Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 5, 2013

WALKING SIERRA MADRE 
(cont. from page 1)

Now here’s the highlight of 
my evening: I discovered 
the Gooden School garden! 
Best one I’ve seen all year! 
Cold frame boxes filled with 
Italian eggplant and tomatoes! 
Fabulous tomatoes, flourishing, 
producing lots of good 
sized fruit! Yellow squash, 
watermelons still on the vine, 
and a pomegranate tree, with 
a good dozen pomegranates 
hanging from the branches! It 
was glorious!

Had such a great time admiring 
the garden that I needed to 
know more; which led to a nice 
visit with Marianne Ryan, who 
is the Assistant Head of School 
and Director of Admissions 
and four of the young ladies of 
the fourth grade, who work in 
the garden and are very proud 
of their accomplishments. The 
Gooden School has been part 
of Sierra Madre since 1975 and 
is based on the concepts of: 
Respect For Self, Respect For 
Others, Respect For The World. 
The garden is a perfect example 
of these. Started five years 
ago as Ms. Ryan’s dissertation 
project, “Seed Time to Harvest, 
Stewardship Discovered In The 
School Garden,” the students 
have been getting their hands 
dirty and learning all there is to 
know about the circle of plant 
life. Community service is 
part of the Episcopal tradition 
and Gooden heartily embraces 
that concept. ‘Service learning’ 
is incorporated right into the 
curriculum. In third grade, 
students learn that there is 
hunger and homelessness in 
the world. In fourth grade, 
they learn that they, personally, 
can do something about it. All 
the food grown in the garden 
goes to the Friends Indeed 
Food Pantry in Pasadena at Los 
Robles and Washington. 

John Johnson of Our Town 
Printing, right here on 
Montecito is the go-to guy for 
advice on which planting media 
to use and general garden 
advice. He’s also the worm tea 
expert! In case you didn’t know 
(I certainly didn’t!) Worm 
tea is worm castings which 
have been soaked in water and 
oxygenated. The extra oxygen 
causes a bloom of the good 
bacteria, plus the added benefit 
of nitrogen! The students also 
have opportunities to visit the 
Arboretum where they learn 
how to make compost and the 
best way to plant various fruits 
and veggies.

The Gooden kids built the cold 
frame beds themselves. There 
are no nails in these things, 
only slotted boards and corner 
dowels. When the lumber 
arrived, Ms. Ryan showed the 
class their future cold frames 
and said, “Go for it!” When 
they said “How??” She said, 
“Figure it out!” and let me tell 
you, friends, they did! These 
beds are amazing! And I kind 
of think the Gooden School is 
pretty amazing, too!

A perfect evening! Great music, 
really nice wine, cheese, mixed 
nuts and the best garden ever! 
Take a walk past the Gooden 
School and just peek in at their 
garden. It will inspire you! It’s 
not too late to put in a tomato 
plant and maybe a winter veggie 
or two! 

5

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 5, 2013 


A GRAND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION IN DUARTE

 

Recently there was a joint celebration in Duarte, the City, 56 years and 
the City of Hope its centennial! 

 Festivities began with the annual Route 66 Parade, “Gateway to 
Hope”. More than 1,000 marched or rode along Huntington Drive; the 
Grand Marshall was Dr. Rahul Jandial, a City of Hope Neurosurgeon 
and health expert for KTLA Morning News. Local officials included 
Mayor Margaret Finlay, husband Brad and grandchildren; Mayor-
Pro-Tem Liz Reilly; Council Members, John Fasana, Phil Reyes, and 
Tzietel Paras-Caracci, and Authors Claudia and Alan Heller. School Board participants 
were Ken bell, Reyna Diaz and Pam Kawasaki. Children, parents and mascots from all 
local elementary schools marched; Northview Middle School and Duarte High Bands, 
Clifton Middle School from Monrovia, Don Lugo HS (Chino) and Rim of the World (Lake 
Arrowhead). Local businesses and Church groups also participated. The Parade concluded 
with Fire Engine 44 from Station 44 on Highland Ave. (Thanks to my daughter Karen for 
the great photos!)

 After the great parade were the City picnic with live music, great food, raffles and more. 
Duarte’s Friends of the Library had a spinning wheel and all who played won either a small 
prize or book. It was a lot of fun! 

 100 years ago, the City of Hope began as a small Monrovia tuberculosis sanatorium. 
It has grown into a world-renowned biomedical research, treatment and education center 
committed to shaping the future. Its success is seen as hospitals around the globe have 
adopted its compassionate care model. Besides its drive to revolutionize the treatment 
of cancer, City of Hope also works against diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. 
Research at the City of Hope has led to synthetic human insulin used worldwide by millions 
with diabetes, as well as the lifesaving cancer drugs Rituxan, Avastin, and Herceptin. 

 What a great double birthday celebration!

“What’s Going On?” 

News and Views from Joan Schmidt


Mayor Margaret Finlay wore 2 Hats in the Parade- Rode in the car at the beginning 
as Mayor & then walked with her Church, Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.


WOMEN AT WORK 2013 
ANNUAL GALA

“PASABLANCA”

Women At Work celebrates its 34th year of providing employment 
services to the community of Southern California. This year’s 
annual gala pays homage to the iconic film “Casablanca” 
and transports you to 1942 as you enter the upscale Rick’s Café Americain. Pose for photos with 
Humphrey Bogart, sing along with Sam, sway to World War II-era music and join in with the Arthur 
Murray dancers as you enter the intrigue of Morocco.

HONOREES: 

TRAILBLAZER AWARD: Cynthia Kurtz, CEO, San Gabriel Valley Economic 
Partnership

Imagine someone spending her entire career in non-traditional roles for 
women. For decades Cynthia Kurtz has worked in leadership positions 
related to transportation, economic development, public works and city 
management. Since 2009 she has been president and CEO of the San Gabriel 
Valley Economic

Partnership, which fosters the success of businesses to enhance the economy 
and enrich the quality of life in the San Gabriel Valley. 

HERITAGE AWARD: Carol Liu California State 
Senator

Choosing the field of public service, Carol Liu began 
her career as an educator and school administrator 
before serving as a legislator. After serving eight years on the La Cañada 
Flintridge City Council, she was elected in 2000 to the California State 
Assembly. Since 2008 she has been a member of the California State 
Senate, where she is the chair of the Education Committee. A member of 
the California Commission on the Status of Women, she has been a strong 
advocate for Women At Work.

ACCOLADE AWARD: Wendy Welch-Keller, 
First Vice President, Community Bank

The inaugural Accolade Award will be 
presented to Wendy Welch-Keller for providing exceptional leadership 
on the Women At Work Board in a variety of ways. Professionally she 
is first vice president of Community Bank in Pasadena. The Accolade 
Award has been created to recognize someone whose efforts to further 
the Women At Work mission have gone far beyond expectations.

Top Sponsors include: Kaiser Permanente (Presenting Sponsor), AT& 
T and Wells Fargo Bank (Reception Sponsor) The event will benefit 
WOMEN AT WORK:

Women At Work, a non-profit organization founded 34 years 
ago, provides assistance to people in all financial situations. Over the past year our clientele has 
increased 55 percent. In 2012 we provided career counseling, resume critique, job leads, job skills 
training and more to over 6,100 clients who visited the center. Now we are asking for your help!
In this challenging economy more clients are struggling to find work and keep their confidence going 
strong. Services provided by Women At Work, from weekly Job Club meetings and tools for job 
seeking, to career counseling and resume critique help them while continuing their search for a better 
future. Women At Work has proved to be a lifeline for thousands of women and men, with a helping 
hand in a time of need.

Macintosh HD:Users:wendyanderson:Desktop:LOGO.pdf
ASSEMBLYMAN CHRIS HOLDEN JOINS STATE 
SENATOR CAROL LIU TO REQUIRE CAL TRANS 
TO SELL 710 FWY HOMES - Gov. Brown Signs SB 416 

Pasadena – Governor Brown signed a historic measure designed to clear the way for the sale of state-
owned real estate along the 710 freeway corridor and end decades of speculation about a freeway 
surface route. Assemblymember Chris Holden is a principal co-author on 

SB 416 which was authored by Senator Carol Liu. 

“I applaud the Governor for signing this bill, as it is a critical first-step to restoring peace and security 
to neighborhoods long threatened by Caltrans’ poor property management and an ill-advised 
surface extension of the 710,” said Assemblymember Holden. “Thanks to Sen. Liu, Caltrans’ decades- 
long mismanagement of the ‘surplus homes’ will finally come to an end.” 

SB 416 enables Cal Trans to get out of the real estate business by selling houses they acquired more 
than 50 years ago along the 4.5 mile corridor through parts of Pasadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra 
and East LA. The properties have been plagued by years of mismanagement and neglect. SB 416 accelerates 
the sale of the properties by allowing them to be sold in “as is” condition. 

“I am pleased to have worked with Sen. Liu on this critical measure to ensure that the surface route 
for the 710 extension is dead and that we can now work toward other options that reduce local pollution 
and get traffic in the region moving,” concluded Holden.