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A non-surgical treatment which promotes the body's own natural healing ability to stabilize and strengthen weak ligaments, tendons and joints. G. Megan Shields, M.D. and J. Keller Wortham, M.D., are experts in the delivery of this breakthrough pain relief procedure. To learn more go to www.doctorprolotherapy.com Optimum Wellness Medical Group, Inc. 1030 S. Glendale Ave., Suite 503, Glendale | 818-547-5400 Download current and back issues of Whole Life Times at www.wholelifemagazine. com www.wholelifemagazine. www.wholelifemagazine. com com photos: bottom, Gunnar Kullenberg, top, Lina Shanklin I n the 1960s, a quaint, colorful replica of a seacoast fi shing village was built on the coast in Marina del Rey as a commercial center to serve visitors with shops, restaurants and cruise boats. But Fisherman's Village has been neglected in recent years, and local residents suspect it was purposely left in disrepair so that county supervisors would support a full build- out of multistory hotels, parking structures and a shopping center. None of that deterred family man Plinio Garcia. He chose the touristed location for his Indy Plush business that makes and sells environmentally sustainable plush animal toys, and he's now using his business as a platform to help bring new life to the area. "When we opened our business in Fisherman's Village, it was practically a ghost town—a worn, tattered one at that!" exclaims Garcia. He's recruited new shopkeepers who have brought a more vibrant atmosphere to the once-busy destination that is still popular with both tourists and residents of L.A.'s inland areas seeking respite. On the other side of the main channel of the marina, Mariners Village, a similarly themed, mostly residential complex populated largely by artists, musicians, architects and writers that is also in need of new infrastructure, is currently threatened with a redevelopment that would remove waterfalls and lush landscaping, including more than a thousand trees, and build a 92-boat marina. Great blue herons, arguably Ballona Valley's most charismatic species, nest and raise their young in the tallest of these trees until the fl edglings are ready to go off on their own in the local marsh and lagoons. Garcia, along with Lina Shanklin of Mariners Village and biologist Roy van de Hoek of Ballona Institute, is now on a mission. With both villages nearing the end of their leases, the three are petitioning the government for historical designations for both Fisherman's Village and Mariners Village. Rather than be demolished, these historic sites could be restored and retain the seacoast village charm that has long attracted residents, shop owners, visitors and birds. Van de Hoek, who has studied this population of herons for nearly 20 years, explains, "A historical designation could help save the birds and the historical architecture of these villages." "It's like restoring a Rembrandt painting," clarifi es Shanklin. "You fi x it up with careful, painstaking strokes so as not to destroy the original work of art." —Marcia Hanscom —More info at Protectballonawetlands.org/historicsites city of angels Demolition threatens Marina Del Rey's seacoast charm By Marcia Hanscom A TALE OF TWO VILLAGES 10 wholelifetimesmagazine.com