Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 11, 2012

5

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Mountain Views News Saturday, February 11, 2012

VERY SPECIAL 
AWARD FOR

A VERY SPECIAL 
LADY By Joan Schmidt

 About eight years ago, I met Gloria 
Huss. At that time, I was stepping down from the Monrovia-
Arcadia-Duarte Town Council with a heavy heart. I loved 
the Town Council and serving the community. However, I 
no longer had the available time to serve as I had in the past. 
There were family obligations, health issues and much more 
was expected at work. Town Council Member Reyna Diaz 
had also stepped down. That awesome lady is still a Duarte 
School Board member and hardworking, integral part of 
Kiwanis. Kim Sanders also left the Town Council at that time. 
How could the Monrovia-Duarte Town Council function 
with so few members?

 Enter Gloria Huss pictured on the right in front of her store.. 
With some prodding she came aboard and immediately went 
to work. Anything that lady decides to do, she does - and 
even more. Over the last several years, she has been a very 
important part of the Town Council. Chair Dave Hall told me 
how great she is with getting news out and keeping the Town 
Council aware of community events and projects. She serves 
as secretary, having agendas available and recording minutes. 

 A few weeks ago, I read that Gloria was receiving the 
prestigious Dick Lord Award from the Monrovia Chamber 
of Commerce. I was very pleased, but not surprised. She is a 
yeomen worker and is involved in SO MANY great causes!

 Gloria’s story begins in Whittier where she grew up. She 
started working at Garret’s Floral Shop in Monrovia. At first 
Gloria rung up customer orders and answered the phone. 
Then Gloria assisted in making flower arrangements and 
attended trade school to 
learn floral design.

 In 1989, an opportunity 
occurred. The Garrets 
were selling the business, 
and Gloria purchased it 
right before Valentine’s 
Day, the BUSIEST time 
of the year! Mother’s 
Day is very popular, but 
Valentine’s Day is Number 
One. “It was kind of like a 
whirlwind,” she said.

 Over the years, the 
business has flourished 
and I have utilized 
Monrovia Floral on 
several occasions. Its great 
location, outstanding 
service and beautiful 
floral arrangements have 
made it the place to place 
your order!

 On January 27th, 
at Monrovia Chamber 
of Commerce Annual 
Awards Dinner, Gloria was presented with the Dick Lord 
Award for outstanding contributions to the Chamber. Gloria 
has donated many volunteer hours to the Chamber over 
the years, has been a member of the Chamber’s Board of 
Directors and is currently on the Membership Development 
Committee.

 Gloria has been an active volunteer in many different fields. 
Take the movie/television industry for example. Fifteen years 
ago, Gloria began volunteering as a liaison between merchants 
and the film production companies. If a certain kind of store 
is needed, Gloria will help the film production company with 
the location, and if fees are involved, they can discuss how the 
merchants will be affected.

 At the Foothill Unity Center, Gloria has become involved 
with the pet food bank. Many people are not only down and 
out, but have a pet which also needs fed. When Gloria spent 
time at a local animal shelter, she noted several dogs were 
classified as “Owner Surrender” because their owners could 
no longer afford to feed them. At the Center, Gloria helps 
“package all of the food that is donated and assist in trying to 
get food donations.”

 On a personal level, Gloria and her husband have recently 
acquired an Austrian Shepherd and also have four cats. Her 
pets are like “members of the family”. 

 Gloria loves the Monrovia community and the friendliness 
of all its residents. “If you walk down the street, people always 
stop and say Hello”.

 Congratulations, Gloria on your special award! Residents of 
the City of Monrovia and especially your county constituents 
are happy and proud of you!

“What’s Going On?” 

News and Views from Joan Schmidt


PET OF THE WEEK

Brady: Animal ID #A4389407


Meet a really mellow sweetheart, the 
affable Brady (A4389407). Brady is a 
calm and serene two-year-old cream 
male shorthaired Chihuahua who 
was found in La Puente on January 
24th and brought to the Baldwin 
Park Animal Care Center. Weighing 
twelve pounds, Brady does not mind 
the leash but is unsure of what he is 
supposed to do on it. He could use a 
little training in that area, but other 
than that, he is an awesome little 
guy. He is very sociable with other 
dogs, and wags his tail profusely at 
every introduction. He absolutely 
loves people and will appropriate 
the nearest lap. Brady is a low-
energy boy who will be the perfect 
indoor pet for anybody anywhere! 
To watch a video of Brady please visit: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=xLN1HOGrz80

To meet Brady in person, please see him at 
the Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 
N. Elton, Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 
626-430-2378). He is currently available 
now. For any inquiries about Brady, please 
reference his animal ID number: A4389407. 
The shelter is open seven days a week, 12 
pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm 
Friday-Sunday. This is a high-intake shelter 
with a great need for adoptions. For more 
information about Brady or the 

adoption process, contact United Hope for 
Animals Volunteer Adoption Coordinator 
Samantha at samanthasayon@gmail.com or 
661-309-2674. To learn more about United 
Hope for Animals’ partnership with the 
Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter 
Support Program, as well as the many dogs 
of all breeds, ages, and sizes available for 
adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.
unitedhope4animals.org/about-us/shelter-
support-program/. 


KAT HIGH OF HARAMOKNGNA INDIAN CENTER 

Shares Her Knowledge of Traditional Ways By Christopher Nyerges

Christopher Nyerges. 
Nyerges is the director 
of the School of Self-reliance, 
who teaches and 
writes books on self-
reliance and wild foods. 
He can be reached at 
Box 41834, Eagle Rock, 
CA or www.ChristopherNyerges.
com.

 

Recently, Kat High, 
pictured left, a director 
of the Haramokngna 
Indian Center at Red 
Box in the Angeles National 
Forest, recently 
spoke at the Eaton 
Canyon Nature Center 
about the inter-relationship 
of “the plant-
people, the rock-people, 
the animal-people, 
and the spirit-people.” 
Traditional Native 
American beliefs are 
sounding more and 
more like the latest in physics, as per such books as “The 
Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe” (by 
Lynne McTaggart).

Her talk included a little bit of the history of the cultural clash 
when the Spanish came to Southern California, and began to 
build the mission system. She also explained how everything 
that the Southern California Natives needed was provided by 
the land. In her hour-long presentation, she showed pictures 
and actual specimens of many of these plants and told how 
they can be used today, and grown in the urban garden as a 
way to preserve them, and keep alive the knowledge of native 
plants.

“When the Spanish came here,” she said, “they described 
Southern California as looking like a well-tended garden. 
That’s because it was,” she told he crowd. The land had been 
managed for millennia by a series of practices that only-recently 
have been more studied and described in such books 
as “Tending the Wild” (by M. Kat Anderson).

There are many benefits of burning the land that have been 
documented. High, who is Hoopa, said that some of benefits 
of burning were insect control, modifying plant growth, increasing 
the soil fertility, increasing biodiversity, game management, 
making certain shoots grow up straight, and more. 
Even though we are more aware today of the benefits of fire 
in the early days of pre-Spanish California, that was not their 
only method of “passive agriculture.” 

“Everyone talks about fire these days,” said High, “but the 
Tongva and others also had many other methods which 
helped to promote the growth of desirable plants.” She said 
that the very act of gathering wild foods would help to scatter 
seeds, and the processing of food plants near village sites 
would cause those plants to grow near the villages. There was 
also the deliberate act of scattering desirable seeds closer to 
home, and transplants desirable plants close to the villages, 
like soap roots, broadiae roots, toothwort roots, etc. In the 
past, there was also pruning and coppicing of the wild vegetation, 
as well as tilling of soil and irrigation. Some plants were 
simply cut, and rooted and grown near village sites, such as 
willow, currants, and wild roses, all of which were used for 
food, medicine, arrows, and craft.

For perhaps 10,000 years, the Natives of Southern California 
respected the land, and took responsibility for it 
so that all their needs could be provided. Though High 
said it takes a lifetime to learn all these plants and how 
they were traditionally used, she shared how specific 
plants were – and still can be – used for food, medicine, 
ceremony, and the material culture (houses, nets, baskets, 
dyes, soap, etc.). 

When the Spanish came here, says High, they saw this 
land as a park-like paradise, and then recruited the local 
Indians to build the missions and run the farms, which 
destroyed the Native way of life. Cattle-raising was most 
destructive to land and waterways, and the land soon 
became unable to support the tradition Native lifestyle. 

What now? Asks High. How do we regain our balance 
with the land? 

Her advice is to learn about the Native uses of plants, 
and to use them with respect. “Always offer a prayer 
when you gather,” says High. “Ask permission from the 
plant, don’t deplete an area, and give the plant your intent 
for picking it.” 

Prickly pear cactus was one of the Native plants she described. 
The young pads can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked, and 
they have been proven to be good for diabetes. It is also easy 
to grow in the urban back yard.

Another common “weed” is telegraph weed, which is good 
for healing wounds when made into a wash and applied to 
the wound. 

Kat High asked her audience to consider what each of them 
could do to regain the balance that has been lost. Besides 
learning about Native uses of plants, and growing some near 
your home, she encouraged everyone to “Get involved,” she 
said, encouraging everyone to learn more about the Haramokngna 
Center and its activities.

Their web site is www.haramokngna.org. Kat High can be 
reached at katcalls@aol.com. A schedule of activities will be 
posted on the web site, and books purchased from Amazon 
through the Haramonkngna site help to support the center.