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Mountain Views News Saturday, April 5, 2025


Weather Wise

WALKING SIERRA MADRE -

 The Social Side by Deanne Davis


“Lent is the perfect time to pull up weeds and plant good seeds.”

Lent = Love…for God so loved the world that He gave…

Lent…Lemons! If you’ve been fortunate to have lemons at your disposal, 

don’t make lemonade, make lemon bars!

We’re about halfway through Lent with Easter just about three weeks away. 
Thinking about Lent, a 40 day period when a lot of people think of self-denial, i.e., 
giving up something; like coffee. Giving up coffee is a very bad idea as here’s what 
happens: headache, fatigue, low energy, irritability, anxiety, poor concentration, 
depressed mood and tremors which can last anywhere from two to nine days. 
Enough time to make everybody in your life wish you’d given up almost anything 
else, including being anywhere near them.

“Lent is about becoming, doing and changing whatever it is that is blocking the 
fullness of life in us right now.” Sister Joan Chittister

Instead of thinking about Lent as a time to suffer, to give up our favorite things, 
maybe we could concentrate on doing something positive in our world. Instead 
of giving up something, think about adding something. No, not candy, unless it’s 
those Cadbury caramel filled chocolate eggs.

Think about adding new practices to our day like saying something nice to 
everyone you encounter; like “that color blue looks really great on you.” We can 
consider adding more “thank yous” into our day. They fit practically anywhere.

Back to giving up stuff, we could go through our closets and take out all the stuff we haven’t worn for a year. The Goodwill and 
Salvation Army folks will welcome you with open arms and give you a tax receipt when you give them those shoes that never did 
fit very well, the ugly sweater your Aunt Clementine gave you for Christmas five years ago that’s a size too small and covered with 
elves. Yes, this represents a lot of work, but if you do just one drawer or shelf a day you’ll be amazed to see how much progress 
you’ll make and you’ll feel so proud of yourself. How about all the books you’ve read and really won’t read again. The library is 
always glad to get those for their next big sale.

And the food banks, places like Our Saviour Center in El Monte or Union Rescue Mission come to mind. They always need help. 
As Jesus said, “The poor are with us always…” 

Maybe instead of fasting from cookie dough ice cream or a caramel macchiato latte, we could

concentrate on the fact that God loves us and will never stop loving us. That no matter what we

do, we can’t make Him love us more or less. I think He would go ahead and have the ice cream with us…just saying.

This Lenten season maybe we could:

Give up complaining… focus on Gratitude

Give up pessimism… become an Optimist

Give up worry… trust Divine Providence

Give up bitterness… turn to Forgiveness

Give up hatred… return Good for evil

Give up negativism… be Positive

Give up anger… be more Patient

Give up pettiness… again, be more Patient

Give up gloom… enjoy the Beauty all around

Give up jealousy… pray for Trust

Give up gossiping… think before you Speak

Give up giving up… Hang in There!

Bottom line for me this Lent: I’m still going to have coffee. I’m still going to have a little ice cream once in a while. I’m going to 
look forward to Easter with joy and anticipation! And I’m going to take some of those lemons and make Lemon Bars. You can too. 
They’re great with coffee. The picture is some of our local wistaria as the Wistaria Festival is next Saturday! Don’t miss this! The 
vine will be more beautiful than ever…back to the Lemon Bars…

1/3 cup butter

¼ cup sugar

1 cup flour

Using your electric mixer, beat the butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, beat till combined, add 
the flour and beat till mixture is crumbly. Press mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 
at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until just golden. While that’s baking, make your filling:

2 eggs,

¾ cup sugar

2 TB flour

2 TB finely shredded lemon zest (more is good. Lots more is better)

3 TB lemon juice

1/4 tsp baking powder

Whip eggs in same bowl you used for the crust, add other ingredients. Beat 2 minutes. Pour over baked layer. Bake 20 
minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and center is set. Dust with powdered sugar after it has cooled. 

Maybe this Lenten Season I could be more patient, forgiving, and just plain kind.

In a world where you can be anything you want to be…Be KIND!

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis

Lent is about half over, which means Easter is on its way.

“The Crown” a story about what could have happened to 

The Crown of Thorns that pierced Jesus’ brow,

is now an actual book, in addition to a Kindle book.

“The Crown” will enrich your Easter experience.

6-Day Forecast Sierra Madre, Ca.

 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

April 8, 2025 5:30 pm

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. 


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