Oak View Christmas

‘T was the weekend before Christmas, and all through HB

Parents were scrambling on a last minute spree

Surfers headed beachside, with a hope and a prayer

Sean Collins at Surfline said a swell would be there.

The Oak View neighborhood had its parties too,

But you’d never notice if you’re just driving through

Bound by Gothard and Warner, Beach and then Slater

Is the home of working people -- builders, nannies and waiters

The children in Oak View come from Puebla, Mexico,

On the way to Veracruz, beneath a big volcano

They brought Christmas traditions we don’t have in the States,

Like posadas and pozole and tamale-filled plates

So this year the Independent felt it would be only fair,

To head into Oak View, and find stories to share.

We hope you enjoy and learn something new,

See you next week, and Merry Christmas too.

There are essentially two Oak Views.

There’s the calm, quiet Oak View during school hours when most kids are in class. And then there’s the daily spectacle of school letting out, when hundreds of kids hit the streets.

No one knows this better than Jose Maldonado, a 27-year-old Oak View native who can’t walk anywhere in the neighborhood without being followed by a pack of smiling 8-year-olds. Maldonado works at Ocean View High School, coaches basketball and helps run an after-school program at the community center.

“He watches out for the kids and they really look up to him,” said Carissa Santiago, 17.

With about half an hour until the krump dancing begins (more on that later), Maldonado offers to lead a small tour to several shrines to the Virgin de Guadalupe in the neighborhood. Luckily, there’s one just a few blocks from the community center, a massive shrine with hundreds of roses and assorted flowers, plus dozens of pictures of the Virgin Mary, whom legend says appeared to a native Mexican man almost 500 years ago.

The Dec. 12 anniversary is celebrated each year in Oak View with a candlelight procession from shrine to shrine. Once participants arrive at a shrine, they say prayers and then form a circle around a group of Aztec dancers, who offer an indigenous performance.

For many days after the procession, residents leave their porch-side shrines intact.

“This is something that comes from my heart and shows my love for her,” said resident Magdaleno Garcia.

Longtime Oak View resident Gabriela Garcia said she had been helping construct shrines for nearly three decades and continues to help organize celebrations for Puebla.

“This is a huge source of pride in this neighborhood,” Maldonado said as he walked back toward the community center.

Opening the doors to blasting music, Maldonado smiled as he saw a large group of boys standing in a circle, nodding their heads to a slow hip-hop beat.

“Ahh, it’s time to krump,” he laughed. Moments later, a guy in his 20s gives a friendly shove to a pint-size dancer, who responds with a seizure-like dance ripe with kung-fu chops and a macho attitude. The break-dance-esqe performance lasts only moments and is quickly answered by a different boy and his robotic-like dance.

Originating on the streets of Compton, krump dancing has become a popular means for nonviolent expression in some of Southern California’s toughest neighborhoods. Its founder, Thomas “Tommy the Clown” Johnson, envisions a day where rivals have krump dance-offs instead of fistfights.

“It’s a chance for the kids to burn off some energy in a positive, nonviolent way,” project coordinator Sandra Vega of the Huntington Beach Community Clinic said. “They’re really enthused about it. They learn really quick.”

Time for posada

Christmas is no time to be alone, and Susanna Ortega was not about to serve her kids cold frijoles. With a little gusto and not much fanfare, Ortega, her two children and her girlfriends and their kids made a short pilgrimage over to the community center. The woman laughed at how much they had in common -- they were all originally from Puebla, they had husbands who were out of town during the holidays and they were all hungry for some pozole.

“Christmas isn’t Christmas without pozole,” said Ortega, who smiled gleefully after being handed a warm bowl of the soup.

Friday’s dinner was sponsored by the Family Literacy Program, a nonprofit run in conjunction with the Volunteers of America to improve the reading and writing skills of adults and children.

After receiving her bowl, Ortega leaned over and added some hot sauce, plenty of green onions and a twist of lemon. The citrus, she explained, help bring out the soup’s two main ingredients -- chicken and hominy. The cabbage in this batch was a bonus, she said.

Ortega wasn’t alone, Several hundred people attended the dinner, feasting on pork tamales and chicken taquitos.

“It seems like everyone is here,” she said to her friends, who laughed and discussed which posadas they were going to attend.

Beginning on Dec. 16 and running until Dec. 23, dozens of families in Oak View hold Christmas parties called posadas. Those who aren’t hosting the party come together and travel in groups from one house to the next, singing religious songs for each party and eventually being invited in and offered some homemade apple cider. Posadas represent Mary and Joseph’s quest to find a place to rest on the night of Jesus’ birth. On Dec. 24, the last night of the parties, a local church holds a big posada, followed by a midnight mass.

“Even though I can’t be with my entire family on Christmas, it’s OK because I have a new family here,” Ortega said. “The people of Oak View. That’s my family.”20051222irtoitnc(LA)The Oakview Community Center in Huntington Beach fills with laughter, music and the wonderful aroma of homemade food for a Christmas party on Dec. 15. Here Enrique Castro, coordinator of the Family Resource Center, serves tamales, taquitos, and pozole, a traditional soup. “Christmas isn’t Christmas without pozole,” said Susanna Ortega, who lives in the community. 20051222irtoi0ncPHOTOS BY WENDI KAMINSKI / INDEPENDENT(LA)Front to back, Jonathan and Cecilio Eumana, Gabriela Garcia, and Leomide and Felipe Rodriguez pose in front of their home, which they have decorated with a shrine to the Virgin de Guadalupe. Neighbors decorate their homes with shrines, then hold a procession to pay their respects at each of them.The Oakview Community Center in Huntington Beach fills with laughter, music and the wonderful aroma of homemade food for a Christmas party on Dec. 15. Here Enrique Castro, coordinator of the Family Resource Center, serves tamales, taquitos and pozole, a traditional soup. “Christmas isn’t Christmas without pozole,” said Susanna Ortega, who lives in the community. 20051222irtojancWENDI KAMINSKI / INDEPENDENT(LA)At the Oakview Community Center in Huntington Beach, children learn the dance style known as krump. Here Alfredo Perra, 13, dances before calling out someone in the crowd to take the floor.