Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 6, 2016

Mountain View News Saturday, August 6, 2016 

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side

by Deanne Davis 


“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but ofsucceeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”
Francis Chan, Crazy Love 

It’s August, friends and neighbors! School willbe starting soon and many of you parents arecounting the days and growing happier with 
each one you cross off. My best friend and fellowtraveler, John, and I have just returned from Wylie,
Texas, where we celebrated our daughter, Crissy’s,
birthday and her daughter, Emily’s, 6th birthday(pictured here). Notice I don’t give Crissy’s age. Asmy grandmother, Louise Pitzer Sessions, who wasborn in Texas and raised in Virginia used to say, asshe drew in a breath and swelled out her chest with 
great indignation, “You do not ask a lady’s age!” Inever did know how old she was. 

We had a fantastic time, and were horriblyjealous as it rained several times while we werethere. Texas is green, green, green...and flat, flat,
flat. We actually get tears in our eyes when we flyover our mountains on the way back to OntarioAirport. Emily had a splendid birthday partyat Chuck E. Cheese, and we dined and shoppedall over the place. Four more pounds to lose andI’ll be back to where I wish I’d been before I left. 
We went to church with our Texas family – FirstBaptist Church of Wylie - where their pastor, Dr.
Kris Segrest, told us their church added 450 newmembers in the past year. Wow! That’s where wegot the great quote above.

Had time to do a lot of reading – 3 hour flightsback and forth, plus airport waiting time. Finishedthe newest Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
book, Beyond The Ice Limit, which I devoured. Ofcourse, those guys are among my favorite authors

– they are also the writers of the Agent Pendergastnovels. If you’re looking for something new, checkout Preston & Child. Their works are extremelywell-written with great vocabulary and sufficientlythrilling to keep you reading far into the night.
Also thoroughly enjoyed, The Storied Life of A. J.
Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, very well written withinteresting characters. It’s about a bookseller whoone night finds a baby left in one of the aisles of hisbook store. Trust me, you’ll like it. It’s on Amazon,
of course, as are the Preston & Child books. I 
frequently feel that I have single-handedly put abookstore out of business as I am a Kindle onlyreader these days.
Speaking of books, noticed that Jeff’s Book Pics 

by Jeff Brown, which is found right here in theMountain Views News, recommends another of 
my favorites: Humans of New York. Some timeago, I looked at Brandon Stanton’s Humans ofNew York website, which was so exciting, filledwith photographs and life stories that Brandondiscovered by just talking to people on the street.
Check it out! 

We’re happily back to Walking Sierra Madre andthe giant pumpkins which grow annually on ourstreet have already created enormous leaves andvines, which bring Jack and the Beanstalk to mind.
There’s a grapefruit sized pumpkin hidden amongthe leaves which will be watermelon sized in mere 
minutes. Yes, friends, Fall is coming!

Walked downtown and saw “Goody Bags” whereCentric Bikes used to be. They’re not open just yet,
but from what we saw in the windows, it’s goingto be a fun destination, featuring toys and candy,
cute lunchboxes, lollipops in the garden outside, abig white tiger in the front window and some littlegirl tutu dresses. We saw folks going in and out ofGoody Bags on July 4th and have been watchingfor their opening. Love seeing new businesses cometo town! Looks like Petunia’s grand opening wasa huge success and peering in their windows, werealized we need to get back in there! They haveantique tools and a lamp with a lampshade madeout of old license plates. No, seriously, it was reallycute! 

We need to support the Playhouse! Go see25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!
It’s available just till August 21st and, sadly,
they’ve had to cancel two Saturday shows,
including the one this Saturday, August6th. This is a really cute musical, folks. Ourgrandson, Luke Simon, has twice been afeatured player in this at other venues and it’sfunny but not for kids as these spelling beecontestants are a little raunchy... but they’llmake you laugh.

Good to be home amongst our oak and jacarandatrees and right below our own personal mountains.
Why is everybody’s crepe myrtle blooming butmine? 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Blog: www.authordeanne.com 
“Tablespoon of Love, Tablespoon of Laughter” isavailable there… 
An excellent graduation gift, by the way! 

SIERRA MADRE PUBLIC BLOTTER 


During this time period, the Sierra Madre PoliceDepartment responded to approximately 1 8 0 dayand night time calls for service. 

Wednesday, July 27 At approximately 10:20 a.m.
officers were flagged down by a citizen at thecorner of Hermosa Ave. and Ramona Ave. A male 
cyclist was lying in the street after apparentlyfalling of his bicycle. SMFD responded aftervictim complained of shoulder pain. The cyclistwas transported to a local hospital for treatmentof his injuries. 

Friday, July 29 At about 3:00 a.m., LASD Deputiesresponded to an attempted break-in robbery in the00 block of N. Baldwin Ave. A two block section 

of the area was cordoned off while SMPD officers, 
deputies and LASD Air Support searched the arearesulting in the apprehension of one suspect whileanother suspect is still at large. Case forwarded to 
Detectives 

Saturday, July 30 Officers responded to the 200block of N. Sunnyside Ave. regarding a report ofvandalism. Victim stated that at about 1:00 p.m.
she was informed that a tire on both cars were 
flat. This is the second time in a few months that 
suspect(s) have deflated victim’s tires.

11:10 p.m. Resident called SMPD to reportvandalism at a residence in the 500 block of N. 
Hermosa Ave. Suspect(s) not in the area as officersarrived. Case under investigation 
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