By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
Rafu Staff Writer
The first of three parts.
Part II: Re-engaging
Part III: Rebuilding
Veronica Ota was expressing her gratitude for the event happening around her on a sunny Sunday afternoon, when the peal of shouts and cheers broke her train of thought.
At the other side of the courtyard, a young visitor had pulled off the highly unlikely 5-for-5 roll at a carnival game booth to win a brand new ukulele.
Along with Ota and scores of attendees at the First Presbyterian Church of Altadena’s Fall Festival, there was much to be grateful for, a few weeks ahead of Thanksgiving.
“It’s a beloved event for our community, and this is the first year that we’ve been able to bring it back after the pandemic,” Ota explained during the festival on Nov. 8. “It’s been six years, and we weren’t entirely sure at the beginning of this year if we could have it. There was talk of bringing the Fall Festival back, and then most of our community burned down.”
The church and its adjoining Sunday school and meeting hall are located on Lincoln Avenue, in the area of West Altadena that was particularly devastated by the Eaton Fire that began on Jan. 7 one year ago.
Of the 19 confirmed deaths resulting from the inferno, all but one were west of Lake Avenue, in neighborhoods that for decades have been predominantly African American. More than 9,000 homes were lost in Altadena and neighboring Pasadena.
Ota, a Pasadena native who last year completed her master’s degree in divinity, has deep roots in the community and currently serves as community outreach director for First Presbyterian Church of Altadena. She was taking a break from overseeing the games to absorb the picture-perfect autumn weather, the aroma of burgers on a nearby griddle, and the yelps of laughing children scurrying around the yard.
“I’m really excited to see how many people are here – much better than expected – because again, we didn’t know, having not held this for years,” she said, noting how in the few days after the fire began razing the surrounding area, she and other members had no idea if the church was still standing.
A perimeter fence was scorched, but the church was largely spared. Franklin Elementary school next door suffered significant damage.
“That was really scary. We’re super grateful to the Fire Department [a station is directly across the street]. Miraculously, we didn’t catch fire. With the direction of the wind, they were able to make a fire break, but so many of our neighbors lost everything.”
Ota, 33, said while the fires were still burning and the fate of much of Altadena uncertain, the church banded together with Pasadena Buddhist Temple and Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute to assemble a care team. Into September, the coalition offered support, including financial assistance, directly to survivors.
“It went beyond church members – the friends of friends of friends, from Fall Festival, from our summer camp, just anyone who came to us with a need, we tried to find a way to provide assistance,” Ota said.
Formerly known as the Fall Bazaar, the festival has been a church institution for decades, Ota said, with her father, Ron, reveling in his role at the event.
“Dad loved inventing carnival games for kids, so he took that over, and I was sort of the guinea pig, to try them out,” she recalled. “I loved it, and by the time I was 12, my friends and I volunteered to help out every year.”
She said from an early age, Ron attended Sunday school at First Presbyterian, a convenient location just up the street from their family market next to Johnny’s Sport Shop, still operated by her uncle, Bobby.
Ota said the chruch is small but is typical of Altadena’s diverse but tight-knit bonds.
“On Sundays we’re under 50 people, but when we come together to roll up our sleeves and do what we can to serve the community, our reach is so much wider. There’s a lot of love for the community coming out of here.”
• • •
About two miles due east, where the graceful arches of the Altadena Community Church had welcomed friends and neighbors, soft breezes stirred up dust on the now-vacant lot.
“I understand the clearance yielded about five businesses worth of debris – electrical, steel, the gymnasium, in addition to the sanctuary – the whole thing was about 19,000 square feet,” said Michael Okamura. The nearly 80-year-old church, built in a Spanish Colonial style, was completely gutted after fire took hold in the very early hours of Jan. 8.
“The Sunday before the fire was our former pastor’s last sermon, though he was going to stay another month before retiring,” recalled Okamura, 64, who had already taken a position on the committee to find a new pastor for ACC, a congregation of the United Church of Christ.
The first Sunday following the destruction of their church, the ACC congregation was invited to hold the weekly services at Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, where Okumura’s mother worshipped for more than 50, in the neighborhood where he grew up, a move he called that a warm and caring gesture.
Since April, ACC has held its services in one of the chapels at Westminster Presbyterian Church, barely a mile down Lake Avenue from the ACC site.
“We were very welcomed by the Westminster Presbyterian congregation, in fact, during Advent season, which started Nov. 30, every Sunday, both congregations are worshiping together, in the main chapel, so it’s very nice,” Okamura explained. “They have welcoming and generous in spirit, because they want all of us to feel like one large family.”
Rev. Michael Lewis will join the Altadena church in early January, after serving at Live Oak UCC in Brea.
“He came to tour Altadena and get a sense of community, even before the fires,” Okamura said. “Especially now, it’s a time when our current congregation needs care and healing; 13 of our members lost their homes.”
In addition to a new leader, the new beginnings for Altadena Community Church will literally be from the ground up. While still in its early stages, the church is committed to rebuilding on the same site, perhaps even adding space.
The Chevron gas station that stood immediately to the west of ACC on the corner of Lake and Altadena Drive also burned to the ground, and ACC has reached out to the property owner about purchasing the land.
Okamura said the process has been slow, due to the daunting nature of the disaster and the bureaucratic chaos that inevitably follows such a calamity. Nonetheless, ACC is clear-eyed about what they hope will be an inspired homecoming.
“When we envision our future, what we’d like it to be, on that corner, is a gateway to the foothills, much of which is gone now,” he said. “That would be one of the first things you see when you head north – it could be a pocket park, a contemplative garden, a meditation space. We’ve even bandied about the idea of a small coffee kiosk, just something that’s inviting to members and anyone who just wants to visit.”