Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 1, 2022

Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 1, 2022 

SIERRA MADRE TREE DISPOSAL 
Holiday trees are 100% recyclable! Athens Services col-
lects holiday trees each year, from the day after Christ-
mas through the second week of January, on your normal 
pickup day. Trees are delivered to various landfills to be 
used as mulch or cover material, or to Athens’ American 
Organics compost facility in Victorville. 
Tips to ensure your tree is properly collected:
• Remove stands, ornaments, lights, and tinsel. 
• Place holiday trees next to your regular trash containers. 
• Trees over 6 feet in length must be cut in half. 
• Trees with flocking or fire retardants ARE NOT 
acceptable.
• If you miss the date for recycling, please cut up your 
tree and place it in your yard waste container(s). 
JUST HOW MUCH DID IT RAIN? 
DAVE FELT’S RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS 
All totals reported are +- 0.05" of rain (Raingauge gives the number ininches and centimeters) 
6.50" storm pre-Christmas 
5.00" intervening 
1.50" Christmas Day 
0.75" intervening 
4.50" Thursday 10:45 am 
------------------------
18.25" total so far (as of Thursday morning) 
SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 
December 19-25, 2021 
During this period, the Sierra Madre Police Department re-
sponded to approximately 160 calls for service. 
This list is not intended to be considered exclusive or 
all-inclusive. 
Monday, December 20At about 3:10 pm, officers responded to a residence in the 300 block of N. Lima St; regarding a male 
subject at a red-tagged residence. The subject was advised to exit the residence but refused. The city 
has advised the subject not to return to the red-tagged residence on multiple occasions. Thesubject was ultimately arrested, cited, and released for trespassing. 
Wednesday, December 22At about 8:50 pm, an officer observed a vehicle code violation and conducted a traffic enforcement 
stop. During the contact, the officer observed a current registration tab on the vehicle that was ex-
pired for 2 years. The vehicle owner, a passenger, was cited and later released at the scene for unlawful 
display of current vehicle registration. 
Friday, December 24At about 7:30 pm, two suspects (an unknown male and female) stole several packages from the 
porch of a residence in the 00 block of Coburn Ave.The Detectives' Bureau is following up on this 
incident for leads. 
WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis 

I think I may very well have written 2021 for 
the last time. I shall not miss this year at all. 
You probably won’t either, so I’ll kick off 2022 
with a few positive thoughts and a great recipe. 

Can’t wait to see our beautiful float in the 
Rose Parade this year, “Nature’s Classroom,” 
featuring students on a field trip studying the 
Amazon Rainforest. The students are our Rose 
Princesses, Alex Bielanski, Julia Pevsner, and 
Abby Pejsa. We will be a winner again this 
year! 

“Write it on your heart that every day is the 
best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 

“Let our New Year’s resolution be this: We will 
be there for one another as 
fellow members of humanity in the finest 
sense of the word.” Goran Persson 

“Your success and happiness lie in you. 
Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and youshall form an invincible host against difficulties.” Helen Keller 
And a little word from The Word can’t hurt either: 


“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! Don’t worry about anything; instead 
pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand…And 
now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, 
and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent 
and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:4-8 

Speaking of things that are excellent and worthy of praise, just about everything on the 
front page of last week’s Mountain Views News was exactly that! The picture by Sonny 
Salsbury of a snow-covered street with folks tobogganing is delightful. The Candlelight 
Walk was so beautiful to see. Craig Haikola’s story “The City of Angels” was intriguing as it 
started with deciding whether or not to pick up a tarnished penny in the street or speak to 
a lost soul who might or might not be an angel in disguise but ended in our imagination as, 
try as I might, I never could find the rest of the story. With your permission, Craig, I’d like 
to give your story my ending… 

“I am sure I was supposed to say something to him – even if it was just a kind word to let 
him know the world cared. I did none of that, much like the old penny of the street, so 
tarnished…” 
That’s where Craig’s story ended. But I would like to think that he reconsidered, went back, 
found that exhausted, discouraged soul, and took him into the all-night diner down the 
block, bought him a cup of coffee and a short stack of pancakes and told him that there was 
Someone Who cared deeply for him. God had not forgotten him. I am a devout picker upper 
of pennies on the street, no matter how tarnished and dirty they look. “Find a penny, 
pick it up! All that day you’ll have good luck!” A kind word and a penny to pick up only 
take a second of your time. Maybe think of those things once in a while in the coming year. 

Many people like to start their New Year’s with black-eyed peas, a Southern tradition for 
good luck and prosperity. In years past, my family liked to kick off the New Year with Split 
Pea Soup. I realize you’re reading this New Year’s Eve, too late for New Year’s Day and the 
parade and Rose Bowl Game, but the Superbowl is coming up! It’s easy to make, you can do 
it ahead of time, and if you’ve planned ahead, you can make enough to keep hungry folks 
happy all day long. You can double and triple this recipe with great success, if your pot is 
big enough. It also freezes well. 

SPLIT PEA SOUP 

1 package split peas (these are found in the market aisle where rice, noodles, beans, etc. 
are located)
4 ham hocks (usually packaged 2 to a package in the meat section) or a ham shank, or 
the ham bone left over from Christmas. 
3 medium-size onions – actually there’s no such thing as too much onion!
6-7 good size carrots (or a package of baby carrots)
1 good size bunch of celerySalt, Pepper 

Split pea soup is an opportunity to creatively express yourself. There are few rules, just 
a few suggestions: 

Get out your really large pot and put the ham hocks or the ham bone in the bottom. 
Throw the peas on top of that, followed by the onions, carrots and celery which you’ve 
washed and cut into big chunks. Cover all this with water, or a combination of water and 
chicken broth. Say about 8-12 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper and whatever 
else you like. If you’re partial to thyme, put some in there. Or Mrs. Dash. 

Cover your pot and put in the oven at about 300 degrees. Leave it in there for about four 
to six hours, or till the peas have become very tender. Take it out and let the mixture cool 
to where you can handle it without burning yourself. Remove the ham hocks or ham 
bone and set them (it) aside. 

Assemble your blender and blend your lukewarm soup/veggie mixture into a smooth 
puree. Put this into a large container with a cover, like your crock pot. When all your 
soup is pureed, remove whatever meat is on your ham hocks or ham bone, tossing out all 
fat and other non-meaty parts and put the meat back into your soup. Refrigerate. Let it 
sit for a day or so to develop flavor, reheat it and stand back so the hungry relatives don’t 
run over you as they rush to grab a bowl of the best split pea soup anywhere. 

Happy New Year, dear friends and neighbors. 2022 will bring more joy, more laughter, 
more health and more happiness. Trust me!

 My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Christmas is just a few days past and my book:
“Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope” 
Would be a really nice gift for anyone you’ve suddenly remembered.
You can find it on Amazon.com and they’ll even send it for you!
“Star of Wonder” a delightful Christmas Kindle story is there, too.
If you’d like a little preview, take a look at: https://youtu.be/Ka1KYrONrd0 


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