Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 8, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 8, 2020 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

 by Deanne Davis

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD . . . VOTE IN 2020!

By Donna Jaffee 

Starting with the March 3, 2020 primary, new California rules governing voting procedures 
took effect. Do you know what the changes are and how they’ll impact you?

On Monday, February 3, representatives of SMART (Sierra Madre Activists Rebuilding Together) 
and the League of Women Voters – Pasadena Area gathered at Bean Town, Starbucks 
and Syndicate here in Sierra Madre to help customers understand how, where and 
when they’ll be voting in 2020. We distributed printed materials; shared the lavote.net website, 
focusing on the new voter experience; and answered questions. Some people were even 
motivated to register! 

If you wish to learn about what’s changing, or if you want a chance to get your questions 
answered and your concerns addressed, consider attending a SMART-sponsored 
presentation by Dorothy Keane, former President of the League of Women Voters, at the 
Sierra Madre City Hall (232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.) on Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 pm – 
9:00 pm. Plus, if you’re not yet registered, you’ll be able to do so, either on paper or online. 

As Chief Justice John Roberts said on December 31, 2019: “… We have come to take 
democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside. In our age, when 
social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public’s 
need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital.” 
As U.S. citizens, we all have the right, the privilege and the responsibility to vote. Doing so 
strengthens our democracy and our community life. Make your voice heard by voting this 
year.

About SMART: SMART brings together area residents (Sierra Madre, Pasadena, Arcadia) who come 
from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. We’re united in our determination to resist the division, 
ignorance and fear which threaten our democracy, our personal and collective well-being, and our 
natural and social environments. We choose to work together on a range of topics, such as climate 
change and voter registration, to rebuild trust and dialogue, and to effect positive changes by engaging 
proactively in our immediate communities and beyond.

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Charles M. Schulz

“Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine.” Thomas Hood

Valentine’s Day is next Friday 
and I know all my readers are 
totally prepared with a card and 
a dinner reservation someplace 
intimate and dark where you 
can look into each other’s 
eyes and talk about wonderful 
memories of your past, like 
the first kiss you shared. Do 
not talk about the children, 
bills or anything to do with 
what’s wrong with the house. 
If you’re both dressed up for 
a date, it will be all for naught 
if one of you brings up who 
put the dent in the car door. 
Enjoy that dinner with a glass 
of something adult and then 
go ahead and share a dessert. 
Think of chocolate… think of 
chocolate and champagne. Or 
sharing a slice of cheesecake. Nice.

Now then, when was the last time you read Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous love poem ? Probably 
not since you were in high school. Well, here it is and it’s pretty nice:

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.”

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” Paulo Coelho

“Love grows more tremendously full, swift, poignant, as the years multiply.” Zane Grey

I never actually said anything like that to my Valentine, the adorable, ever-patient, John, who is now 
residing in heaven where every day is Valentine’s Day, and love abounds all over the place. No, I never 
quoted Elizabeth Barrett Browning to him, but I wrote about love and I’m sure there are a few of you 
out there who haven’t really prepared for Valentine’s Day yet so you’ve still got time to write a note or 
a letter to the person who is your own personal Valentine. Not to say I’m anywhere near Elizabeth, but 
I wrote about love like this… “The Best of Marriage”

“I sit at your desk and look out your window at the sky.

And I think of you and how much I love you.

So many years we’ve spent together, mostly sunny with just a little bit of rain.

I treasure these years which have flown by us.

I’ve grown to love you, respect you, admire you, need you more with each one.

There is so much about you that makes me want to be the best that I can be.

It makes me smile each time you walk into a room.

How many thousands of times have I watched you enter the space where I am,

And each time I feel pleasure, delight, at just the sight of you.

You make me laugh, you make me think.

You make me challenge myself, you make me want to be the best me I can be.

You’ve even taught me to enjoy college football... Go Trojans!

I love just to talk with you, to exchange the ordinary stuff our days are made of,

Conversations that are the flour and salt of life.

You are ever in my mind. 

You are the other half of my heart.

You are, very simply, the one person selected by God to be my lover, my friend, my husband.

I have known you for more than half my life. The best half.

We have shared all there is in life:

Joy, sorrow, laughter, tears, death, birth, pleasure, misery, poverty, not quite so poverty, 

Pride in our children, and absolute disgust with them, 

And always, always we have had each other to hold on to.”


Sometime this coming week, tell your special Valentine how much he or she means to you. Kisses and 
holding hands are good, too…maybe even better than chocolate. Even if you totally scoff at Valentine’s 
Day, there’s never a wrong time to say I love you. And you can never say it enough!

“Love is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the very best in each other, and who know 
that even though they are wonderful as individuals, they are even better with each other.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear friends and neighbors!

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis – check out

“Noah & The Unicorns” or maybe “The Vuillaume Violin”

“Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope” 

Is available on Amazon.com as is

“A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl and 47 Rattlers in a Bag.”

“Emma’s Etouffee Café” is a new Kindle story by me!

Also available on Amazon.com and here’s the link:

https://fave.co/2PItO4d 


SENIOR COMMUNITY COMMISSION SEEKING 
“OLDER ‘SIERRA MADRE’ AMERICAN OF THE 
YEAR” NOMINATIONS 

The City of Sierra Madre Community Services Department and the Senior Community Commission 
are seeking your collaboration to find the next Older ‘Sierra Madre’ American of the Year. The 
honor is a long-standing tradition in Sierra Madre and is bestowed upon exceptional individuals, age 
60 or older, who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to community service. The individual 
selected by you or any organization must live in Sierra Madre. 

We are pleased to announce the theme for 2020, Make Your Mark, which was selected to encourage 
and celebrate countless contributions that older adults make to our communities. Their time, experience, 
and talents benefit family, peers, and neighbors every day. 

All submissions are due by Thursday, March 12, 2020. Recommendations are now being accepted 
for this recognition and will only be eligible for new candidates who have not been honored in prior 
years. 

Forms may be picked up and returned to the Hart Park House - 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra 
Madre, CA. 

Nominations may also be mailed or walked in to Sierra Madre City Hall, C/o Older American, Community 
Services Department, 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 

The Commission will review nomination forms and select an honoree at their regularly scheduled 
meeting in City Hall Council Chambers on Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. 

The honoree will also be recognized at a reception in their honor on Friday, May 8, 2020. 

For more information, please contact the staff at the Hart Park House Senior Center (626) 355-5278 
- Recreation Coordinator, Lawren Heinz (x 704); Recreation Coordinator, Clarissa Lowe (x 703); or 
Administrative Analyst, Rosemary Garcia (x 702). 

CAFÉ VIDA AT SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE ON FEBRUARY 17

 

 The next selection in Off the Page, the ongoing series of staged play readings at Sierra 
Madre Playhouse will be Café Vida by Lisa Loomer. This reading will be co-presented by 
Sierra Madre Playhouse and the Sierra Madre Public Library.

 

 Cafe Vida follows the men and women who work at Homeboy Industries. Chabela 
and Luz are rival homegirls ready to leave the life and begin anew at Cafe Vida - the only 
place in the city that gives young women and their troubled pasts a genuine second chance 
to start a new life free of violence. It's here that these former enemies choose "la vida" over 
"la muerte" as they learn to compost, tend a garden, julienne an onion, and rock your lunch 
order with a smile and a heaping side of transformation. Cafe Vida is inspired by interviews 
conducted at Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy Industries, organizations that offer vocational 
training, rehabilitation, and employment to former gang members.

 

 Playwright Lisa Loomer is partly of Spanish ancestry, and many of her plays feature 
Latinx characters. Among her plays are The Waiting Room, Two Things You Don’t Talk 
About at Dinner, Motherhood Out Loud, Living Out, Expecting Isabel, All by Herselves, 
much more. She co-wrote the screenplay for Girl, Interrupted. She has also written for 
several television series, including Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Café Vida was 
produced in Los Angeles in 2012.

 

 The Off the Page reading series is produced by Sierra Madre Playhouse Artistic Director 
Christian Lebano and is coordinated by Roxanne Barker.

 

 A list of events in February that complement the Café Vida reading that are being 
presented by the Sierra Madre Public Library can be found at http://cityofsierramadre.com

 

 Café Vida. Staged reading of a play by Lisa Loomer. Monday, February 17, 2020 at 
7:00 p.m. At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 
This is just east of Pasadena. Parking is available on the street and in free lots behind the 
Playhouse and across the street. Suggested donation: Five dollars. Website: http://sierramadreplayhouse.
org Phone: (626) 355-4318.


TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 

A Tradition Like no Other

First of all, let’s agree to agree, Valentine’s Day should be a full week. A single day is not long 
enough to fully express one’s love. What do you say about having an evening at home with a 
bottle of champagne and a candlelight table for dinner? You may wonder why a restaurant 
critic would dare such treason. In all truth, it’s an impossible night for restaurants. Service 
is less than optimal and even the guarantee of a reservation can lead to a long wait and the 
siphon of romance. 

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved 
ones. All in the name of St. Valentine, but who is this mysterious saint and why do we 
celebrate the passion of this holiday? The history of Valentine’s Day — and its patron saint 
— is shrouded in mystery. But we do 
know that February has long been a 
month of romance. Valentine’s Day, 
as we know it today, contains vestiges 
of both Christian and ancient Roman 
tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine 
and how did he become associated with 
this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic 
Church recognizes at least three 
different saints named Valentine or 
Valentines, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine 
was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II 
decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed 
marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of 
the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. 
When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. His 
love for love lives on each February.

Join me every Sunday morning on 105 FM at 8 AM for my popular dining show


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