Kathy’s and my travels on Indigenous Peoples Day began at a lovely golf course in the City of Industry, where I presided briefly as the second annual Shepherd’s Cup got underway, with proceeds benefiting campus ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Attracting teams from 15 missions and parishes this year, the tournament was the brainchild of the Rev. Dawn Vukich, vicar of Faith Episcopal Church in Laguna Niguel, whom you definitely want in your foursome.
The City of Industry is in the La Puente Valley, where members of the Gabrielino nation were sovereign until the Spanish came in the middle of the 18th century. Soldiers built a bridge across San Jose Creek, which is still on the map, and renamed the land ‘llana de la puente” — plain of the bridge. On a golf course, it is perhaps easier than on the 60 to imagine the plain lands the Europeans appropriated. I invited golfers to walk comfortably and yet with a sense of accountability alongside the Good Shepherd and the spirits of our forebears — but most of all, to have a great time and feel great about what they’re doing for campus ministry.
We also looked in on daughter Valerie Passarella, who has taken on the role of impresario as part of her duties running the City of Yorba Linda’s cultural arts center. “All Shook Up,” a comedy featuring Elvis’s music, runs through Oct. 20. She showed us around backstage at the Virginia De Land Theater, a versatile black box setup Valerie helped plan.
In keeping with the spirit of the day of our visit, this Elvis fan must note that white rockers’ cultural appropriation, including generations of unpaid royalties to blues and other composers of African descent, is also something we can work on in a joyful spirit of atonement and reparation. Read about what Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy does here.
