Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 16, 2010

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MountainViews-News Saturday, October 16, 2010 

MONROVIA CELEBRATES THE ARTS By Vivianne-Marie Parker

FOOTHILL UNITY DENTAL FOR KIDS

100+ low-income kids get 
much-needed dental care at 
no cost through Foothill Unity 
Center collaboration

October 12, 2010 — When 
the University of Southern 
California School of Dentistry 
conducted free screenings at 
Foothill Unity Center’s 2009 
Back to School event, they 
found a shocking 87% of the 
children they saw had one or 
more visually decayed teeth. 
15% had urgent care conditions 
that included abscesses and 
pain. Dental problems are the 
#1 reason children miss school. 
Foothill Unity Center, the USC 
Mobile Dental Clinic team, and 
the Monrovia Unified School 
District worked together to find 
a solution.

On October 9-15, the team 
presented a week-long mobile 
clinic for local low-income 
children with serious dental 
conditions. The event, held 
at Plymouth Elementary 
School in Monrovia, began 
Friday and Saturday with 
care and evalua¬tion for all 
children including X-rays, 
cleaning, sealants, and a 
plan of treat¬ment. Children 
returned during the week as 
many times as needed complete 
the treatments from USC 
dental students and faculty, 
supervised by licensed pediatric 
and general dentists. The work 
was done in a fleet of converted 
RVs equipped with full dental 
equipment and furnishings.

While the USC Mobile Clinic 
is a model of organization, its 
visit to Plymouth Elementary 
demanded a separate set of 
complex logistics. They were 
masterminded by Foothill 
Unity Center Health Services 
Director Cathy Klose, RN., 
in collaboration with Loretta 
Whitson, Director of Student 
Support Services for MUSD. 
Center volunteers were 
positioned throughout the 
program area to provide 
directions, handle sign-ins, and 
help keep the process running 
smoothly.

An estimated $1,500 to $2,000 
worth of free dental services 
was provided to each child. 
Much of the amount was 
covered by donations from 
the community. “We’re very 
grateful to our sponsors for 
making this event possible,” 
said the Center’s Executive 
Director, Joan Whitenack. 
“Key funders of the $51,000 
USC Dental Project include 
the San Marino Women’s Club 
($25,000), Kaiser Permanente 
Baldwin Park ($15,000) and a 
host of individual contributors. 
The Center still needs help 
to cover $8,000 in costs. For 
more information, contact 
Cathy Klose at 626-359-1777 or 
cathy@foothillunitycenter.org.

About Foothill Unity Center 

Now in its thirtieth year, 
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 some health services, 
limited motel vouchers, and 
referrals to the homeless and 
people in crisis. Clients meet 
stringent income guidelines 
and are recertified annually. 
Over 93% of every dollar 
goes to programs. For more 
information, call the Center at 
(626) 358-3486.

Sundays are a perfect day to spend in the 
park. Featured artist Ginger Van Hook 
remembers the times when she played at 
Library Park in Monrovia, California, as a 
child. “Monrovia is one of the beautiful 
cities in Los Angeles,” said Ms. Van Hook as 
she looked around the park where today she 
was being honored for her work in giving 
back to the community. 

 Today’s event was an artisan fair called 
“Celebrate the Arts”, which is sponsored 
by the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts. 
The purpose was to help raise funds for 
community art programs for Monrovia 
schools both public and private through 
booth sales and silent auctions from the 
two-day event. The fair also is a great 
platform for artists like Ms. Van Hook 
to display their work. The artists there 
had unique and simplistic approaches 
to developing their work from metal art 
frames to watercolor pieces to photographic 
pieces. 

 At the Castellanos booth, artist Manuel 
Castellanos said he used a simple approach. 
He uses one camera, a Nikon D80 and its 
lens to produce the landscape and nature 
photographs on display. “You can have 
a $20,000 camera, but if you don’t have 
the eye, the picture is not going to look 
good,” said Castellanos as he described 
photographs made in Sedona, Arizona and 
Mono Lake, California. On his shoots, he 
takes his one camera and lens and plenty of 
water as he hikes up to get the spectacular 
shot for the day. “I do things very 
simple,” he said. “A lot of people 
can do the same thing.” Laura 
Dean uses block printing to 
create her art images in various 
ways. Lynda Pyka of Poor Little 
Rich Girl uses pieces of jewelry 
and laminates them as earrings, 
necklaces, and other pieces of 
wearable art. The inspiration 
came to her as she made “creativity 
out of crisis” when she looked for 
items to cover up her scar from 
having had cancer. 

 Another advantage of the fair 
is the affordability of purchasing 
and seeing the artwork. “At Art 
Fairs,” said Mary Archibald, who 
brings her students work from 
Monrovia Community Adult 
School to the event, “you can 
get really good deals than at a 
gallery. MAFA shows are a great 
opportunity for budding artists.” 
Ms. Archibald encourages her 
Watercolor and Plein Air art 
students to develop their work 
for production by completing the 
full cycle of producing art--Going 
from idea to getting the work 
out there and ready for a show. 
The process includes selecting 
the correct matte for the work, 
framing it, and putting a 
price on it. 

 Candyce Wagner, who attends 
the Watercolor class, agrees 
that there are many people who 
develop pieces but are afraid to 
show their work. This event is 
the motivation for the student to 
realize a goal in seeing their work 
out there being judged by the 
public. In a year and a half, Ms. 
Wagner feels she has developed 
the confidence to where she can 
develop pieces, put the price on 
them, and get them ready for a 
show. Next month, she will be 
a participant in the Montrose 
Art Walk with her own booth of 
artwork to be displayed. Ms. 
Wagner credits Mary’s help in 
building her confidence level in 
this area. 

 Mary Archibald structures her 
class on enjoying the process 
of developing art. “You always 
want to spend time with someone 
who likes to do what you like to 
do. So, we all enjoy doing it. Part 
of the mission of adult education 
is to create life-long learning. So, 
by doing this people have the 
opportunity to continue doing 
something they enjoy as an adult.”

 That was exactly the same 
factor for Ms. Van Hook in 
getting involved with the Monrovia art 
organizations. As a child, she had enjoyed 
participating in many events held in 
the city. When she graduated from art 
school in 2005 with her Master’s degree 
specializing in darkroom photography, she 
wanted to give back to the community that 
had supported her as a child. “I found my 
new passion in the darkroom and came out 
in the light.” This passion led her to become 
involved with the MAFA organization as a 
media liaison . Later, she began developing 
an artist blog writing about art shows and 
activities around Monrovia.

 “I had so many pictures that I said to my 
husband what am I going to do with all these 
pictures. That’s where my position needs to 
be,” remembers Ms. Van Hook. From there, 
other opportunities came. “Whenever I go 
to an artist event, I interview the artists 
and I put the pictures up on that blog,” she 
added. Ms. Van Hook started with one blog 
covering Monrovia and now she covers 35 
cities. She considers her time as providing a 
community service for the artists who some 
may not be at the level yet where traditional 
newspapers and magazines would feature 
their work. Covering an event she met 
a woman from Otis Parsons College of 
Design who listened to her passion about 
darkroom and offered her an opportunity 
to teach at the school within 35 minutes. 

 The MAFA event may have been a two-day 
show, but its impact reaches many people 
throughout the year--artists, community 
members, and children’s arts programs 
from elementary to high school. 


Fear has disappeared for this young lady as she ‘hi fives’ her 
dentist. (above) Below, first class, state of the art care is provided 
at no cost to children who participate in the program.


The Monrovia Association of Fine Arts honored Ginger 
Van Hook as its 2010 Featured Artist for her work in the 
community as a fine arts reporter, artist and teacher. 
MAFA President Bill Beebe stops by her booth for a 
moment. Photos by V. Parker


Candyce Wagner, a former graphic designer, 
has been in the Monrovia Class for about a year 
and a half. She sold 6 pieces over the two-day 
event. 

MHS All-Class Reunion 
Raises Funds for Band 
Trip to Carnegie Hall 

Photo and Story by Bill Coburn

On Sunday, October 10th, there was a Monrovia High 
School all-class reunion at Santa Anita Park. The reunion, 
originally scheduled to take place during the Oak Tree meet, 
was cancelled when Oak Tree moved to Hollywood Park, 
but due to interest from some of the alumni, was resurrected. 
Despite the on-again, off-again nature of the reunion, and 
the lack of live racing, more than one hundred people from 
several classes turned out to catch up with their old friends, 
with the class of ’78 having the most in attendance.

One of the highlights of the day was the appearance of the 
MHS Wildcat Marching Band. The band has been invited 
to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2012, and was appearing at 
the reunion as a fundraiser, with half the money from the 
50/50 raffle that took place at the reunion to be donated to 
the Band.

To the band’s good fortune, the winner of the 50/50 raffle 
was Tom Radu. Radu (Class of ’77) was a member of the 
Marching Band during all four years of high school, and he 
elected to give his winnings to the band, doubling their take for the day.

There will be another All-Class Reunion on April 3rd, 2011. The April reunion will again feature the band, and be a fundraiser for their 
Carnegie Hall trip. There will be raffles, drawings, prizes and more, including live thoroughbred racing. For more information about that 
reunion, visit www.MHSAllClassReunion.info. Also, Facebook users can look for the reunion’s page on Facebook.

To make a donation to the Band’s Carnegie Hall Fund, call the school (626) 471-2800. 


Monrovia Police Blotter

During the last seven day period, the Police Department handled 526 
service events, resulting in 123 investigations. Following are the last week's 
highlighted issues and events:

Robbery

September 23 at 6:27 a.m., an officer responded to Duarte and Myrtle 
regarding a robbery that had just occurred. A female victim reported 
that a male subject in his early 20s, thin build, buzzed haircut, no facial 
hair, and wearing a baggie gray sweatshirt exited a vehicle and punched 
her. The suspect grabbed her purse and got back into a black, four-door 
vehicle, possibly a Nissan Maxima, and fled southbound on Myrtle. The 
victim sustained a cut above her right eye. Investigation continuing.

Grand Theft

September 23 at 12:54 p.m., an officer was dispatched to a residence in 
the 700 block of West Duarte regarding a theft. The victim parked his 
motorized bicycle in front of his door in the evening, but failed to secure 
it. The next day, he went outside to go to work and found his bicycle was 
missing. He did not hear anything suspicious during the night.

Assault

September 24 at 2:41 p.m., an officer met with the victim of an assault 
who had come to the police station to file a report. The victim was in 
a wheelchair and was accompanied by a friend. The victim reported 
that he had been at a bar in 300 block of West Huntington on Friday, 
September 17. He said he had been drinking and that two subjects had 
assaulted him. He was driven to a hospital and admitted for injuries. The 
victim did not have much information to provide about the incident. 
Investigation continuing.

Residential Burglary

On September 24 at 10:41 p.m., an officer responded to the 500 block 
of East Foothill regarding a residential burglary. Unknown suspects 
had entered the victim's residence and the victim's rear house through 
open bathroom windows. Once inside, the locations the suspects stole a 
television set and power tools. The investigation is continuing.

Grand Theft

September 25 at 10:41 a.m., an officer responded to the parking lot of a 
business in the 100 block of West Foothill regarding a theft. The female 
victim had pushed her shopping cart to her vehicle. As she opened the 
door of her car, a vehicle pulled up next to the shopping cart and a subject 
grabbed her purse from the cart and fled in the vehicle. Investigation 
continuing.

Burglary

September 25 at 3:56 p.m., a business in the 500 block of West Huntington 
reported a theft. An officer responded and determined a subject had 
walked into the store, grabbed a mesh shopping bag, selected three 
men's electric shavers and exited the store without paying. As the loss 
prevention officers exited the store, they saw the suspect getting into a 
burgundy Toyota Camry that fled the scene. Investigation continuing.

 The Class of ’78 had the most people turn out at the MHS All-
Class Reunion at Santa Anita Park


The San Gabriel Valley Council, 
Boy Scouts of America, 
is proud to be honoring 
Mayor Mary Ann Lutz of the 
City of Monrovia with the 
Distinguished Citizen Award 
on October 29, 2010 from 6:00 
pm – 9:00 pm at the DoubleTree 
Hotel located at 924 W. 
Huntington Drive in Monrovia. 
The Distinguished Citizen 
Award is intended to recognize 
prominent area leaders who 
have a wide influence in the 
community, while serving as 
exemplary role models for our 
young people. Mary Ann Lutz’s 
contributions to the quality 
of life in our community and 
her commitment to the values 
of Scouting make her a very 
deserving community leader 
and honoree. 

In 2009, Mary Ann Lutz was 
elected as Mayor of the City 
of Monrovia having served 
as a City Council Member 
since 2003, after a long 
history of volunteering within 
her community. Mary Ann 
attended Boise State University. 
Mary Ann is the owner of 
Lutz & Company, Inc., a court 
reporting consulting firm, in 
Monrovia and is the Chair 
of the Los Angeles Regional 
Water Quality Control Board, 
an appointment by Governor 
Schwarzenegger. 

Proceeds from the award 
dinner will help fund scouting 
programs of the local 
communities. 

If you would like more information 
please contact Lucia Bernal, District 
Executive of the San Gabriel Valley 
Council, Boy Scouts of America 
at 626-351-8815 ext. 236, e-mail 
lucia.bernal@scouting.org or visit 
http://www.sgvcbsa.org/about-us/
districts/lucky-baldwin . 

Duarte Accepting 
Applications for Appointment 
to Newly Established Youth 
and Family Committee

The City of Duarte has begun taking applications for a newly 
established ad hoc Youth and Family Committee of the Duarte 
Parks and Recreation Commission. Following a year-long 
community-involved process, a Youth and Family Master Plan 
was recently endorsed by the Duarte City Council. The formation 
of the ad hoc committee is the next step in the City’s plan to 
implement the Master Plan intended to guide the City of Duarte, 
Duarte Unified School District, community organizations, and 
others over the next five to ten years regarding youth and family 
programs, services and facilities. 

 Duties of the ad hoc committee will include preparation of an 
annual Youth and Family Master Plan report card, working with 
community stakeholders to implement portions of the Youth 
and Family Master Plan, and promotion of the Youth and Family 
Master Plan at community events.

 The ad hoc Youth and Family Committee will consist of 
12 members, including one current member appointee of the 
Parks and Recreation Commission. At least 25% of the appointees 
will be youth up to 24 years of age, and 25% will be former Youth 
and Family Master Plan advisory committee members. Ad hoc 
committee members will be appointed by the Duarte City Council 
for a term of two years.

 Applications are available online at the City’s website, www.accessduarte.
com and at Duarte City Hall, 1600 Huntington Dr. Deadline for submitting 
applications is Oct. 28. For more information, call Donna Georgino, 
Parks and Recreation Dept. at (626) 357-7931. 

BOY SCOUTS TO HONOR MAYOR LUTZ

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