Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, April 6, 2019

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ARCADIA/MONROVIA-DUARTE

Mountain View News Saturday, April 6, 2019 


ARCADIA ROTARY CLUB’S SALUTE TO SENIORS LUNCHEON

The annual Salute to Seniors Luncheon sponsored by the Arcadia Rotary Club will 
be held on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 from 11:30am-1:30pm at the Arcadia Community 
Center, 365 Campus Drive. At this special event, the Arcadia Rotary Club along with 
the City Council, Senior Commissioners, and other guests will honor Lee Shimmin, 
the City of Arcadia 2019 Senior of the Year! 

ABOUT THE HONOREE

Congratulations to the 2019 Senior of The Year, Lee Shimmin. Over the past 39 years 
Lee has volunteered in many capacities ranging from board member to President 
for many Arcadia organizations. Lee has not only volunteered countless hours to 
the Arcadia Community, but has also made generous contributions by speaking at 
various civic groups on the history of Arcadia. The City would like to congratulate 
Lee for his service, dedication, and contribution to the community.

About Arcadia

Nestled along the rolling foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National 
Forest, Arcadia is a charming, family-oriented community with a population of 
just over 57,000. Located only 13 miles east from downtown Los Angeles, regional 
transportation networks like the Metro Gold Line connect Arcadia as a premier 
residential, shopping, and entertainment destination in the San Gabriel Valley. Arcadia 
is known for its top-rated schools, iconic landmarks, and serene neighborhoods. 
Arcadia is an award-winning community having been twice named as the Best City in California in which to Raise Kids and 
the 2017 Most Business Friendly City in Los Angeles County. With the conveniences and amenities of a full-service, mid-size 
city, Arcadia’s “Community of Homes” provides a quality of life that will go Above & Beyond your expectations.

For more information, please visit ArcadiaCA.gov or follow us on Twitter by texting DISCOVER to 33222: 
................................................. 
(626) 574-5455..............


CITY OF MONROVIA ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 
SERVICES PROGRAM

MONROVIA, CA – The City of Monrovia will begin accepting 
applications for this year’s Youth Employment Services 
(YES) Summer Internship on Thurs-day, April 4.

 

The redesigned YES Summer Internship gives Monrovia’s 
youth the oppor-tunity to be part of a thoughtful, enriching 
and premier experience. Staff mem-bers from various city 
departments will become mentors to the interns, giving them 
an inside look at what it is like to be a part of the daily operations 
in local government.

 

“The YES Summer Internship helped me development needed 
skills to func-tion at any job,” said Jayden Saldana, former 
intern and student at Citrus Col-lege. “Being employed in 
City government allowed me to see an insider’s pro-spective 
of how different departments work together to provide a premier 
qual-ity of life.”

 

The City is also partnering with Oak Crest Institute of Science, 
Centre Stage, Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills and 
the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce, so interns can obtain 
valuable, real life work experience with local businesses and 
organizations. Additionally, the interns will attend weekly 
professional de-velopment workshops and trainings.

 

A few of the workshops and trainings includes:

 

• Résumé Building Workshop: After obtaining valuable 
work experience from the program, YES Interns will learn 
how to thoughtfully put those skills onto paper. City staff will 
be available to assist interns draft eye-catching résumés to 
impress their future em-ployers. 

• Job Opportunities in City Government: From firefighter 
to engineer, a career in local government is an exciting one! 
Human Resources personnel will present the unique opportunities 
in the agency and the proper trainings and education 
needed to obtain the jobs.

• Financial Literacy: Receiving the first paycheck may 
be exciting, but also confus-ing. The Finance Division will 
share what to expect from the first paycheck including de-
ductions such as Federal Income Taxes, State Taxes, Workers’ 
Compensation and Med-icare. Additionally, interns will be 
educated on the values of setting up a checking and savings 
account.

• College Admission’s Panel: For a young student, thinking 
of a future after high school can be overwhelming and 
challenging. The College Admission’s Panel will include 
speakers from both colleges and trade schools, allowing interns 
to see that there are many different routes to success 
after graduation.

• Civic Leader’s Panel: City staff in management roles 
will share how they advanced their careers through their networks, 
life experiences and education. Interns will have the 
opportunity to engage in a Q&A with various city leaders, 
including the City Manager.

 

Throughout the internship, each YES Intern will be tasked 
with developing a summer project to improve one area of 
the operation to which they are as-signed. Their ideas for 
improvement are then presented at the end of the summer 
program in a formal board-room type environment.

 

The internship is a nine-week period from June 10 to Aug. 
10. Those who are interested in applying for the position can 
visitwww.cityofmonrovia.org/jobs.

DUARTE EARTH DAY CELEBRATION - Duarte and Bradbury will honor 
the Earth with a variety of joint commu-nity volunteer projects starting at 9:00 am on Saturday, 
April 13th at the Duarte Teen Center. This year’s Earth Day celebration, sponsored by 
the City of Duarte, the City of Bradbury, Burrtec Waste Industries, and the Upper San Gabriel 
Valley Water District will include planting projects, cleaning Duarte parks, beautifying green 
spaces in Bradbury, and trash pickup in retail parking lots along Huntington Drive.

 Some 70 volunteers including 50 teens from the Duarte Area Resource Team (D.A.R.T), 
Cardinals Helping Youth Live Life (CHYLL), are expected to participate in the day’s activities along with staff from Duarte 
and Bradbury. A continental breakfast and guest speaker will kick off Earth Day activities at 9:00 am. Mayors of both Cities 
will also be on hand to officially welcome and thank the volunteers. The day will conclude with lunch, and participation in 
arts and crafts, and other ed-ucational activities.


“THE LORD OF THE FLIES”

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges


[Nyerges has led wilderness and wild food field trips for over 40 years. He is the author of numerous 
books, including “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Extreme Simplicity,” “Guide to Wild Foods,” and others. 
Questions about his classes and books can be directed to www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com or Box 
41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041.]

 A plane crashes on some remote island, and only the British school children survive. A classic story of 
survival begins. The boys –after having attended not a single “survival school” -- learn to hunt, make 
shelters, make fire (using Piggy’s spectacles, or eye glasses), and to enjoy themselves. After all, with 
all the adults gone, there’s no one to enforce rules, so we do what we want, right? Then the battle for 
power begins. One side is for some sort of orderly life, and the other side wants to live by rule of might.

 

“Lord of the Flies” has been widely viewed and widely discussed. What does it mean? What does it tell 
us about our basic human nature? Is our desire to do good and cooperate with others a skill that must 
be learned and maintained? Are we essentially animals who need to learn to control our animal natures?

 The movie (and book) begins with the boys experiencing a sort of innocent paradise, as they swim and cavort and learn about 
foods in their adult-free world. The obvious need for leadership results in a vote between Ralph, who represents order and 
the rule of law, and Jack, who represents immediate fulfillment of desires, power, and even savagery. Ralph wins the election. 

 

In the beginning, Ralph and Jack are not depicted as being all that different. Indeed, they are friends. Ralph is set on doing 
the best for all, helping the weak, making sure that everyone is fed. Jack seems more intent on his own power ambitions.

 

A conch shell is chosen as a sign of leadership, and an indication of who has the “floor” during meet-ings. But Jack forms his 
own band and moves away from Ralph. Jack chooses to disregard the blow-ing of the conch. That choice leads to further 
division and animosity. Eventually, the conch is destroyed when a boulder rolls onto it, symbolizing the loss of one of the 
symbols of their chosen civility, some-what akin to someone in a board meeting tossing the gavel 
out the window.

 

Jack’s group steals Piggy’s specs to make fire, another strike at cooperation and civility. Jack’s group 
also lets the signal fire go out, showing that Jack has lost his focus of trying to get off the island.

 

In analyzing The Lord of the Flies, countless analogies have been used to describe the social dichotomy 
that it depicts, such as users vs. takers, or producers vs. consumers, or urban vs. rural, or 
primitive vs. civilized, etc. Perhaps it is the same old story of Cain vs. Abel, or the farmers vs. the 
ranchers. The sto-ry has even been used to illustrate political parties in various countries. But is it 
that simplistic? 

 

Jack and his group finally devolved to the point where murder was justified. Jack and his group 
started to hunt Ralph. Jack’s desire for total power would be solidified with the elimination of Ralph 
(the last op-posing force). As Jack’s group chases Ralph along the beach, they all confront a force 
they all have to reckon with – the rescuing sailors. The sailors are tall, dressed in white, somber. It’s 
as if the children butted up against the gods of the universe, and now the day of reckoning comes.

 

A group of men landed on the island and watch in amazement at the behavior of the “children”. The 
look on the children’s faces express their thoughts. Jack realizes his reign as a petty tyrant in his island 
em-pire is over; Ralph is relieved his life is saved, and now he’ll be going back to his real home.

 

We see something in the childrens’ faces: now they have to account for their actions to a higher 
power. The choices that each of us make in life have ramification that ripple through our lives. 
“Ralph” and “Jack” represent the choices we make. What legacy will we leave? What actions will we 
ultimately be ac-countable for when the sailors get to shore? 

The amateur film-makers who created the original “Lord of the Flies” did so during the boys’ summer 
va-cation. They tracked the lives of the boys who acted in this movie, and the boy-actors 
were all high achievers in their personal lives. The boys later related that making the movie deeply 
affected them. Even though it was described as “just a movie,” many of the boys realized in their 
personal adult lives that it was far better to work hard to choose the upward, inclusive way of Ralph, 
rather than to ever find oneself descending into Jack-ness.


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