Sierra Madre Wistaria Festival Special Edition


SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2013

VOLUME 7 NO. 11

THE SIERRA MADRE POLICE 
DEPARTMENT PARTICIPATES 
WITH THE ZERO TOLERANCE 
DISTRACTED DRIVING 
ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

Sierra Madre, CA. – As part of April’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month 
campaign, the Sierra Madre Police Department will be actively ticketing those 
texting or operating hand-held cell phones for the month of April. Drivers who 
break the law and place themselves and others in danger will be cited with no 
warnings. The current minimum ticket cost is $159, with subsequent tickets 
costing at least $279. In April 2012, over 57,000 tickets were written statewide 
for texting and hand-held cell use. There were nearly 450,000 convictions in 
2012. Whether it’s a ticket or a crash, as the campaign theme states, “It’s Not 
Worth It!” 

Distracted driving is a serious traffic safety concern that puts everyone on the 
road at risk. In recent years, hundreds have been killed and thousands seriously 
injured in California as a result of collisions 
that involved at least one driver who was 
distracted. Nationally, an estimated 3,331 
died in 2011. As a result, law enforcement 
across the state, including the Sierra Madre 
Police Department are increasingly cracking 
down on cell phone use and texting. This 
April will see over 225 local agencies 
plus the CHP conducting zero tolerance 
enforcements.

“We all know that talking on our cell phones 
while driving is distracting, but that doesn’t 
stop some people from continuing to do it,” said Sierra Madre Police Chief Larry 
Giannone. “This effort is intended to educate our community about the dangers 
of cell phone use while driving. We hope that once people see the statistics and 
realize the danger involved, they will change their driving habits to help protect 
themselves, their families, and others on the road.” 

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes 
serious enough to injure themselves. Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 
years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. In 
addition, studies show that texting while driving can delay a driver’s reaction 
time just as severely as having a blood alcohol content of a legally drunk driver.

Studies also show that there is no difference in the risks between hands-free and 
hand-held cell phone conversations, both of which can result in “inattention 
blindness” which occurs when the brain isn’t seeing what is clearly visible 
because the drivers’ focus is on the phone conversation and not on the road. 
When over one third of your brain’s functioning that should be on your driving 
moves over to cell phone talking, you can become a cell phone “zombie.”

To avoid a distracted driving ticket or crash, the Sierra Madre Police Department 
offers drivers the following tips:

• Turn off your cell phone and/or put it out of reach while driving;
• Include in your outgoing message that you can’t answer while you are 
driving; and
• Don’t call or text anyone at a time when you think they may be driving.


JOAN CROW CHOSEN AS OLDER ‘SIERRA 
MADRE’ AMERICAN OF THE YEAR

The City of Sierra Madre Community Services Department and the 
Senior Community Commission are happy to announce that Joan 
Crow has been selected as the Older American of the Year for Sierra 
Madre. Joan Crow is a longtime resident of Sierra Madre and active 
member of the Sierra Madre Civic Club for more than 30 years serving 
as president from 1983-1984. In addition to her community support 
through Civic Club, Joan is a Eucharistic Minister at St. Rita’s Catholic 
Church and has served as the Chair for the St. Rita Women’s Retreat 
and St. Rita Feast Day. Joan is a faithful supporter of the Friends of 
the Library, Creative Arts Group, Sierra Madre Playhouse, and much, 
much more

Each year the President of the United States, the Governor of 
California and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors 
designate the month of May as Older American Month. In 
recognition of Joan Crow’s dedicated volunteer service to the 
community, Sierra Madre will be honoring her at a local reception 
held at the Hart Park House Senior Center on Friday, May 10, 2013 
from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Previous Honorees include: Jerry & Nan Carlton, Pat Alcorn, Fran 
Garbaccio, Ken Anhalt, Eph Konigsberg, Russ Anderson, George 
Throop, Loyal Camacho, John Grijalva, Joylouise Harte-Smith, James 
Heasley, Midge Morash, James Tyler, Isbella Paegal, Bonnie Garner, 
Rose Fafach, Ed Wellman, Celeste McCreary, Dorothy Tillquist, Doris 
Webster, Elsie Dammeyer, George Mauer, and Karl Teigler.

For more information on the Older American Reception or on how 
you can assist with honoring Joan Crow, please contact the Senior 
Services Desk at 626-355-7394. Original photo by Bill Cobutn


FOUNDATION PRESENTS FIRST GRANT OF 
YEAR TO LEGENDARY TRAIL RACE


Mt. Wilson Trail Race Chair Pete Siberell receives check from Foundation Chair Erica Blodgett. 

Photo courtesy of Sierra Madre Community Foundation

 At a private reception on March 2, the 
Sierra Madre Community Foundation 
presented its first grant of the year to 
the Mt. Wilson Trail Race Committee 
in the amount of $1,250 to help support 
the 2013 Kids Run at the annual 
Mt. Wilson Trail Race on May 25.

 Foundation Board Chair Erica 
Blodgett presented the grant to Trail 
Race Committee Chairman Pete Siberell 
(above) in front of a crowd of about 
60 guests. Those in attendance included 
former Foundation Board members, 
leaders of various community and 
civic groups, and friends and family of 
current Board members all invited to 
celebrate the accomplishments of the 
Foundation over the last year. 

 In 2012, the Sierra Madre Community 
Foundation distributed grants to 
Creative Arts Group, the Sierra Madre 
Playhouse, the Sierra Madre Public Library, 
and the 4th of July Committee 
in addition to establishing the Eph Konigsberg 
Memorial Fund. The fund was 
created through a bequest to the Foundation 
from the estate of the late Konigsberg, 
a well-known Sierra Madre 
volunteer, to support staff development 
at the public library.

 According to Siberell, the grant to the 
Mt. Wilson Trail Race Kids Run meant 
that the race committee would be able 
to keep the kids event free for the children 
who participate. This was the first 
grant the Foundation has made to the 
Race itself, though the Foundation is 
the trustee organization for the Fletcher 
Fund whose resources go to maintaining 
the world renowned Mt. Wilson 
Trail. Donations can be made to the 
Fletcher Fund through the Foundation 
to help the volunteers who maintain 
the trail with the supplies they need.

 During her brief remarks, Blodgett 
took time to share some of the history 
of the Foundation – from its involvement 
in the auditorium restoration at 
Sierra Madre Elementary School to the 
support of creation of Goldberg Park 
– and to honor the work and vision of 
past Board members. “We who serve 
on the Board now take very seriously 
the responsibility of stewarding their 
vision for this organization,” she said. 
Blodgett noted that all the work of the 
Foundation, past and present, is done 
by volunteers. 

 The reception was held at the home 
of Gina and Steve Long. Event coordinator 
was Michelle Keith. Catering 
was donated in part by Claude Beltran 
and beverages by The Bottle Shop. For 
more information about the Sierra 
Madre Community Foundation visit 
www.sierramadrefoundation.org. 

This Week’s Highlights:

Also Inside Section B


SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

6

SIERRA MADRE NEWS

4

WISTERIA 
FESTIVAL 
SUPPLEMENT

Maps, Schedules 
and more!

B

Education & Youth 

Good Food & Drink 

Arts & Entertainment 

Opinion 

 The Good Life snf motr!

7

ARCADIA 

PASADENA/ALTADENA

5

MONROVIA/DUARTE

8


Read The Paper Online At: www.mtnviewsnews.com