Kids N Kritters, Wags N Whiskers in Montrose
May 2 was the 5th Annual Kids and Kritters Day. Town officials were everywhere arranging things…I even saw the unofficial mayor of Montrose, John Drayman, moving chairs around early in the morning helping with the arrangements.
I spoke with Councilman Drayman a few Sundays ago, talking shop, when he said he was there most Sundays. May 2 was no exception as there was Councilman Drayman doing his thing interacting with the local folks. I have to take my hat off to Councilman Drayman; he certainly gets involved with his community and his home base.
Town officials estimated about 15,000 folks would spend the day strolling Honolulu Avenue spending their money on anything from books, jewelry, arts and crafts and tons of food of all kind. The festival was crowded with happy faces…young and old… big and tall and from every facet of life.
The reflection of the colors of arts and crafts and the aroma of a variety of foods, sounds of music and most of all the very happy faces of children makes you think life is good if we do the right thing.
This kind of community gathering should happen more often for the health of our city with its multicultural population. I love my city of Glendale and care about its people. I encourage my city officials to participate and support such activities in different parts of the city, as this helps us to educate, understand and communicate better with each other.
Unfortunately, I really did not like seeing the “political booths” along the boulevard. To me, this was Sunday and politics should have taken the day off. Even this community activist and council critic took the day off, hoping nobody would see me eating chicken, shaking hands and kissing a baby or two.
Congratulations, Montrose Shopping Park. I look forward to next year’s event.
I forgot my sun block and came home with a red face. Can you believe “a red face” and I was not even addressing our city council, giving Mr. Drayman a piece of my mind?
Mike Mohill
Glendale

Plan For The Future
La Crescenta needs to plan for the future of Foothill Boulevard and the time to do it is NOW!
The City of Glendale is formulating a Community Plan for the Foothills and Montrose, and a portion of the plan affects the future of Foothill Boulevard. Do we as residents of this community want to see our main thoroughfare become “the best that it can be” or are we willing to be satisfied with what a handful of people are saying we should accept? The beautification of Foothill will depend not only on guidelines affecting style and size of new and remodeled structures but also on the improvement of the boulevard as well.
As of now the Community Plan is recommending against the incorporation of landscape medians on Foothill. There are some businesses that are opposed to a median of any sort.  We appreciate our businesses, but La Cresecenta is mainly residential and we too deserve to have our voices heard. We want new businesses to come into our area and we will attract them if we provide an inviting atmosphere for them to invest their time and money.
A landscaped median can change the face of our “living room,” Foothill Boulevard, more than any one single improvement. A median can boast tastefully done directional signs to various places of business. A median can be decorated for the various seasons and holidays throughout the year.  A landscaped, well designed median, providing plenty of ingress/egress for all concerned, can not only enhance our community, but will increase the value of existing businesses and those that will follow.  Brand Boulevard is a prime example of thriving economic development; we need to act to develop Foothill to its greatest potential. It will be a win/win by attracting more and varied businesses, resulting in an increased tax base to benefit all of us!  This is an investment for decades to come.
If we look at Foothill today, we see one large new car dealership, which has plenty of curb space for unloading car carriers. Trader Joe’s has limited space, but that company is looking to build in Montrose and the La Crescenta store may not be around much longer.  We must plan for the future. We cannot be dinosaurs that are not looking at the big picture; changes are inevitable! Perhaps there are no funds at this time for a median, but let’s put it in the Community Plan so that as the boulevard changes and funds become available, we have not thrown away this opportunity.
Glendale City Council, Glendale Planning Department and residents of the Crescenta Valley, your help is needed now. If you are a resident, please let your views be known. You can e-mail Laura Stotler, planning department, at Lstotler@ci.glendale.ca.us. Also contact our City Council. Please, help us move to a brighter future!
Eleanor Wacker
La Crescenta