Guest Opinion | Geoffrey Baum: The Resilience of Pasadena: Creating a brighter future together

“We create our own destiny, our own future, and our own dreams.”

Those are the words of Paloma Torres, the senior class president who delivered the 2020 commencement address at Pasadena’s Mayfield Senior School.

For Paloma and her classmates, and students, teachers, and families across our community, the school year ended with profound disappointment, disrupted by the pandemic and the other crises that followed.

Yet Paloma remained undaunted. She reflected on the wisdom gained in adversity from another crisis that shook the confidence of our nation. In her address, she noted that the high school Class of 2020 was born in the months following the September 11 attacks, and as a group, they renewed hope for a better future.

“We are the children that were brought into this world already with a predetermined destiny: to bring light and goodness, in order to counteract the evil that had usurped our world,” she told her classmates in a speech shared via YouTube.

As Pasadena enters another season of social distancing, mask wearing, remote school and work, economic disruption, wildfires, and political polarization, it is understandable to feel overwhelmed and discouraged.

However, one does not have to look far to see a new, innovative, and revitalized community emerging in Pasadena.

The Rose Bowl, for example, has pivoted from a major sports and entertainment venue to becoming an essential community resource center. Over the last several months, it has been the site for coronavirus testing and food distribution for those in need. It opened its parking lots for drive-in movies, providing needed entertainment options when isolation is so challenging. Its fields, trails, and “loop” help keep Pasadena fit and active. The number of rounds being played at Brookside Golf Course is at an all-time high.

Importantly, the groundbreaking Rose Bowl Institute was launched in August, putting Pasadena at the forefront of dialogue focusing on the intersection of sports and society. With a dynamic leader in Charlie Firestone, the Rose Bowl Institute has already announced new programs and an all-star advisory board of global leaders to promote leadership, sportsmanship, and unity.

Local businesses have found ways to adapt to these new conditions while maintaining a safe environment for their employees and customers.

For example, take Gale Kohl, the community leader, philanthropist, and owner of Gale’s Restaurant on Fair Oaks. During the lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, she got the restaurant ready for outdoor dining and is now doing a brisk business under a canopy in the parking lot. She also continues to donate pizzas to firefighters and to support others.

She is not alone. A drive down Colorado Boulevard and across town shows many retailers, salons, and restaurants are finding ways to adapt and improve. 

From the Tournament of Roses, which donated more than $100,000 to local relief efforts, to Huntington Hospital—which effectively managed one of the highest volumes of COVID-19 cases in California early in the pandemic—institutions and organizations in our neighborhood are adjusting to and inventing a powerful new future that recognizes how interconnected and interdependent we are.

If any more reassurance is needed, a look back shows how we made it through tough times before and will thrive again. 

In the years following the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20, Pasadena experienced a renaissance like no other period in its history. 

Rather than retreat from the disease and the trauma caused by World War I and subsequent postwar economic downturn, Pasadena boldly embarked on a campaign to seal its reputation as the “Athens of the West.”

Nearby Huntington Library opened in 1919. The Rose Bowl was designed in 1921, and construction was completed in 1922. Pasadena residents overwhelmingly passed a bond measure in 1923 to create our vibrant civic center, including City Hall, Central Library, and Civic Auditorium. Pasadena City College was founded in 1924.

In a word, the people of this community, our neighbors, family, and friends, are resilient.

Just like Paloma. She is now a student at UC Berkeley, embarking on her next chapter of study and service, and taking with her the lessons learned from her family, friends, and teachers.

“It is the very people that surround us that allow us to thrive, to love, and to live,” she observed, closing her speech with an exhortation to her classmates: “Unharmed by the polarization and tribulations of this country, we go forth to lead and to create.”

Indeed, as we draw inspiration from Paloma’s wisdom and our city’s history, together let’s make West Pasadena’s next chapter better than ever.

Geoffrey Baum is former president of the West Pasadena Residents’ Association and a former Pasadena City College trustee.