En garde! In downtown Hollywood, swordplay is no longer just for transients. In two weeks, the Hollywood Sabres Fencing Club will open its doors at 2000 Harrison St., near Young Circle, to go along with the glass-blowing, jewelry-making, and sculpting that happens in the ArtsPark. But those latter three all depended on the generosity of the city's much-maligned community redevelopment agency -- did the saber rattlers also get incentives?
"No!" chirps Lisa Liotta, the agency's deputy director. "We provided only what we call 'sweat equity.'" And what does that entail in this case? "I wrote the press release."
That's a relief. Plus, it seems like the club needed some help in the promotion department. The club's website doesn't mention -- as Liotta does in her press release -- that the club's two Bulgarian coaches, Boris Iordanov and Anotaoneta Spassova, were among the finest fencers in the Balkans.
To support this local business, Juice hereby calls on every member of the Hollywood Commission to enroll in fencing classes, then to stage a tournament in Young Circle, with proceeds to some struggling community cause -- like city services.