National Night Out, Tuesday, Aug. 4

The 2009 National Night Out is scheduled as follows:
DATE: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
TIME: 5:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.
PLACE: Loma Alta Park Equestrian Center
WHAT: Pot Luck - Please bring a dish to share, and if you like, bring a package of hot dogs too! Hot Dogs will be provided.

The Sheriff's Mounted Posse will be there. The SHARE Tolerance trailer will be there (and if you haven't seen it, do!)

Come out to meet your neighbors and others from all across Altadena, stand up against crime, and have fun, see old friends, make new ones, enjoy good food!

Smokey's Back and Better Than Ever!

Thanks to Jane here in The Meadows, we now have a wonderful new Smokey the Bear sign on lower Canyon Crest. In addition, Woodsy Owl makes an appearance on the back of the sign.

The original Smokey the Bear sign had seen better days. It was the desire of many here in The Meadows to replace it with a restored version. With the approval of local authorities, Jane volunteered to recreate the sign with the original design since pre-made versions are no longer available.

Woodsy Owl makes its appearance to remind everyone about keeping the canyon pristine and free of trash.

A BIG thank you to Jane!

Mt. Wilson Webcam

I just added a cool website under "Links" in the right hand column of the blog. It's from the webcam at the top of Mount Wilson and will update every two minutes.

Free Cacti

I have two large and one medium sized cacti in my garage roof garden that I want to remove. They're very healthy, just too large for the space. Anyone interested in them? Free, free, free!

Found Eyeglasses

A neighbor found a pair of prescription eye glasses on the trail near the gravesite on Little Roundtop. The are simple metal frame / clear glass with a small FG logo inside.

If these are yours, just contact me and I'll connect you with the neighbor.

Annual Community Garden Picnic on July 11

The Altadena Community Garden Annual Picnic and Mt Lowe Military Academy Reunion

Great food, friends, fun, garden tours, garden workshops, a raffle…and the Brown Mountain Jazz Band, again!!

Saturday, July 11, 2009
1:00PM until 5:00 PM
Altadena Community Garden at Loma Alta Park
3330 N. Lincoln Avenue (corner of Palm & Lincoln)
Children under 5 are free.
Children 6 – 12 - $4.00 each
Other guests, including Garden Associates, $7 in advance---$8 at the door

Each Garden Member brings a dish to serve 40and attend for free with a guest.
If your guests exceed four, consider bringing more!!!
We encourage homemade dishes.
Plots 1– 25: Bring Main Course/Entree
Plots 37-57: Bring Vegetables/Salads
Plots 30-36, 01, 02, 03, 36A, 38A, H1, H2, H3, H4 Bring Desserts
Please deliver your dishes by 11:30 am


The Altadena Community Garden is a non-profit organization that provides gardening space, information and education to Garden members and the local community. We believe that growing nutritional food and working outdoors in a group setting promotes healthy minds, spirits, and bodies. The Garden honors and appreciates the diversity, unique qualities, and cultural ideas of our gardeners and the community. By growing fresh food and tending the Garden together, we support harmony, cooperation, and healthy life choices for residents of Los Angeles County.

Blood Drive July 16

The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive at the gymnasium at Loma Alta Park, 3300 Lincoln Ave., on Thurs. July 16, from noon- 6 PM.

The public is invited to join employees of the Department of Parks and Recreation to donate blood at this County-sponsored Red Cross blood drive. Prospective donors can sign up for an appointment online at:
https://www.givelife.org/index.cfm?group=op&expand=615533&zc=01001

FireSafe Assessments Almost Complete

The Meadows FireSafe Council is nearing completion of its FireSafe assessments. This year, the council has assessed over 50 properties here in The Meadows. Next step will be to evaluate the findings and issue recommendations to the homeowners. These recommendations will include work that the FireSafe grant will complete and pay for and recommendations of other work homeowners can perform to make their properties more fire-safe.

It is expected that the grant work, which will mainly include tree and brush removal, will begin as early as August.

Mulch Available

As brush clearance under The Meadows FireSafe Council nears its final stages, really great mulch is available to all at the top of Risinghill. Putting mulch around your gardens is a great way to conserve water as it keeps moisture from evaporating during these warm summer months.

Millard Canyon Arts Festival Proposal

Mike Hickman is proposing organizing a small arts event with The Altadena Arts Council (Gene and Mary Ann Stevenson):

"Considering the rich artistic history and heritage of the Arroyo Seco/Millard Canyon area, we thought it might be nice to have a "Millard Canyon Arts Festival" in Loma Alta Park in the area next to the community garden as a way of promoting the arts and artists in the surrounding community.

"We would like to have artists and craftspeople set up booths to sell their work, food vendors and perhaps live performances during a Spring or early Summer weekend (at this point we are looking at 2010, and hoping it might develop into an annual event).

"We think there is also room to include several other elements of the community who may wish to participate with informational booths or activities , such as conservation organizations, trail groups, equestrians, service groups, law enforcement/public safety, etc.

"We are just in the early formative stages so I thought I would tell a few friends and ask what you think about this idea and if you have any suggestions. If you would like to be involved or if you know anyone who would like to be involved, please let us know and pass this info along.
We hope to arrange a public meeting soon to discuss this proposal."

You can contact Mike at (626) 398-6471 or vht@att.net