FRIENDS WISH THEIR MAYOR HAPPY 50TH.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Vickie Vining took one look around the crowded backyard Saturday afternoon at Dave Spies' 50th birthday party and said exactly what was on a lot of minds. ``I couldn't get this many people to show up at my birthday party.'' True, but then we're not Dave. Everybody loves Dave. He's the unofficial mayor of Colfax Meadows, an area of Studio City bordered by Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. , Moorpark Street and Tujunga and Colfax avenues Colfax Avenue is the main street that runs east and west through the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area in Colorado. As U.S. Highway 40, it was one of two principal highways serving Denver before the Interstate Highway System was constructed. . It's Dave's turf. His domain. Each day, this remarkable man with a developmental disability developmental disability n. A cognitive, emotional, or physical impairment, especially one related to abnormal sensory or motor development, that appears in infancy or childhood and involves a failure or delay in progressing through the normal leaves his tiny, one-bedroom apartment across the street from Vitello's Restaurant and patrols the streets of his community on his bike. The cops know him. The firefighters know him. The business people know him. Everybody knows him. Dave can't go a block without someone honking a horn and waving. He waves back to neighbors and strangers alike. Dave doesn't care. They're all friends to him. He doesn't just shake your hand when you meet. He gives you a hug. Before you know it, you're smiling and laughing with him - realizing exactly why so many people from all walks of life showed up in Barbara and Steve Benlens' backyard Saturday to wish the unofficial mayor of Colfax Meadows a happy 50th birthday. Because everybody loves Dave. ``There's no doubt in any of our minds that Dave's saved a lot of lives,'' says neighbor Evan Kaizer. Everybody in this tiny community knows the story. It was Dave who led the fight almost four years ago to get a pedestrian crosswalk at a busy intersection where a car had hit and killed one of his friends, 83-year-old Alma Garris. Dave got off his bike and knocked on every door in the community, collecting more than 230 signatures asking for the crosswalk. Then he walked into City Hall and told the council how it broke his heart the day Alma died, how dangerous that intersection was. Dave got his crosswalk, along with a commendation COMMENDATION. The act of recommending, praising. A merchant who merely commends goods he offers for sale, does not by that act warrant them, unless there is some fraud: simplex commendatio non obligat. from the council for his determination. He got another one Saturday from Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. , wishing him a happy birthday. ``All Dave wants to do is help people and make a difference, and he has so many times,'' said Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . Senior Lead Officer John Caprarelli of the North Hollywood Division, who was also at the party. Caprarelli and Phil Rowe, a former paramedic par·a·med·ic n. A person who is trained to give emergency medical treatment or assist medical professionals. paramedic with the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. , traded stories of Dave beating them to crime and accident scenes on his bicycle. ``One night, I rolled out at 3 a.m. on an accident call,'' Rowe said. ``I was still half asleep when we got there, and all of a sudden, out of the darkness, here comes Dave, peddling on his bike. ``I said, 'Dave, it's 3 a.m. What are you doing here?' '' Rowe, like Caprarelli, already knew the answer. Dave sleeps with one eye open, listening to a police scanner he has in his apartment. The way he sees it, the police officers and firefighters in his community are his friends. They look out for him. So when they're called out on an emergency, the least he can do is jump on his bike and go help look out for them. That's why everybody loves Dave Spies. His developmental disability doesn't slow him down one bit, says Vining, a former resource developer at the North Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Regional Center, which overseas nonprofit organizations Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that help people with disabilities lead independent lives. If anything, it makes Dave a better person than most of us. He doesn't know hate. He doesn't know jealousy, greed, and all the other hang-ups people without developmental disabilities developmental disabilities (DD), n.pl the pathologic conditions that have their origin in the embryology and growth and development of an individual. DDs usually appear clinically before 18 years of age. tend to have. Dave only knows compassion and love. He's really just a kid at heart, Caprarelli says. On Saturday, the kid turned 50. The tiny apartment where he lives alone was too small to hold all the people who wanted to wish him a happy birthday, so the Benlens opened their backyard. ``Thank you for being my friends,'' the unofficial mayor of Colfax Meadows said, cutting his birthday cake and giving every last one of his 50 guests a hug. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: David Spies, the guest of honor, gets pointed out by friends on hand in Studio City on Saturday to wish him a happy 50th birthday. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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