jacob Solomon and Josh Mattson of Big Bear City, and Army National Guard Private Timothy Gatewood, son of Shelly Lucier of Running Springs.

Celebration of Life for Ted Fashempour to Be Held at the PAC on January 24

The family of Ted Fashempour have planned his memorial service, to take place on Sunday, January 24 at 11am at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center. It was in the early morning hours of January 2, just days after his 56th birthday, that Fashempour, husband to Paula, with whom he owned the Little Green House Florist, passed at Loma Linda University Medical Center. It was in 1992, when Fashempour was working in the flower wholesale business that he met his wife, prompting his move to Big Bear Lake in 1995. Once here, Fashempour became active in the Rotary Club and the Old Miners’ Association, coordinating children’s activities for several years; he also enjoyed fishing on Big Bear Lake, trips to the river with friends and family, and hosting his famous barbecues during the Big Bear Lake Antique Car Club’s Fun Run weekends. The Ted and Paula Fashempour family, which includes daughters Dawn and Jennifer Wade, son-in-law Marv Terry, granddaughter Marley and brother Lee Fashempour’s family, thanks the Big Bear Valley for support, prayers and love; the Little Green House family suggests donations to Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Kidney Foundation.
Update: Fashempour’s service had been postponed due to snow, and will now be held on Saturday, March 6 at 1pm and still at the PAC.

Community Celebrates Opening and Dedication of Valley’s First Emergency Operations Center

Thursday’s dedication of Big Bear Valley’s new Emergency Operations Center was an exciting day for members of Mountain Mutual Aid, who’d used the garage of the Big Bear City Fire Department to oversee emergency operations during 2003’s Old Fire, and members of the U.S. Air Force’s Civil Air Patrol Squadron 6750 which, per Commander Bruce Black, “As far as we know, we are now the only squadron in the country to have our own building.” The new facility at the Big Bear Airport, which has leased the land to CAP for $1 a year, was named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel William R. Hartmann, CAP’s Commander from 1999-2003, as, per the squadron’s Public Affairs Specialist Jim Gundred, “He is the driving force behind this building, he’s our motivator.”

The 3,500 square foot building–which includes large conference rooms; commercial kitchen and full bathroom to accommodate a days-long operation; computer and radio rooms, and 10 antennas to allow for each agency to communicate with their emergency responders; and a 30K natural gas back-up generator–was funded with individual donations of $189,000, in addition to fundraisers and community contributions of labor. “This is a great day for us,” Gundred raved. “We’ve been working on this building since June of 2004. It’s been all volunteers and donations of labor—no taxpayers dollars. I want to emphasize that this is a community effort. It’s amazing, over the years, how many people contributed.”

Many of those individuals joined Civil Air Patrol and Mountain Mutual Aid for the grand opening ceremony on November 19, during which time Lieutenant Colonel Hartmann did the honors of the ribbon cutting. Among those to address the crowd from the deck of the new, two-story building were Big Bear Lake Mayor Rick Herrick, with a congratulatory proclamation from the City; Big Bear City Community Services District President John Day, who said, “Thank God that it’s here”; former Airport General Manager Dick Lightner, who noted, “I’m happy to see this here, at the airport, where it belongs”; Mountain Mutual Aid VP and Big Bear City Fire Chief Jeff Willis, who said, “We are happy to have a facility that will meet our needs”; and the Big Bear Valley Historical Society’s Gloria Meade, who summed it up, “This is an historical event.”

Local Veterans Come Together for Big Bear Lake’s Annual Veterans Day Ceremony at Veterans Park

This morning’s Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park, hosted by the American Legion Post 584 and the City of Big Bear Lake, featured keynote speaker Jerry Kinney, who served as a colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps on tours of duty that included Vietnam. Following the presentation of colors by the U.S. Marine Corps Detachment 1038, Kinney asked those in attendance to join him in remembering three longtime-local veterans who’ve passed in the last year or so—Navy Commander Bob Kronberger (a Pearl Harbor survivor), and Marines A.L. “Woody” Woodard and James “Mac” McAlister—and the 13 who lost their lives at the Army’s Fort Hood in Texas this week. Kinney noted that those who served alongside him in Vietnam were ages 17 to 62 and, of those who lost their lives in Vietnam, there were 5,573 from California alone. Given this, he announced, our 65th District Assemblyman and retired Marine Paul Cook wrote a bill, since approved by Governor Schwarzenegger in September, that will designate a “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” on each March 30, starting in 2010, to recognize and herald California’s Vietnam veterans. Kinney also shared with today’s crowd a poem he wrote in 1969, en route to the VA when he passed a military funeral procession; a portion of his moving poem read, “I didn’t come home in a box like you, I got to keep on livin’ my Vietnam blues.” Big Bear Lake’s Mayor Rick Herrick also took a moment at the podium and, of veterans like his father, suggested to the crowd, “Take a moment to hear their stories. Every veteran has a story. God bless our veterans, living and dead, and God bless America.” The 11/11 lakeside ceremony closed with the American Legion’s Bill Wilson, who served in Korea with the Navy, reading letters to the post from Baldwin Lane Elementary first graders, the last of which read, “Thank you for letting us be free.”

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