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Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, October 15, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
5 Mountain View News Saturday, October 15, 2016 Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side by Deanne Davis “It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween! The moon is full and bright. And we shall see what can’t be seen on any other night. Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls, grinning goblins fighting duels, werewolves rising from their tombs, witches on their magic brooms. In masks and gowns we haunt the street and knock on doors for trick or treat. Tonight we are the king and queen, for oh, tonight, it’s Halloween!” Jack Prelutsky The giant pumpkins on Alegria have at last been harvested and all that remains are dry, twisted vines. They’ve been harvested, dear Halloween loving friends, but they are not by any means gone or forgotten. Parker and Heather, those growers of amazing pumpkins, are gearing up for the best Halloween display ever. Oh the sights you’ll see when you visit Sierra Madre’s Halloween Street! It was my delighted pleasure to visit Parker’s Pumpkin Porch and Patch last Saturday, where Halloween is already in the works. A new pirate skeleton, complete with skeleton parrot on his shoulder, still in his box, will be joining all the other ghastly, ghouly inhabitants of Parker’s Pumpkin Fantasy in just a couple of weeks. The Parker house, built in 1910, is total Halloween, including orange spider-web fabric on their couch. Pumpkins, bats and spiders spill out from unexpected places, creating a charmingly friendly Halloween-y home. The pumpkin growing started in 1999 when the store-bought pumpkins they had carved started to cave in, as jack-o-lanterns sadly do. Parker tossed them out into the Back 40 and, much to their surprise, these pumpkins put down roots and started to grow! At their peak year, 35 or 40 giant beauties grew on Parker Acres and this year, a good year, in spite of the deer and the water restrictions, there are pumpkins galore of all shades and sizes. Who knew deer loved pumpkins! But they do. Parker once stepped away from the fenced enclosure where the tender young vines, laden with pumpkin blossoms were stretching themselves toward the sun; a marauding deer noticed an opening, slipped in and in seconds ate every single blossom. So discouraged he almost quit the pumpkin business altogether, Parker received so many encouraging notes on the Sierra Madre Facebook page that he squared his shoulders and keep on cultivating. New sculptures and structures are coming this year, possibly a carousel. The Snagon – part snake, part dragon – will be back, with a face carved by Heather’s brother, Chris, who makes a pilgrimage out from North Carolina every year to carve pumpkins. Parker creates the body, a structural engineering marvel, employing many of their smaller pumpkins. Look for their 14 Cinderella pumpkins, which are a flat variety, the perfect shape for wheels on racecars and motorcycles. Inspired by a picture in a Martha Stewart magazine, the lamp table was created...so real looking that a couple wandering by commented that it was certainly interesting how these people brought some of their furniture out to augment the pumpkins, not realizing that was all pumpkin they were seeing. Big Mac, which is the 100+ pound variety, Atlantic Giants, you’ll see them all and, incidentally, all the really big ones have names! Look for the giant spider with fabric covered legs sewn by Heather’s sister. It’s definitely a family affair. Heather’s mother always made Halloween special and the Parker family is continuing in that tradition, serving gallons of hot apple cider to thirsty trick or treaters. Everything, of course, was inspired by Bud Switzer’s hundreds of carved pumpkins in years gone by. Bud’s out of the carving business now, but you’ll see him Halloween Eve looking at all that’s going on to keep Halloween alive and well on Alegria. Parker and Heather especially enjoy the night after Halloween when all the visitors have taken their candy home to count and Sierra Madreans come out to see the amazing work that has been done and chat for a few minutes with Heather and Parker, the delightful Alegria pumpkin growers. Stop by and say hi and keep looking for scarecrows all over town. There are some really nifty ones! “When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween.” My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis Blog: www.authordeanne.com “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” is available there… As are all the Emma Gainsworth Pumpkin Adventures SIERRA MADRE PUBLIC BLOTTER During this time period, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to approximately 198 day and night time calls for service. Monday, October 3 Sierra Madre PD responded to the 100 block of W. Highland Ave. regarding a vandalism report at about 7:00 a.m. The school principal told officers that someone threw a lemon through a north facing window pane. It appears that unknown suspect(s) grabbed a lemon from a lemon tree and threw it at the window causing it to break. Case forwarded to Detectives Theft from vehicle reports: 9/29/16 At about 11:00 p.m. from the 100 block of E. Sierra Madre Blvd. personal items from inside the vehicle. 10/2/16 Around 6:00 p.m., in the 100 block of E. Esperanza, personal items taken from inside the vehicle. 10/4/16 Around 7:45 a.m., in the 600 block of E. Grandview, rear license plate of the vehicle was stolen. 10/9/16 About 8:30, in the 300 block of Camillo Street, personal items and gift cards stolen from inside vehicle. Stolen Vehicles -On 10/9/16 at about 10:15 a.m., the victim discovered her car missing from her driveway in the 100 block of W. Carter Ave. The vehicle is a White, 2013 Audi Q5. Between the hours of 10:30 p.m. on 10/8/16 and 8:30 a.m. on 10/9/16 a vehicle was stolen from the victim’s driveway in the 400 block of W. Highland Ave. Vehicle is described as a White, 2014 Land Rover Range Rover. Vehicles were entered into the stolen vehicle database and surrounding agencies were notified. Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||