Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 10, 2020

3

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 10, 2020 

REMEMBRANCES

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis

Glidden Charles 'BUD' Switzer

August 25, 1928- 
September 23, 2020

Long time Sierra Madre resident, 
Glidden “Bud” Switzer, passed 
away on September 23, 2020, 
shortly after his 92nd birthday. 
Bud was born in Culver City, CA 
on August 25, 1928. In 1938, at 
the age of 10, his family moved 
to Sierra Madre where he would 
spend the next 82 years of his 
life raising his family, building 
lifelong friendships, and serving 
his community.

Bud and Donna Mae were 
married on July 15, 1950. Shortly 
after they were married, he 
served in the Army in Korea 
and Japan. He later graduated 
from UCLA with a degree in 
Geophysics. His professional 
career was in computer science 
and aerospace, working for many 
years at Hughes Aircraft.

Due to his love for adventure as well as the outdoors, family outings included numerous hikes 
in the local mountains as well as the Sierras, camping trips across the country and an annual 
overnight at the Rose Parade route.

Bud was recognized as 2006 Citizen of the Year for his many years of service as a Boy Scout 
leader, his participation in the efforts to restore and maintain the Mount Wilson Trail, as well 
as the part that he played in planning and establishing the Veteran’s Photo Wall at Memorial 
Park. Perhaps he was best known for the numerous pumpkins that he and his son Kevin 
carved every year at Halloween. The pumpkins as well as the involvement from the whole 
neighborhood have attracted thousands of visitors over the years. In 2019, Bud had the honor 
of serving as the Grand Marshal of the Sierra Madre Fourth of July parade.

Bud was predeceased in 2018 by his wife of 67 years, Donna Mae, in 2019 by his son Kevin, 
and in 2010 by his grandson Truman. He will be remembered by his son, Cameron (Melinda); 
his daughters Debra (Duane) Spoelstra and Lisa; his daughter-in-law Robin; 9 grandchildren 
and 3 great-grandchildren.


“Don’t be silly, Toto, scarecrows don’t 
talk!” Dorothy – The Wizard of Oz

“All the same, said the scarecrow, I 
shall ask for brains instead of a heart; 
for a fool would not know what to do 
with a heart if he had one. I shall take 
the heart, returned the Tin Woodman; 
for brains do not make one happy, 
and happiness is the best thing in the 
world.” L. Frank Baum

“Normally Halloween was like 
Christmas for me. I would anticipate 
it for weeks, decorating myself and the 
house, as well as strolling around the 
neighborhood, admiring everyone else’s 
decorations. Nothing lifts my spirit like 
a scarecrow in the front yard.” 

Damien Echols

October…Fall, at last! The scarecrow 
competition all over town is amazing 
to see. So many of you Sierra Madreans 
are incredibly creative. The scarecrow 
I’ve put up here this week is by Faye 
Cardella. “Zadia The Healer” is #35 
and you can see her at 96 E. Alegria. 
Here is Zadia’s story:

“Zadia is a healer. When nature is suffering she goes to heal it. In this case she has come to 
California to restore the mountains that have taken damage due to the fires. Once she has fully 
restored the land, she goes off to another area of the world that is suffering.”

I’m hoping you can see how lovely Zadia is in this picture, with a butterfly perched on her nose. 
She made me smile just looking at her. Hope she does the same for you.

Scarecrows…hmmmm… “a scarecrow is an object made to resemble a human figure, set up to 
scare birds away from a field where crops are growing.” Also, “an object of baseless fear.”

We could certainly apply the term “scarecrow” meaning ‘an object of baseless fear’ to an awful lot 
of what is going on in our world currently, but I digress! 

A scarecrow’s meant to scare you, to make you go away,

If you’re a crow and think you’ll steal the seeds that I just planted,

The scarecrow standing in the row, will flap his arms,

You’ll fly away…maybe some other day!

The scarecrow’s kind of ragged, his shirt and pants are patched.

His eyes are black spots painted, on burlap stuffed with straw.

The hat he wears is old and torn, but when the wind is blowing right,

This scarecrow standing in the row, can cause an awful fright!

And when the moon is full and bright, just like it is tonight,

The scarecrow standing in the row, 

Can move and dance and shout.

Then all you crows will understand what a scarecrow’s all about!

Seeing as it’s almost Halloween, which brings pumpkins to mind, in addition to scarecrows, I 
thought I’d include a little taste of my heroine, Emma Gainsworth, and her ongoing encounters 
with...dare I say it...Pumpkins!

“Emma Gainsworth had happened upon some seeds, in early spring of the preceding year, 
along the railroad tracks on the edge of town where she lived. Hoping to grow something to sell, 
Emma planted the seeds, watered them, fed them, cherished them and, yes, even talked to them, 
mostly about her departed fiancé, Brent, the handsome young lover who had dumped her for 
a cocktail waitress with Dolly Parton curves and genuine blonde hair. As Emma had attended 
high school with Chantal, the cocktail waitress, she could attest to the real blonde hair as they 
inevitably seemed to share the same gym class. Emma poured out her broken heart and her true 
feelings about Chantal and those jerks at the local culinary school who wouldn’t let her in, daily 
to the pumpkins. She was a bit astonished when the luxuriant green vines began to sprout large 
yellow blossoms which then morphed into pumpkins bigger than a VW bug. As they could not 
be harvested - Emma didn’t own a skip loader – she decided to make herself a pumpkin pie. So, 
she sharpened a large carving knife, ventured into her pumpkin patch and selected a pumpkin. As 
she advanced upon the smallest one, lowered the knife and prepared to sever the pumpkin from 
the vine, somewhat as an executioner might sever the head from some miscreant’s quivering body, 
the pumpkin began to glow and gleam with a dazzlingly bright light. Her knife disappeared into 
its meaty orange flesh and pulled Emma right in after it, hand, arm, head, shoulders, right down 
to her well-worn tennies. Emma found herself inside a brightly glowing orange sphere containing 
an entire world of brightly shining orange creatures who thanked Emma for helping them get 
home to their own bright orange world by planting the seeds which grew into pumpkin vehicles. 
Their queen, Pumpkinetta, promised her she would live a glorious life of happiness and ease with 
the Pumpkinesas, who would transport themselves inside the giant pumpkin shells, which were 
actually inter-galactic space vehicles, to their home planet, somewhat to the left of Venus, where 
she would never have to look for treasures by the tracks again. As Emma could only visualize a 
life ahead of her where Chantal was a major factor, she said, “What the heck!” and fastened her 
seat belt.” 

To be continued… and, yes, there is a scarecrow in Emma’s pumpkin patch.

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


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 

September 27, to October 3, 2020 

During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department 

responded to 194 calls for service.

Graffiti 

On 9/27/20, between 1:00PM and 4:00PM, unknown person(s) used 
black spray paint to write a derogatory word on the driveway of a residence 
in the 400 block of Manzanita Ave. Case to Detectives

Trespassing

On 9/29/20 at 9:10AM, a male subject crawled under a locked gate at 
the entrance to Bailey Canyon Park, entered the parking lot and proceeded 
to the restricted area of the park. Officers questioned the subject 
who stated the he saw the Trail Closed sign and entered anyway. 
Officers cited the individual and released him. Case to the DA’s office 
for filing

Vandalism 

Officers dispatched at 9:50AM on 9/30/20 to the downtown area for a 
report of vandalism. Officers found that an unknown person(s) had 
placed large stickers on bus shelters and city maintained electrical 
boxes on W. Sierra Madre Bl. and Baldwin Ave. 

Case to Detectives

Theft from a vehicle

Officers responded at 11:23AM to a call of theft from a 
vehicle in the 300 block of W. Grandview Ave. A witness 
stated that a passenger in an older model blue Nissan 
Frontier 4 door pick-up truck pulled up next to the victim’s 
truck, entered the truck and came out with several items in his 
hand then the Nissan left the area south on Lima Street. The victim 
reported that paperwork and cash was taken from his vehicle.

Case to Detectives


SMPD USING LESS 

LETHAL WEAPONS

During a recent department 
training, SMPD Officers practiced 
their skills with the use of 
different less lethal applications. 

The scenario based training was 
designed to familiarize Officers 
with less lethal options, such as 
bean bag, pepper ball, and conductive 
energy devices during 
critical situations, when deadly 
force may be justified, but other 
less lethal alternatives and options 
exist. 

Chief Armalin and the Sierra 
Madre Police Department are 
committed to providing Officers 
the proper training and tools to 
successfully and safely navigate 
through critical situations when 
lives are at stake. 

The safety and preservation of life are the top priority to our policing efforts.

#sierramadrepolicedepartment#SMPD#trainingtuesday#missyolinn#sierramadrecares#we
aresierramadrepolicedepartment @ Sierra Madre


WECOME 
HOME 

TENDER 41

 

Water Tender 41 (WT41) 
has returned from its 
month long deployment 
assisting on the Bobcat 
Fire. 

Engineer Ted Walters 
and Firefighter Paramedic 
Scott Rosevear staffed 
WT41 for its final two-
week deployment. WT41 
had been assigned to the 
Bobcat Incident since 
September 6th. 

We are extremely proud 
of all SMFD personnel 
who assisted on the incident 
and are happy for 
their safe return.

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