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Mountain View News Saturday, June 7, 2025

Mountain View News Saturday, June 7, 2025


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges 

 [Nyerges is an educator and the author of over two dozen books including “Urban Survival 
Guide,” “Extreme Simplicity,” “Foraging Californai,” and other books. More information at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]

OH HAPPY DAYS 
- THE NEXUS OF 
THE ALTADENA 
COMMUNITY


MEET HANDSOME MR. CLARENCE!

Born in 2021, Mr. Clarence is 
an Abyssinian mix with tabby 
markings, crisp white socks, 
and a lot of opinions. He 
enjoys long chats, head massages, 
and treats—especially 
treats.

He may greet you with a hiss 
at first, but don’t be fooled—
it’s all bark and no bite. Offer him a snack and you’ll see 
just how quickly he warms 
up. He’s a big boy with a 
big personality and would 
thrive with someone who 
appreciates his quirks and 
conversational skills.

Although he may be shy at 
first, especially in new surroundings, Mr. Clarence blossoms 
into his true charming self when he feels comfortable, and 
he did well with another cat friend--haha, just watch that he 
doesn't try to eat the other cat's food! Could you be the one 
to turn his hisses into kisses and provide him with the love 
and understanding he deserves?

Fully vetted upon delivery. Apply to meet Mr. C. and see 
more pics of him at https://www.lifelineforpets.org/mr-clarence.html. 

 
For the last 40 years, John Hopkins has operated O 
Happy Day Vegan Cafe and Grocery, a health food 
store and restaurant on Lake Avenue, next to the Altadena 
Post Office. It was a mecca for vegetarians, 
vegans, lovers of organic foods made fresh daily, those 
enthusiastic about health food, vitamins and supplements 
of all kinds, and organic groceries.

One could get a revolving variety of homemade style 
soups, organic salads, sandwiches, along with a changing 
roster of entrees and desserts made with loving 
hands.

UNTIL JANUARY 7…

January 7th was violently windy. O Happy Day Sous-
chef Sev was in a class in Highland Park when his yoga 
teacher Stella broke the news to him: “Altadena is on 
fire.”

Sev raced toward an inferno now known as the Eaton 
Fire consuming the hillsides, arriving at the cafe at 
9:45 p.m. “The power was out, but John was acting as 
if nothing were wrong,” he explains. “The wind was 
strong, traffic lights were dark, and people were taking 
intersections like careless maniacs. KFI radio was 
saying Pasadena had evacuated. John balked when I 
asked, ‘When are we getting out of here?’”

“We’re not getting out of here; we’re staying to fight the 
fire -- as if we need to. It’ll never even make it down 
here. The wind is blowing it in the other direction and 
up the mountain,” responded Hopkins.

“I didn’t think anything was wrong,” added Hopkins. 
“I smelled the fire, but it was faraway in the distance, 
and the wind seemed to be blowing it away from us.”

“I walked up to the intersection,” Sev says, “to look at 
the forest fire. There was near collision after near collision 
from the smoke and lights being out. The shifting 
wind was so strong it was pushing me against and 
away from the Jack in the Box fence. It was mesmerizing 
to see the whole mountain burning. I returned to 
the cafe and found John there -- washing dishes in the 
dark with a bike flashlight on his head!! I asked him 
why and he calmly replied, ‘I’m preparing for tomorrow.’ 
He was sure it would be a normal day in Altadena 
with a burnt hillside. Forest fire blazing, panicked 
people racing, no electricity, and he’s washing dishes 
like nothing’s going on, nothing’s amiss, and that actually 
calmed me down. He’s been at this location for 
decades; he must know better than I do.”

Sev explained that he receiving panicked texts from 
vegan activist and friend of the store Samantha Lau of 
Plant Based Treaty (plantbasedtreaty.org), asking if the 
cafe was evacuating, and he responded no.

Sev thought everything would be okay and sat down 
to read a book in the dark with a flashlight, waiting 
for the electricity to come back on. After an arduous 
series of yoga classes, trying to read in the dark put 
him to sleep.

Sev explains that his car horn made a long, plaintive 
wail. 

The battering winds outside sounded like firemen trying 
to break in. “That made surreal sense, just my car 
honking at me for no reason, nothing to be alarmed 
about. Maybe someone's breaking into it? Then came 
a series of tremendous explosions. That did not make 
sense,” he continued. He went out the back door into 
the parking lot to investigate. It was 5:00 a.m. and the 
sky was completely black. The only light was coming 
from a glowing line of cars burning: Hopkin’s work 
trucks and Sev’s convertibles. They were already fully 
consumed, incinerated. The explosions had come 
from their gas tanks exploding. They were glowing red 
and grey like charcoal hibachis after the flames have 
done their worst. 

“This has to be a dream,” Sev remembers thinking. 
“This doesn't happen in real life.” But a line of postal 
trucks was also on fire next door, and the palm tree 
and brush, even the leaves on the ground were going 
up in flames. “I turned to look at the cafe and noticed 
its roof was on fire. It would have killed us, breathing 
smoke and sleeping inside in the dark. I had to save 
John, so I ran back in to get him.”

“Your trucks are gone. The roof is glowing” continues 
Sev, who dragged Hopkins out the front to confirm 
that his precious restaurant really was ablaze. “John 
was convinced that all the smoke was just from the distant 
forest, never imagining that the store was going 
up in flames.” But all the smoke was coming from the 
structure. Standing outside, Hopkins confirmed the 
roof was somehow burning and groped his way to the 
back to check on his trucks. They were burned up. Sev 
was calling for a fire extinguisher and hose. 

“I had hoped it was all a dream, a misunderstanding, 
just what my blurry eyes were misperceiving in the 
smoke” Sev explains. “We never got any evacuation 
notice here west of Lake Ave. KFI was still playing in 
the background. Coast to Coast didn't break in with 
any Emergency Alert System or public service announcement 
to get out or be ready to evacuate. 

Hopkins shoved a big fire extinguisher into Sev’s arms. 
By now the flames were eating the wall above the entrance. 
Sev aimed and fired until the flames were extinguished 
-- only to burst back at full force seconds 
later. "I need a water hose. Bring me a hose, John!" he 
yelled. "The smoke was getting worse, and as I stood 
battling flames, I suddenly realized I would die not because 
of the fire in front of me but the one causing the 
roof to cave in. There was no hose to be had. Lotus 
Management had shut off all outdoor water so tenants 
wouldn't waste it by hosing down the sidewalk. Even a 
water key wouldn't get water out of the outdoor spigots 
because water had been shut off to them. If there 
were a water hose, I could've stopped the fire. No other 
storefronts on the block were burning, just the postal 
trucks in the back. Our roof was first,” he explained, 
“and the fire spread quickly with the wind."

Sev grabbed what property of Hopkin's he could, nothing 
of his own but his laptop, never dreaming the fire 
department would let the place burn to the ground. "I 
thought we would come back to massive water damage, 
not incinerated ashes," Sev says. 

"In fact, a fire truck stationed itself on Mendicino behind 
the by Chase Bank, firemen staring at a burning 
structure, only to confer with one another and race 
away. "I thought for sure they'd extinguish that fire 
then turn around and knock ours down. They did 
nothing but drive away, going west. I was at a loss 
to explain what any of the sirens, lights, or speeding 
emergency vehicles were for."

Both Sev and Hopkins finally managed to get into the 
back yard through the darkness. Hopkins grabbed 
what he could, like his cash register, but forgetting his 
wallet and glasses. Sev thought they could come back 
later and get all their stuff. Sev adds, “I never dreamed 
that the Fire Department wouldn’t come and hose it 
down!" 

Once outside, Sev asked John if he needed anything 
left inside, but Hopkins told him, “No, it's too dangerous! 
You’d be crazy to try to go back in!”

Sev points out that he wondered why no firemen had 
arrived and why no homeowners were defending nearby 
homes and businesses. He had no idea the town 
had already evacuated. “Everything was going unprotected. 
I thought they must be sleeping unaware of the 
danger,” said Sev.

With only one surviving vehicle, hardly able to shift 
into gear, they escaped. But Hopkins was desperate 
to see that his house was safe, having just paid off the 
mortgage after 30 years. So rather than driving away 
from the danger, they drove toward it, up Lake Avenue 
to Las Flores Avenue.

North Altadena was a ghost town, dark and smoky, 
with no moving vehicles. Emergency vehicles raced 
up the street then back down only to stop and then to 
speed off. Hopkins assumed they were assessing the 
situation.

Sev relates that they got up to John Hopkins’ home 
around 5:30 a.m, to find it on fire. “It was totally consumed 
when we got there,” said Sev, “and no other 
houses were yet burning.” They ran into downed power 
lines that hit the car. Hopkins cried out, “Let’s get 
out of here!” Sev realized they were about to be electrocuted 
unless he could maneuver around the wires. 

Driving south on Lake Avenue, they saw that some 
buildings burning, others fine in an inexplicable pattern. 
According to Hopkins, “They were fighting the 
fire at Aldi’s with a very weak stream of water. It was 
approaching 6:00 a.m., but no sky, only thick smoke.”

Police started to block Lake, sending everyone south. 
"Unable to stay in the area, which was chaotic and full 
of burning buildings, we took refuge with vegan friend 
Samantha Lau. Once fed and rested, we tried to return 
to Altadena but were denied access by a line of police. 
We knew our lives were forever changed,” said Sev.

They were advised to take shelter at the Pasadena Convention 
Center at the American Red Cross relief site, 
where a thousand or more evacuees had been directed 
into large conference rooms full of volunteers. They 
stayed there for weeks, sleeping on cots, daily getting 
vegan meals from Plant Based Treaty volunteers and 
many vegan restaurant-donors who served everyone.

Quaker Friends helped Sev, and restaurant patrons offered 
to take Hopkins in until his older sister in Rialto 
made space for him.

He plans to rebuild his Altadena home with a fireproof 
design. A non-profit cooperative has developed to revive 
Oh Happy Day Vegan Cafe on or near Lake Avenue. 
The old site is too devastated to rebuild anytime 
soon. A Go Fund Me has been established.

SIDEBAR 1

“People ask why we didn't run or evacuate. We had no 
idea Altadena was on fire or in any danger of burning. 
Irritating smoke maybe, high winds, ashes, but 
not fire. Eaton Canyon, the Cobb Estate, White City 
on Mt. Lowe might feed a brushfire and travel up, but 
not the residences and stores. I volunteer as a Native 
American docent at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center 
(ecnca.org). Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem's 
cycle. Had Los Angeles tended its foothills and watershed 
the way the ancient ancestors did, this could never 
happen. Here I was to protect a nearly 80-year-old 
vegan legend and the restaurant he built. This is seva 
in yoga, a Buddhist act of compassion, what anybody 
here might have done, Tim, or Jamie, the store's masseuse, 
Janell, or its matron Corn Woman.” -- Sous-
chef Sev

SIDEBAR 2

According to Jane Tsong, artist and conservation planner, 
“Stepping into Oh Happy Day feels like stepping 
into a different world, where values and people and 
even the speed of time are different.”


Pet of the Week

 
Momo is a 3-year-old, tall and dashing adventurer 
who's ready to be your loyal sidekick! Momo is a 
Chow mix, and despite the fluffy coat, we “only” 
weighs about 65 pounds. 

Momo's got personality! He’s sweet and 
affectionate, and he’s even been described as “a 
pro snuggler”. While he can be a little nervous 
with strangers, he warms up very quickly, 
especially when he’s getting tasty snacks. He’s also 
very quick to show off the tricks he’s learned- he's 
a master at “sit” (when he wants to sit, that is). He’s 
also learning “shake”, but it seems like he’s just 
in a hurry to get back to one of his new favorite 
activities- splashing in the pool!

When he’s not splashing around, he enjoys going 
on hikes and long walks, and exploring the 
outdoors. He’s always up for a game of fetch and if 
you’re lucky enough, he’ll even bring the toy back 
to you. 

 Momo has had experience living with other dogs, so he might be a good companion 
for a similar-sized buddy. 

 Whether lounging by your side or exploring the outdoors, Momo will bring joy, 
loyalty, and a touch of goofy charm into your life. He’ll even help keep you cool on 
a hot day. Ready for an adventurous, affectionate companion? Momo’s your guy!The 
adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, 
and age-appropriate vaccines. 

 Walk-in adoptions are available every day from 10:00 – 5:00. View photos of 
adoptable pets at pasadenahumane.org.

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care 
for your pet.

The O Happy Days store, pre-fire.


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