SIERRA MADRE EDITION

 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 35

BETHANY CHURCH: 100 YEARS & GROWING

SIERRA MADREAN HAS A PLAN 

Library Supporter Gary Hood Has A Plan To Save The Library


100 years ago, a group of 30 people, seeking to follow 
Christ fully and to honor the Word of God and the 
testimony of Jesus Christ, met for a home Bible study. 
They first met at the home of H.J. Kirby at 185 W. 
Sierra Madre Boulevard. This new Bible study group 
consisted of former members of another church 
who felt that the gospel of Jesus and the Word of 
God were becoming compromised. They loved Jesus 
and yearned for a place where they could connect as 
followers of Jesus around core Biblical teaching. As 
they met each week for prayer, the study of God’s 
Word, and fellowship, they realized they needed to 
start a church, one that would honor Christ and His 
teaching. Bethany Church of Sierra Madre was born. 
This same passion still burns today 100 years later. 
Dr. William Henry Rawlings, no small figure at 250 
pounds and 6’6” tall, was the first pastor, fresh out of 
Biola University, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. 
From that point on, the church grew and they 
decided they needed a permanent building to meet 
in. A charter member and French stonemason, Louis 
D. Corneulle built the original domed stone church 
between 1920-21. Many pastors went on to serve 
Bethany Church over the course of the next decades. 
In 1957, the “new” Bethany Church building, which 
is the same sanctuary that stands today, held its first 
worship service. After taking down the old dome 
church, which was a difficult decision, pastor Robert 
Schaper said, “A church is not the building in which 
it meets, but the consecrated people who serve God 
through it. We must keep faith with the present, and 
we must provide for the future. We have sensed the 
leadership and presence of God in what we have 
done thus far, and we shall seek the same for the 
actions ahead.”

 It is in that same spirit that the current Bethany 
Church of Sierra Madre wishes to move. We 
desire to be a missional group of followers of Jesus 
who connect with one another, grow together in 
knowing and obeying Jesus, and serve each other 
and the world around us, both locally and globally. 
In our current society, church is a word and a place 
that often carries a lot of misunderstanding and 
even hurt for those who do not regularly attend. 
Bethany desires to connect with those outside the 
church walls and introduce them to a loving God 
Who desires a personal relationship with them. We 
are not interested in being a social club, but rather a 
group of people who have experienced forgiveness 
and transformation through Jesus Christ and who 
desire to share and serve others. 

 On September 9, 2018, Bethany Church will 
celebrate its 100thyear of Connecting, Growing, 
and Serving in the Sierra Madre community and 
around the world. Currently, we meet every Sunday 
at 9:30am for a time of worship and learning. The 
service is followed by a Café time of fellowship and 
coffee. From 11:00am-12noon, our small groups 
meet, which are times of deeper sharing and 
learning. On Wednesday nights from 6:00-8:00pm, 
we have The Mix, where all ages come together 
to share dinner, games and small group times of 
learning and fellowship. Our youth group also meets 
on Wednesday nights, as well as Sunday mornings 
from 11am-12noon. Our school, Bethany Christian 
School is a wonderful place of spiritual nurture and 
growth and serves students from preschool through 
8thgrade. We continue be involved in local outreach 
in places such as the Hoving Home in Pasadena, 
Here to Serve-a ministry to support families going 
through cancer treatment, and Foothill Unity Center, 
as well as globally by supporting missionaries who 
serve in our country and other countries around the 
world. 

 At the 50thanniversary celebration of Bethany 
Church, these words were written in the program, 
“Bethany’s present task is equally demanding as 
the one facing its founders in 1918 in that tiny pool 
hall. It is essentially the task of making the love of 
Christ so real and so transforming in the lives of its 
members that they will carry the message of God’s 
love to those around us…” We can say the same 
today at our 100thyear anniversary. The church not 
only exists for the growth of its members but for the 
transforming work of Jesus in the lives of those who 
have not yet met Him. 

 As the current pastor of Bethany Church, I 
welcome you to come check us out. I would love to 
have you worship with us on a Sunday morning or 
fellowship with us on a Wednesday evening during 
The Mix. My passion and the current vision of our 
church is to develop fully committed followers of 
Jesus who know and love God and who strive to 
make Him known. I believe that we are all seeking 
meaning and a place to belong. 

 I welcome you to Bethany, and my door is always 
open. Sincerely,Pastor Brant

Greetings Friends & Neighbors 

City Hall is in the process of bringing the Sierra 
Madre Public Library up to code. We should look 
at this up-date as an opportunity to fix something 
that is long out of compliance with safety standards. 
I’m sure we all have heard over the years when our 
city has asked us to raise the User Utility Tax that the 
Library is in need of updating to the requirements 
of The American Disabilities Act and to bring it up 
to the Californias Seismic Code. Right now sections 
of the Library are closed off for use because that 
area is unsafe. The last council meeting I attended, 
council was talking about a $150 a year parcel tax to 
build a new 8 to $9,000,000 Library. I would guess 
that 9 mil is just the starting price, I might add that 
the only person who spoke up against that Parcel 
Tax was councilwoman Arizmendi. Talk was to 
tear down the old Library and a few trees and build 
a totally new 2 story structure. To help pay for the 
new Library it was discussed to sell off the back 
lot altho many feel selling off city assets is not the 
right thing to do. A group in town called Preserve 
Sierra Madre has worked hard to preserving our 
unique little old town. With that being said a lot of 
the community likes the 1955 design of the Library 
and wish to preserve it and the park like grounds 
around it. Many feel there is no reason to be cutting 
down some of those beautiful trees for a new 2 story 
building. A local artist provided the attached picture 
to show one of many designs that would allow the 
city to keep the 1955 design while still up dating the 
Library. A design like this would allow the existing 
Library, to continue providing services during most 
of the construction. 

 The exciting opportunity we have here is that 
there is an Association of Collegiate Schools of 
Architecture that are looking for projects like ours 
for their students to work on. What this means is 
that we as a city can give them a list of our wants to 
design to and have a competition for a design we can 
pick from, at little to no cost. You may ask what are 
some of the request that we may ask for? First might 
be a design that fits a grant from the CALIFORNIA 
DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES in 
which they want to see a Recycling or a Desalination 
or Stormwater or Gray Water design. How about a 
Germ Free building or a Geothermal Heating and 
Cooling system design. A solar powered building 
with a Virtual Reality Room, a Digitizing Room for 
teaching, preserving and digitizing some of the Cities 
important old documents or, renting out that room 
for families to digitize old pictures and documents to 
be forever preserved. Also, in the digitizing room we 
could have access to printing out books that would 
pay the author and the library at the same time, a win 
for many. The list goes on and none of it is pie in the 
sky technology, all that has been mentioned is in use 
today. 

Our fabulous little town is home to friends and 
neighbors who work at JPL and CAL-TECH, people 
who can help with this new Library, neighbors who 
work at local schools and the movie industry that can 
help make this Library the envy of anyone interested 
in Library’s and without a $150 a year parcel tax. 

 On February 23rd a 27 page report was given to 
our City Council showing how a design competition 
could be had and how costs could be covered. On 
February 28th hat same report was given to the 
Library Board with an 8 page cover letter showing 
how most or all cost could be covered. In that letter 
there were over 30 sources of funding that could 
cover costs. This information was also talked about 
at the Kiwanis Club and The Friends Of The Library. 

 While many may consider the cost as a problem it 
may be an opportunity to have the Best Little Library 
around without having to vote in a $150 a year parcel 
tax. 

 Within the next 2 weeks I hope to show the 
links to many sources that can make our Library a 
reality and an email address to put us all in touch. 
Communication is the first link in bringing a 
community together and we all know Sierra Madre 
is a special community that does work together. 


A CALL TO ARMS (AND HEADS AND LEGS)

PROFILES: A Look Behind The Scenes by Rebecca Wright

AND THE BAND PLAYS ON AND ON!


Principal Hernandez knows how important music is. As a child, he 
was involved in a Fine Arts program from Kindergarten through 8th 
grade. He spent several years as a principal in Houston Texas, first at 
a middle school and then at an early college high school. Now, having 
been at Pasadena High School (PHS) for three years, he is excited to 
see that the music program is growing. 

Band is on an upward trajectory. Recently the PHS band has seen a lot 
of growth and improvement in their halftime shows and has placed 
in a variety of competitions. It is also an integral part of school spirit 
at PHS, playing at pep rallies and at games. Mr. Hernandez mentions 
that there are a larger number of students in band, (continued pg.3)

First come the crows, then the witches! Sleekly 
feathered and raucous, a murder of crows is beginning 
to descend on our foothill village portending 
the approaching autumn and the countdown to 
the witching hours of All Hallow’s Eve. Is it any 
coincidence that both of these iconic images are clad 
in black, can take flight, and herald the season when 
night begins to overtake the long hours of daylight? 
We think not!

 Residents of Sierra Madre, this is your clarion call 
to put aside petty interests and trivial pastimes such 
as work or school and mount a vigorous defense 
by creating an army of scarecrows. That’s right! - 
scarecrows of every stripe and color in front of every 
home and business in Sierra Madre. It’s your civic 
duty! To that end, Creative Arts Group offers the 
following: 

 Sept. 8th Free Scarecrow Workshop (10:00, 11:30, 
1:00 & 2:30.) Register online at 

creativeartsgroup.org/scarecrow-festival/contest 

 Sept. 17th Enter the contest. (Be sure to have 
a name and backstory ready.) Register online at 
creativeartsgroup.org/scarecrow-festival/contest

 Sept. 22nd Scarecrows must be in place with ID tags 
for photographers. If your scarecrow is not in place at 
this time, you will need to submit your own vertically-
oriented photo to scarecrow@creativeartsgroup.org

 Oct. 1st Voting begins. Online and printed maps 
will be available.

 Oct. 5th Kickoff party at Creative Arts Group! 
(7:00-9:00 pm.) Join us to celebrate with refreshments, 
treats for kids & more.

 Oct. 6t Free Shuttle Tours (10:00, 12:00 & 2:00) 
Register online at creativeartsgroup.org/scarecrow-
festival/tour/

 Oct. 16th Voting ends at noon.

 Oct. 20th Awards announced in Mt. View News, 
www.CreativeArtsGroup.org & Facebook.com/
creativeartsgroup.sierramadre 

 Oct. 31st Halloween

 For more information call Creative Arts Group at 
626 355-8350


FIRST RESPONDERS TO BE HONORED ON 9/11

Residents in Sierra Madre see them almost everyday as they go about their 
daily lives. The police officers, fire fighters, SM Search and Rescue members, 
CERT Voluntters that the village knows will always be there in case of disaster, 
large or small. SM First Responders have been there through floods, fires, 
windstorms, lost hikers, and much more. 

So, on Tuesday, September11, 2018, the Sierra Madre Kiwanis Club will 
honor their efforts at a luncheon. 

The event will be held at The Lodge, 33 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre 
at noon. The public is invited. Lunch is $10. Make your reservations early as 
there will be limited seating available. Contact Kiwanis President, Judy Webb-Martin at 626-688-2273.


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