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Mountain Views News Saturday, May 18, 2024


Weather Wise

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side

by Deanne Davis

6-Day Forecast Sierra Madre, Ca.

THE MT. WILSON TRAIL RACE RETURNS TO 
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

That, friends and neighbors, is great news. As you already know, the 
Mt. Wilson Trail Race is one of the oldest trail races in California. 
It takes you 8.6 miles from Kersting Court to Orchard Camp and 
back with an elevation gain of over 2160 feet on a winding course 
that is kept in optimum condition by the Trail volunteers.

The original path, first used by the Gabrielino Indians, was dug out 
by Benjamin “Don Benito” Wilson in 1864 and every year about 
300 (350 this year) intrepid runners do their best to get up there 
and back in two hours or less without falling down!

You guys who have been watching the Trail Race since its inception 
in 1908…well, probably nobody was watching that one…anyway, 
in case you’re a new Sierra Madrean or you’ve heard about the Race 
but could use a little background information, here ya go…

The Mount Wilson Trail Race is the second oldest trail race in 
California. In the beginning (1908) runners raced to Mt. Wilson, 
rested half an hour then raced back down and only a very few 
runners even attempted it. Joseph B. King of San Francisco was 
the winner of the first race. His time for the round trip was 2:11:35. 
The winner last year, James Timphony of Pasadena came in at 
an astonishing 1:02:04. Of course, he didn’t take a half hour off 
halfway through.

The race was held sporadically from 1908 until the late 1940s – 
early 1950’s when it was abandoned completely. It was revived in 
the Fall of 1965 and is now an extremely popular Sierra Madre 
event. Organized by a volunteer committee and sponsored by our 
fair city, the current race is 8.6 miles in length, starting at Kersting 
Court up to Orchard Camp and back. The exact course has been 
changed by erosion, fires and earthquakes but is lovingly maintained by some amazing guys who wield shovels, move boulders, avoid 
the occasional bear and generally keep the Trail in good shape. A badly needed new bridge was added last year.

The picture is of my favorite Trail walkers, daughter, Leah, and my dear John, who walked up the Trail to First Water hundreds of 
times over the years. Leah has run the race and may very well do it again one of these days. John will be watching the race from 
heaven, along with Bud and Kevin Switzer, who both ran the race with astonishing speed for many years. Bud and Kevin Switzer 
are the ones who started the Halloween happenings on Alegria years ago with their hundreds of fantastically grotesque, funny, scary 
carved pumpkins.

It’s a lot of fun to walk downtown early before the race, which starts at 7:30, grab some coffee, visit with everybody you know, watch 
all the little kids getting ready for the kid’s run and just hang out and watch for the first runners to come in. Somebody talented will 
deliver the National Anthem and, with any luck at all, it will be a cool and cloudy May Gray Day, nobody will fall, the special beers 
R.T. Rogers Brewing Company has created will be the best brew you’ve ever tasted and you’ll have a great day. 

Mother’s Day is a memory, the flowers are still on the kitchen counter and if you’ve been zealous about clipping the stems, they will 
last another few days. We had kind of a low-key day as granddaughter, Emily, was leaving for the 8th Grade trip to Catalina and needed 
to be driven to school by 11:30 to board the bus that would whisk her away for a few days at the sea. Flowers and an original piece of 
art for her mommy and for me from Emily made us both happy. The best thing about Mother’s Day is getting together with family 
members you might not see all the time. 

If you haven’t celebrated yet, you might consider taking your mom or somebody that makes you laugh to Casa Del Rey for a margarita 
and some guacamole and chips. They are celebrating 50 years of serving excellent Mexican food.

Susan Henderson’s editorial about the things her mother taught her was so good. It explained a lot about how Susan came to be such 
an exceptional person and a really great friend. If you didn’t read it last week, hunt up the paper or take a look online. 

And the last word on Mother’s Day: “Thank you for not selling me to the circus – I know it must have been tempting at times. Happy 
Mother’s Day!”

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Where you’ll find the Emma Gainsworth Kindle novelettes, 

Along with other goodies like “A Treasure Map, A Drunken Owl

And 47 Rattlers in A Bag” True Tales of Early California

 
Sun Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Mon: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Tues: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Wed: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s

 Thur: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s 

 Fri: Sunny Hi 70s Lows 50s

Forecasts courtesy of the National Weather Service

SIERRA MADRE CITY MEETINGS

SIERRA MADRE CITY 

COUNCIL MEETING

MAY 31, 2024 5:30pm

THIS MEETING WILL BE HELD 
IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS!

As part of the City of Sierra Madre’s 

COVID-19 transparency efforts and The 
Brown Act provides the public with an opportunity 
to make public comments at any 
public meeting. Public comment may also be 
made by e-mail to PublicComment@CityofSierraMadre.
com by 3:00 p.m. on the day of 
the meeting. 

Emails will be acknowledged at the Council 
meeting and filed into public record. The 
public may also comment in person at the 
meeting.

The meetings will be streamed live on Foothills 
Media website at foothillsmedia.org/sierramadre 
and broadcast on Government 

Access Channel 3 (Spectrum)..



1630 AM EMERGENCY RADIO & 

Free on-air publicity for local events

 Sierra Madre’s EMERGENCY radio station is now accepting scripts for 
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about community events. PSAs 
will be broadcast on the air at no charge. The station operates 24/7 and can 
be heard at 1630 on the AM dial.

 Any local non-profit or non-commercial organization can have their 
event information broadcast to the public on Sierra Madre Community 
Information Radio. The station covers the city of Sierra Madre, plus 
surrounding areas of Pasadena, Arcadia, and Monrovia. 

Your event must:

• Benefit a non-commercial or non-profit entity
• Be open to the public
• Be of general interest to local citizens


Just 
write a Public Service Announcement that describes your event and 
e-mail it to radio@cityofsierramadre.com. 


2024 SIERRA MADRE 4TH OF JULY 
PARADE REGISTRATION

MAY 1 - JUNE 7, 2024

 The Sierra Madre 4th of July Parade is an annual tradition that is an 
integral part of the Sierra Madre community! This hometown parade 
features community members, organizations, classic cars, marching 
bands, kids on their decorated bikes and so much more.

 Please join us for the 2024 City of Sierra Madre Parade on Thursday, 
July 4th, from 10:00am – 12:00 pm. The parade route will begin at the 
corner of Sierra Madre Blvd. and Sunnyside Avenue, and proceed down 
the boulevard to Sierra Vista Park.

Parade participation is open to all; young, young-at-heart, and everything 
in between.

 Registration will close on Friday, June 7th. For more information on 
the parade and all of the happenings please visit our NEW website at

https://www.sierramadreevents.org/

 For questions regarding parade registration please contact the 4th of 
July Parade Chair at parade@sierramadreevents.org or the Community 
Services Department at 626.355.5278.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

From: The City of Sierra Madre

Subject: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO.

 1470 AMENDING CHAPTER 17.08 
(DEFINITIONS)

 , CHAPTER 17.82 (HISTORIC

 PRESERVATION)

 CHAPTER 17.85 (HOME OCCUPATIONS),

 AND CHAPTER 17.88 (TEMPORARY USE

 PERMITS) OF TITLE 17 (ZONING) OF

 THE SIERRA MADRE

 MUNICIPAL CODE

Applicant: City of Sierra Madre

Project Location: Properties in the City of Sierra Madre, County 

 of Los Angeles, State of California

The City of Sierra Madre gives notice, pursuant to State of 
California law, that the City Council will conduct a public hearing 
for the First Reading of Ordinance no. 1470, amending Chapter 
17.08 (Definitions), Chapter 17.82 (Historic Preservation), Chapter 
17.85 (Home Occupations), and Chapter 17.88 (Temporary Use 
Permits) of Title 17 (Zoning) of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code. 

The purpose of Ordinance no. 1470 is to address community 
concerns that Temporary Use Permits (“TUPs”) and Home 
Occupation Permits (“HOPs”) are being used to convert certain 
residential uses into commercial uses. The ordinance seeks to 
protect residents’ enjoyment of their property and ensure that the 
allowance of TUPs and HOPs do not overshadow the primary use.

On April 18, 2024, at a regularly scheduled meeting, the Planning 
Commission approved Municipal Code Text Amendments (MCTA 
24-01, MCTA 24-02, and MCTA 24-03) recommending the City 
Council adopt an ordinance incorporating the amendments. 

DATE AND TIME OF HEARING

City of Sierra Madre City Council meeting; Tuesday, May 28, 2024 
(meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.) 

PLACE OF HEARING

City of Sierra Madre; City Council Chambers; 232 W. Sierra 
Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA

The Brown Act provides the public with an opportunity to make 
public comments at any public meeting. Public comment may 
also be made by e-mail to PublicComment@CityofSierraMadre.
com by 3:00PM on the day of the meeting. Emails will be 
acknowledged at the Council meeting, filed into public record 
and scanned onto the City website for public review. The meeting 
will be streamed live on the City’s website at www.sierramadreca.
gov, on Foothills Media website at http://www.foothillsmedia.
org/sierramadre and broadcast on Government Access Channel 3 
(Spectrum). Informational updates regarding the 2024 Updates to 
the Temporary Use Permit Ordinance are available on the City’s 
website at www.sierramadreca.gov/TUP2024.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The adoption of 
Ordinance no. 1470 is exempt from the California Environmental 
Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA 
Guidelines which provides that CEQA only applies to projects 
that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the 
environment. Here, it can be seen with certainty that there is no 
possibility that the proposed amendments to the Sierra Madre 
Municipal Code may have a significant effect on the environment. 
The amendments do not relate to any one physical project and will 
not result in any physical change to the environment. Therefore, 
it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the 
municipal code text amendments may have a significant adverse 
effect on the environment, and thus the adoption of this Ordinance 
is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the 
CEQA Guidelines.

APPEAL: If in the future anyone wishes to challenge the decision 
of the City Council in court, one may be limited to raising the issues 
that were raised or presented in written correspondence delivered 
to the City Council at, or before, the scheduled public hearing. For 
further information on this subject, please contact the Planning 
and Community Preservation Department at (626) 355-7138.

SCOUTS NEEDED FOR 4TH OF JULY PARADE

The Sierra Madre Events Committee (formerly the 4th of July 
Committee) in conjunction with the City of Sierra Madre has 
begun planning for 2024 Sierra Madre 4th of July Celebration. 
The parade will take place on July 4th .

 

The Committee is seeking special assistance from local Girl 
Scouts and Boy Scouts and Scouts in general to assist with 
this year’s 4th of July Parade. This specific request is for any 
interested Scout who would like to march in the parade July 
carrying banners for award recipients and dignitaries. Scouts 
will be required to be in dress uniform and able to carry a 
banner during the two-mile parade route. The parade begins 
promptly at 10:00 am sharp with staging activities beginning at 
9:00 am. This is an extraordinary opportunity for young leaders 
to represent themselves and the scouting community while 
participating in a small-town celebration representing an All 
American City.

Interested scouts should contact Committee Member Michelle 
Keith by emailing sponsors@sierramadreevents.org 


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