CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF HELPING TROUBLED KIDS.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy 

Odds and ends from around the Valley:

During the Great Depression, they were mainly street kids who got caught stealing food to eat and car tires for money.

During World War II, they were the tough kids whose mothers couldn't handle them while their fathers were off at war.

During every decade since the Roaring 20s, when the Pacific Lodge Boy's Home opened in 1923, there has been some reason - some fork in the road - that landed more than 7,000 wayward boys in this Woodland Hills facility to get straightened out.

Some forks more serious than others.

``One man who was here as a boy in the 1940s came back to join us recently for a picnic,'' said Dave Genders, president and CEO of Pacific Lodge Youth Services.

``The judge back then sent him here for two years for throwing a brick through someone's picture window,'' Genders said.

Today's kids are sent to the lodge for more serious misdemeanor crimes or repeat offenses, and they rarely stay for more than one year - not the four or five years that was once the norm.

``We've got more successful treatment programs available today for the kids who choose to come here versus a camp or juvenile hall,'' Genders says.

For the 73 boys there now, the day starts at 6:30 a.m. with breakfast and some chores before school starts at 7:45 a.m., going until 2:30 p.m.

``Then they'll have some job-skill training, counseling, intramural sports and whatever special support they need for their school work,'' Genders says.

At night, it's dinner, group therapy, an hour of organized study, some free time, then lights out at 9:30 p.m. No time for trouble.

Tonight, over at the Sportsmen's Lodge Restaurant in Studio City, some of the alumni of Pacific Lodge for Boys will help the organization celebrate its 75th anniversary in guiding more than 7,000 boys to find the right fork in the road since the Roaring 20s.

The Valley View Ladies Auxiliary of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6213 in Sylmar is forming a junior girls unit for the descendants of any veteran who served this country outside the boundaries of the United States during time of conflict.

The girls, who must be between 6 and 16, will be given lessons in patriotism and will take field trips to places like the Sepulveda Veterans Hospital, and local convalescent hospitals and nursing homes.

``They'll learn about patriotism, government, community activities, and be involved in crafts and fund-raising activities,'' said Jean Harmon, who is organizing the junior girls unit for Post 6213.

Any qualified girls interested in joining the unit should call the post at [phone].

Once again, residents of the San Fernando and Conejo valleys came through big time for the American Red Cross on the scene in the Caribbean, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi helping victims of Hurricane Georges.

A big thanks goes to Frank Chew of Canoga Park, Jay Brara of Northridge, Lyssa Kerridwynn of Sylmar, Simona Kreitzman of Calabasas, John Stroud of Thousand Oaks and Mike Goth of Ventura.

It takes a special kind of person to drop everything in their lives and take off for some disaster-ravaged place to help people they do not know.

In all, more than 3,400 people nationwide did just that in helping the victims of Hurricane Georges rebuild and get back on their feet.

The Los Angeles Police Department's Gray Squad will host a Community Safety Fair on Oct. 16 and 17 from noon to 4 p.m. at The Promenade at Woodland Hills, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd.

In the past, the fair has been mainly for seniors, but this year it's been expanded to include the whole family, said LAPD Officer Guy Crispin, who runs the Gray Squad for the Van Nuys area.

There will be speakers on a variety of subjects dealing with fraud and other crime issues, and lots of prizes and give-a-ways, Crispin said.

Mark it on your calendar. It's well worth the trip over to The Promenade.

CAPTION(S):

photo

PHOTO Two residents of the Pacific Lodge Boys Home raise the flag as others stand at attention in this photo taken in 1923. The Woodland Hills-based home is celebrating its 75th anniversary tonight at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.