Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, January 5, 2019

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Mountain View News Saturday, January 5, 2019 

KATIE Tse..........This and That

REMEMBRANCES


TIMOTHY JAMES OSTI

NO REST FOR THE WICKED


Timothy James Osti, 51, born in Los Angeles on October 
11, 1967 and passed away December 27, 2018. 

Tim was a lifelong resident of Sierra Madre and worked 
with his father Danny, of Danny Osti Tree Service for 
35 years. Tim suffered a sudden massive heart attack 
and was found unresponsive at a job site in upper Altadena. 
Tim is survived by his beloved wife, the love of 
his life, Diane (Wallace) Osti, parents Danny & Diane 
Osti, and sister Gina (Osti) Johnson. He will be lovingly 
remembered by his nephews and nieces as well 
as nearly every resident of Sierra Madre, all touched by 
his genuine love and kindness, as a result of his devotion 
to Jesus Christ. 

Memorial services will be held January 19, 2019 at 2:00 
pm, at Pasadena Church of the Nazarene, 3700 East Sierra 
Madre Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107, followed immediately 
by "4:00 o'clock coffee". In lieu of flowers, 
donations may be made to "Go Fund Me Tim Osti" at https://www.gofundme.com/tim-osti-memorial-
fund or mailed c/o Diane Osti, 27 Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024

Happy New Year! How 
many of your resolutions 
are still live, five days in? If 
you answered one or more, 
congratulate yourself! You’re 
ahead of me! I wondered what to write for this 
article, since I’m trying to be good and not recycle 
old stuff. I guess that’s one resolution that’s still 
kicking. 

 Anyway, I thought of writing about how racing 
is FINALLY back at Santa Anita! Now my husband 
and I have things to do on the weekends again, 
namely losing --I mean “betting” our money at the 
track. It’s great, though, even when you have a bad 
day. And hey, the track has the best corned beef 
sandwiches in the world, so all’s not lost. But what 
is there to say beyond that, that racing’s back? Kind 
of shot my wad about it in 
just a couple sentences. 

 When I woke up today 
(Wednesday), I lay in 
bed trying to think about 
what to write, hoping for 
fresh inspiration. (I work 
at a school and am blessed 
with two weeks off for 
Christmas.) However, I 
was too perturbed by a 
disturbing dream I had 
moments before that I 
was unable to fully focus 
on ideas for an article. 
You see, I had another 
one of THOSE dreams.

 My first article for the 
paper, almost ten years 
ago, was on the topic of 
scary dreams. For some 
people, bad dreams might 
involve bodily harm to 
themselves or loved ones. 
And for sure, those are the worst! I often dream 
of my pets (more technically, my parents’ pets) in 
danger, and wake up in a cold sweat. Oddly enough, 
I always dream of them in doubles, as in there’ll be 
two bulbuls and two Amazon parrots, but in real 
life there’s only one of each. That’s probably a text 
book example of some mental condition, but I don’t 
know what it is offhand.

 But last night’s, rather, this morning’s dream 
didn’t have to do with injury to myself, my family, 
or their pets. Nevertheless, it was disturbing and 
relentlessly familiar --that I had to go back to high 
school to complete some unfinished math class.

 Yes, I am often plagued with different variations 
of the same recurrent nightmare --that I, or the 
California school system, discovers I still need to 
make up some math class at the local high school 
I attended almost 20 years ago. Now, having to go 
back and take some class at high school sounds bad 
already. But for me, to have it be a math class, that’s 
just downright terrifying!

 I was never good at math. In fact, I believe I 
went through my whole academic career with an 
undiagnosed math disability. I attended private 
schools through high school, so it’s not like there 
were any Special Ed personnel who would’ve been 
able to refer me for testing. The last straight math 
class I had to take was at PCC. I think the course 
title was something like “Beginning Algebra: For 
People Who’ve Never Understood Math, but Need 
to Pass it to Fulfill Their Gen Ed Units.”

 The majority of the class was made up of people who 
had taken the same course, with the same teacher, 
and failed. This was their second or third attempt. 
I know, I talked to them. The mathematically 
damned have no shame commiserating with 
each other. Anyway, the teacher was a good soul 
and saved us all by grading on a curve. By some 
unexpected miracle, I was top or second in the class 
with a solid D+. But on a curve, that translated 
to an A! It was a happy ending, and I think we all 
passed. 

 So in my dream, which always seems to occur 
toward the end of my 
summer or Christmas 
break, I feel kind of silly 
and embarrassed going 
back to high school to 
make up my incomplete 
math class. I mean, 
here I am, coming up 
on 40, around a bunch 
of teenagers. Teenagers 
who are all assuredly 
better at math than 
myself. In the back of 
my mind I know that 
I’ve already graduated 
college and have been 
working at my job for 
11 years. In fact, this 
morning in my dream, 
I voiced this to the 
high school guidance 
counselor in charge of 
my case.

 She replied that it 
didn’t matter, I still needed to do it.

 I asked her if it could be postponed, since I 
didn’t feel like using up my sick days on high school 
algebra.

 She told me no, I’d avoided this course long 
enough, and now I had no option but to buckle 
down and take it.

 I shakily walked down the halls of my old high 
school, digging in my pocket for the slip of paper 
with the classroom I was supposed to report to. 
But the paper wasn’t there. In horror, I realized I 
didn’t have any backpack, pencils, paper, or even a 
math textbook! At least I wasn’t naked this time. 
That sometimes happens in nightmares, but that’s a 
whole other article.

 I was about to despair when I heard someone 
calling to me loudly from down the hall. It was 
our cat that stays outside. She had grown tired 
of waiting for me to wake up and feed her. I was 
thankful that it had all been a dream, but still felt 
anxious and off kilter about the whole thing for a 
while after getting out of bed. 

 It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been working, 
how many years it’s been since I’ve graduated high 
school --there’s no rest for the wicked when it 
comes to math. 


MARGARET LALONE


On December 24, 2018, Margaret LaLone passed away peacefully in 
her home at the age of 94. Margaret was a long standing and involved 
member of the Sierra Madre community. Many of you know her by her 
sweet smile and cookie deliveries. 

 Margaret was extremely talented in crafting which she loved to share 
with those around her. Whether it was working for Florence Ceramics, 
Harold Brett Jewelers, or the Craft Cellar, she always brought beauty to 
her craft. She extended her skills to voluntary works in her community 
including knitting for newborn nurseries and patients at the City of 
Hope, quilting for friends and family, baking for the Fire and Police 
Departments as well as decorating the cemetery for the holiday season 
with handmade ornaments.

 Margaret is survived by 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren 
as well as many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her 
husband, Earl LaLone, daughter, Marsha Ingrao, and son Chris LaLone.

 She was our Nana, and an angel to all who knew her; an angel who will 
live forever in all of our hearts. 

Please join us in a celebration of her life on Saturday, January 12th from 11-2 at 121 South Lima Street.

 In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation in her name to the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team or 
the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department. 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE.. The Social Side By Deanne Davis


“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to 
come, whispering ‘it will be happier’...”

Alfred Lord Tennyson

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page 
book. Write a good one.” 

Brad Paisley

“It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I 
am strongly in favor of common sense, common 
honesty, and common decency. This makes me 
forever ineligible for public office.”

 H. L. Mencken (Liked this quote so much I just 
had to put it in..)

 Happy New Year, dear friends and neighbors. 
Christmas has been wonderful and I’ve only 
gained two pounds which isn’t too bad, 
considering I’ve devoured enough holiday goodie 
stuff to last me till next Thanksgiving. I made at 
least thirty little loaves of cranberry bread, 16 or 
so of which went to all of Jessie and Emily’s (our 
granddaughters who are in fifth and third grade, 
respectively) teachers. The rest are in my freezer 
waiting to be called upon for further gifts coming 
up shortly. I made the best pumpkin cheesecake 
bars, some of which are lurking in my freezer, 
too, awaiting the day a couple of months off when 
pumpkin cheesecake sounds like a really good 
idea. We’ve enjoyed gallons of eggnog...don’t turn 
your nose up yet, the way I do it is really delicious. 
First you buy a quart or two of the lowfat eggnog 
and a bottle of Captain Morgan spiced rum. Then 
you pour a bunch of the eggnog into your blender 
with a LOT of ice – that’s the important part, folks, 
the ice. Then you add as much Captain Morgan as 
you feel like - some days, especially if you’ve been 
shopping and your feet and your credit card hurt 
– you might want more Captain Morgan than 
another day when you watched “Say Yes To The 
Dress” and wrapped packages all day. Then, hit 
the blender button, let all that ice chop up and you 
end up with an eggnog smoothie. Pour it into a 
pretty glass, grate some fresh nutmeg on top and, 
trust me, you’ll like it! For the second year in a 
row, I never saw eggnog ice cream in any grocery 
store...how is that possible!

 Wasn’t the parade wonderful! What a beautiful 
day. Our float, “Harmony’s Garden,” celebrating 
the Goodwill Garden at Sierra Madre Elementary 
School, was beyond beautiful, richly deserving 
the Director’s Award for most outstanding artistic 
design and use of floral and non-floral materials. 
The woman playing the Koto, which I’m sure you 
all know is the national musical instrument of 
Japan, was a really nice touch. The picture here is 
of a plaque that you probably don’t know about, 
unless you’re a member of the Sierra Madre Rose 
Float Association. The plaque, proudly carried by 
our float’s driver through the entire parade, is in 
honor of our dear friend, Donna Sutcliffe, who 
left us in July of 2018 to be reunited in heaven 
with her beloved husband, Doug. Donna became 
my friend when we moved into our house on 
Alegria in 1970 and our kids all grew up together. 
She was a vital part of the Rose Float Association 
for many years, filling many roles, among them 
the Princess Wrangler, making sure the young 
women who are chosen to represent Sierra 
Madre, such as Kate Parry, Lydia Plaut and Tess 
Perkins, this year’s Princesses, are always at their 
very best. She arranged many interviews over the 
years for me to meet the Princesses, which wasn’t 
always easy as these young women are busy! After 
the Parade, the plaque, held here by members of 
SMRFA, was presented to Donna’s daughter, Lynn 
Turpin, son, Andrew Sutcliffe and their families. 
Our float was a triumph and a winner and, luckily, 
was in the parade lineup before the little problem 
with the big two-part float that ended the parade 
– at least for the TV audience – before it was quite 
finished! Thank you, Donna, for all the years you 
worked on our floats; and thank you Rose Float 
Association and all the folks who work all year in 
the barn with Dick Sappington, Robert Gjerde, 
and others for another spectacular winner, 
“Harmony’s Gardens.” Need to thank the many 
volunteers, too, for their tireless efforts to get this 
float finished, the design for which was by Jason 
Redfox.

 If you haven’t seen “Mary Poppins Returns” 
which was absolutely fabulous, go see it and take 
along any children you happen to have on hand. 
You’ll be glad you did.

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Blog: www.authordeanne.com 

Kindle readers, I know Christmas is over but Star 
of Wonder – A Christmas Story

Would still bless you and warm your heart.

Find it on Amazon.com on my book page.

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

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

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