Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, June 3, 2017

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Mountain View News Saturday, June 3, 2017 

Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side



SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 


May 21, to May 28 2017During this time period, the Sierra Madre Police Department responded to approximately 278 day and

by Deanne Davis 


“Whenever I’m in Washington DC, there are two placesI always have to visit: The Viet Nam Wall where I needto rub my hands over the names of those who did notcome home, and the 
Air & Space Museum to take a look at that airplane.” 
Dick Rutan 

What airplane? The Rutan Voyager, that’s whatairplane! The one Dick Rutan flew with Jeana Yeager onthe first unrefueled non-stop flight around the world.
December 14-23, 1986, with multiple records brokenand the whole world watching. But I’m getting aheadof myself here, talking about Memorial Day before theMt. Wilson Trail Race! 

Saturday, Race Day! Perfect weather – grey andcool - for the 109th running of this grueling 8.6 milerun straight up and down a very narrow trail. Webarely had time to say hi to a bunch of friends whenJames Timphony was back down the hill in a dazzling1:01:38, followed closely by Jon Clark at 1:03:53. SallyJune Tracy was the first woman, coming in at 1:16:13,
with Mireya Vargas pretty much on her heels at 1:17:39.
These people are so fast they’re like blurs flying by.

Rich Johnson of JJ’s Jukebox fame, was interviewingkids after they finished their run for the Village Vine,
asking them their impressions of their race. Such fun tosee. AND, speaking of the kid’s races, the “Rabbit” thisyear was a donkey instead of a bunny. Simon Cooperdressed in a full donkey head mask was running withthe kids to get them going up the hill. I’ve got him herewith a couple of really cute moms. The theme this yearwas donkeys on everything. Terrific shirt, too. Sawsome great pictures of Orchard Camp from the distantpast in the Trail History booth. Poppy Cake Bakerywas doing a terrific business in pastries and folks werestanding in line to get one of their donuts. The TrailRace is always a delightful event here in Sierra Madre.
Our town exhibits such a spirit of fun, encouragementand joy at others’ successes, cheering the runners all theway up and down Baldwin and clapping them in to thefinish. 

The Memorial Day ceremony at Pioneer Cemetery,
put on by our Lt. Kenneth Bell VFW Post 3208, wasbetter than ever this year, packed with many folksstanding in the back. We, my walking buddy, John,
and I, got there extra early as we knew Dick Rutan,
highly decorated war hero-test pilot-recipient of thePresidential Citizen’s Medal of Honor from Ronald 
Reagan was to be one of the speakers and, friends andneighbors, it was totally worth it! John was reminiscinga little as we were gulping down our oatmeal, aboutbeing a little kid and going with his Dad down to UnionStation in Los Angeles during World War II to wavegoodbye to the young men on the trains going to war.
His Dad, a life-long Gideon member, passed out littleNew Testaments to these boys, through the windowsand leaning off the steps of the train, wishing themGodspeed.

Our Congresswoman, Judy Chu, spoke proudlyof her success in getting our Post Office renamedfor our own Louis Vanirsel, recounting a little of hishistory and extraordinary service. Louis arrived inthe United States from Germany just as World War Iwas underway. With no English at all, he enlisted inthe Army his first day in America. He quickly learnedour language in the Army’s kitchens and was sent toserve in France, carrying 17 soldiers to safety under fireon one occasion. As his native language was German,
he was the perfect candidate to infiltrate enemy lines,
swimming the icy Seine to see what he could discoverabout the German army’s plans. What he found abouttheir troop movements, after swimming back across theSeine, saved the lives of over 1,000 American soldiers. 
Louis Vanirsel was awarded our Medal of Honor and 
not one, but two Croix de Guerre medals! When Pearl 

night time calls for service. 

Tuesday, May 23

At about 9:00 a.m. a report of a suspicious 
vehicle parked in the parking lot in the 300 block 
of W. Sierra Madre Blvd. SMPD made contact 
with the occupants and later determined a female 
was in possession of paraphernalia a controlled 
substance and having two outstanding criminal 
warrants. The female was arrested and transported 
to Pasadena Jail for remand. 

Case referred to Pasadena DA’s office. 11:23 

a.m. 
In the PD’s lobby, an incident involving an 
unknown suspect who used the victim’s identity 
without the victim’s permission to open a charge 
card. The suspect had charged $7,376.00 since the 
account was opened and is was used at an address 
in Los Angeles.

Case forwarded to Detectives Thursday, May 25 

A resident in the 100 block of E. Grandview was 
in the station lobby to report a theft of package 
from their front porch. UPS advised the resident 
that on 5/24/17 at approximately 12:00 p.m., a 


Harbor was bombed, Louis and his three sons reportedto enlist in the Army. Being told he was too old, Louisthen talked his way into the Marine Corps and servedin the Pacific. Ms. Chu is still working hard to achievea VA clinic in the Pasadena area to serve our local vets 
and was happy to announce that the Pasadena chapterhas offered part of their facility so the long-awaited VAclinic is, hopefully, coming soon.
Good to see our Assemblyman, Chris Holden... myword, but he’s tall!! He shared that his personal pointof pride is seeing young people moved to service indefense of our country, generation after generation,
lifting the banner to defend liberty.

Dick Rutan, pictured here with some of the guysfrom our Post 3208, was fantastic, telling stories of histours in Viet Nam, hair-raising rescue stories aboutnot leaving a downed pilot behind to die in the jungle,
flying 325 missions as a Sabre jet pilot. He joked aboutbeing put up for the night in the jail – the old CityHall Bed & Breakfast. He talked of another group thatshould be honored, Blue Car Families, those who wait 
while their loved ones serve in combat, for the blue car 
to arrive, which is never good news. Gold Star families

– those who have lost a loved one - represented inthis large group there at Pioneer, were asked to stand.
He spoke of WWII when it was not unusual after aday’s raid over Germany to see 600 empty beds as thecasualties were huge. He spoke of the camaraderieamong these fighting men and women which is unlikeanything else, of their unselfish courage as they fightfor freedom. 
We wouldn’t miss the Memorial Day observance foranything, folks, and maybe next year you’ll considergoing and having one of our veterans hand you ared poppy to wear in your lapel. So proud to be anAmerican! 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Blog: www.authordeanne.com 

“A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter” isnow available at 

Sunrise Books + Coffee at Pasadena First Church of 
the Nazarene – just down the road on Sierra MadreBlvd. 

Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of: A Treasure 
Map, A Drunken Owl, and 47 Rattler’s in a Bag

 It’s on Amazon.com on my book page!

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@ 

playwrightdd 

package was delivered to the home on 5/23/17. 
It appears that an unknown person(s) took the 
package.

Case forwarded to Detectives Saturday, May 27 

Sometime between 5/26/17 at 5:00 p.m. and 
5/27/17 at 9:00 a.m., an unknown suspect(s) 
gained access to the resident’s unlocked vehicle 
in the driveway in the 100 block of N. Lima St, 
ransacked the vehicle and stole a phone.

Case to Detectives 

Sunday, May 28

Officers responded at about 2:06 p.m. to the 
00 block of N. Baldwin for an investigation of a 
burglary. It appears that an unknown suspect(s) 
entered the building through a lower rear door 
by removing panes of glass from the door. Spray 
paint was used to vandalize the interior of the 
building causing damage exceeding $ 400.00. It is 
unknown at this time if any property was taken. 
Case to Detectives 

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