Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, November 4, 2017

5Mountain View News Saturday, November 4, 2017 5Mountain View News Saturday, November 4, 2017 
A True Sierra Madre 
Treasure Passes Away 

Fran Garbaccio, longtime Sierra Madre resident 
and volunteer passed away on October 25th 
surrounded by her family. 


A recipient of the Sierra Madre Older American 
Award in 2010, she was also an active member 
of the Sierra Madre Friends of the Library 
Board where she was named Director Emeritus, 
a devoted member of Sierra Madre United 
Methodist Church, past Scout Leader, strong 
supporter of the Sierra Madre Environmental 
Action Council and much, much more. 


When Fran was Older American of the Year, the 
national theme was, “Age Strong! Live Strong!”, 
a motto certainly
appropriate for the effervescent, ever busy 
Garbaccio. 


A former Sunday School student of Fran's 
remembered her with this statement, " She was 
the epitome of Mother Teresa’s quote, “ Not all 
of us can do great things. But we can do small 
things with great love.” 


To quote another friend, “We have lost a loving, 
hardworking, intelligent woman”. 


Born in Paterson, New Jersey, she is survived by 
a very loving family both near and far. 



Fran Garbaccio will certainly be missed by family and friends, especially those friends in 
Sierra Madre. 

S. Henderson/MVNews 
OH, WHAT A NIGHT! 

Sierra Madre Celebrates Halloween In A Very Special Way 

On Halloween the streets of Sierra Madre are filled with thousands of residents and 

guest taking part in one of the best celebrations in town. Above the The Parker 
Family on Alegria have a couple that said what the crowd really wanted to, "Thankyou Sierra Madre". From window painting, to Trick or Treating or the Costume Con-
test, the city was Boofully busy! 


SIERRA MADRE TO HONOR ITS' FINEST; 
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT

 Each year, the City of Sierra Madre and the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce honor thoseorganizations and individuals that work tirelessly to make Sierra Madre a wonderful place to live,
work and play! In the past there have been two separate events – Sierra Madre Honors at Alvernoand The Citizen of The Year Dinner. This year those events will become one very special evening! 

The event will be held on December 7, 2017 in the Sierra Madre Room at the Recreation Center, 
611 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. 

In addition to recognizing those who currently serve on City Boards, Committees and Commissions, 
and installing the newly appointed, the public is invited to nominate the recipients of thefollowing awards: 

Sierra Madre Citizen of the Year for residents who have benefited the city during 2017 as a 
volunteer. 
Sierra Madre Business of the Year for an outstanding business existing in Sierra Madre for morethan 5 years that has been an active supporter of the community.
The George Maurer Lifetime Achievement Award for a person/entity whose lifetime of service 
embodies the spirit of volunteerism.
The Wistaria Award recognizing a City/Community Partnership that assists with providing community 
wide programs and servicesThe Mayor’s Special Award for outstanding service and duty to the community. 
The Public Safety Award for an employee/individual for protecting and maintaining safety in Sierra 
Madre. 
The Public Service Award for the Employee of the Year for remarkable public and customer Service 
and 
The Community Youth Service Award presented to youth under 18 for outstanding service and 
dedication to the community.
To nominate someone, simply email, fax or drop off a short letter to City Hall listing the qualifications 
of your nominee by 5:00 pm November 20, 2017. Email: smadrecc@gmail.com or fax them 
to 626-609-3285. 

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 


by Deanne Davis 


Can you believe it? November already! And we actuallyhad a little rain, fortunately, not on Halloween nightwhen thousands of folks visited Sierra Madre and 
walked Alegria to see all the fantastical pumpkins,
skeletons, ghosts, witches and various other zombie-
type creatures.

I’m sure you’ve come across Ezekiel 37 in the OldTestament a time or two in your life. Remember? Godtook Ezekiel down into the valley of the dry bonesand told him to “Prophesy to these bones!” So Ezekieldid and next thing you know, dem old bones came tolife and became a vast army. And, of course, you’vesung that song about dry bones, written by African-
American author and composer, James WeldonJohnson, somewhere around 1928. The reason I’m 
bringing all these dry bones to mind is because thatvalley of dry bones was pretty much what Sierra Madrelooked like this past week. Skeletons everywhere youcast your eyes! And spiders! The Giant Spider Storemust be totally sold out as there were giant spiderson just about every fence, wall and roof in town. It’sso neat the way our town does its scary best to makeHalloween a noteworthy event.

Walking Sierra Madre...The Social Side is presentingawards to a bunch of folks for creating amazingHalloween décor. 

First Prize: Bud Switzer for all the years of incrediblycarved pumpkins – Bud started it all a number of yearsago with hundreds of amazing pumpkins carved byBud and son, Kevin, set out all along his fence anddriveway. He is still unmatched for scary, happy, silly,
pumpkin faces.

Best Over-all Decoration: The house on the west side 
of Baldwin, just above Orange Grove. These folks havehad their decorations up all month and everythingthey’ve done is Halloween-perfect. I’m not talkinga ghost or two, I’m talking about dozens of ghastlycreations. 

Best Use of Pumpkins: The Parkers, who outdid 
themselves again this year with more creative uses 
of pumpkins, grown themselves, than anyone could 
have imagined; including a Cinderella coach drawn 
by three angry looking cats. This year’s Snagon 
(snake-dragon) had the best face and the longest 
body ever! And these Hell’s Angels (pictured) are 
out of control! 

Best Depiction of El Dia de los Muertos: Javier andErica Catanses, for huge day-glo portraits and creaturesand a Dodgers skeleton sitting on the bench by thesidewalk. 

Best Building of Effects: Craig and Lisa Cardellafor that cute little house, the towers of skulls and their 
lighting was outta sight! Cutest kids costumes, too,
Lisa, Violet, Fay, Avery and Charlotte.

Best Graveyards: Susan Blakeslee and ShawnBlakeslee, with best sayings on tombstones. Favoritetombstone was at the Biely’s: I told you I was sick!

Best Ghosts: The circle of creepy ghosts in front of St.
Rita’s rectory.

Best Scarecrows: That skeleton wedding couple Ishared a couple of weeks ago, which was on Highlandjust west of Baldwin.

Best Window Art: All the kids who painted thewindows downtown...and all the merchants who let 
them. Especially liked the windows at the Kensington,
the architect firm, and Chase Bank. 

Best Part of All: The adorable small children walkingup and down Alegria during the day in their costumes,
coming to see the sights. The little ones are what makeall this fun, seeing their big eyes getting bigger as theycome upon giant black and purple spiders who movetheir legs and witches peeking out of shrubbery.

We’ve survived another one, friends and neighbors.
A splendid time was had by all and, judging from thenumber of candy wrappers still decorating the town,
our local dentists will soon be filling cavities by thescore. Hope you got lots of Milk Duds, Dots and ThreeMusketeers! 

John Davis, best friend, husband, and walking buddyof mine passed away October 9th. If you missed lastweek’s Mountain Views News, John’s memorial service 
will be today, Saturday, November 4th at 1:00 p.m. atFirst Church of the Nazarene, 3700 E. Sierra Madre 
Blvd., Pasadena 91107. In lieu of flowers, donations to 
World Vision’s Clean Water Project would be greatlyappreciated. John’s ID/Pledge Number is D10002667.
The address: World Vision, PO Box 70399, Tacoma, 
WA 98481-0399. All are welcome to attend John’s 
Memorial. 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Blog: www.authordeanne.com 

“A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” isavailable there… 

As are all the Emma Gainsworth Pumpkin 
Adventures 
Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd