KTLA 5 evening anchor Cher Calvin may not have grown up in Los Angeles, but her connection to Southern California predates KTLA.
Meet Sister Regina.
She was Cher’s Catholic Youth Organization teacher on Roosevelt Island in New York City, and the pair have kept in touch for years.
Sister Regina grew up steps away from KTLA. Actually, she lived in the area before KTLA even got its start.
“It was a very quiet time because it was during the war,” she explained. “I remember walking down Sunset Boulevard. There was a long white building, and it was called 52 Lanes. It was very busy during the war on weekends because the soldiers and sailors from Camp Pendleton would come up.”
At the age of 10, she remembers her mother getting notified of a new project being constructed in the area – Highway 101.
“What did we know about highways? Nobody had cars in those days!” she exclaimed.
Growing up, she saw people working on TVs and saw a group of men in a classroom setting learning about television before the technology was revealed.
Once it was rolled out, she remembers watching the “attractive” and “endearing” anchors.
“KTLA was the station to watch in those days. It was the local news, you could relate to it,” she said. “They say ‘L.A.’s Very Own,’ whoever made that phrase knew what they were talking about.”
It was a full-circle moment for Sister Regina when she saw Cher appear on the news station she grew up watching. She called it “a blessing.”
However, she does offer Cher some pointers when it comes to her wardrobe. She texts her fashion advice while she’s on the air. The rules: no big sleeves and no gray.
“Gray is not your color,” she revealed to the anchor.
“That is a really big blessing in my life that I get to have you text me, being on TV, at a station that was a block from where you grew up,” Cher said to Sister Regina.
She still can’t believe it herself.
“That little kid in my classroom grew up, and we’re friends, still!” Sister Regina said with pride.
KTLA’s My Very Own Story series airs Thursdays at 8 a.m., noon and 5 p.m.
Track the stories online at digital-stage.ktla.com/mystory.
