ZAP Swim Team

by Niki Chanel

DeAnne Preyer has lived in Palos Verdes long enough to have attending all the school grades, and has been swimming the entire time!

When DeAnne’s parents were on their honeymoon in Hawaii, they saw babies swimming and had the ‘aha’ to have their children learn early, as well. They lived on the Esplanade in their early married years, and the water safety factor this might afford them a safer childhood for their kids. DeAnne started at the Riviera swim school (long gone) as an infant and was (competitive) swimming like a fish at seven and teaching at twelve. Every house they have had since has had a pool in the backyard.

When they moved to Portuguese Bend they invited a swim teacher to the house to teach DeAnne’s little sister. The teacher saw DeAnne’s talent and suggested she become involved with the San Pedro YMCA’s swim team, and that, says DeAnne, is how it all started.

Swimming was her life. She was on the girls swim team in high school and in 1986 became the first female swimmer awarded the athlete of the year (!), and went on to the University of Minnesota on a swimming scholarship. I asked her about the cold. Her immediate reply was “It was awesome! I loved it!” Her major reflected her desire to share her insights to children and she came back to California with a master’s in Elementary Education. Her dream was to be a pre-school teacher that included swimming.

To that end, she became involved with a rehab program for troubled kids. Being a shy youngster and thereby understanding them better than most, she tried to help build these kids’ confidence through swimming, rather than be part of the state processing system. She wanted to help them reach their best, in and out of the water.

This way of thinking and teaching evolved into ZAP – the Zenith Aquatic Program; “Taking Swimming to a Higher Level”, being ZAP’s motto. ZAP started out with six students and now has over 150 members on the team. The Zapper’s, as they like to call themselves, recently celebrated their tenth year of graduations.

We got to talking about the need for a community pool on the Hill;, and she confessed, “I want to bring something to the table that enriches our community – not just a plus for PV, but beyond.” She is not alone; key swim coaches in the United States that have been running the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA)see a great need for the next generation to take the reigns in order to preserve what has been built over the last several decades. ‘We can’t do this forever!’ is their outcry. To facilitate this reaching out effort, they are including interested swim club to their collegiate model. Seeking coaches, DeAnne has recently, become an ASCA fellow for the class of 2010.

Everything DeAnne does impressed me and I told her I thought she was a powerhouse. “Working on it.” she humbly replies.

Their main pool is at Miraleste Intermediate on the east side and at the ‘zenith’ of the hill. Miraleste Pool is at 29323 Palos Verdes Drive East, though at the time of this printing is undergoing repairs. Other pools like at Peninsula High and Torrance, but it would be better to contact DeAnne directly if you are interested in her program at 424.901.3703 or email her at zapcoach@yahoo.com .

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Zap Swim Team,Miraleste,DeAnne Preyer,Zenith Aquatic Program,Niki Chanel,Valmonte Living Magazine

Peninsula People Person

by Niki Chanel

Everyone in Palos Verdes receives the “Peninsula People” magazine for free, every month but not everyone knows the dynamo behind it; that would be Mary Jane Schoenheider.

Mary Jane grew up in Cheviot Hills in West Los Angeles. Nestled between MGM Studios and 20^th Century Fox in the Beverly Hills / Westwood area, she saw her share of movie people. As a teen she went to junior high and high school at Marlborough School for girls in LA. “It was hard, but fabulous!” She moved on to Pine Manor, a small all-girl’s college in Massachusetts. It was strong in liberal arts, and she found that her interest lay in Art History, which she later majored in after transferring to UCLA. Mary Jane illuminates: “In those days women only expected to become nurses, secretaries, or teachers.” In her sophomore year she was asked to be the editor of the yearbook and thought, “this might be fun”. Interested in making the yearbook a bit different, she was told her ideas would make it cost more money, but was given the freedom to sell advertising to raise the necessary funds. She found she loved the excitement of the sale. “They said yes!”

She married and came to Palos Verdes in 1966, later moving to the Valmonte area. I asked her how she felt about PV. “I think we live in paradise. Where else can you find a more beautiful place to live? We have everything: horses, the ocean… and peacocks.”

Initially, Mary Jane worked part-time for the PV News while her children (Frank and Elizabeth – both now grown with their own families), were in elementary and intermediate schools. After three years in advertising sales Mary Jane became the sales manager for the next ten years. “It was the only game in town.”

As communication technology evolved, cable television became a new industry, and Mary Jane went to work for Dimension Cable, now called Cox Cable. She covered local cable sales for the peninsula and half of San Pedro. It was a completely different experience selling CNN, ESPN, MTV, USA and TNT, but the basic process was the same; a cable ‘spot’ was sold, the ad campaign was sent to filmmakers, and the ad aired a month later. Mary Jane was now attending meetings with big corporations as far away as San Diego. She became the first woman to join the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula, after the Supreme Court ruled that women could be members because of their growing presence in business.

Even so, television technology was not yet digital - one of her jobs was to change the video tape of ads every Sunday for the NFL game. This meant getting the right tape into the right tape player, then rushing home to see if it was playing properly on her TV. Six years of dedication, and success of the cable business, made it possible to eventually hand that job over to the ‘techies’.

By now, Mary Jane knew many people in the communications industry and one in particular knew her – Kevin Cody of the Easy Reader weekly newspaper. He had always liked that she encouraged her advertisers, who wanted to reach the beach cities, to contact the Easy Reader. He wanted her on his team as sales manager, and said so. Mary Jane had always preferred the independent entrepreneurial approach, and realized that the corporate life wasn’t really for her. “I was ready for a change.”

Immediately, they set to work on an experimental publication, extending the Easy Reader format into Palos Verdes. It was called the Peninsula Easy Reader. Even though Mary Jane was having success as the ad director, she noticed that most of the copies went right into the trash – it wasn’t working. What she thought PV needed was a monthly lifestyle publication. “Let’s focus on the people of the Hill.”

The magazine was redesigned; a new name – “Peninsula People”, a glossy cover in colour, black and white interior, free lance writers for the profiles, and they added a calendar of events. But nothing really got the magazine going until Mary Jane took her camera to some of the PV events and printed the photos. It took off! Mary Jane is now totally in change of the Peninsula People publication, from content to cover design, and will occasionally write an article for it.

When her husband died, Mary Jane came to the conclusion that she could either sit at home and mourn, or get on with her life. These days she has little free time. Very involved with the local world of art and music, she belongs to “The Circle” at the PV Art Center, and holds season tickets for the LA Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra and the Peninsula Symphony. She has been a member of the Peninsula Committee for the LA Philharmonic for over 40 years. Mary Jane has also been very active with the annual Palos Verdes Concours d'Elegance - she was co-chair of the event for five years and still serves on their board of directors. In 2004 she was selected by the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce as their Citizen of the Year. She plays poker and bridge each month, goes to regular Rotary meetings, and travels - recently returning from trips to Germany and Washington D.C. for pleasure… and there’s more.

But something is bothering her; “I have a real worry that the younger people of Palos Verdes are not stepping up into the community positions and taking on the necessary responsibilities.” She explains that if the next generation does not take up the causes and care of the community, there is not going to be a community for their children. “If parents see the importance of being involved with the schools, they must also understand that they need to look further into the future and get involved with the greater community. We need infusion, now.”

A great pillar in our midst, Mary Jane Schoenheider is not just a community person; she is also very much a people person.

If you have a question or an idea and would like to get in touch with either Easy Reader or Peninsula People, both can be found on the internet at easyreadernews.com .

PHOTO CREDIT ~ David Fairchild

 

 

 

43 Things Tags: Peninsula People,Mary Jane Schoenheider,Schoenheider,Easy Reader,Niki Chanel,Valmonte Living Magazine

Happy New Year, 2011!

I may not know you personally, but I want you to have a good year.

Why?

If everybody is having a good time, it’s easier for the rest of us to get by - to have a good life. A good first day is a good start, but most of us that celebrate ushering in the new year in with alcohol might want to wait until the second day… at any rate, the best part is having others look you in the eye and wish you well. Really. What could be better? That’s the best. Who wouldn’t want to be accepted by everyone in their world?

Many of us spend our lives trying to get someone… anyone, to pay attention to us. Each of us has something to offer, but not all of us get the results we want.

But maybe I am projecting and it’s just me. I love people; love to talk to them, learn about them, participate with them, do things for them. Maybe you’d call me a ‘party person’ but I think of myself as a ‘people person’, and I think the people that I am with now would agree; We have eaten, sung, danced and talked to each other for hours. We’re down to cards and drinks and custom requests for favourite music. Sometime the conversations move into the esoteric of aliens and ancient taboos or rush into the political arenas of the day. I love it all, and I find myself wishing this for everybody. I get a bit choked up… a bit tearful. Suddenly I realize it feels too much like a broken heart. What is this love for mankind that makes me feel painful joy?

Well, I’m not going to labour too long over the question - not on the first day of the rest of our lives.

Happy 2011!