Right on the Line : Sherman Oaks Residents Play Host to Hands Across the Valley

Mike Gillard knew that hundreds of participants in the Hands Across America event would be standing in front of his Sherman Oaks home.

So he invited his parents and some friends over for Sunday breakfast, and when it was time for everybody to hold hands, they all joined in.

Cecelia Rogat, however, was in the dark about the whole thing.

“It was just about 11 a.m. and I decided to go to the market to pick up some food for a party I’m having this afternoon,” Rogat said.

“When I saw all the people, I knew immediately what was going on. But I was surprised. I didn’t know they were going to be here,” she said, adding that she had no trouble getting to the market.

Because Gillard’s and Rogat’s homes are among a handful of single-family residences that front Ventura Boulevard, their experience of Hands Across America was up close and personal.

The line, which stretched across 6.2 miles of Ventura Boulevard from Sepulveda Boulevard on the west to Cahuenga Boulevard to the east, passed 20 Sherman Oaks homes.

Some residents were surprised. They did not know the mass demonstration that was organized to raise money for the nation’s hungry and homeless would be at their front doors. And while having hundreds of strangers in the neighborhood was somewhat unsettling, most of the residents said they were happy to have the visitors around, and they took the opportunity to get in line and join hands.

Los Angeles Police officers estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 people stood along the San Fernando Valley route. No disturbances were reported, but traffic was congested along the San Diego and Ventura freeways after the event.

“They were shoulder-to-shoulder in an unbroken chain along Ventura, and there were some people out there who weren’t holding hands,” said a police spokesman.

Most of the participants were residents of surrounding Valley communities. But there were also celebrities along the route, most of whom met at the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel for last-minute instructions before they fanned out along the line.

Director Steven Spielberg and actor Stacy Keach stood with handicapped, abused and poor children who occupied a one-mile stretch of spaces that were all sponsored by Spielberg.

Martha Davis, lead singer for the rock group the Motels, led the singing in the group she was standing with. Billy Moses, a star of the television series “Falcon Crest,” held hands with his girlfriend, Tracy Nelson, the actress daughter of the late pop singer Rick Nelson. And a group of children who said they were fans of television’s “Sesame Street” squealed with joy when actor LeVar Burton, who often appears on the program, joined their group.

But for the residents of the 20 houses that face Ventura Boulevard along a three-quarters-of-a-mile stretch between Fulton and Van Noord avenues, the real stars were the anonymous hundreds who politely lined up in front of their homes.

“I had planned to go to the beach today, but when I found out that the Hands Across America line was going to right in front of my house, I changed my plans so I could be a part of it,” Carrie Morrow said.

“Yeah, I just held hands with 6 million people I didn’t know,” Tom Waisanem said. “This was truly inspirational.”