The list is in! Here are the winners in this weekend’s Fourth Of July festivities:

RUBBER DUCKY RACE

First Place: Grant Miller (#549)
Second Place: Gavin McGarry (#159)
Third Place: John Schacht (#10)

DOWNWIND REGATTA

First Place: Brad Bolton, Boat #8 – “Bolt”
Second Place: Melissa, Troy, Flavio &, Boat #12 – “Pop My Cherry Pie”
Third Place: Hannah Fierstein and Ruby Phillips, Boat #9 – “The Sharkies”
Most Creative Entry: Ming-yen Johnson, Vance Chou, Vanisa Chou, Arielle Candaele, Boat# 10 – “My Cauliflower”

The most recent issue of The Canals magazine included a “Save the Date” notice for our Cinco de Mayo celebration; however, the Cinco de Mayo event is cancelled. This event will not be taking place this year.

Please look forward to our other events in the future!

Starting January 19th

Mariposa Landscapes, the Venice Canals maintenance company under contract with the City of Los Angeles, has recently done their Annual Survey of the saltbush plants (Atriplex lentiformis ssp breweri). The saltbushes were planted in 1993 to provide a safety barrier between the sidewalk and the canal.

The plants have a limited lifespan and the Voice of the Canals and the Venice Canals Association have purchased new plants over the past three years as needed. Many of the plants are nearing the end of their life expectancy and need to be replaced.

The recent rains have toppled many of the oldest plants. In addition, the repeated close trimmings have caused many plants to become top heavy. Also, many of the bushes exceed the 29” height stipulated in the City contract. If nothing is done we will continue to lose plants more rapidly.

Several thngs are being done to address the problem:

1. Mariposa will be lowering the height of the bushes to open them up to sunlight. This will allow for new growth of leaves and strengthen the bushes. New growth will take a couple of months. This maintenance will start the week of January 19th.
2. The VOC and the VCA have asked Mariposa to secure 194 new plants that are needed at this time.
3. Mariposa will care for the new plants in the very early stages, which they have to water by hand. We are asking the residents to help water all the saltbushes at least once a week if there is no rain. Please do your best to protect the newly planted bushes.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

From Jesus Gonzalez, LADWP project manager:

I apologize for the short notice, but I wanted to inform you that we will NOT be doing any work on this project this week. Meaning we will not do any work on the the 31st, 1st, and 2nd.

Our crews are responding to an emergency (i.e. leak) in another part of the City, and we will need them there all of this week.

Work will resume on Monday, Jan. 5th.

Thank you, and have a wonderful New Year!

Jesus M. Gonzalez

2014 Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade and the Best-Dressed Homes & Bridges

ADULT BOATS

• 1st – “Ginger Bread Paradise” – Dunne – Meunier Family; Lippens Family; Paul Rother
• 2nd – “Love Thy Neighbor” – Diane & Michael Silver
• 3rd – “Share the Light; Share the Warmth” – Suzanne Wrede
• 4th – “Rainbow Holiday Explosion Paradise” – Amy & Oliver Standring
• 5th – “Jack in Paradise” – Jack Galanty & Mark Galanty

HOMES

• 1st – 426 Carroll Canal – Robert & Susan Oliver
• 2nd – 452 Carroll Canal – Barbara & Allen Toennies
• 3rd – 425 Linnie Canal – Helen & Bert Fallon

BRIDGES

• 1st – Linnie Canal at Grand Canal – Martin and Nika Meunière; Steve Slayden; Josie and Paul Scibetta
• 2nd – Sherman Canal at Grand Canal – Patrick Taylor; Connie Forest; Susan Painter
• 3rd – Howland Canal at Grand Canal – Paul Rother

The Venice Canals Association would like to thank everyone who participated in this 33rd Annual Holiday Boat Parade by decorating homes, boats and bridges and the parade committee: Sandy Berens, (Chairperson), CJ Cole (Publicity), Renee Kaplan, Deb Kaufman, Josie & Paul Scibetta, John Schacht, Monnie Fanning, Claudette Shores, Trudi & Irv Puskin, Maggie Bright

Special Thanks to Steve Slayden (Captain) and George Notaras (Santa) for the lead boat and Steffi Berens for all her hard work! And a big thank you to Susan Rennie for taking pictures of the entire parade!

And the local restaurants that donated prizes:

»2014 Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade and the Best-Dressed Homes &amp Bridges (PDF flyer)

Here is the latest update from Jesus Gonzalez, LADWP project manager:

Hello Everyone,

First off, I’d like to thank everyone for your patience during our construction. In spite of all the challenges we’ve encountered, our construction crews have made very good progress the past few weeks.

With regard to the our upcoming work, we’ve adjusted our schedule to minimize the impact to all of the residents during the holiday season. With that said, we will NOT work on 12/24, 12/25, nor 1/1/15. As for the specific work on Courts E and D:

• Construction on Court E – The work on Court E is 95% complete, and we are scheduled to complete all the work this Tuesday 12/23. The only remaining work is to finish the paving of the street, which will take place this Monday (12/22) and Tuesday.
• Construction on 200 Block of Court D – We will start construction on Court D on Tuesday, December 30th. We have distributed parking passes, however if you did not receive them, or if you need additional passes, please contact me.

Thank you again, and on behalf of DWP, Happy Holidays!