Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 18, 2022

Mountain View News Saturday, June 18, 2022 


PEOPLE AROUND TOWN 

by Justin Matthew Sapp 

There are some people that when you meet them, you feel 
like you’ve know them forever, or that you could have very 
easily grown up in the same circles. 

Scott Nelson, is not one of those people. 

When you sit with Scott, it feels as though you are spending 
time with a wise sage, an enlightened trav-eler, someone 
whose heart and mind have been polished and molded 
by the lives of many. The outcome of this polishing has 
produced a very wise yet approachable and constant presence 
in our city. 

Scott is an Artist, Designer, and Business Owner. 

“I wanted to make a living doing something that combined 
my love of nature, art, and architecture. In 1997, I saw the most beautiful buildings in the 
Middle East during a study abroad program. After I re-turned, I started a construction company 
called “Naturalwalls”. 

"We are a specialty plastering company that uses ancient, natural materials such as lime and clay 
to bring the health and beauty of those materials to contemporary design. I basically figured out 
a way to play in the mud for a living”. 

Scott’s designs have been seen around the world, and in the homes of notable celebrities such as 
John Legend and Brian Cranston. 

Scott and his family chose to move to this town 15 years ago because of the unique feeling that 
it gave them. For the Nelsons, that feeling is experienced in each person, place, and event that is 
held in Sierra Madre. 

“Small is beautiful because it encourages real connection and responsibility”, says Scott. 

From his commitment to creating both beauty and community, to his calm and welcoming presence, 
bumping into Scott Nelson around town can very well leave you feeling like you just had 
the pleasure of talking to someone really, really special. 


WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis 

“A birthday is just the first day of 
another 365-day trip around the sun. 
Enjoy the trip, don’t miss anything! Celebrate 
everything!” Unknown 

“We are only young once. That is all society 
can stand.” Bob Bowen 

“The secret to staying young is to live honestly, 
eat slowly, and lie about your age.” 
Lucille Ball 

Birthdays seem to be happening just 
about every day lately and they are all significant. 
In our family, many are celebrations 
of the lives of folks who have graduated 
from here to heaven. 

Flag Day, June 14th, for instance, was my 
father-in-law’s birthday. He would have 
been 129. 


My memories of him and my mother-in-law are so good that I want to share a little bit 
of them. He was a life-long member of the Gideons and must have given out thousands 
of little New Tes-taments in his lifetime. During WWII he was down at Union Station 
as young soldiers left Los Angeles to go to war; handing out New Testaments, shaking 
their hands, encouraging them, praying for them. They lived, Jay and Leila Davis, 
all their lives together in the home that Leila's father bought on Van Ness Avenue in 
Los Angeles when she and her family first moved here from Idaho when she was 14. 
She became a school teacher, specializing in adult education, and he worked for the 
County all his life. He walked daily in his neighborhood and was one of the people 
who left his world a little better than he found it. I expect the line of people who came 
to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because Jay Davis gave them the Good News, 
stretched for miles when he arrived in heaven to receive his crown and "well done, 
good and faithful servant." 

On this date (June 16) in 1933 My best friend and Walking Sierra Madre buddy,
John Davis joyfully arrived on the planet! 

John and I were married fifty years and his birthdays became more and more interesting 
as time went on because he made it very clear he didn’t want any more stuff. As far 
as the children were concerned, what he wanted was for them to arrange something 
for them to do together. He went to air shows with Leah, helped son, John, remodel 
a house, went on an outing to an aircraft carri-er with Patti and grandson, Blake. We 
flew to Texas to celebrate birthdays with Crissy and Chris, had innumerable dinners, 
lunches, breakfasts to celebrate and all my memories of his birthdays involve lots of 
laughter, flocks of family, good times and good food. 

We took a hot air balloon ride to celebrate his 40th birthday, had a belly dancer and the 
party of the century at our house on Alegria for his 50th. Yep, friends and neighbors, 
epic good times. In-terestingly, when I opened Sarah Young’s devotional book, “Jesus 
Calling,” today, the reading was really about him and his character, ending with his life 
verse, Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord 
require of you? To act justly and to have mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 
That was pretty much how John lived. Happy birthday my one and only love! 

My son-in-law, Christopher’s, birthday was June 8th. The picture today is of the amazing 
piece of art his daughter, Emily, who is 11, created for him to celebrate his birthday 
and Father’s Day. I just love this… “you are the rarest of them all!” We took him to the 
movies to see “Top Gun” and to dinner at Red Lobster. A great time was had by all and 
we absolutely loved “Top Gun Maver-ick.” Tom Cruise looks amazing. He’s 60! And 
still doing all his own stunt work. Val Kilmer hasn’t aged nearly as well and I understand 
he has throat cancer. Everybody I know says this is the best movie ever, and I 
have to agree with them. If you haven’t gone, take your Dad! 

The flying is incredible and all the time I was thinking how much John would have 
enjoyed see-ing it. He was a pilot and we spent so many hours together flying various 
Cessna 172s. I looked at his log book and his last entry showed his hours at 560.1 
in 2004. We made so many trips to Goleta to eat Jambalaya at the Cajun Kitchen. To 
Oakland to visit family there, and so many oth-er places. He got his instrument rating 
when we couldn’t get out of Oakland due to the dense fog there. Good times! Made 
me think of the WWII-era sonnet, written by a 19-year-old American airman who had 
volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. The poet, John Gillespie Magee Jr., was 
killed in action near Great Britain on Dec. 11, 1941. You’ll remember President Reagan 
quoted a portion of this sonnet after the space shuttle disaster in 1991… 

High, FlightOh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, 
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirthOf sun-split clouds--and done a hundred thingsYou have not dreamed of--wheeled and soared and swungHigh in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flungMy eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blueI’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
And while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trodThe high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. 

John loved to fly and I did, too. One of my best birthday presents to him was flying 
lessons. 
Father’s Day is tomorrow. We’re planning to buy everything Panda Express has and 
enjoy it at home. It’s not too late to call your Dad, get him a card, plan to spend a little 
time together. 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Where you’ll find “Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope”
And “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”
Take a look at both of these books, stuffed with hope and some really good recipes.
And there are Kindle treasures galore you can send straight to your Kindle,
Including the best adventure story ever: “A Treasure Map, A Drunken OwlAnd 47 Rattlers in a Bag”
Check me out, friends and neighbors! 


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