Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 13, 2013

5

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 13, 2013 

THERE’S MUSIC IN THE AIR IN 
DUARTE, NEIGHBORING AREAS 
AND MORE!

 The price of gasoline and the bad economy doesn’t have to put a damper 
on fun this summer. There are two great avenues of entertainment that are close 
by and free! One involves musical entertainment and the other, our great public 
libraries.

 Duarte’s Pamela Park has a GREAT Thursday evening concert series: July 
18- Blues Band, July 23- Life Church Gospel Band, August 1-Mariachi Divas, 
August 8- Edgar and Lucy(Salsa, Cumbia), and August 15- Pure Performance-
R&B/ Jazz. The Latin Misfits will perform on Saturday, August 17. All concerts 
are from 6:00-8:00pm. Bring a blanket, chairs and picnic fare for a great evening. 
Pamela Park has the best, safest playground equipment for all age kids!

 Up in the City of Duarte, there are three remaining 6:30-8:30 pm Wednesday concerts: July 
17-Centerfold Hits of the 80’s, July 24-Jumpin Joz Band-Swing and July 31- Los Mineros De Durango 
& Mariachi Relampago. Great food booths open at 6:00 pm. The Parade Committee will have a raffle 
and Friends of the Duarte Library will be handing out free books to the children. (Concerts are at 
Duarte Park, 1344 Bloomdale Street)

 Monrovia has its great 7:00- 8:30 pm Sunday concerts: July 21-Gem City Jazz Cats-Jazz, 
July 28-The Answer-Classic Rock, August 4-Mariachi Divas-Mariachis, August 11-Blackstar-Country 
and August 18- Delgado Brothers-Roots, Rock, Latin Blues. Concerts are free. Bring a picnic basket, 
blanket, chairs and be ready for a great family evening. Food booths are available and there’s a great 
playground for kids! (Concerts are held at Library Park)

 Arcadia’s concert series are on the City Hall Lawn, Thursdays evenings, 6:30-8:00 pm. July 
18-Sharon & the Cevells(1950’s), July 25-Chris Lozano Band(Country), August 1-Upstream(Caribbean 
Music & Steel Drums), August 8- Cold Duck-1970’s top-40’s- National Night Out-Arcadia’s 110th 
Birthday, August 15-The Answer-Classic Rock, August 22-Cash Up Front-Tribute to Johnny Cash. 
Arcadia will have a Kids Fun Zone with games, crafts and activities.

 I live in the County Area and have utilized Live Oak Library for twenty years. I have also gone 
to Duarte Library on several occasions, so the info I will provide pertains to these two great county 
libraries.

 Since our grandkids will be here for FIVE weeks, I went on line and learned both libraries 
have SEVERAL great activities planned. Duarte Library will feature a great Art Day, July 16, from 
3-4pm, ages 4-12. On Thursday, July 18, from 3:30-4:30, bring your child to meet Kim Brown, sister 
and inspiration of author Marc Brown (“Arthur Books”). The kids will be taught how to draw the 
“Arthur” character! Then on July 23, Ronald McDonald is coming to the Duarte Library from 3:00-
4:00 pm! Toddler Storytime is 10:15am, and Storytme for Preschoolers and early elementary is at 
11:15. Every Saturday at 2pm, during the summer, there’s been adult fun-last week, making recipe 
scrapbook; this Saturday, decorate aprons and next week, decorate useable grocery bags! Visit www.
duartelibrary.com to see its great programs. (It is located at1301 Buena Vista Street, Duarte, and the 
phone number is (626) 358-1865.

 At Live Oak Library, Monday evenings have special teen activities like Teen Game Night, 
5:30pm, July 22. Monday, July 22, My First Book Club at 3:30, for grades K-2. Rising Readers Book 
Club is for Grades 2-4 and meets Thursdays, 3:30-4:30. Usually Monday mornings at 10:30 is the 
toddler Storytime. After School Adventures is Tuesdays at 4:30 and includes astounding adventures, 
sublime rhymes and awesome art activities. Live Oak Library is at 4153 E. Live Oak Ave., Arcadia. 
Phone is (626) 446-8803. Visit www.liveoaklibrary.com for more info.

“What’s Going On?” 

News and Views from Joan Schmidt

THE SELF-SUFFICIENT HOME:

Going Green and Saving Money

By Christoper Nyerges

[Nyerges is the author of “Enter the Forest,” “Self-Sufficient Home,” and other 
books. He teaches regular self-reliance classes and does a weekly podcast on 
Preparedness Radio Network. He can be reached at School of Self-Reliance, 
Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or www.ChristopherNyerges.com.]


Way back in 2000, 
my wife Dolores and 
I wrote a book called 
“Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the 
City,” where we detailed how we grew food, 
raised animals, generated power, and more, in 
our average home in the hilly outback of Los 
Angeles. 

The “Self-Sufficient Home” book is a continuation 
of that work, but in this case, we didn’t 
strictly write about what we did in our own 
home. Rather, I interviewed at least two dozen 
other home-owners and experimenters to discover 
the ways in which they were practicing 
urban self-reliance. 

 

 The book begins with the story of Dude 
McLean, former Marine who was heavily involved 
in self-reliance, and his experience 
during the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. McLean 
and family survived well when much of their 
neighborhood was in ruins because they gardened, 
stored food and water, and had sufficient 
camping supplies and the know-how to 
live in the backyard. Whenever I teach a class 
about urban preparedness, I begin by reading 
that chapter and the very real lessons learned 
by McLean and family.

 

“Self-Sufficient Home” includes an interview 
with Altadena architect Steve Lamb, who 
shares all the ways in which homes should be 
built to take advantage of natural principles 
such as sunlight, wind patterns, shade, and 
other site-specific issues. Lamb points out that 
white roofs, and large overhangs helps keep 
houses naturally cooler. During the course of 
writing the book, Lamb took me to a few of the 
places he’s worked on to show me how it’s also 
possible to retrofit an “average” house to take 
advantage of these principles.

 

The book shares the specific ways in which 
various local people, with no government aid 
and with no whining, went about producing 
their own electricity, and their own solar-heated 
water. The reader is guided through the 
steps of making an electrical use assessment 
before going out to purchase any solar devices 
or components. It’s important to do that assessment 
if you’re going to be your own power 
producer, so you build a system that is suitable 
to your situation.

 

There are interviews with people who collect 
rain water, with everything from low-tech to 
high-tech methods. In fact, this is now so 
“mainstream” that all of the building supply 
companies routinely sell you all the hardware 
needed to turn a bucket into a rain water catchment 
system.

 

The many alternatives to the conventional 
flush toilet are discussed, from the expensive 
high-tech to the very simple low-tech methods 
that have been practiced for millennia.

 

The book also addresses all the ways in which 
the average urban back yard can be utilized for 
food and medicine production. This begins 
with an assessment of the resources already 
on the property, coupled with a list of your 
specific needs and wants. Where to get your 
seeds, how to produce plants from cuttings, 
and ways to create your own backyard fertilizers 
are all included.

 

I interviewed a La Crescenta resident who 
makes his own biodiesel fuel from used vegetable 
oil, and ran his VW diesel rabbit on his 
own fuel for months. There are enough details 
in the book for the reader to follow in this 
man’s footsteps.

 

And lastly, there are several interviews with individuals 
whose lifestyles are laudable – a man 
who bicycles every day, a permaculture practitioner, 
a woman who lives in a tipi, and more. 

 

“Self-Sufficient Home” can be obtained via 
Kindle, and hard-copies are available wherever 
quality books are sold, or on-line. This is 
a wonderful book and everyone should have 
a copy.

 

[More information about Nyerges’ classes and 
books is available at www.ChristopherNyerges.
com, or via School of Self-reliance, Box 41834, 
Eagle Rock, CA 90041]


Mayor Pro Tem Liz Reilly assists volunteers


WEATHER HAS BECOME A TABOO TOPIC 

By: Cynthia Kurtz, San Gabriel Valley Economic Development Partnership

There was a time when the 
weather was considered a neutral 
topic for polite conversation. 
You could always bring 
up the weather. Not anymore. 
Start talking about the weather 
and pretty soon you are talking 
about global warming, climate 
change, AB 32, and green 
power. These are definitely not 
neutral topics! 

 Pepperdine University recently 
surveyed California voters on 
their opinions about the environment 
and energy. While 
the majority of voters believe 
climate change is a moderate 
or serious threat, Californians 
don't agree on what to do about 
them and who should pay for 
the solutions. 

 Let's start with climate change 
- 38 percent of those surveyed 
say it is a serious threat, 33 percent 
a moderate threat and 20 
percent say it is no threat or not 
real. Clearly, a majority believe 
that climate change is some level 
of threat. 

 One would then assume that 
there would be support for public 
policies that will address this 
threat. Don't jump to that conclusion 
too quickly. California 
has adopted the most advanced 
public policy on climate change, 
the Global Warming Solutions 
Act, also known as AB 32. Ask 
those same people if they think 
that AB 32 is having a negative 
or positive effect and 32 percent 
say positive, 30 percent 
say negative, and 29 percent say 
neither.

 We know that climate change 
is strongly linked to power generation 
and policy leaders are 
adopting regulations intended 
to increase the use of "green 
power." There are conflicting 
theories attempting to convince 
Californians that these policies 
are creating jobs or driving 
companies to other states taking 
the jobs with them. Neither 
side is winning that battle - 52 
percent of voters say they can't 
tell how jobs are being impacted 
while 21 percent say jobs are 
being created and 27 percent 
say jobs are being lost.

 Cost and jobs are very important 
to these respondents. 
When asked if they would be 
willing to ease environmental 
regulations on oil extraction 
and refining if they reduce the 
price of gasoline and increased 
the number of jobs in California, 
51 percent said yes to just 
28 percent responding no.

When it comes to paying for 
these policies, the message is 
not surprising. Asked if they 
would be willing to pay more 
for gas, electricity, food and 
other consumers to increase the 
use of green energy and help 
the environment, 53 percent 
said no - 30 percent said yes. 

 There are clear winners and 
losers when it comes to support 
for future sources of energy: 77 
percent support increasing the 
use of solar; 70 percent support 
increasing the use of wind; 70 
percent support increasing the 
use of water; 51 percent support 
increasing the use of liquid natural 
gas. Only 23 percent support 
increasing the use of coal.

 Support for increasing nuclear 
power is split with 35 percent 
supporting and 30 percent not 
supporting it. You may be interested 
in knowing that this survey 
was taken after there were 
known problems at San Onofre 
Nuclear Power Plant but before 
Edison's announcement that 
they would close the plant 

 So now that we can't use the 
weather as a "go to" topic, how 
should one start a new conversation? 
"How about them 
Dodgers"?