From Rocks to Raid on the America 250

The Sunland-Tujunga Bi-Centennial Trail, developed in 1976, is now the America 250 Trail, 50 years later. Head south on Mt. Gleason Avenue till it ends at McGroarty. Just to the left is the former grounds of the Sunair Home for Asthmatic Children at 7754 McGroarty St. – No. 9 on the Trail.

The text from 50 years ago states the following: “Many of the original settlers in Tujunga came out of the city with a sack of cement, a trowel and high hopes. They gathered the stones strewn on the land and built homes, walls, walkways and public structures. Some early stone masons were George Harris, Don Wieman, Bob Masser, Carl Bangle and many others. It was Bob Masser who put up the beautiful stone walls for the Sunair Home, considered by some to be the best stonework in Tujunga.

“The Sunair Club was incorporated in 1938 by a handful of Shriners who wanted to help with the fight against asthma in young children. In a statement, they expressed that unless one had seen a frightened child during an asthmatic seizure, there is no imagining the horror or fully feeling the compassion that moves us to help these innocent victims.”

Sophie Posen, born in Imperial Russia in 1868, had moved to Tujunga along with her son in 1931 to ease her symptoms of asthma. Tujunga had become known worldwide as a health-giving resort, dotted with small rest homes occupied by respiratory patients, many of whom recovered. After Sophie’s passing in 1938, her son Sam stepped up and donated his mother’s six-room home on McGroarty Street to the Sunair Club, forming the initial unit of the Sunair Home for Asthmatic Children. When established, it was the only live-in rehabilitation center on the planet scientifically designed for asthmatic children.

The Sunair children came mostly from needy families and ranged in age from 6 to 12 years. The 15-bed home was specifically designed to provide the most healthful environment possible for its residents who suffered from intractable asthma – the kind that doesn’t respond to ordinary therapies. In 1943, the Sunair Club became the Sunair Foundation and continued its good works. In 1959, four major gifts allowed for the expansion to 40 beds. The facility then included two infirmaries, three dormitories, a kitchen and dining room, a laboratory, a library, medical offices, a swimming pool, a park and recreational areas. In 1967, a new recreational and administrative building was dedicated.

One of Sunair’s major success stories was former resident Jeannette Bolden. Admitted to the home in 1972 at the age of 12 with severe asthma, she thrived from the treatments there. Ten years later, she set the indoor world record in the 60-yard dash and then went on to win gold in the 1984 Olympics as a sprinter.

The Sunair Home for Asthmatic Children disappeared from the telephone book in 1986 after nearly 50 years of operation. Most recently, in July 2025 bad things were supposedly taking place behind those Masser stone walls. In an early-morning operation, the FBI broke down the metal entry gates and raided the property. Ties were alleged to the notorious “TikTok Cult,” featured in the Netflix documentary “Dancing for the Devil.” Arrest warrants were served for multiple crimes, including money laundering, mail fraud, tax evasion, sex trafficking and COVID-19 fraud.

I prefer to recall the days when countless children benefited from the treatments provided there when Ruth Williams penned this poem: “Two little hands clasped in prayer, two little lungs gasping for air. Two little lips trying to smile, but it’s so hard to breathe all the while. Now God made a home, built just for them, where the sun and the air are so light. With loving care, every day, they’ll soon be well, we hope and pray.”