Around & about
BOOK SIGNINGS
Lecture, book signing — Nov. 6 at noon. Glendale Community College presents Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sonia Nazario, as part of the college’s Achieveing College Excellence program, in Kreider Hall on the GCC campus, at 1500 N. Verdugo Road in Glendale. Nazario is author of “Enrique’s Journey,” about a boy’s journey to reunite with his mother. Nazario’s appearance is the culmination of a week-long series of talks at Glendale College, beginning with a discussion of the book by GCC assistant professor of English Rosemary Kwa.
CLASSES
Starting From Seeds — Oct. 7 & 14, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Descanso Gardens offers class on two Tuesdays. Steve Gerischer will discuss garden preparation, where to get the best seeds, care for seedlings, how best to plant, propagation, and starting plants from cuttings. Gerischer is a popular Descanso Gardens instructor who has lectured at Smith and Hawken and Hortus, and the Arboretum. He has been designing ecologically sound gardens for more than 20 years. Fees: $30 ($25 Descanso members). Reservations recommended.
Walk-in space is not always available. To register, call (818) 949-7980.
CLUBS
VHAA — Oct. 3, 7 p.m. Verdugo Hills Art Association meeting features artist Julie Snyder who will demonstrate oil painting using a live model. The public is welcome to attend for a $5 donation. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be held at the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church, 2902 Montrose Avenue in La Crescenta.
Snyder’s journey as a painter began at Scotland’s foremost Glasgow School of Art. Later she traveled throughout Europe and settled in the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. She came to the United States in 1984 and has been painting here ever since. For more information, call Sandy Rooney (818) 249-9006.
Pasadena Women Connection — Oct. 8, at 11:30 a.m. A Fall Holiday Boutique will be featured at the Pasadena Women Connection Luncheon at at Brookside Country Club, 1133 N. Rosemont. Shoppers are invited to have some holiday fun, do a little pre-holiday shopping, and support our annual fundraiser for Stonecroft Ministries. There will be live and silent auctions, lots of great gift baskets, crafts, jewelry, baked goods and many white elephant items. Doors will open at 10:30 A.M for the boutique.
Yrena Friedmann, pharmacist, will speak on how she discovered the “Prescription for Peace”. Tickets are $18.
For information or reservations call Margaret at (626)574-0251 or Freda (626)798-0978
MOMS Club of the Foothills — Oct. 9, at 10 a.m. The support group for stay-at-home mothers in the Crescenta Valley area, will meet Thursday, Oct. 9. Please bring 15 copies of your favorite recipe for a recipe exchange. Visitors and children welcome. Babysitting available. St. Luke’s Church, 2563 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta (No religious affiliation).
Call (818) 306-3655 or go to foothillmommembership@hotmail.com.
EVENTS
Descanso’s Annual Autumn Plant Sale — Oct. 3 and 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The 28th annual sale includes an appealing selection of plants, many propagated by Descanso volunteers. Fruit-bearing olive trees from Italy and Spain are also available in limited quantities. Plant sale parking is in the auxiliary lot near the Lake House Nursery. There is no admission fee to attend the sale. Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. The Gardens are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For details call (818) 949-4200 or visit www.descansogardens.org.
“The Good Life IS Green! Solar Homes Tour” — Oct. 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free public self guided tour of seven homes, seven shades of green. Presented by the Valley Solar Amigos, a non-profit association of green/solar homeowners in the L.A. and Crescenta Valley area.
For detailed descriptions of homes, directions and hours: https://web.mac.com/solar.amigos This local tour is in conjunction with the nationwide American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour showing hundreds of solar homes, schools, and businesses Oct. 4-5. www.NationalSolarTour.org.
African Violet Display & Sale — Oct. 11 & 12, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Descanso Gardens presents hundreds of African violets which will be exhibited and sold during this event sponsored by the African Violet Council of Southern California. Experts will offer advice for novice violet growers. Information about the area’s violet clubs will also be available. The show and sale are free with Gardens admission.
Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge; (818) 949-4200 or visit www.descansogardens.org.
One City, One Book Club — Oct. 15 at 6:45 p.m. The LCF One City, One Book committee has planned two activities to enrich the reading of this year’s choice, “Shadow Catcher,” by Marianne Wiggins. The first is a group discussion led by Kay Bahrami, librarian at La Cañada Elementary School and avid reader. All area residents, not just La Cañadans, are invited to give their impressions, opinions and insights into the writing and content of the selection.
The discussion will be held in the meeting room at the La Cañada Library, located at 4545 Oakwood Ave., La Cañada Flintridge.
The second event is an appearance by the author herself. Wiggins teaches English at USC and has graciously agreed to come to La Cañada to speak about her book, which is the story of photographer Edward Curtis, his work in the West, his marriage and the family he eventually abandoned. Wiggins will speak at the La Cañada Unified School District Offices at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. The offices are located at 4490 Cornishon Ave.
EXHIBITIONS
Karen Horn and Sarah Gordon — Oct. 4 to Oct. 31, during regular library hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday – 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday – closed. Exhibit their paintings for the first time in the La Cañada Flintridge Library’s Community Room the month of October. The library is located at 4545 Oakwood Ave., La Cañada.
‘Plein Air Paintings of the Arroyo Seco’ Exhibition and Sale — Oct. 5, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The California Art Club, which will soon celebrate its centennial anniversary, will return to the Arroyo Seco, the Club’s birthplace, to create new artwork for a special exhibition and sale of plein air paintings of this celebrated canyon. Among the artists participating in this event are many of today’s renowned contemporary-traditional fine artists, including Peter Adams, Eric Merrell, Junn Roca, Jason Situ and Yisun Wei. Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will benefit the California Art Club’s educational arts programs and the La Casita Foundation’s mission to conserve the gardens at La Casita. Located at La Casita del Arroyo Foundation, 177 S. Arroyo Blvd. Pasadena. Free
For information (626) 583-9009 or www.californiaartclub.org
Group Art Exhibition — Through Nov. 8. “The Whole World is Watching,” a group art exhibition curated by Irene Tsatsos, on display in the Glendale Community College Art Gallery. Admission to the reception and exhibition is free and open to the public.
Tsatsos is a curator, contemporary art advisor and writer based in Los Angeles. Featured artists in the exhibition are Rheim Alkadhi, Mike Arcega, Joyce Campbell, Eve Fowler, Ed Gomez, Emilie Halpern, Gustavo Herrera, Anna Sew Hoy, OIga Koumoundouros, Shana Lutker, Eamon Ore-Giron, Marco Rios, Shizu Saldamando, Maya Schindler, Joel Tauber, Peter Wu.
Gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5663 for information or visit the website at www.glendale.edu/artgallery. The gallery is located in the college’s Library Building, 1500 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale.
FLEA MARKETS
Pasadena City College Flea Market — Oct. 5, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (first Sunday every month). Antiques and collectibles, with the products ranging from high-end antiques to rummage items. The market houses over 450 vendors that are located in parking lots on the PCC campus, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. More than 70 record vendors offering items ranging from the big bands to present day performers are located in parking lot 10, at the intersection of Green and Holliston. Admission is free.
LECTURES
GreenSpeak Lecture-Global Warming Facts & Solutions — Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to noon. GreenSpeak is Descanso’s environmental discourse series in which noted experts explore imaginative ways to maintain and improve the environment for the people of Southern California. In this lecture, John Zavalney discusses the scientific causes of global warming and some of the currently observed effects, as well as possible future consequences of inaction. Zavalney is one of former Vice President Al Gore’s 1,000 trained presenters who lecture on concepts in his movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Fees: $12 ($10 Descanso members), $5 students (current student ID required at the door.) Reservations recommended. Walk-in space is not always available.
To register, call Descanso Gardens at (818) 949-7980.
PERFORMANCE
Inside Private Lives — Through Oct. 19, once a week only on Sundays at 7 p.m. “Inside Private Lives” makes audience members part of the action as they are encouraged to confront and challenge the likes of cult leaders, celebrities, political operatives, sports figures and other notorious newsmakers of the 20th century. Scandals and secrets are revealed.
Six controversial figures are featured at every performance, and with a gallery of over 16 notorious newsmakers to choose from, every show is different.
Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. Tickets $25 with a $5 discount for students and senior citizens. For information, call (866) 811-4111 or visit www.InsidePrivateLives.com.
The Pasadena Symphony — Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. The Pasadena Symphony conducted by Maestro Jorge Mester performs Carlos Chávez’ “Sinfonía India” (Symphony No. 2), Silvestre Revueltas’ “La Noche de los Mayas” and “Concerto for Mariachi & Orchestra” (Pasión Mexicana), by Jeff Nevin and Jose Hernandez.
The guest artist is Mariachi Champaña Nevín.
Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena, $20 to $75; children, $10 (626) 584-8833.
For more information, call (626) 793-7172, or visit www.theorchestras.org.
REUNIONS
CVHS Class 45-Year Reunion — Oct. 4, Members of the first class to graduate from Crescenta Valley High School, 1963, are holding a 45-year reunion picnic Oct. 4 at Crescenta Valley Park.
Details and reservation information are available at www.cvfalcons.com/alumni/classof63.html or by contacting Dennis LeBlanc at (805) 473-1125.
The motto of the class of ’63 was “The first and the best” and students attended the new school on the site of the old Clark Junior High. They set many traditions that are still followed today.
TO YOUR HEALTH
12 step, 12 week Kung Fu Boot camp — Through Dec. 17, from 7-8 p.m. The class teaches the 12 step Tan Tui, a 12 section Kung Fu form taught to all beginner level Shaolin monks.
Classes are held year round in the patio area of the CV Park Multipurpose Center, 3901 Dunsmore Ave., Crescenta Valley.
Fee is $120 for entire 12 weeks or $20 per class. For information call Buddha Zhen at (818) 723-2769 or visit www.buddhakungfu.com.
ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) Support Group — Oct. 18, 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
The next meeting of the support group for people with ALS, their families and friends takes place at Lamanda Park Library, 140 S. Altadena Drive, Pasadena.
The meeting is free of charge.
Free Blood Pressure Screening — Every Monday, 9 to 11 a.m. Community members can take advantage of Verdugo Hills Hospital’s free blood pressure screenings. Verdugo Hills Hospital is located at 1812 Verdugo Blvd., Glendale.
VOLUNTEER
Descanso Gardens — Oct. 18 or Nov. 15. adults meet at 9 a.m., and teens at 10 a.m. Whether you are an adult or a teen, Descanso Gardens can use your help with plant care and propagation, family and school programs, festivals, tours, clerical work and lots more. To learn about all the possibilities, attend a fall orientation session on Oct. 18 or Nov. 15. Reservations are not necessary.
For more information, check the website at descansogardens.org or call (818) 949-7978.
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