Rita Bayer has been a resident of Valmonte since 1956. She and her husband Al started out on Paseo del Campo, the road along the north-eastern side of the golf course. In 1961 the couple moved to la Selva Place with their children, Kathy and Chris. La Selva Place is a crescent drive midway down Via la Selva with a quaint little park in its midst.
But don’t judge this book by her cover – Rita Bayer is a powerhouse!
Wife and mother, Rita became the first woman ever elected to the Palos Verdes Golf Club Board of Directors. Even though, at the time, it was a ‘Men’s Club’ and terms of office ran for three years, she was asked to stay on for a fourth!
The art community is another subject near and dear to her heart. The Palos Verdes Community Arts Association was founded in 1931 and located in the Malaga Cove Plaza, upstairs, near the drive-thru arch. Interest and enthusiasm were nurtured until it was necessary to relocate. The name was changed to the PV Art Center when it moved to 5504 Crestridge Rd, Rancho Palos Verdes (310.541.2479) in 1974. Rita became president of the Art Center in 1991. Support continues to feed the Art Center (corner of Crenshaw and Crestridge) that today is bursting at the seams.
To accommodate the community and artists of Palos Verdes and the South Bay, The Artists’ Studio, located in the Art Center building on Crestridge and The Art Center Gallery in The Village, which is on Silver Spur at 627 Silver Spur Road in Rolling Hills Estates (310-265-2592) is open to the public and various art forms are for sale: paintings, woodwork, glass, jewelry and much more - more information can be found on the website: http://www.artists-studio-pvac.com . Success like this doesn’t just happen – people make it happen and Rita is one of these people.
Al and Rita were originally from the east coast when Al was contacted by Hughes Aircraft to come to California as an experimental test pilot. His work was concentrated in helicopters. The thinking was that someday everybody would have a helicopter in their garage, but rather than more affordable, they became more expensive… and larger. That didn’t stop Al from picking Rita up in his private helicopter at the PV golf course and taking her to dinner in Beverly Hills.
Flying was the joy of her life. She’s been in gliders, hot air balloons, helicopters, single and twin engine aircraft and she even ‘hitched’ a ride with Bob Hoover to Palm Springs! Rita often had the luck to be in the company of the elite. About John F. Kennedy, for example; she says, “He always made you feel like you were the most important person there.”
As you might imagine, Al and Rita traveled the world: London, Paris, Denmark, Norway, Bangkok, Taiwan, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong… yet were still happy to come home to La Selva Place.
With such an illustrious life I asked her if she regretted anything. Without hesitation, she replies, “I never jumped out of an airplane!”
