Nice that he's able to be philosophical about it, but... damn.
Altadena didn't get the coverage that Pa¢ifi¢ Pali$ade$ did, but it was no less of a hellscape after the fires scraped it off the map.
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 5:35 pm
by the elephant
Heartbreaking…
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 6:01 pm
by bloke
An old friend-that-was-girl-friend (11th/12th grade...tennis/racketball...guitar/violin duets...a few dinners...a few movies, etc.) lived up at the top of Altadena (one of the last couple of streets - backed up to the hills)...so probably one of the first houses to burn.
She was originally from SoCAl, and they moved here (c. 1970) because her dad was hired to be the CEO of the regional Goodwill operations (she and I: different schools/same church/same youth orchestra). After going to violin-making school (where she met her husband), they returned to SoCal (other family there).
Currently, they're holed up in another relative's beach house. They saved all of their violins (which they made).
I believe he's possibly retired from running the LA school system's band instrument repair shop.
We asked if they needed anything...They seem to be getting by OK...(??)
(I thought that some stuff - such as affordable/decent clothing, etc. - might be in short supply, but apparently not.)
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 6:45 pm
by sweaty
Such a loss of cool stuff! Mr. Roper seems to be handling it in the best way- focusing on what he still has and what he can do from here. Of course, we don't know about the rest of his situation - insurance, finances, personal life, etc. We certainly wish him the best.
Seeing him play the tuba there, I wonder how the air is. When I was there, I wore an N95 mask and the smell was still strong. My eyes were red and burning. I also saw lots of burnt-out shells of classic sports cars. I'm sure it was equally painful.
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 11:24 pm
by poomshanka
sweaty wrote: ↑Thu Mar 27, 2025 6:45 pm
Such a loss of cool stuff! Mr. Roper seems to be handling it in the best way- focusing on what he still has and what he can do from here. Of course, we don't know about the rest of his situation - insurance, finances, personal life, etc. We certainly wish him the best.
Seeing him play the tuba there, I wonder how the air is. When I was there, I wore an N95 mask and the smell was still strong. My eyes were red and burning. I also saw lots of burnt-out shells of classic sports cars. I'm sure it was equally painful.
Seeing those scorched tubas in the detritus was particularly painful. Definitely some N95-worthy air in these areas. Not just vegetation burning, but all manner of toxic nastiness. I live 30-40 miles south of the scorched areas, and even this far away, it was bad air to breathe when prevailing winds blew it our way. No doubt 10+ years ahead for recovery, and that’s just the basics. For folks like Bill Roper, there’s no amount of time that’ll “set things right”. It’s just… gone.
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 11:30 pm
by poomshanka
bloke wrote: ↑Thu Mar 27, 2025 6:01 pm
An old friend-that-was-girl-friend (11th/12th grade...tennis/racketball...guitar/violin duets...a few dinners...a few movies, etc.) lived up at the top of Altadena (one of the last couple of streets - backed up to the hills)...so probably one of the first houses to burn.
She was originally from SoCAl, and they moved here (c. 1970) because her dad was hired to be the CEO of the regional Goodwill operations (she and I: different schools/same church/same youth orchestra). After going to violin-making school (where she met her husband), they returned to SoCal (other family there).
Currently, they're holed up in another relative's beach house. They saved all of their violins (which they made).
I believe he's possibly retired from running the LA school system's band instrument repair shop.
We asked if they needed anything...They seem to be getting by OK...(??)
(I thought that some stuff - such as affordable/decent clothing, etc. - might be in short supply, but apparently not.)
Easy to get complacent with multiple evacs like this in the past. Nobody thinks it’s going to go catastrophically wrong. Pack a few things, wait it out, go back home when all’s clear. Not so much this time. Glad your friends were able to save their instruments.
Re: Bill Roper's tubas... gone
Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 1:06 pm
by dp
That really sucks, for years when I'd visit Pasadena for work at JPL I'd drive through Altadena just to escape the stunning traffic jams on those fabled L.A. freeways. It was every bit the best example of a working man's paradise right there in So Cal. Beautiful community. The video discussion including Roper's loss made me cry.