Going any Lengths for Relay
Last year while attending our community’s 11th Annual Foothills Relay For Life, a 24-hour walk for the American Cancer Society, I was struck with an idea how to raise additional funds on the morning of the event. Shave my head!

This was not going to come cheap. My goal was to raise $3,000 by 9 p.m. that night.

The real challenge was asking those who had been busy for months fund raising, appealing to friends and family for donations, and forming teams to come up with still more money.

But I had more fun that day when kids asked, “Are you the crazy lady who’s going to shave her head?”

When I replied, “Yep!” they would give me a dollar or maybe 25 cents. Some teams gave me donations.

8:55 p.m. found me $2,500 from my goal. Okay, as a community we raised $500 in one day! And I still had my hair. I was asked how much money I needed to attain my goal and voila, I was given a check for the balance. Wow!

Shaving my head was extremely cathartic and liberating! However, I chose to shave my head. Men, women, and children undergoing chemotherapy don’t have a choice. True heroes to me.

I met a young lady two days after her diagnosis with cancer. She asked why I’m not wearing a wig. I told her my story. I saw her a short while later, head shaved and beautiful. She was proud and not embarrassed.

By the way … her husband likes her bald.

Remember, it’s only hair.

Regan Boone
La Crescenta

WHAT’S DONE IS DONE
Council member Ara Najarian has said, “What’s done is done … let’s not turn back the clock … this is not about politics.” Actually, that was the sentiment of all [City of Glendale] council members when it came to looking at the new water rate structuring.

Mayor Friedman has said the $70,000,000 for Smart Meters was a done deal, but during this recession she could have called for a moratorium on the meter installation. There was no rush and [she] could have shown real leadership by stopping the installation and saving the rate payers almost $70,000,000.

The whole tier rate structuring was all about confusing the people and sliding through the back door another tax to the rate payers by paying more money for their utilities. After five years of higher and higher rate increases, homeowners will be paying on average $800-$1,000 every two months for water and electricity. Future utility bills will come monthly, rather than every other month. Monthly billing is a sneaky way as to make the utility bill appear less expensive, but at the end of the year our utility bills will be more costly… even with Smart Meters.

Mike Mohill
Glendale