ALTADENA - SOUTH PASADENA - SAN MARINO

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Mountain View News Saturday, March 30, 2024 

Pasadena Citywide Week of 
the Young Child Celebration

San Marino Upcoming 
Events & Programming

Rover Searches for Clues 
About Mars’ Ancient Water

 
The Office of the Young Child, in partnership with the 
Human Services Commission’s Early Childhood Ad Hoc 
Committee, invites the community to join us for a free, fun-
filled lineup of child-centered programs celebrating the 53rd 
anniversary of the Week of the Young Child, April 6 through 
April 12. 

 The celebration highlights the importance of our community’s 
quality early childhood programs and recognizes that a child’s 
earliest years lay the foundation for later success in school and 
in life. The Week of the Young Child follows six themed days 
to guide community engagement. Community members can 
explore the Pasadena twist on the week’s festivities, with sites 
across the city hosting different activities for young children 
and their caregivers that encourage a love of reading, music, 
and art. 

 Established in 1971 by the National Association for the 
Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Week of the 
Young Child is an annual celebration where educators 
and parents across the country come together to uplift the 
importance of early childhood education. The purpose of the 
Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the 
needs of young children and their families and to identify 
the early childhood programs and services that meet those 
needs. The City of Pasadena recognizes and values the 
importance of quality early childhood education programs 
in our community and offers a wide range of resources to 
enrich early childhood development. 

WEEK OF EVENTS 

Kick-Off Saturday! 

Saturday, April 6 • 10 a.m. • Jefferson Branch Library, 1500 
E. Villa St.

Celebrate the Week of the Young Child with sensory 
art, planting in our children’s garden and learning about 
community resources and kindergarten readiness. Write 
letters of appreciation to early learning teachers and pick up 
a free Born to Read kit while supplies last. For ages 0-5 and 
their caregivers. 

Music Monday 

Monday, April 8 • 10:30 a.m. • Hastings Branch Library, 3325 
E. Orange Grove Blvd. 

Have fun singing and playing with kid-friendly instruments. 
Move and groove! Get those wiggles out with action songs and 
silly dances as we stomp like elephants, twirl like ballerinas 
and slither like snakes! For ages 0-5 and their caregivers. 

Tasty Tuesday with Miss Cherie 

Tuesday, April 9 • 10:30 a.m. • Lamanda Park Branch Library, 
140 N. Altadena Dr. 

Storytime is a fun way to introduce your little one to language 
and learning. Join us for books, songs, rhymes and fun! For 
ages 0-2 and their caregivers. 

Work Together Wednesday 

Wednesday, April 10 • 10:30 a.m. • Santa Catalina Branch 
Library, 999 E. Washington Blvd.

Join us for stories, rhymes and songs all about the fun of 
working together, then help create a beautiful spring display 
for the library. For ages 0-5 and their caregiver s. 

Artsy Thursday 

Thursday, April 11 • 4 p.m. • La Pintoresca Branch Library, 
1355 N. Raymond Ave.

It’s a Jump Little Frog Jump! Book Party with froggy books, 
fun games and an art craft inspired by Monet’s waterlilies 
pond artwork. For ages 3-5 and their caregivers. 

Family Friday 

Play & Learn 

Friday, April 12 • 10:30 a.m. • Villa Parke Branch Library, 363 
E. Villa St.

Bring your child for a morning of fun learning through 
educational games, music, coloring, interacting with other 
children and making new friends. For ages 3-5 and their 
caregivers.

 Spring Craft Festival 

Saturday, April 13 • 3 p.m. • Hill Avenue Branch Library, 55 
S. Hill Ave.

Enjoy an afternoon of family-friendly craft projects inspired 
by the spring season. Visit our DIY stations to make and take 
home your homemade crafts. Take photos and play games in 
the courtyard. For families.

The Great San Marino Egg Hunt - UPDATES

 Due to inclement weather, we've had to make a few adjustments 
to our plans for The Great San Marino Egg Hunt and Pancake 
Breakfast. But don't worry, we've got an egg-cellent alternative that 
will keep the fun going strong! 

UPDATE #1: The Great San Marino Egg Hunt

 Introducing our DIY Egg Hunt Kit Pick-Up event! If you 
purchased wristbands to participate in the Egg Hunt, this means 
you can still enjoy the egg-citement from the comfort of your own 
home! Swing by the Community Center between 9 AM and 11 
AM on Saturday, March 30 to grab your DIY Egg Hunt Kit. Be 
sure to bring your wristbands with you, as they are needed to 
receive a kit (one kit per wristband). Each kit is packed with all the 
essentials for a cracking good time!

 Want a kit, but haven’t purchased a wristband yet? It’s not too 
late! We will be selling wristbands at the Community Center until 
Friday at 11 AM (see full operating hours below).

 Can't make it to the Pick-Up event? No worries! You can pick up 
your DIY Egg Hunt Kit from the Community Center this week 
(starting Thursday, March 28) or next week (April 1-5) during 
operating hours (Monday – Thursday: 7 AM - 5 PM, Friday: 7 
AM - 11 AM). For questions regarding the Pick-Up event, call the 
Recreation Division at (626) 403-2200.

UPDATE #2: San Marino Firefighters Association Pancake 
Breakfast

The Pancake Breakfast has been postponed to April 20 from 9 AM 
to 12 PM at Lacy Park. Tickets for this event can be purchased 
for $5 at the Community Center through April 19 at 11 AM. For 
questions, call the Fire Department at (626) 300-0735.

Total Eclipse Solar-bration

Thursday, April 4 at 3:30 PM, Barth Community Room

 Q: Why did the librarian bring solar eclipse glasses to the Library? 
A: They had bright patrons! The next total eclipse is coming up, so 
get ready! Kids ages 3+ are invited to join us a few days before the 
main event for an afternoon of solar eclipse-inspired crafts and 
activities. Looking for eclipse glasses? We’ve got you covered! Be 
sure to register to receive your own pair at the event. Registration 
is recommended.

Spring Break Camp

Monday-Friday, April 8-12 from 9 AM – 4 PM, Stoneman Building

 Looking for an exciting and fun week-long camp for your 
child age 5-10? Look no further! This camp provides an array of 
activities such as outdoor games, arts & crafts, sports, and much 
more! Participants will need to bring snacks, lunch, and water. 
Registration is required.

2024 Advisory Body Recruitment

 The 2024 Advisory Body Recruitment is now open! The City is 
seeking volunteers for the Planning Commission, Design Review 
Committee, Recreation Commission, Public Safety Commission, 
and the Library Board of Trustees. For the Planning Commission, 
there are three (3) full member terms ending this year, and one (1) 
alternate member term ending this year. For the Design Review 
Committee, there are three (3) full member terms ending this 
year, and one (1) alternate member term ending this year. For 
the Recreation Commission, there are two (2) full member terms 
ending this year. For the Public Safety Commission, there are two 
(2) full member terms ending this year. For the Library Board of 
Trustees, there are two (2) full member terms ending this year. 
Applications (see below) are due to the City Clerk by 12:00 PM, 
April 22, 2024, for all positions.

 Please contact City Clerk Walker at CityClerk@SanMarinoCA.
gov or at (626) 300-0705 with questions or for further information. 

Donuts with Dispatch

 Join us for 'Donuts with Dispatch' on May 4th from 9 AM to 12 
PM at the San Marino Police Department! Enjoy coffee, donuts, 
games, and crafts with your children for an educational and fun-
filled morning!

Meetings

Special Planning Commission Meeting

Monday, April 1 at 6:00 PM; Barth Room and Zoom 

Design Review Committee Meeting

Wednesday, April 3 at 6:00 PM; Barth Room and Zoom 

 NASA’s Curiosity rover has 
begun exploring a new region 
of Mars, one that could reveal 
more about when liquid water 
disappeared once and for all 
from the Red Planet’s surface. 
Billions of years ago, Mars was 
much wetter and probably 
warmer than it is today. 
Curiosity is getting a new look 
into that more Earth-like past 
as it drives along and eventually 
crosses the Gediz Vallis channel, 
a winding, snake-like feature 
that – from space, at least – 
appears to have been carved by 
an ancient river.

 That possibility has scientists 
intrigued. The rover team is 
searching for evidence that 
would confirm how the channel 
was carved into the underlying 
bedrock. The formation’s sides 
are steep enough that the team 
doesn’t think the channel was 
made by wind. However, debris 
flows (rapid, wet landslides) 
or a river carrying rocks and 
sediment could have had 
enough energy to chisel into 
the bedrock. After the channel 
formed, it was filled with 
boulders and other debris. 
Scientists are also eager to 
learn whether this material was 
transported by debris flows or 
dry avalanches.

 Since 2014, Curiosity has been 
ascending the foothills of Mount 
Sharp, which stands 3 miles (5 
kilometers) above the floor of 
Gale Crater. The layers in this 
lower part of the mountain 
formed over millions of years 
amid a changing Martian 
climate, providing scientists 
with a way to study how the 
presence of both water and the 
chemical ingredients required 
for life changed over time.

 For example, a lower part of 
those foothills included a layer 
rich in clay minerals where a lot 
of water once interacted with 
rock. Now the rover is exploring 
a layer enriched with sulfates – 
salty minerals that often form as 
water evaporates.

Revising Mount Sharp’s 
Timeline

 It will take months to fully 
explore the channel, and what 
scientists learn could revise 
the timeline for the mountain’s 
formation.

 Once the sedimentary layers 
of lower Mount Sharp had been 
deposited by wind and water, 
erosion whittled them down 
to expose the layers visible 
today. Only after these lengthy 
processes – as well as intensely 
dry periods during which the 
surface of Mount Sharp was a 
sandy desert – could the Gediz 
Vallis channel have been carved.

 Scientists think the boulders and 
other debris that subsequently 
filled the channel came from 
high up on the mountain, where 
Curiosity will never go, giving 
the team a glimpse of what kinds 
of material may be up there.

 “If the channel or the debris 
pile were formed by liquid 
water, that’s really interesting. 
It would mean that fairly late 
in the story of Mount Sharp – 
after a long dry period – water 
came back, and in a big way,” 
said Curiosity’s project scientist, 
Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 
Southern California.

 That explanation would be 
consistent with one of the most 
surprising discoveries Curiosity 
has made while driving up 
Mount Sharp: Water seems 
to have come and gone in 
phases, rather than gradually 
disappearing as the planet grew 
drier. These cycles can be seen in 
evidence of mud cracks; shallow, 
salty lakes; and, directly below 
the channel, cataclysmic debris 
flows that piled up to create the 
sprawling Gediz Vallis ridge.

 Last year, Curiosity made a 
challenging ascent to study 
the ridge, which drapes across 
the slopes of Mount Sharp and 
seems to grow out of the end of 
the channel, suggesting both are 
part of one geologic system.

Viewing the Channel Up Close

 Curiosity documented the 
channel with a 360-degree 
black-and-white panorama 
from the rover’s left navigation 
camera. Taken on Feb. 3 (the 
4,086th Martian day, or sol, of 
the mission), the image shows 
the dark sand that fills one side 
of the channel and a debris pile 
rising just behind the sand. 
In the opposite direction is 
the steep slope that Curiosity 
climbed to reach this area.

 The rover takes these kinds of 
panoramas with its navigation 
cameras at the end of each drive. 
Now the science team is relying 
on the navcams even more while 
engineers try to resolve an issue 
that is limiting the use of one 
imager belonging to the color 
Mast Camera, or Mastcam.

 Curiosity was built by JPL, 
which is managed by Caltech in 
Pasadena, California. JPL leads 
the mission on behalf of NASA’s 
Science Mission Directorate in 
Washington.

 
Nobody is too old to learn 
something new. Enjoyment 
and fulfillment should extend 
throughout every person’s life 
to ensure healthy aging. The 
Pasadena Senior Center, 85 E. 
Holly St., offers dozens of classes 
for members ranging from 
dance, exercise/fitness, hobbies/
special interests and technology.

 As the April 5 registration 
deadline approaches, members 
and nonmembers of the 
Pasadena Senior Center can 
sample the most popular 
offerings for free by attending 
30-minute mini-class sessions, 
meeting the instructors and 
learning more about the courses. 

 Known as Class Tasting, 
samplings of 13 of the 37 
courses will take place Monday, 
April 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 
p.m., and Tuesday, April 2, from 
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most samplings 
will be onsite at the Pasadena 
Senior Center and one will be 
online via Zoom. Everyone who 
registers for the sample class via 
Zoom will receive an email link 
to the Class Tasting. 

Monday, April 1

· 9:30 a.m. – Strength Training 
via Zoom

· 10 a.m. – Strength Training in 
the Fitness Center

· 12 p.m. – The Art and Joy of 
Sewing in the East Conference 
Room

· 12:30 p.m. – Beginning 
Computer Class in the 
Computer Lab

· 1 p.m. – Ballroom Dancing in 
the Dance Studio

· 1:30 p.m. – Ballroom Line 
Dancing in the Dance Studio

· 2:30 p.m. – “Let Us Play” 
Improv in the East Conference 
Room

Tuesday, April 2

· 9 a.m. – Yoga in the Pavilion

· 9:30 a.m. – Beginner French in 
the Community Room

· 11 a.m. – Qigong and Tai Chi 
in the East Pavilion 

· 1 p.m. – Step to the Beat 
Aerobics in the Dance Studio

· 1:30 p.m. – Spanish Reading for 
Beginners in the Community 
Room

· 2 p.m. – Strength Training in 
the Fitness Center

 To register for Class Tastings, 
visit: pasadenaseniorcenter.org 
and click on Lectures & Classes, 
then Class Tasting or call 626-
795-4331.

 The regular spring course 
schedule will be offered 
beginning April 8 and will 
continue through mid- June. 
Most classes are once a week 
and some are twice a week. After 
sampling classes for free April 1 
and 2, register for courses at the 
center’s Welcome Desk no later 
than April 5. 

 While Class Tastings/
Sample Classes are available to 
nonmembers of the Pasadena 
Senior Center, April 8 to mid 
June courses are available to 
members only. For membership 
information, visit the website 
and click on Membership.

 Most courses range from $45 
to $75. Scholarships for low-
income members are available. 
For more information call 626-
795-4331. 

Sample Senior 
Center Spring 
Free Courses

ROSE 2024 
Internship 
Program 
Accepting 
Applications

 The City of Pasadena will 
begin accepting applications for 
the ROSE Internship Program 
on Monday. The Realizing 
Opportunities through Skillful 
Employment (ROSE) Program 
is open to Pasadena residents 
ages 14-24 residing in low to 
moderate-income households.

 ROSE interns may earn up to 
$2,000 working up to 110 hours. 
Internship assignments are on a 
first-come, first-served basis and 
include, but are not limited to, the 
fields of recreation, day camps, 
police, clerical, technology, 
and more. Participants receive 
training to develop skills, 
mentorship, and network 
opportunities with professionals 
in their field of interest.

 The online application opens 
Monday through Tuesday, 
April 30, 2024. To apply visit 
CityOfPasadena.net/Parks-And-
Rec/ROSE. The Computer Lab 
at Jackie Robinson Community 
Center is available from 10 a.m. 
– 6 p.m. and may be used to 
complete applications.

 For more information or 
application assistance, call 
(626) 744-7300 or email Rose@
CityOfPasadena.net.

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