Shopping Cart Retrieval parked in the lane of the parking lot.  She felt entitled to sit there for 10 minutes or more, I guess.  

Also, there is a white van that makes the rounds in city parking lots.  The first time I saw him, he flashed his brights directly through my windshield and drove off like he owned the place.

The second time I saw him was last night in the $.99 Store on Huntington Drive at Buena Vista.  So that was the day after Christmas.  Who gets up at 2am to unofficially patrol the city?  Or are they patrolling the city?  

Last week, I saw a guy standing in the middle of the driveway at the Union 76 station on the southwest corner of Huntington Drive and Buena Vista, bending over pretending to be a derelict bum picking scraps and thrown-away items off the driveway.  A Camry drove up into the lot I was parked in and directly shined his brights through my windshield so that he could get a good look at me and then decided I was not a cop.  So he circled back to the Union 76 station to buy some drugs from the pretend derelict drug seller.  

But according to these [here and here] police blotters, there is no crime in Duarte.  It is funny to me how the city loves to showcase its civic activities as opposed to civic duties rather than report any details about crime.  They don't mind running people down in the court of public opinion, but they might say that they don't report things on social media out of privacy for the perpetrator(s).

Aqualand on Huntington Drive, Just West of the Blvd. Cafe and east of the Arcade & Chuck Wagon

Brothers and I swam here a handful of times.  But it was a public space.  

It was called Aqualand back in the 60s.  The caption reads "AQUALAND: Duarte's newest recreation facility is providing many happy hours for residents according to Tom Densham, Chairman of Parks and Recreation Commission.  The members of the Commission are also pleased with the result of their efforts . . . ."

Our great neighbors, Frank and Brenda Flannigan, had a pool, and they welcomed us with an open invitation.  So did our great friends, the Larsens, Keith and Ricky, and their parents.  We even swam a handful of times at the Police Academy pool in Elysian Park north of Dodgers Stadium. 

Sierra Madre, CA

Leonard Wynne of Memories of Sierra Madre, posted this picture the Sierra Madre Pacific Electric Depot.  The photo is taken in 1943.  

If at first glance, you're unable to locate where this depot may have been placed in Sierra Madre, take a look at the jacaranda trees behind and to its left.  

To better pinpoint its location, check out these photos by Steve Hyman with the Hotel Shirley behind the depot: 

Here is a 1947 photo of the depot decorated for Christmas: 

So these photos got me to searching a bit over the web . . . 

when I found this 1905 photo of a home named Carterhia after the owner's name, and this caption: 

Nathaniel Coburn Carter, the founder of Sierra Madre, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1840. In 1864 Mr. Carter married Annetta M. Pierce, a native of Lowell. They had five children: Mrs. Florence Carter Meade, Arthur N., Mrs. Julia Carter Henszey, Mrs. Anita Carter Gregory and Philip C. Carter. In 1870 Mr. Carter's failing health demanded a milder climate and he came to California, visited different sections of the country and returned east. He came back in 1872 and bought a portion of the Flores Ranch near San Gabriel. In 1874 Mr. Carter organized "Carter Excursions", bringing trainloads of people to California from all over the East and in 1881 he bought 845 acres of the Santa Anita Ranch from E.J. Baldwin, 150 acres from John R. Richardson and 108 acres from the Southern Pacific Railroad. Later when he had subdivided and sold much of the property he named the settlement "Sierra Madre." Carter built his own home on a beautiful site high against the mountains at the head of Baldwin Avenue. He had a great sense of humor, and hearing that Abbot Kinney had named his place just east of Eaton Canyon "Kinneloa," called his "Carterhia." Carter was one of the original incorporators of the Sierra Madre Water Company and of the Sierra Madre Library Association. He died in September, 1904, at the age of 64.; Cartherhia was built in 1882 and has been demolished.  Carterhia, the home of Nathaniel C. Carter in Sierra Madre.

THE INIMITABLE, STEVE HARDY

The original date of this post was Monday, July 23, 2012.

Steve Hardy at the Van Nuys Airport shopping for Lear Jets.  

What can I say about Steve Hardy?  Highly intelligent.  Highly ethical.  Highly entertaining.  I spent many hours with my friend, Steve, from 1998 to 2012.  We'd done a lot of things together.  Once we tried to start a restaurant counseling business where we would test a restaurant's food, gauge its customer service, take in its ambiance and then give feedback to the owners.  We did this as a free thing at a few restaurants before we tried this in a professional effort with the taco shop across the street from PCC on Colorado.

There was one episode where Steve and I went to Mandaloun in Glendale, a terrific middle eastern restaurant near the old Tony Romas. 

 And this shot. 

Steve and I used to eat at The Grapevine Restaurant in La Verne at least once a week often times two nights a week.  I always got a chicken kabob.  But they had the best ashtalieh, which is a kind of cream cheese made with honey or corn syrup and pistachio.  Some places use rosewater to enhance the flavor--that's what Grapevine did.  It was memorable.  

Eden Garden in Glendora was the last place that Steve and I used to hang out at.  Again, we'd eat here at least twice a week.  He enjoyed lots of terrific friends here.  I really enjoyed this place, and so did he.  The food was fantastic.  

 We always received remarkable service from Vartan and Marvin.  Those guys, in fact, the whole restaurant, really indulged us in large part due to Steve's grace and charm.  Steve was often invited by the owners to stay after hours and enjoy tea, conversation, and an occasional game of cards.  Steve was, is, loved by everyone.  

He brings valuable and interesting insights into every topic and every conversation bar none. 

The dancing and advancing, Steve Hardy.

Though I am not certain what and how Steve spends his valuable time these days, you might be able to spot him occasionally in Sierra Madre where he is loved by all and adds a wonderful eclectic influence to the place.  Steve's talents go beyond all expectations.  Though anyone would be right to call him a talented artist, that designation doesn't capture him.  It can't.  Yes, he's produced lots of paintings, and yes, he's given away thousands of good-sized watercolors that might have taken him several hours to a couple of days.  I myself am a grateful recipient of his artistic genius.  I have one of his masterpieces fixed to a wall inside my home.  But his genius cannot be described.  It cannot be qualified or quantified, which makes him a true genius, and a rare and exceptional find.  I feel blessed to count him definitively, if anyone can count anyone as such, as my very good and dear friend.

Steve was written up by Christopher Nyerges in the Mountain View News, the local Sierra Madre paper.  It looks like other people, lots of people, are admiring Steve's work.  Good for him.  Glad that he is being appreciated and recognized for his artistic efforts.

BOB'S BEEF BURGER

Anyone living in Monrovia, Duarte neighborhood will remember this institution for all of the fun and excitement of just going to get a burger, fries, and Coke.  

Steve Sanders used to work here as did Steve Hardy.  I?  Well, I used to eat here whenever I could.  It always felt like a social event, something bigger than just grabbing a burger. 

THE TRAILS

For a thorough discussion of The Trails Restaurant in Duarte, go to this link.  Those who remember miss terribly The Trails' soup.

Vulcan Mining

This mining in Duarte's Fish Canyon is a contentious issue in Duarte because it is Duarte residents who are affected by the dust, pollution, and the loss of a mountain view.

Flying A, Duarte, CA at the Corner of Las Lomas & Huntington

Though this is a Flying-A Mobile station in Anaheim back in 1956, Duarte had its own version of a Flying-A Mobile station at the northeast corner of Las Lomas and Huntington Drive.  I used to have a receipt for a gas purchase there in 1965.  Gas back then was 25 cents a gallon.  My dad drove a light blue Ford Station wagon.  The station was full service.  Attendants would check our oil, wash our windows--all of them, check tire pressure, and ask if we needed anything else.  If a customer purchased a certain dollar amount or a certain number of gallons, he'd earn a gift for the kids or for the family.  It was fun.  Compared to today, gas was expensive back then.  If gas was paid with a quarter per gallon, that quarter was made of a quarter ounce of silver.  The price of silver today hovers right around $16 an ounce.  A quarter ounce of silver today is $4.  In 1965, we paid a quarter ounce of silver.  To match that 1965 price, we should be paying $4 a gallon but we're not.  Though gasoline is taking up more of our budget, we're only paying around $2.60 a gallon; that would be like paying 14 cents a gallon back in 1965.  Though in the second half of 2014, the price of gas did come down, way down, thanks to the shale oil boon here in America.

JACK-IN-THE-BOX @ CALIFORNIA & HUNTINGTON

There was a Jack-in-the-Box that looked similar to this one, located on the southeast corner of California and Huntington Drive in Monrovia before it was replaced with a Jim's Hamburger.  I always liked the color scheme of Jack-in-the-Box.  It may be one reason why I love the shot below of the Chinese chain store, 168 Market, located in San Gabriel at Earle Street and Las Tunas Drive.

NEWSPAPER ROUTE

When I was 12 I had my first paper route, delivering the LA Herald Examiner.  One of the areas on my route was this mobile home park there to the right on Bradbourne Street. 

BE A LOCAL HISTORIAN

That takes years of training for most historians, and few of them ever write much.

Start with a local event at least three decades ago. Read all the newspaper accounts. Then rummage through old documents in the courthouse. Interview locals. Set up a website. Start analyzing the accuracy of the documents. Build up an inventory of documents online. Then start writing chapters on the event. Get feedback from locals. Then revise. Invest at least a year.

Then do it again on another topic. You will get on to how it's done.

Or read 20 to 30 books on one narrow topic. Read at least four book reviews of each book in scholarly journals. Take notes (Evernote.com). Then write book reviews of each book. Then write a summary article of at least 10,000 words on the major themes and how they have been handled. Then write your version.                      

NORTHVIEW JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, DUARTE, 1962

This is a photo of a 1962 class.  The instructor standing at the right is a Mr. Weaver.  I do not think that he was still teaching there when I arrived in 1969. You can see the original picture and a story by the owner of the picture who is in the photo.  

The only other two photos related to Northview that I can find are these:  

This yearbook note was penned by Rick Larsen inside my Northview yearbook, guessing that the year was 1970.  It's one of those things that meant so much to me because Rick was a neighborhood friend.  But we weren't really friends.  It was just that friendships extended beyond who you knew, but that friendship extended to anyone related or connected to one person you knew or liked.  And Joe and Keith were pretty good friends.  Will never forget how Keith emptied his dad's garage of all things or most things and then watered it down to mimic the effect of a speedway track so that when we each rode our bikes up the driveway as fast as we could and hit the water-downed garage, we'd glide in a speedway pose.  It was great summer fun.  Rick was a treasure.  He was mature.  He'd moved to La Canada.  We missed him then.  He and his brother along with his mother were a source of great entertainment.  But that 50 years ago now.  There are not enough moments in a lifetime.  You'd wished that we could have had more.  

We lost Rick early in 2018.  Rick Larsen (April 26, 1957-May 17, 2018).  And for some strange reason, I always remembered Rick's birthdate, April 26th.  I didn't realize how sick Rick was.  His daughter, Kate Larsen, wrote this:  

I am deeply saddened to announce the death of my father, Rick Larsen. Some of you may know that he struggled with chronic illness, most recently undergoing chemo for myelodysplastic syndrome.  After a week-long unexpected stay at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and with the help of amazing family and friends, my brother and I brought him home to family on hospice. He passed peacefully this morning in my brother’s home, surrounded by his loved ones.

It felt like we were close early because my brothers and I spent so much time over at his house, playing basketball, swimming, and goofing around.  I'll never forget Ken Wadding getting a hold of Rick's dad's pistol after he'd just gotten out of their pool and Ken running out of the front door all wet, slipping, both hands clutching the gun as he pointed it at the group of us standing out front.  We dispersed immediately.  

I do love this picture from Eric Bergquist, who may have shot the picture, out in the desert.  

Here is Eric Bergquist's caption with comments from others: 

Watermelon feast after a race—Dad and Jack Froelich on Tailgate.  Jack’s son, Larry, behind him.  Lynn and Lou Froelich, too.  My brother Steve, closest on the left, my dear friend, the little guy on the right front, grew up to be a Speedway motorcycle star, Keith “The Snakeman” Larsen, and his older brother, Rick Larsen is on his right.  Good Times.  J

. . . and the Cardinal yearbook cover designed by Steve Hardy.

The only reason I am posting this aerial photo of the Big Sky Drive-In is that the picture captures a sliver of Northview's sports field.  At the bottom right corner of the photo, you can see some of Northview's classrooms and a section of its sports field.  It was in that corner where I used to watch my brother, Tom, practice with his little league baseball team.  Their games were played at DYA or Duarte Youth Acres.  

BAY THEATER & S. CHARLES LEE, 1948-1949

Again, a little outside the city limits of Duarte, and you begin to see the glory and beauty that was and is Los Angeles of mid-century.  These shots are of the lobby of the beautiful Bay Theater, located at 15140 West Sunset Boulevard, Pacific Palisades. The theater, the building, and lobby were designed by Simeon Charles Lee. 

 Esther Williams on opening night of the Bay Theater, 1949.

 The Ladies' Lounge.

S. Charles Lee is at the right.  I do not know who the gentleman standing at the left is.  I will find out. 

VERN THEATER

This is a little out of the city limits of Duarte, but I couldn't pass an opportunity to post something about the gorgeous architectural designs of S. Charles Lee.  I learned of this architect today through a Facebook post on the Rosemead Theater in Rosemead.  Lee designed a lot of theaters in the Southern California.  The Vern Theater is one of his masterpieces.