Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 22, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 22, 2020 

REMEMBRANCE

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis

NORMALOUISE HINES WALKER

OK, it’s hot, we’re tired of being hot, nothing tastes good, even chocolate and we’ve been eating too much 
anyway. You’re sick of Covid-19, facemasks, not being able to go anywhere and there’s nothing on TV you 
haven’t seen twenty times. However, I have to say that Turner Classic Movies had Cary Grant day yesterday 
and it was delightful to watch him in To Catch a Thief with the equally gorgeous Grace Kelly. So! How about 
a rip-roaring true adventure tale! This story was written by my Dad, Kim Weed. It’s about his brother Harold, 
and this really happened, friends and neighbors! The picture is one mean-lookin’ rattler! As Indiana Jones 
says, “Snakes! Why does it always have to be snakes!”

“The Rattlesnake Bite”

(An Excerpt from “A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl and 47 Rattlers in a Bag”)

 

 “In 1927, when my 
dad was just six, a farm laborer 
clearing brush out there in 
the wilds of Imperial Valley, 
was bitten by a diamondback 
rattlesnake. He was lying near 
death in the Holtville Hospital 
as staff members looked on 
helplessly, except for one doctor 
who was frantically telephoning 
every hospital in Imperial Valley, 
trying to locate some anti-
venom, or Toxin-Anti-Toxin, as 
it was called in those days. There 
was none. The nearest vial was at 
the San Diego Zoo, more than a 
hundred miles away.

 Obtaining a vial of anti-
venom would be a piece of cake 
in this age of freeways, planes 
and helicopters, but this was 
1927. No airplanes were available 
and the two-lane road from 
Holtville to San Diego was bad 
and downright dangerous along the fifty or so miles where it crossed the mountains, with long sections 
washed out, unimproved, graveled, and cut out of cliffs bottoming into canyons hundreds of feet below; 
little changed since stagecoaches crossed it two decades or so earlier with teams of eight and sometimes ten 
horses. This road was never attempted at night!

 Harold Weed, my dad’s big brother, was sixteen and a junior at Holtville High School. As the laborer 
grew weaker, it looked like just another day for Harold with late season football practice to look forward to, 
a string of cows to milk and the rest of his farm chores before he settled down to tackle his homework. But 
plans were afoot to put another of Harold’s talents to use. He was also a hotshot motorcycle rider and had 
the fastest, according to him, motorcycle in all of Imperial Valley. He had salvaged a World War I vintage 
Harley-Davidson from a junk yard, lovingly tinkered and tuned it to near perfection, mechanically, though 
it was described as something of an eyesore otherwise. But, hey! When your engine purrs, who needs paint!

 Late that afternoon, desperate hospital officials went to Holtville High, pulled Harold out of his 
last class, grabbed this kid by the shoulder and said, “Harold, get on that motorcycle and ride like the wind. 
You’ve got to get to San Diego and pick up the serum. A man is dying and his life is in your hands!”

 Harold, burning with that thrill of high adventure ahead, and, being a true romantic, took the 
challenge! He listened to a few directions, after all, he hadn’t been to San Diego since he was five, kicked that 
Harley into life, rocked forward on the clutch and took off, burning rubber out of the high school parking lot!

 He stopped at the Weed Ranch for just a few minutes to tell his parents where he was going, topped 
off his tanks, threw a few tools and a tire pump into one saddle bag and a can of gasoline with a potato 
plugging the spout into the other, and took off in a cloud of dust. But in his haste, he left his leather jacket 
with gloves in the pocket hanging on the limb of a tree. A significant oversight.

 From there, Harold was on his own, full throttle through El Centro, on into the desert, past Coyote 
Falls, climbing through Devil’s Canyon with a red-hot exhaust pipe, on through treacherous winding grades 
high into the mountains, then down the long descent into San Diego where the curator of reptiles for the zoo 
was anxiously awaiting him, vial in hand.

 Harold slowed down just long enough to secure the vial and started back, giving the smoking engine 
all it could take, but more than a little frightened now as it was getting cold and he had to cross those cursed 
mountains again, this time in the dark as his beloved Harley, alas, had no lights.

 It was deep dusk when he descended the treacherous Via Viajos Grade, but didn’t become dark until 
he was on the desert straight-away. There was no moon, but Harold managed to stay on the ribbon of narrow 
road, trusting to starlight as he pushed along at eighty where the road was paved.

 Bad luck struck before he reached El Centro, running over a piece of barbed wire, puncturing 
his rear tire. From there he had to stop every few minutes to pump up the tire but it soon became hopeless 
and the last few miles were run on the flat. Finally, he arrived at the hospital where everyone was anxiously 
awaiting him, having heard the roaring of his burnt-out muffler for miles. The tire was in shreds and Harold, 
in just shirtsleeves, was nearly frozen, having made the fastest trip ever recorded between the Imperial Valley 
and San Diego, a little under four hours!

 Yes, the man was saved, Harold was the town celebrity for a day, the Holtville Tribune gave him 
a front-page write-up and the hospital staff were most appreciative and thankful. With gratitude in their 
hearts, they persuaded the high school to give Harold the following day off school as a reward for his 
heroism, saving a man’s life at considerable risk to his own. Harold later confided to his little brother, Kim, 
“I’ll tell ya, Kim, I thought I was gonna freeze to death! And if I didn’t freeze, I’d sure as hell ride right over 
a cliff and never get home again!”

It’s going to cool off sometime, folks, I’m sure of it. And life is going to get back to some sort of normal. If you 
want to read more of my Dad’s adventures, look on my Amazon.com book page.

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Where you’ll find “Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope”

And “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”

Both of these books are stuffed with hope and a good recipe or two.

There’s a new Emma Gainsworth Kindle novelette available right this minute:

“Emma’s Intergalactic Institute” 

It’s on Amazon.com and here’s the link: https://amzn.to/3ibKD3Z

If you haven’t read “Emma’s Etouffee Café” you need to! It’s also on Amazon.com, 

You can follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@playwrightdd

Normalouise Hines Walker went home to be 
with the Lord on July 31, 2020 at the age of 97.

Normalouise was born on May 26, 1923 and 
grew up in Sierra Madre, California where she 

had a very happy childhood. She married 
Thomas Hines in 1947 and they had one child, 
Nancy.

In retirement, Normalouise and Tom traveled 
in their motorhome all over the United States 
visiting many memorable places. Normalouise 
was predeceased by her husband, Tom in 
1992. In 2001, she married Cecil “Ken” Walker 
who sadly died later that same year. In 2014, 
Normalouise moved to Newport Beach to be 
closer to her family. 

Normalouise lived a very full life. She loved the 
Lord with all her heart all of her life. She loved 
her family and friends dearly, loved cats, playing 
games and making people laugh. Normalouise 
is survived by her daughter, Nancy, son in law, 
Dale, and grandchildren, Sarah and Michael. 
She is also survived by her step daughter, Kit 
Weilage and cousins, Cecelia Norris and Mary 
Carolyn Hudgens

Services will be on August 18th at Turner & 
Stevens Live Oak in Monrovia.


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 

August 2, to August 8, 2020 During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department 
responded to 262 calls for service.

FRAUD Officers responded to the 300 block of Adams Street on 8/3/20 
for a report of fraud. A suspect(s) used a fake social media account to impersonate one of the 
victim's friends and a grant application processor. The suspect(s) convinced the victim to send 
them money, personal information, and banking information. The suspect(s) also made unauthorized 
money transfers from the victim's accounts. Case to Detectives

GRAFFITI A resident walking in the 100 block of N. Canon called in a report of graffiti on the 
sidewalk on 8/6/20 at 8:11AM.

PUBLIC INTOXICATION A female was arrested for public intoxication on 8/6/20 at 9:07PM 
in the 00 block of N. Baldwin Ave. and taken to the Pasadena Police Jail for booking. Case to 
DA’s office

ANNOYING PHONE CALLS On 8/6/20 at 10:01PM, a resident came into the station’s lobby 
to report a threatening phone call to his residence from an unknown caller.

DISTURBANCE Pasadena Police reported a physical altercation on 8/8/20 at 7:53PM at the 
corner of Sierra Madre Bl. And Michillinda Ave. between a taxi driver and his passenger. Case 
to Detectives

August 9, to August 16 2020 During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department 

responded to 262 calls for service.

D.U.I. On 8/9/20 at 12:15AM, officers responded to the intersection of Grandview and Jameson 
Ct for the investigation of a single vehicle collision. Following and interview of the driver and the 
completion on a standard field sobriety test, the driver was arrested and taken to the Pasadena 
Police jail and booked foe a D.U.I. Case to DA’s office

TRAFFIC COLLISION On 8/10/20 at 10:30AM, a vehicle exited a parking spot and began traveling 
in reverse in the northbound lane of Baldwin Ave. sideswiped a southbound vehicle, struck 
a parked vehicle and crashed through the front door and came to rest inside a coffee shop in the 
00 block of N. Baldwin Ave. The driver of the vehicle was taken to a local hospital for observation. 
No other injuries were reported.

STOLEN JACKET Officers responded to the 00 block of W. Sierra Madre Bl for the report of a 
stolen jacket on 8/16/20 at 3:01PM. Victim reported that an unknown person(s) took his jacket 
from the bus bench in front of the business. Case closed, property has been returned to the 
victim.


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