March 17, 2013March 17, 2013• 
Sierra 
Madre Wistaria Festival 
•• 
Sierra 
Madre Wistaria Festival 
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www.wistariafestival.com


VOLUME 7 NO 9

SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2013

THE WISTARIA FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU!

 Volunteers needed for all aspects of the festival 
to be held on March 17th.

 A Volunteer Meeting will be held on Tuesday, 
March 5, 2013 at 7:00pm in the Hart Park House 
(Senior Center). Volunteers of all ages needed!

TRAGEDY STRIKES BEAN TOWN

Beloved Barista Dies At Age 23


On Friday evening, members of the Sierra Madre community and 
the friends and family of John Peters, gathered at Bean Town to 
celebrate his life, a life that ended at the early age of 23.

Last Saturday evening, while working at Bean Town, John collasped 
and was rushed to the hospital where he died the following 
morning. It was a shock to all who knew him, as he was the 
picture of perfect health, young, vibrant, enjoying life and looking 
forward to the future.

Peters was a barista at Bean Town for more than two years, known 
for his wonderful smile and pleasant personality. The impact that 
his life had on others was very evident on Friday, when more than 
100 friends and family came to Sierra Madre to help raise money 
to help defray the funeral expenses for the Peters family.

Matt Krantz, Bean Town’s owner, and the staff at Sierra Madre’s 
favorite coffee house organized the event. Bean Town was closed 
Sunday and Monday while Peters’ co-workers and Krantz tried to 
deal with his sudden death.

Other local businesses and friends donated items for a silent auction 
to help raise money for the family.

Peters parents were devastated by the 
loss of their son. His father Clifford, 
and John’s girlfriend Alicia Vessey were 
able to attend the fundraiser. Both were 
overwhelmed and yet appreciative of the 
love shown by everyone in attendance.

According to www.sierramadrenews.
net, there will be a viewing from 
11:30am to 1pm, followed by a graveside 
service at 2pm at Forest Lawn in 
Covina Hills, 21300 Via Verde Drive on 
Saturday.

John graduated from West Los Angeles 
Baptist High School in 2008, and 
had studied digital media arts at John 
Brown University in Arkansas before 
returning to California. He is survived 
by a brother, his parents and a host of 
other relatives and friends.

S. Henderson/MVNews

SIERRA MADRE’S MUSEUMS AND 

NATIONAL MUSEUMS ADVOCACY DAYS 

By Amy Putnam, President 

Sierra Madre Historical Preservation Society

February 25th & 26th were National 
Museum Advocacy Days 2013. The 
purpose of these days, organized by 
the American Alliance of Museums, 
was to emphasize and bring to the 
forefront the importance of museums 
in our community, state, and country. 
In honor of Museum Advocacy 
Days, I’d like to share with you some 
interesting facts about our local museums, 
Lizzie’s Trail Inn and Richardson 
House.

Much of the work and focus of the 
Sierra Madre Historical Preservation 
Society (SMHPS) is due to two partnerships 
with the City. First, the City 
owns the museums and the SMHPS 
has a lease agreement with the City 
to operate and assist in the maintenance 
of the museums. Secondly, the 
SMHPS is party to a memorandum of 
understanding with the Sierra Madre 
Public Library relating to the archives 
and local history collection. I’m proud 
to report that the SMHPS is working 
very diligently within our organization 
and in conjunction with the City’s 
Department of Public Works and the 
Sierra Madre Public Library to repair, 
organize, upgrade and make our City’s 
museums more accessible and interesting 
to our citizens and visitors to 
our town. 

Here are some exciting highlights of 
what’s going on up at our museums:

1) The Historical Society, in partnership 
with the Sierra Madre Garden 
Club, has begun a landscaping project 
under the direction of Orchid Black, 
the president of the local chapter of the 
California Native Plant Society. Volunteers 
from these two local organizations 
completed the beginning phase 
of this project at the beginning of 
February and during that process, the 
City provided a dump truck to assist 
us with the removal of the overgrown 
brush and landscaping surrounding 
our museums. Orchid Black is donating 
her landscaping expertise to assist 
us in developing a butterfly and native 
plant garden which will be installed as 
a teaching exhibit of plants that hikers 
would expect to see along the Mt. Wilson 
Trail. 

2) The Sierra Madre Public Library 
has been awarded a $50,800 Pitch-An-
Idea grant from the State of California 
which will create excitement for our 
local history collection and will assist 
at making the unique materials in our 
Sierra Madre Stories & Treasures project 
more available and accessible. As 
such, the collection will be showcased 
at two community locations using 
digital storyboards. One of those locations 
will, of course, be at our Public 
Library, and the other location will be 
at our museums, specifically Richardson 
House. (continued on page 3)

John Peters popular Bean Town Barista

Photo courtesy Bean Town


Clifford Peters, John’s father and John’s girlfriend, Alicia Vessey were 
able to smile through their tears on Friday. Photo by Bobby L. Brett

CANDIDATES MAKE THE ROUNDS BEFORE MARCH 5TH PUSD ELECTION

Many Parents Upset That Sierra Madre Will Not Select A Representative Until 2015

 Candidates for the four expired Pasadena Unified 
School Distraict seats made the rounds over the 
last two weeks trying to shore up support among 
voters. As a result of the passage of Proposition 
A last year, this will be the first time that voters 
in the district will actually select voters within a 
geographic district. The seats for Districts 1, 3, 
5 and 7 will be chosen on Tuesday. Districts 2, 4 
and 6, which includes Sierra Madre will not select 
their representative until 2015.

 The seats that expire include Seat 1 – Elizabeth 
Pomeroy, Seat 3 - Scott Phelps, Seat 5 - Ramon 
Miramontes and Seat 7 – Ed Honowitz. Pomeroy 
and Phelps are running for a seat in the geographic 
district on Tuesday.

 The candidates are:

District 1: Kimberly Kenne

 Hermond Dean Cooper

Kenne currently holds an unexpired seat on the 
PUSD Board. 

District 3: Guillermo Arce 

 Ruben Hueso 

 Tyron Hampton, Jr. 

 Deirdra Duncan 

District 5: Stella R. Murga 

 Elizabeth Pomeroy 

Pomeroy’s current term on the PUSD Board is 
expired.

District 7: Luis Carlos Ayala 

 Scott Phelps

Phelp’s current term on the PUSD Board is 
expired.

The fact that Sierra 
Madre will not be selecting 
their representative in 
this election has caused 
a great deal of concern 
among some parents. 

 Others, however, are 
pleased with the new 
district boundaries because 
they feel the configuration 
will give Sierra 
Madre a stronger voice in 
the selection of their representative 
and therefore 
is worth the wait until 
2015.

 With 3 seats remaining 
on the PUSD until 2015, 
it is widely speculated 
that the Board will specify 
a representative for the 
3 areas that have to wait 
until 2015.

 In an effort to make certain 
the candidates that were on the ballon this 
Tuesday had a good understanding of the unique 
situation in the two Sierra Madre Schools and to 
give parents the chance to discuss their concerns 
with the candidates, parent Steve Tanner organized 
a tour of the Upper Campus.

 Candidates Dean Cooper and Stella Murga were 
on hand at 7:30 am and had the opportunity to see 
first hand the condition of the Middle School and 
the negative impact the delay in construction has 
had on the students and the community. After the 
tour the candidates discussed specifics issues with 
the parents and community members present.

 Later in the day, Elizabeth Pomeroy and Ruben 
Hueso took the tour and shared with Tanner their 
support for getting the construction started ASAP.

 The week before, the Armenian Community 
Coalition held a joint City Council/PUSD candidate 
forum. (above), and although the forum 
was held in Pasadena, the issue of Sierra Madre’s 
Middle School Construction was discussed. All 
PUSD candidates present supported making the 
completion of the Middle School a priority.

 S. Henderson/MVNews


SPECIAL SIERRA MADRE REPORTS......................Page 4

This Week’s Highlights: 

Calendar Page 2

Sierra Madre News Page 3-4

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AROUND SG Valley

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SIERRA MADRE NEWS

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PASADENA/ALTADENA

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