Fifty years! Our village is 50 years old! The grandkids of Leisure World’s first residents are not old enough to live here themselves. Damn, but time does indeed fly.
It’s that way with my time on the Seal Beach City Council. I’ve represented you as councilman for eight years, the last two as your mayor. In that time I’ve won a few battles and lost a few, as well. My aim has always been high: do what’s best for all of Seal Beach, while protecting the rights of my Leisure World constituents. After all, it is your votes that sent me to the City Council, a fact, and a responsibility, that I never forget.
My wife Gail and I have lived in Seal Beach for more than 35 years. When it was time for me to retire, 15 years ago, the only place for us was Leisure World. And what a marvelous place it is. Free bus service throughout. Great staff of physicians in our medical facility. A friendly and efficient pharmacy. Summertime entertainment by true headliners. A gym that is the equal of many commercial health clubs. A free coffee break, with cookies, every weekday. Nearly two hundred clubs where we can share our experience and hobbies, our common backgrounds and cultural differences, our artistic talents, and our continuing quest for knowledge. And the best possible friendships!
Our yards are more like parks, many with towering shade trees and wide greenbelts. Every day, my local squirrel sits in his tree branch and cusses me out for not feeding him. Every night, my dog tugs at his leash trying to catch the rabbits that scatter as we walk past. I always wanted to live out in the country, and Leisure World living is darn close to it.
The Golden Rain Foundation does a pretty good job of keeping things the way we like them; trying to accommodate 9,000 residents is no easy task. And so does the Presidents Council. And the Golden Age Foundation is by far the most helpful and generous charitable organization of its kind anywhere. Thanks to our residents’ contributions, all of our mobility and recovery needs are met.
And thanks, too, to the dozens of volunteer mutual directors. I’ve been one for a dozen or so years, and believe me, it’s no cinch balancing the requests of our residents against the sustainability of the mutual. But somehow it gets done. And our great lifestyle goes on. All of this and so much more are the reasons why I live here, along with some 9,000 great neighbors.
We are the nation’s first active retirement community. And we’re the best! So, from the Seal Beach City Council, and especially your two representatives, David Sloan and yours truly, Mike Levitt, congratulations to us on Leisure World’s first half-century!
Mike Levitt is a resident of Seal Beach Leisure World and mayor of Seal Beach.
