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View Winners → Mr. Monrovia Flies to Myrtle Avenue and Beyond
Community May 24, 2017
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Gabe Lopez gets ready for take-off last Thursday as Hal Leavens is geared up for his inaugural flight in the classic Stearman.- Courtesy photo / Ralph Walker
Hal Leavens (a.k.a. Mr. Monrovia) took to the Monrovia skies last Thursday as the result of a winning a contest.
No, Leavens wasn’t piloting the vintage WW11 Stearman Bi-Plane. It was none other than Gabe Lopez who was the pilot and took off from San Gabriel Valley Airport around 11:30 a.m. Thursday morning so that Leavens could grace the Monrovia sky with his presence.
Leavens, who will be 83 in July, says “I have to live to be 91 to see my son Mark ride down Colorado Boulevard as the president of the Tournament of Roses.” Leavens asked Lopez to fly him up and down Myrtle in Monrovia as friends and colleagues waved to the beautiful twin winged yellow bird on a beautiful clear spring morning.
