Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, December 24, 2016

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Mountain View News Saturday, December 24, 2016 


Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis


“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your 
heart be light.

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.” 
Ralph Blane & Hugh Martin

Remember that? Judy Garland singing to Margaret 
O’Brien in the 1944 movie, “Meet Me In St. Louis.” 
You probably do as this is a perennial Christmas 
favorite movie, along with “Miracle on 34th Street” 
and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Of course, we love 
“Charlie Brown’s Christmas” and the original 
version of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole 
Christmas. There’s “Frosty” and “Rudolph,” and 
we’ve enjoyed a bunch of Christmas movies on the 
Hallmark Channel, too. 

 The lights and decorations around town have 
been spectacular this year. This fabulous Santa, his 
sleigh and reindeer (pictured) are on So. Baldwin, 
just above Orange Grove. These folks also had 
terrific Halloween decorations and we truly admire 
everything they do. I’m giving a Walking Sierra 
Madre...The Social Side award to Les, Barbara, Nina 
and their cat, Bentley – who live on the south side of 
Sturtevant, just east of Mountain Trail. They have 
a tiny little garden window which they decorate 
beautifully for each season. Their Christmas 
window this year is charming and they have lights 
all along their garden, showing that sometimes the 
best things do come in small packages! 

 We hope you’ve had ‘a merry little Christmas’ 
this year, and that your heart has been light. As 
we were out walking Sierra Madre last year, my 
Christmas light connoisseur walking buddy, John, 
and I, found a piece of paper on the sidewalk and 
this is what it said:

A Child’s Prayer of Thanks

Dear God,

I’m thankful for all You give,

For food,

For love,

A place to live,

I thank You for my family too,

And I want You to know

That I love You.

Amen.

 I have kept this out in our kitchen ever since 
and think it expresses pretty much everything 
for which we can be thankful. We live in such a 
beautiful place, with our own personal mountains 
available for good long ‘look’ moments. We have 
friendly people who smile and say Hello! when you 
pass them on the street. We have beautiful homes 
on every street, so many trees - which are doing 
fairly well in spite of the drought, and a splendid 
Christmas tree, crèche, menorah and dreidel in 
Kersting Court. 

 While making Christmas Jam, lemon 
marmalade, and about a million cookies, I had my 
Child’s Prayer of Thanks out where I could see it…
and even managed not to get cookie dough all over 
it! Like you, we’ve dined with friends and family, 
enjoying a nice glass of something sparkly and…
of course…taking good long looks at our personal 
mountains. We have truly had “a merry little 
Christmas” this year and are looking forward to 
blessings and joy in the year to come. 

While I’m listing blessings, here are a few more: We 
had rain! There might even be more! Our health is 
good...we enjoy Walking Sierra Madre more than 
ever. It was 15 degrees earlier this week in Wylie, 
Texas where our daughter, Crissy, and her family 
live. It was 41 degrees here last Monday but we’re 
not complaining! I’ve only gained three pounds 
while cooking, baking, wrapping and sending 
cookies, bread, apple butter and Christmas jam 
all over the place, and that’s not bad at all! Merry 
Christmas, dear friends!

 “Christmas! It’s almost here! My favorite...
favorite time of year!

 Think mistletoe and holly...children’s faces jolly!

 Carols on the radio...happy smiles each place you 
go,

 Presents piled beneath the tree...some for you 
and some for me!”

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of 
Laughter” is available from me!

 Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of Star of 
Wonder – A Christmas Story

 It’s on Amazon.com on my book page!

 Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd

SIERRA MADRE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM


The Rotary Humanitarian STAR Award committee 
is pleased to recognize Sierra Madre Search 
and Rescue Team, as the 2016 RHSTAR Trophy 
Recipient in the Disaster Relief and Recovery 
Category.

 President: Arnold Gaffery

Nominated by: Wendie Johnston Ph.D., Pasadena 
Bioscience Collaborative

 Nominated For: The development of searcha and 
rescue MapSar technology used across the country 
and around the world. 

 Maps are at the core of any Search and Rescue 
(SAR) operation. Geographic information system 
(GIS) software allows rescue personnel to quickly 
generate maps that depict specific aspects of a 
rescue operation and show what is happening on 
the ground over time. The maps and operations 
data can be shared over a network to supply an 
enhanced common operating picture throughout 
the Incident Command Post (ICP).

 Sierra Madre Search and Rescue played a key 
role in the launch of a new web portal that supplies 
search and rescue (SAR) personnel with GIS tools, 
educational materials, and a virtual community 
for learning and sharing.

 The launch of the MapSAR website is the result 
of a community of search and rescue personnel 
linked together by their use of GIS with a goal 
to build on that work and supply standards, 
documents, and training to the international SAR 
community with the invaluable job of finding lost 
people


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