Reading toddler is a winner

DOWNEY - Jackie Slobe, a 1995 USC graduate who forsook an entrepreneurial career to be a full-time mother to her two-year old son, Brandon, has won first prize at the recently concluded Friends of the Downey City Library amateur photography contest.Part of the library's celebration of National Library Week, the inaugural contest which started last April 14 and which was open to adults ages 18-plus had for its theme, "Picture This! Downey Reads!" Second prize went to Jennifer Kheang, a Downey High School senior who plans to pursue either business or accounting at Cal State Long Beach in the fall. Third prize was won by CSU-Long Beach grad Bill Rademaker who has a BFA degree in illustration and is currently outside field warehouse manager for Werner Ladder Company where he has worked since 1985. . Cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50 were awarded the winners who, by an odd coincidence, submitted similar photos of kids seen in the act of reading. Slobe identified the boy in her winning photo, "Soaring beyond the Stars," as Brandon. Brandon was present Wednesday at the brief award ceremonies in the library's Cormack Room, along with his dad, Roger, who works for NBC Universal. A resident of Downey for 25 years, Slobe says she finds communicating through photography of great interest, and enjoys taking pictures of nature and her two-year old. Having been bitten by the photography bug in just a little over a year, Kheang is a 3-year member of the school tennis team as well as the Key Club which she serves as president this year. She is also a member of the school's student council. A 33-year resident of Downey, Rademaker says he has always enjoyed taking photos with a 35mm camera, and other hobbies include painting and drawing. He plays the piano as well. Wife Angie retired as office manager at Griffiths Middle School a while back. Their two adult sons, Brett and Aaron, are both graduates of Warren High. Rademaker says he started using a digital camera three years ago and, after taking a class at Cerritos College, learned Adobe PhotoShop techniques, enhancing his enjoyment of camera work through more control over his presentation of images. Contest judges, according to 2009-10 Friends first vice president/program chair and contest coordinator Nora Szechy, were Warren High's George Redfox and Downey Aerospace Legacy's Larry Latimer. Meanwhile, city librarian Nancy Messineo installed the Friends board for 2010-11, with only Szechy the only non-returnee as she focuses on writing volume two of her (long-awaited) memoirs. The board's composition: Cleo Latimer, president; Marilyn Van Dyke, first vice president/programs; Sharon Macias, second vice president/ membership; Lee Cole, secretary; Eunice Hammond, treasurer; Lucy Aguero, director of fundraising; Collette Stallcup, director of bookstore; Kathy Callahan, director of publicity; and Carol Woods, newsletter editor.

********** Published: June 11, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 8