Ugh! More Rain

 I don’t know about you, but to me it doesn’t seem much like spring. I know – we need the rain, but that doesn’t jibe with my perspective of what spring is. I am breathing a little easier knowing that our roof no longer leaks (thank you, Steve Goldsworthy); however, my thoughts do stray to the property of Rockhaven, my office neighbor. For more than a decade it seems that no attention has been given to the property and especially with all the recent rain I know those roofs are leaking.

Considering that March is Women’s History Month and that Rockhaven was started by a woman (Agnes Richards) way back in 1923, the lack of attention given to the property is disheartening, to say the least. Personally, I thought that once the City of Glendale bought the property its condition would be maintained if not improved. Seems that’s not the case.

When Friends of Rockhaven was formed, I thought that entity would be working closely with the City to identify the areas that needed to be repaired and/or maintained. Perhaps that information was collected and shared but it doesn’t appear the City responded. Then when State Senator Portantino provided $8 million to move forward repairs and refurbishment, I thought we’d be seeing property changes posthaste. Nope – despite the passion for the property by Friends of Rockhaven nothing appears to be happening.

Is “demolition by neglect” the goal of the City? At this point it wouldn’t surprise me. I mean, let’s face it: those 3.5 acres are prime real estate that I’m sure developers are drooling over. And who would be paid if the property were purchased? The City of Glendale.

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Looking over the calendar, I see that April is filling up fast. This Saturday, April 1 the CV Weekly and St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church are hosting a celebration of life/Irish wake for the community.

Over the past year we have lost some pretty important people in our community – former CV Chamber President Kaipo Chock, volunteer extraordinaire Jean Maluccio and CV Chamber member and former CV High School principal Ken Biermann, to name a few. Personally, our family said good-bye to my mother-in-law on Dec. 8.

Knowing the losses that we as a community have suffered and understanding that many of us have also had close friends and family die, we wanted to provide a way for us all to come together. The celebration of life/Irish wake on Saturday is a means for us to collectively grieve our losses while celebrating the lives these people lived.

The event is from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 1 at St. Luke’s of the Mountains, 2563 Foothill Blvd. (at Rosemont Avenue). Live music is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.