Posted on January 21, 2022 by hvazquez
The current health order states that the City of Long Beach, “Continues to require face masks of all individuals in indoor public settings. Indoor public settings include common areas and shared spaces in multi-family housing and lodging facilities.”
Based on the foregoing, the wearing of face masks is still required for everyone (resident, guest, vendor) in the indoor Common Areas of the Association, such as elevators, hallways, fitness centers & common area rooms (unless you are by yourself or only with household members in the room), and the lobbies.
We thank you for your understanding and for continuing to show courtesy towards one another as differences of opinion remain. Thank you!
Posted on December 30, 2021 by hvazquez
We welcome you to join us in on Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 7pm via Zoom to discuss the book “The Premonition” by Michael Lewis. This is an open event for the residents & their guests who would like to join us.
“For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But the president insisted there was nothing to worry about. Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’s taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19. The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected.
A thirteen-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society. A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu…everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work. Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.”
Sound interesting? If so, start reading and join us on Jan 19th at 7pm via Zoom. We hope to see you there!
Posted on December 10, 2021 by hvazquez
This year we are honoring the legacies of Steve Kuykendall and Paul Kennard, two gentlemen who were amongst the first residents of West Ocean. Their dedication to our community helped build the West Ocean Association we have today.
Steve Kuykendall was the West Ocean Board Treasurer for 10 ½ years. As a proud veteran, Steve was a founding board member of Fisher House Southern California Inc. which provides free, temporary lodging for veterans and their military families while a loved one is in the hospital. Under Steve’s leadership and determination the Fisher House VA-Long Beach was built. Like other Fisher House locations this house is a “home away from home”.
To help make this house truly a “home away from home” we are asking for donations of $25 gift cards. These gift cards will help Fisher House VA-Long Beach buy things they need and provide opportunities for their guests to get out and take a break.
Paul Kennard was a co-founder of our West Ocean Book Club which started in 2010. His love for books and reading was palpable and he shared it beyond our community. As a Long Beach Rotary Club member Paul was a major force in the Reading by Nine program which provides funding and children’s books to Long Beach area schools, libraries, childcare centers, nonprofits, and other literary organizations that promote reading and literacy. While wearing his Dr. Seuss hat, Paul loved reading his favorite book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” by Dr. Seuss, to kids.
What was your favorite book to read when you were in elementary school, or what book do you like to read to young kids? Help us honor Paul’s legacy by donating that book.
On the Giving Trees in each lobby you will find ornaments that indicate the types of $25 gift cards we need and ornaments that just say “K-5 Book”. Next to each tree are flyers with more information. Please take an ornament that indicates the item you would like to donate and grab an information sheet.
If you have any questions please let the front desk know and they will connect you with the Giving Tree organizer.
Posted on November 19, 2021 by hvazquez
The current health order states that the City of Long Beach, “Continues to require face masks of all individuals in indoor public settings. Indoor public settings include common areas and shared spaces in multi-family housing and lodging facilities.”
Based on the foregoing, the wearing of face masks is still required for everyone (resident, guest, vendor) in the indoor Common Areas of the Association, such as elevators, hallways, fitness centers & common area rooms (unless you are by yourself or only with household members in the room), and the lobbies.
We thank you for your understanding and for continuing to show courtesy towards one another as differences of opinion remain. Thank you!
Posted on November 14, 2021 by hvazquez
We welcome you to join us on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 7pm in person at the Tower 2 Multi-Purpose Room or via Zoom to discuss the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. This is an open event for the residents & their guests who would like to join us.
“The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho continues to change the lives of its readers forever. With more than two million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, following our dreams.” – Amazon
Sound interesting? If so, start reading and join us on Wednesday, November 17th at 7pm!
Posted on October 22, 2021 by hvazquez
Please be reminded that per the City of Long Beach Health Department (and West Ocean’s rules), masks are required while you are in the Common Areas, in particular if you are with a non-household member, especially in the elevators where there is no way to socially distance. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Posted on August 23, 2021 by hvazquez
We welcome you to join us on Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 7pm via Zoom to discuss the book “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.”—Graeme Simsion, internationally-bestselling author of The Rosie Project
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
Sound interesting? If so, start reading and join us on Wednesday, September 22nd at 7pm!
Posted on August 7, 2021 by hvazquez
We welcome you to join us on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 7pm via Zoom to discuss the book “Goodnight Irene” by Jan Burke.
“For thirty-five years the identity of the dismembered woman found under the Las Piernas pier has remained a mystery. What secret did she take to her grave? Southern California reporter Irene Kelly has uncovered a maze of forensic records and confidential files that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined. The discovery has brought her close to Detective Frank Harriman, and closer still to exposing a killer who will resort to anything to keep his secrets buried — and Irene silenced forever.” – Amazon
According to the Book Club organizers, the setting of this riveting book is actually Long Beach but the write renamed the locations!
Sound interesting? If so, start reading and join us on Wednesday, August 18th at 7pm!
Posted on July 24, 2021 by hvazquez
After a long hiatus, residents are welcome to join fellow West Ocean residents to play Rummikub every Thursday night at 6pm in the Tower 2 Multi-Purpose Room. New players are always welcome!!
Posted on July 6, 2021 by hvazquez
We welcome you to join us on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 7pm in person in the Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) or online via Zoom to discuss the book “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins.
“Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy―two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia―trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?
American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times.
Already being hailed as “a Grapes of Wrath for our times” and “a new American classic,” Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.” – Amazon
Sound interesting? If so, start reading and join us on Wednesday, July 21st at 7pm!
