SERVING CATALINA & ITS MAINLAND FRIENDS
every week - since 1914
VOLUME 98, Issue 25
r.,,,v June 22, 2012
BRIEFS
Wild Side Art Show
Eleven nationally acclaimed plain
air artists will display their inter-
pretations of Catalina's rugged
wildlands as well as Avalon and
Two Harbors at the second Annual
Catalina: The Wild Side Art Show
and Sale on June 23. Proceeds
will help establish• a permanent
collection of Island plein-air art-
work,
Avalon High students earn
scholarship money
The mainland news media reports
that Avalon High School students
have earned slightly more than
$1,2 million in scholarships for
colleges across the United States.
Summer concert series
The Catalina Summer Concert
Series will present a tribute to the
music of Woodstock on Saturday
evening. The concert is free and
held on Wrigley Stage from 7:30
to 9:45 p.m. on June 23. A Beer
Garden adjacent to the" stage is
open from 6 to 10 p.m.
Softball season ends with
three-game tournament
The Catalina Co-Ed Softball
League wrapped up the winter
season with a one night, three
game tournament. Bravo's
Landscaping took on the Sand
Trap in the first game of the night.
Bravo's Landscaping got on the
board first with two runs.
See story, page 4
City of Avalon closes
streets for sewer project
Each of the streets listed below
will be closed to traffic from 7
a.m. to 5 p.m during the week
of June 25. Each street will be
posted 24 hours in advance of
the actual closure. The tenta-
tive schedule is: Monday--Upper
Crescent (From El Encanto to
Maiden lane); Tuesday--Hill
Street; Wednesday--Vieudelou
(the land side of the street from
Olive to upper corner); Thursday--
Upper Crescent by the City Park.
See story, page 2
Young adult mystery novel
set on Catalina Island
A fictitious estate on beautiful
Santa Catalina Island is the set-
ting for Will Zeilinger's young
adult mystery, Something's
Cooking at Dove Acres.
See story, page 4
KISL's Meet the Voice:
Catalina Pinky
Every Thursday night from 6 to
8 p.m. the KISL's green studio in
City Park glows pink when Rosie
Taylor steps behind the mic and
becomes Catalina Pinky. KISL sat
down with Rosie so she could talk
about being a female DJ here on
Catalina. See story, page 8
The 24th Annual "Just for the Halibut, Just for the Kids Tournament" [participants include: Judy Rios, Mary Boyd, Jeff Tucker JR., (28 Ib Halibut),
John Michael Costello (side bet winner 27,25 Ib white sea bass), Mark Costello, and Gary Costello second (27.5 Ib Halibut). Not pictured Steve
Quarnstrom, third (16 Ib Halibut). The tournament was held June 10. Courtesy photo
John .Friel to take helm CIMC
This summer will bring a new
chapter to Catalina Island Medi-
cal Center, when John Friel takes
charge as the facility's new chief
executive officer.
The Avalon Medical Develop-
ment Corporation Board of Direc-
tors, which oversees the hospital,
chose Friel from a field of candi-
dates.
"John's years of experience in
managing hospitals similar to ours
make him an excellent choice for
taking the helm at CIMC" said
Board Chair Rose Ellen Gardner.
"He has the experience and ability
needed to continue moving CIMC
forward in our quest to provide the
best possible healthcare to the Is-
land."
Friel will replace Bryan Bal-
lard, who will be retiring after a
successful six years leading the
medical center. "John. is someone
I've known for many years," Bal-
lard said. "I know the community
and the staff will come to respect
and admire him."
The new CEO has visited the
island several times and met with
staff, community members and the
AMDC Board of Directors.
"I'm looking forward to work-
ing with the team that's here to
bring the medical center to the next
level in its evolution," he said.
Friel, who began his career as
a registered nurse, has worked in
the health care field for more than
four decades. He has more than 20
years' experience as a CEO, hav-
ing been in charge of hospitals
with up to 300 beds throughout
California.
Most recently he was in charge
of Oak Valley Hospital in the San
Joaquin Valley.
The medical center's new CEO
has also worked a variety of in-
stitutions that were in transition,
including raising funds for new fa-
cilities, overseeing the conversion
to electronic medical records and
implementing a range of new ser-
vices in rural areas.
"I really enjoy working with
community residents to identify
their medical needs and then con-
verting those needs to services
CEO, page 6
Medical center
bans smoking
COMMITTEE SAYS DECISION
IS GEARED TOWARD THE
BETTER HEALTH OF ALL OF
ITS PATIENTS
Catalina Island Medical Center
staff says it has taken a major step
to improve the health of both its
patients and its staff by eliminating
smoking on hospital grounds.
Smoking will soon be prohib-
ited at any location on the hospital
campus, which ranges from the up-
per to the lower driveway on Falls
Canyon Road and extends to the
sidewalk curb.
The decision to become a com-
pletely non-smoking facility was
made by a hospital committee com-
posed of smoking and non-smok-
ing employees as well as medical
personnel.
"We feel it's important for the
medical center and our employ-
ees to be good role models when
it comes to smoking," said Dawn
Sampson, the Medical Center's di:
rector of grants and social services
and the chair of the committee.
"Smoking has been prohibited in
the building for some time, but we
wanted to take a decisive step and
have our grounds become com-
pletely non-smoking as well."
Initially the ban on smoking on
hospital grounds will include em-
ployees, visitors and outpatients.
The medical center will be provid-
ing financial assistance for smok-
ing cessation for any employees
who want to quit.
"Our employees, both smoking
and non-smoking, have been very
enthusiastic supporters of our new
policy," Sampson said. "We hope
the community will join us in mak-
ing the medical center grounds a
healthier place."
After Sept, 1, the Medical Cen-
ter will be completely non-smok-.
ing, with in-patients not allowed to
smoke on hospital grounds as well.
Smoking, Page 9
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
Catalina's facts, folklore and fibs
This Week: Catalina's "Underworld"---Part 2
This is the second in a three-
part series on the natural
caves and man-made mines
on Catalina. This week we
cover the labyrinth of lost
and abandoned mines.
BY JIM WATSON
For nearly a century, Catalina
Island was poked and prodded by
mining interests in the pursuit of
a variety of earth's metallic trea-
sures, notably silver, lead and zinc
and (to a far lesser extent) gold.
The remmints of this once robust
era are still out there in the hills
and, as you will see if you keep
prospecting deeper into this col-
umn, there is no shortage of mys-
tery surrounding them.
As noted in last week's col-
umn, forobvious reasons I won't
divulge the exact locations of any
of these mines. Nothing will make
you the subject of a future Myste-
rious Island column faster than to
disappear forever into one of these
Watson, Page 9
A pair of hard rock miners catch a breath of fresh air at the Blackjack Mine in this photograph
dating from the 1920s. Though the miners are long gone, their hidden caverns still riddle
Catalina's "underworld".
