Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, August 10, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 10, 2019 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side by Deanne Davis

SCHOOL STARTS THIS WEEK!

“You know it’s time to go back to school when you hear parents singing, 
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” George 
Washington Carver

‘Twas The Night Before School Started

‘Twas the night before school started and all through the town,

Parents were cheering, it was a riotous sound.

By eight the kids were washed and tucked into bed,

While memories of homework filled them with dread.

New pencils, new folders, new notebooks too,

New teachers, new friends, their anxiety grew.

The parents just giggled when they heard of this fright,

And shouted upstairs...Go To Bed, It’s A School Night!” Author 
Unknown

That’s pretty much what’s happening all over the place this week 
and next. Up the street where granddaughters, Jessie and Emily, 
live, they went to the Start of School Splash swim party this 
afternoon, showered, shampooed and are already in bed as school 
starts for them tomorrow. 

This seems somewhat unbelievable to me as I came out of the 
prehistoric era, just shortly after the Jurassic age, when school got 
out in June and started up again the day after Labor Day. These 
girls have been out on the town since early May and go back 
August 7th. While I’m reminiscing, and maybe you remember it 
this way, too, school started at 9:00 and went till 3:00. These girls 
are yanked rudely from sleep at 6:00 a.m., are on the school bus 
about 7:10 and on their way home shortly after 2:00.

We’ve bought new backpacks, tennis shoes, shirts with unicorns, 
flamingoes, hedgehogs and positive statements emblazoned 
across the chest. We’ve made sure there are plenty of socks and 
underwear, and will be ready to invade Target when the new 
teachers pass out the lists of All The Supplies You Will Need.

Yes, school is starting again tomorrow. It’s been very pleasant to 
start the mornings around 8:00 when people really wanted to get 
up, pleasant to send the girls off to Vacation Bible School, various 
Art Camps, go to the movies, spend a week at the beach, just hang 
out at home and not feel any pressure. 

A Parent’s Back to School Prayer

Dear Lord, help them find where they need to go,

And go only where Your will leads.

To lead boldly, even where few will follow, and follow only the path 
You reveal.

Reveal kindness to those who yearn, yearn for excellence in all 
they accomplish.

Accomplish in themselves the promise of all You’ve given.

Give them a desire for truth and passion for real learning.

Have them learn to give, to love, to forgive and encourage.

Stay by their sides and light up their souls,

Fill them, guide them, protect them and enliven them.

And by all this have them become the masterful creations You 
formed

And longed for them to be, even in their mother’s womb.

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord,

“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you., plans to give you a 
future and a hope.” Jer. 29:11

Yes, school starts tomorrow and our hope above all else is that 
everyone they encounter will be kind. God bless them, every one.

“Sunrises & Sunflowers Speak Hope” is here! 

Look for it on my book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

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

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”

is also available on my book page and the apple cake recipe is in 
there!


KATIE Tse....This and That

COLORFUL & SNUFFY

My mom prefers news from the 50’s and 
60’s to today’s stuff. Can’t say I blame her. 
Current events are too depressing. She has 
an online subscription to the Detroit Free 
Press, and every so often shares interesting 
tidbits with me. Since the story I’m going to 
share with you was chronicled back in 1952, 
I doubt anyone today will mind if I borrow it.

Maynard H. Smith, “Snuffy,” from Caro 
Michigan was awarded the Congressional 
Medal of Honor for bravery in the second 
World War when he selflessly stayed aboard a bombed and 
battered plane to tend to a crewman who’d been shot through the 
lung. Everyone else had bailed, but not Snuffy. He even discarded 
his parachute “to get faster action” tossing live explosives onto an 
enemy ship.

The article points out that psychologists would later note that men 
possessing normal reflexes and an understanding of danger would 
not be able to do what Snuffy did. In other words, Snuffy was a little 
nutty. Albeit helpfully nutty in this particular case. To celebrate 
his accomplishment, Snuffy went on a two-day bender for which 
the army assigned him to KP duty to scrub potatoes. That’s where 
they had to get him when it was time to tie the medal around his 
skinny neck (Snuffy weighed about 140 lb.).

But wait! There’s more... No, Snuffy was just getting started. He 
was divorced three times, the article not going into what “troubles” 
brought him to court in these cases. He also got caught trying to 
sell a fake aphrodisiac cream.

Let that one roll around in your mind for a while. First off, these 
were the days before FDA regulations, etc. etc. “Oklahoma” and 
similar tales have familiarized audiences with the prototype of fly-
by-night flim-flam con artists preying on the supposed gullibility 
of rural communities.

You know the score. Some guy in a flashy suit and a greasy 
mustache sets up a tent peddling miracle tonics that turn out to 
be nothing more than grain alcohol with a splash of camphor. The 
idea is sell a lot before the locals catch on and run you out of town.

So, how exactly did Snuffy’s aphrodisiac scam become exposed? 
I know if I were to buy something like that and it didn’t work, 
I’d be too embarrassed to complain about it. I mean, imagine 
answering the question, “Well ma’am, can you explain the problem 
to me, in detail? How, precisely, did our product not meet your 
expectations?”

“Uh...”

Anyway, that’s not all Snuffy was famous, or infamous, for. He also 
got caught in an elaborate bribery scheme in an attempt to run for 
governor of Virginia. (I guess he’d grown tired of Michigan by that 
time.).

Seems being awarded a hero made a big impact on old Snuff. (And 
that’s another thing. How’d he get tagged with that nickname? 
What personal character trait inspired that title?) America loves a 
hero. Heroes are trustworthy. Just the kind of thing one looks for 
when voting for governor. The only problem was that a hero must 
wait around for a crisis to present itself. Unless you orchestrate 
your own.

Snuffy found some poor young woman whose child had recently 
died. He propositioned her to fake suicide off a bridge, at which 
point he would save her. I don’t think they ever worked out the 
finer points of this plan. Or at least they weren’t satisfactory to 
the jump-ee, and she suggested the sixth story of the local YMCA 
instead. My guess is the Y probably had a lot of plush vegetation 
that would be more forgiving than water, if Snuffy botched his 
rescue act.

But even this new twist was not without its snags. The woman had 
second thoughts come time to jump, and stood on the sixth story 
arguing with Snuffy.

“Don’t ruin our plan!” he shouted.

But bystanders only heard “DON’T!” 

Naturally, they thought he’d thwarted a suicide attempt. Later 
the woman came clean to authorities, exposing Snuffy’s bribery 
scheme, and he did not go on to win governorship. However, I’m 
sure all that pales in comparison to some of the filthy dealings 
crooked politicians pull these days. But I wouldn’t be the one to 
ask about that. The news is too depressing for daily consumption, 
unless maybe it’s from 1952.

*School’s back! Check out my novel, “A Year at Apex,” in paperback 
and ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! A classic love story 
between a school teacher and a one-handed plumber, Apex has it 
all --humor, romance, the human condition, and public education. 
Perfect for you and the educator in your life!


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

July 28 to August 4, 2019 - During this period the Sierra Madre 
Police Department responded to 264 calls for service.

CRIMINAL THREATS - At 8:05PM on Monday7/29/19, a family 
member in the 100 block of Merrill Ave. reported criminal 
threats made towards them and their family. The suspect was 
placed in custody and taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation. 
The case was forwarded to Detectives

THEFT FROM A VEHICLE - On 7/30/19 at 8:10PM, officers 
responded to an auto burglary investigation that occurred in the 
600 block of E. Sierra Madre Blvd. The suspect(s) gained entry 
through the driver side door by tampering with the door handle 
mechanism. The suspect(s) stole five credit cards that were 
located in the victim’s purse and wallet and were reported to 
have been used at local businesses. Forwarded to Detectives

PUBLIC DRUNKENESS - A report of a suspicious person 
was reported at 7:20PM on 8/2/19, in the area of Lima St. and 
Highland Ave. The subject was located nearby and contacted. 
Following the field interview it was determined that the subject 
was under the influence. The suspect was arrested and taken to 
the Pasadena Police jail.


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