Gatherings
La Canada Democratic Club to meet Sunday, Jan. 27
David Brown speaks at NCL luncheon
David Brown, executive director of Descanso Gardens Inc. was the guest speaker at the National Charity League Inc., Glendale Chapter Annual Luncheon, held Jan. 17 at La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.
Brown spoke about the garden’s history, telling the group “We are all gardeners now,” and asking each one to think about our place as part of the natural world.
National Charity League strives to foster mother-daughter relationships in a philanthropic organization dedicated to community service, leadership development and cultural experiences.
Morning Kiwanians to mark 15 years
La Cañada Kiwanis-AM is more or less an offshoot from La Cañada Kiwanis. But from a modest start in 1993, they now have more than 80 members, and they have increased their membership every year since the club was formed.
For the club’s 15 year anniversary celebration on Feb. 13 they will invite and honor charter members still living in the area.
Kiwanis-AM is best known for their Food Delivery Program. Over the last year the members delivered food for the homeless and the disadvantaged to a value in excess of $300,000. All the food was collected from local stores.
Another community service the Kiwanians support is that of bell ringers for the Salvation Army during the holidays. Last December they collected $5,852.
The main speaker for last week’s meeting was John Newcombe. He had quite by accident stumbled over a 150-year old picture of Crescenta-Cañada Valley with hardly a building in sight.
The two primary sources for material, especially photographs, were the archives at the Lanterman House on Encinas Drive and the historic Church of the Lighted Window.
The fruition of his research was a DVD video, which he named “Rancho La Cañada, Then and Now.”
The Kiwanians were treated to excerpts from this video, with opening and closing remarks by Newcombe.
Local DAR group to meet Feb. 1
Don Jose Verdugo Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution will meet on Friday, Feb. 1 at 10:45 a.m. in a private home. Bob Travis will bring slides and discuss “Hollywood at the Arboretum.”
For further information call (818) 241-9665.
The next meeting of the La Canada Flintridge Democratic Club will take place on Sunday, January 27 at 3:00 pm. The meeting will be at the home of Celina Lew and Ed Castro, 1435 Olive Lane, La Canada Flintridge.
The club will present a guest speaker, Nathan Gonzalez the author of Engaging Iran: The Rise of a Middle East Powerhouse and America’s Strategic Choice (Praeger SI), and founder of Nation andState.org, an open-source foreign policy think tank.
In 2002, Nathan received a prize from the University of California, Los Angeles, for his research on Iraq, through which he predicted that a U.S. invasion would bring about massive sectarian strife, pervasive anti-Americanism in Iraq, and a stronger Iran. He has also published several academic papers, blogs and op-eds on the topic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Nathan holds a master of international affairs from Columbia University, and a bachelor in political science from UCLA.
Celina Lew will present information regarding the upcoming ballot initiatives.
For further information, please call the Club at 818-503-3325 or email: lcfdemocrat@pacbell.net.