Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 19, 2011

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

SEE (continued from page 1)

culture as a Caucasian-looking, mixed race 
child with red hair fascinated her listeners. 
She commented that in spending extensive 
time with her Chinese grandparents, she 
considered herself Chinese, as that’s what 
surrounded her. Not the red-headed girl she 
saw in the mirror.

An interesting repartee developed between 
See and another author about the decision 
to write about family “secrets.” The audience 
member shared that she felt some guilt in 
revealing family secrets. See, bluntly, said 
she felt the opposite. Nothing was secret, 
she replied, as the family decided to share 
their stories, though it took years and years 
to unravel them fully. And sometimes, 
sharing those stories lead to lightening the 
emotional carried for a lifetime.

When See’s Aunt Sissee finally allowed her 
to start documenting family stories and 
history, the floodgates finally opened. Before 
that, the Chinese traveled a difficult road, 
often technically living outside the law, as 
the main character in On Gold Mountain, 
did. From his “contract” marriage to Leticie, 
a Caucasian, because interracial Chinese 
marriages were not allowed to their initial 
business of making crotchless underwear or 
“Fancy underwear” for “Fancy ladies”… er… 
prostitutes. See, subdued, and somewhat 
frustrated, shared that very soon after Aunt 
Sissee started sharing the stories, the aunt 
died suddenly. See posed the question, 
“What would have happened if she lived 
another decade?” We’ll never know, but 
Sissee had given “permission” to tell the 
stories, and See set about doing it.

A family kidnapping was one family story, 
where the details took a long time to finally 
be revealed. When in the hometown in 
China, kidnappers broke into the family 
home to steal a child for ransom. One 
child hid behind a plant, and evaded the 
kidnappers. Another was passed over 
because she was female and “worthless.” 
A third child, a male, was taken, and later 
killed. Decades later, in a tour of the family 
compound, the child, now an adult, pointed 
out to See where he hid during the break-in, 
then confessed to See that his sibling would 
likely still be alive if he hadn’t hidden to 
escape. See felt this was an unburdening of 
a weight he had been carrying for all those 
decades. 

Lighthearted and heart rending stories 
continued until the time was up. Lines 
were long for the book signings after See’s 
presentation, with many books sold onsite 
by Sierra Madre books. Residents will be 
able to see the video of Lisa See’s afternoon 
in Sierra Madre on SMTV, channel 3, after 
it’s been edited, according to city staff.

3


Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 19, 2011 

PRINCESS KIDNAPPED

GERIATRIC SPECIALIST, DR. STEVE 
CASTLE, TO SPEAK FEB 27 ON 
AGING GRACEFULLY: THE MEDICAL 
PERSPECTIVE

CITY OF SIERRA MADRE 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings listed below are held at City Hall 232 
W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 626-355-7135

NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING:

February 22, 2011 6:30 pm

Arts Commission - 2nd Wednesday @ 6:30

Community Services - 3rd Monday @ 6:00

Library Trustees - 4th Wednesday @ 7:00

Planning Commission - 1st & 3rd Thursdays 7:00

Senior Community - 1st Thursday @ 3:00

Tree Advisory - 3rd Wednesday @ 7:00 


St. Rita’s new Senior Ministry is excited to take part in a “Senior 
Outreach Partnership” with the City of Sierra Madre’s Senior 
Community Commission (http://www.cityofsierramadre.
com/index.php?mod=senior_services) and Royal Oaks 
Retirement Community (http://www.royaloaksmanor.com/) 
in Bradbury to bring program opportunities to educate 
experience and enrich the lives of seniors.

To start off this partnership, Dr. Steven C. Castle, MD, will 
speak on “Aging Gracefully: The Medical Perspective.” Dr. 
Castle is an advisor to 
the California Center 
of Excellence on 
Falls Prevention and 
Corporate Medical 
Director of Southern 
California Presbyterian 
Homes. In addition, he 
is a Clinical Professor 
of Medicine/Geriatric 
Medicine at UCLA 
and Chief of Geriatric 
Medicine and the VA 
Greater LA Healthcare 
System. He has a 
long time interest 
in managing the 
complexity of aging and 
how we can learn from 
each other to age gracefully.

Dr. Castle has been recognized as Clinician of the Year by the 
American Geriatrics Society, One of LA’s Best Doctors by Los 
Angeles Times Magazine and for teaching excellence at UCLA.

Dr. Castle maintains a focused interest in the life style changes 
needed to address mobility and balance failure and helping 
seniors and their caregivers gain more understanding and 
awareness of mobility limitations. He has received four grants 
from the National Institute of Aging for studies on the immunity 
of frail older adults and development of a light weight protective 
head gear in fall-prone older adults. He has published over 100 
papers, abstracts and book chapters and presented over 350 
invited lectures in the US and internationally. 

Dr. Castle’s presentation will be held Sunday afternoon, 
February 27, 2-3 pm in O’Malley Hall, at St. Rita Parish, 318 N. 
Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, on the church’s lower level. St. Rita 
is located at the NE corner of Baldwin and Grandview Avenue. 
(enter parking on Grandview). Doors will open at 1:30 pm for 
a meet and greet, with light refreshments. Representatives of 
both Royal Oaks and SM Senior Commission will be on hand 
for questions.

Call the St. Rita Parish Office 626-355-1292 to make a 
reservation for the free program, open to all, especially seniors 
and their caregivers. Bring a friend! 


1630 AM

Free on-air publicity for local events

Sierra Madre’s new community radio station is now accepting 
scripts for Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about 
community events. PSAs will be broadcast on the air at no 
charge. The station operates 24/7 and can be heard at 1630 on 
the AM dial.

Any local non-profit or non-commercial organization can have 
their event information broadcast to the public on Sierra Madre 
Community Information Radio. This new radio station covers 
the city of Sierra Madre, plus surrounding areas of Pasadena, 
Arcadia, and Monrovia. 

In a nutshell, your event must:

• Benefit a non-commercial or non-profit entity

• Be open to the public

• Be of general interest to local citizens

Just 
write a Public Service Announcement that describes your 
event and e-mail it to radio@cityofsierramadre.com. 

Have you seen her?

Crime has taken its toll in Sierra Madre with the recent kidnapping 
of CINDERELLA! Unbelievable, but true. Cindy 
was kidnapped from her hang out in front of the Sierra 
Madre Playhouse approximately two weeks ago. 

 The smiles on her face are gone, as are the smiles on actress 
Jane Fuller (background) who relies on the cardboard character 
as her muse!

 Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Cindy 
should contact the Sierra Madre Playhouse at 626-355-4318.

THE SIERRA MADRE CHAMBER 
OF COMMERCE AND 
THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE 
ANNOUNCE A SPECIAL 
POSTMARK CANCELLATION 
TO CELEBRATE THE SIERRA 
MADRE WISTARIA FESTIVAL.

This special postmark will be available at: 

Event: The Sierra Madre Wistaria Festival, 

Date: Sunday, March 20, 2011 

Hours: Open 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. 

Location: 

 The Wistaria Festival Postal Station at Kersting 

 Court in Sierra Madre

 Located at Sierra Madre Boulevard and Baldwin 

Bring postcards or letters and mail them from this special 
event post office and your friends will be surprised when 
they receive mail with this extraordinary postmark.

This postal cancellation has been announced and printed 
in the U. S. Postal Bulletin which is distributed worldwide. 
To accommodate collectors from out of the area, the Sierra 
Madre Post Office will cancel postcards and letters upon 
request with the Wistaria Cancellation for 30 days after 
the event. To postmark a letter after the event go to Sierra 
Madre Post Office and request the Wistaria Postmark on 
your mail.

For more information contact:

The Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce 

Phone: (626) 355-5111

E-mail: Info@sierramadrechamber.com

U.S. Post Office Sierra Madre, California 91024 


Sierra Madre Police Blotter

During the week of Sunday, February 6th, to Saturday 
February 12th, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded 
to approximately 334 calls for service. See crimereports.com 
for updated information.

Monday, February 7th:

10:00 AM- Residential Burglary, 100 blk. Lowell Ave. 
Unknown suspect(s) entered through an unlocked door. 
The stolen items included $500.00 cash, and a Dell laptop 
computer worth $800.00. Inside the residence the suspect(s) 
broke walkway lights, wrecked a wooden jewelry box and 
broke two glass panels in the door window. 

12:35 PM- Petty Theft, 40 blk. N. Canon Ave. Unknown 
suspect(s) stole an unlocked purple Ranger Schwann 
women’s bicycle stored on the driveway. 

Tuesday, February 8th:

10:25 AM- Criminal Threats, 30 blk. N. Baldwin Ave. 
This case involves a threatening phone call to a property 
management employee from the suspect evicted from her 
apartment. 

Wednesday, February 9th:

7:29 AM- Vandalism/$400 or more damage, E. Mira 
Monte Ave and Mount Wilson Trail. This case involves 
vandalism on Mt. Wilson Trail Park. The following items 
were vandalized with spray paint and were Graffiti; The 
city water facility wall, four walls inside the park restroom 
and two exterior walls, a Sierra Madre stop sign, a front 
residence fence, and a 2005 Toyota truck. Total damage 
worth $2300 dollars. 

2:18 PM- Tampering/Injuring vehicle or contents, 10 blk. 
Esperanza Ave. This case involves an unknown suspect(s) 
breaking the left side mirror off the victim’s vehicle. The 
vehicle was parked on the street. 

Thursday, February 10th:

10:23 AM- Alter/Forge/Falsify Certification of 
Ownership, 1900 blk. Santa Anita Ave. An officer stopped 
a motorist for a Vehicle Code violation and determined that 
the driver of the vehicle had purchased stolen 2011 tab and 
illegally placed the tab on his vehicle. The driver also had 
a suspended California driver’s license and the registration 
was expired. The driver was arrested and transported to 
Pasadena Police Department Jail for booking.

10:10 PM- Unlawful Display Evidence of Registration, 
Mayfair and Michillinda Ave. An officer stopped a 
motorist for a Vehicle Code violation and determined that 
the motorist had a suspended Driver’s License and had 
expired registration and the wrong license plate on the 
vehicle. The driver was cited and released on a written 
promise to appear in court. 

11:22 PM- DUI Alcohol/Drugs, 30 blk. W. Sierra Madre 
Blvd. An officer stopped a tourist for a Vehicle Code 
violation. Further investigations revealed that the driver 
was under the influence of alcohol and under possession 
of 0.6 grams of Marijuana. The driver was arrested and 
transported to Pasadena Police Department Jail for booking. 

11:33 PM- Possess Narcotic Controlled Substance, 10 
blk. W. Sierra Madre Blvd. An officer conducted an area 
check around the Buccaneer bar and witnesses a verbal 
confrontation between several subjects. The officer made 
contact with the subjects and found that one the subjects 
had several related warrants from Sierra Madre Police 
Department. The subject was transported to Pasadena 
Police Department Jail for booking.