Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 14, 2010

3

Around San Gabriel Valley

 MountainViews-News Saturday, August 14, 2010 

The 19th Amendment is 90 Years Old!

Celebrate with the women in your community on the Anniversary of the passage of the 

19th Amendment to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote.

The Women’s Organizations of Greater Pasadena invite you, your daughters and 
granddaughters to A MARCH AROUND CITY HALL

Thursday, August 26th, 6-8pm (Meet on Euclid Avenue side)

To get in the spirit ~ Wear White & A Hat ~ Purple Sashes will be provided

SPEECHES, ENTERTAINMENT, and FOOD to follow in the COURTYARD

FREE TO ALL

Info: Wendy – wowproductions2@earthlink.net 626-683-8243

REMEMBRANCE


Doris K. Cline

June, 1911 to August, 2010

 

Doris passed on at home on Aug. 02, 
2010.

 She lived in Sierra Madre for 54 years 
and is survived by her two daughters, 
Donna Cline and Linda Thunes.

Sierra Madre

Arcadia

 
Tickets are now 
on sale for Sierra 
Madre’s newest 
event, A Taste of 
Sierra Madre, to 
be held Saturday, 
September 11, in 
the town’s Kersting Court. The event, which 
runs 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. that day, will feature 
delectable samples of the best of Sierra Madre 
food music and fine arts plus spotlight local 
children’s achievements in the arts and essay 
contests as well as music. An array of musical 
“tastes” will come from professional as well 
as student musicians throughout the day’s 
program.

 Local restaurants including The Only Place 
in Town, Ugo’s, Café 322, Casa del Rey and 
Charcuterie will provide tastes of their 
favorite specialties. The local police and fire 
departments will have a friendly chili cookoff 
as part of the fun. Peter Dills, local restaurant 
critic, will be announcing on Kersting Court. 

 A “Cool Kitchens” tour will open eight 
homes’ kitchens for review. Different style and 
era homes, from an early Sierra Madre home 
built in the 1800’s, through contemporary, 
will show off how they addressed challenges 
to their kitchen design. 

 The day will close with a musical patriotic 
salute from local singers and church 
choirs including St. Rita and Sierra Madre 
Congregational Churches.

 Local private and public schools will 
showcase the finest their schools have 
to offer, and Sierra Madre service clubs 
including Kiwanis and Rotary have been 
very supportive of this special event will be 
on hand for the festivities.

 The deadline for ALL qualifying K-12 
entries to both the art and essay contests is 
fast approaching on August 23, adding to the 
150+ submissions already received in all age 
categories. 

This year’s theme is “Children’s Smiles 
Around the World” which ties to the creation 
of new children’s smiles through this life 
changing, cleft palate surgery. Student entries 
are welcome from k-12 students residing in 
or attending school in Sierra Madre or at 
Pasadena and La Salle High Schools.

 A Taste of Sierra Madre will benefit two 
causes equally. Rotaplast Foundation www.
rotaplast.org performs cleft palate surgeries 
on children who would otherwise go without 
this life changing surgery at a cost of $500 
per surgery. The other half of the fundraising 
will fund additional fine arts programs at the 
local Youth Activity Center, serving children 
in Sierra Madre and the surrounding 
communities. 

 Wristband tickets are available at four 
locations in downtown Sierra Madre, Savor 
the Flavor, The Bottle Shop, Belle’s Nest 
and Best Buy Drugs. Full access VIP tickets 
including the morning’s Coolest Kitchens 
tour (an adults only event) and all Kersting 
Court events on Sept 11 will be $35. Kersting 
Court Only Event tickets will be $20 for adults 
18 and over; $10 for those 13-18. Children 
under 12 will be admitted free to the Kersting 
Court events, when accompanied by an adult 
ticketholder. 

 Popular smooth jazz recording artists 
including Paul Brown, Michael Lington, 
Eric Byak and other special guests will be 
performing along with local talent Cheryl 
Barnes and Dr. Phil Cabasso, Kate Lee’s 
Family Tree Band, Gayle Bluemel’s Late 
Bloomers, the Gooden School Ensemble 
plus others.

 Art and essay contest forms, plus a video 
link to the cleft palate surgery organization 
are also available on the website. To be an 
event sponsor, donate or volunteer services 
or time, visit the event website, www.
ATasteOfSierraMadre.com or call event 
chair, Tom Brady at 626-355-3471.

Taste of Sierra Madre 

Just the ticket for the best of Sierra Madre life! Buy yours 
today!

Oak Tree Meet In Jeopardy Again?

 Even though the Oak Tree racing meet 
got a reprieve from Santa Anita owner 
Frank Stronach recently that will allow the 
program to run at least one more season at 
Santa Anita this fall, the meet is once again 
in danger of being forced to move, due to an 
unscheduled inspection ordered this week 
by the California Horse Racing Board.

 Due to concerns about the latest attempts to 
repair drainage issues on the synthetic track 
and potentially raising embedded rocks to 
the surface, the CHRB asked Dr. Michael 
“Mick” Peterson, a professor of engineering 
at the University of Maine, to inspect the 
main track at Santa Anita Park in accordance 
with the CHRB’s responsibility to inspect 
and evaluate racetracks for safeness.

 Many in the industry, including the owners 
of active legend Zenyatta, are still not happy 
with synthetic tracks in general. Santa Anita’s 
latest track condition problems regarding 
water that will not drain, especially near the 
finish line, are causing more concern. The 
CHRB has been monitoring developments at 
Santa Anita during attempted repairs of the 
drainage problem, as have representatives 
of the Thoroughbred Owners of California 
(TOC) and California Thoroughbred 
Trainers (CTT).

 The CHRB’s relationship with Santa Anita 
owner Frank Stronach has also become very 
contentious this year as he continues to 
push hard for major changes in horse racing 
regulations.

 The CHRB issued a media release Sunday 
stating that CHRB Executive Director Kirk 
Breed would join Dr. Peterson at Santa 
Anita on Tuesday (Aug. 10) to begin the 
review. That review continued Wednesday 
morning and they met with representatives 
of the CTT, Santa Anita, and Oak Tree late 
Wednesday afternoon to receive input “(i.e. 
details of any concerns, so that they could 
attempt to address those concerns with the 
inspection)” and to describe their methods 
and the technology being used in the 
inspection. They also met with two trainers 
earlier in the day and provided a similar 
overview of the inspection.

 Although Oak Tree could technically 
relocate to Hollywood Park, with the meet 
scheduled to begin on Sept. 29 – Oct. 31, 
any change in the venue at this point would 
cause major challenges for all involved. 
Marketing is already in place advertising the 
meet at Santa Anita; advance tickets have 
already been sold — refunds or exchanges 
would need to be made; and Oak Tree would 
have to get out of its contract with Santa 
Anita and negotiate a new contract with 
Hollywood Park.

 Oak Tree Executive VP Sherwood 
Chillingworth told ArcadiasBest.com a final 
decision must be made quickly, certainly no 
later than the first of September.

 But the timetable for the length of 
inspection and announcement of results is 
unclear, with estimates ranging from 10-
days to weeks. The CHRB will invite the 
CTT, TOC, and Santa Anita officials to go 
over the findings from this review. In the 
meantime, Peterson is to report preliminary 
findings to the Board at the next scheduled 
meeting next Thursday, Aug. 19, as part of 
the agenda item on the Oak Tree license 
application.

 Dr. Peterson already is under contract with 
the CHRB to train its project engineers for 
an ongoing track safety standards program. 
That contact has been amended to include 
an independent evaluation of the Santa 
Anita track surface.

 The CHRB says Dr. Peterson is widely 
considered to be the foremost authority 
on racing surfaces, particularly synthetic 
surfaces, such as the one at Santa Anita. He 
has developed test protocols that have been 
used at more than 30 thoroughbred racing 
venues.

By Scott Hettrick, Courtesy of Arcadia’s Best

Pasadena


Storbox Gives Foothill Unity Center the Gift of Space 

Pasadena Self Storage Firm Houses Seasonal Inventories Like Back to 
School Supplies

Storage is a vital commodity for an organization 
whose main job is providing regular, substantial 
food assistance to local people in need. When a 
sudden influx of items swells the inventory, it 
becomes a critical issue.

Brett Bernard, the owner of Pasadena-based 
Storbox Self Storage, has given Foothill Unity 
Center the perfect solution to this challenge. In 
less than two years, his firm has donated storage 
space valued at over $50,000 to the Center. 

“This is a tremendous benefit for us, because 
it allows us to accept items immediately for 
use later - without incurring rental costs,” says 
Center Executive Director Joan Whitenack. 
“Right now, we’re taking out pallets of clothing 
and school supplies that we have been saving for 
our Back to School distribution on August 19 
at Santa Anita Park. Before Storbox, we would 
not have been able to accept donated items until 
just before the event. Now, we have access to 
space that’s not only modern, clean, secure and 
loading dock accessible, but climate controlled. 
That’s a critical plus when you’re storing crayons 
and glue sticks in hot summer months. It’s 
allowing us to give more to the children – that’s 
the bottom line.”

Storbox offers the Center more than facilities. 
Bernard’s assistant Winn Krafton and the 
Storbox team are also generous with their time 
and help. Recently, they’ve been working side-
by-side with volunteers on the Back to School 
committee to sort items in preparation for 
transport and staging at Santa Anita Park.

About Storbox Self Storage

Opened in 2001, Storbox is Pasadena’s newest 
storage facility. It offers the largest selection of 
units in the area, ranging from 12 to 300 square 
feet. Choices include standard storage units, 
climate-controlled units, vehicle storage and 
wine storage, all with personalized security 
access. Public areas feature 24-hour video 
surveillance. The facility, located at 2233 East 
Foothill Boulevard, is staffed seven days a week. 
Storbox can be reached at (626) 793-9888 or by 
visiting www.storbox.com.

About Foothill Unity Center 

Foothill Unity Center provides a range of services 
unparalleled not only in the San Gabriel Valley, 
but across Los Angeles County. Operating with 
a small staff and a corps of dedicated volunteers, 
the nonprofit, nondenominational organization 
distributed over four million pounds of food to 
3,974 unduplicated very low-income families 
last year. It also provides clothing, limited motel 
vouchers, and referrals to the homeless and 
people in crisis. Clients meet stringent income 
guidelines and are re-qualified annually. Over 
94% of every dollar goes to programs. For more 
information, call the Center at (626) 358-3486.


At Storbox in Pasadena, from left: Lien Ho and Peter Snow, Storbox; Joan Whitenack, 
Foothill Unity Center; Winn Krafton, Storbox; Kathy Valentine, Chair of Back to School 
Committee. Jon Didier photo.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com