February 29, 2008
From Carolyn Seitz and the Sheriff’s Office: “I just heard from Captain Blow that State Parole has begun relocating the 6 paroled child molesters from Risinghill Road.
They should all be relocated by March 3rd.”
Who says a community uprising doesn’t get action?
January 10, 2008
From Media Relations…
N E W S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release
January 10, 2008
Designing the 700 MHz Auction
Pasadena, Calif.–It’s been called beachfront property. Wireless companies are clamoring for pieces of it. The auction that will parcel it out will be the biggest of the next decade, with reserve prices set at $10 billion.
The property is in the sky, and it constitutes the most valuable communications spectrum that will hit the open market in the foreseeable future. It is the 700 megahertz (MHz) frequency, which until now has been the exclusive domain of broadcast television. On January 24, on the road toward ubiquitous digital television, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will auction off licenses to use swaths of this spectrum.
Potential newbies to the wireless grid, like Google and Cox Cable, will bid alongside entrenched companies like Verizon and AT&T and start-ups like Frontline Wireless. They’ll all use a bidding system designed and built by California Institute of Technology economics professor Jacob Goeree and economics professor Charles Holt from the University of Virginia. The system was tested and refined through a series of laboratory experiments in which more than 200 Caltech undergraduates participated over the course of two years.
Right now, a few companies dominate the U.S. wireless market. This auction is the last chance for new entrants to create a national footprint. The 700 MHz frequency is particularly appealing for wireless–the signal can penetrate walls, and each tower broadcasting in this range can cover at least four times as many square miles as conventional cell-phone towers. This means fewer towers, at less expense, to any potential bidder. To cell-phone users, it may also mean goodbye to the roaming signal.
When the FCC approached Goeree and Holt in 2004, it asked them to test auctioning software the FCC had already built. The two rebuilt a downsized version of that software and commissioned Caltech undergrads to test it. The students came into the computer lab on weekends, placing bids in simulated auctions for hours at a time.
They competed with each other so realistically that, says Goeree, their intelligent bidding mimicked professional auction behavior.
“They even found bugs in the software because they’re so smart,” he says.
All of the bidding for the 700 MHz spectrum will take place online.
This auction will run the same way that art or real estate auctions do–interested parties make their offers, and then compete in a bidding war until a winner is declared. But a communications-spectrum auction can quickly get complicated because of the volume of goods on the block and the number of parties with varying levels of interest.
To start, the FCC has divided the spectrum into several bands–A through E–that occupy different frequencies within the 700 MHz range, and divided each of these bands into several regions. Band A consists of 176 licenses for the frequencies between 698-704 and
728-734 MHz, for example, and band C, considered the most commercially attractive, has only twelve licenses and occupies the
746-757 and 776-787 MHz frequency ranges.
Each bidder could be interested in different bands and in different geographic regions; they don’t necessarily want nationwide coverage.
For example, Verizon may be particularly attracted to the C band, and they may only want it in Texas and New Mexico, where their coverage is spotty. T-Mobile may want to buy regions of the same band for coverage from North Dakota all the way south through Texas and east as far as Kansas. And Google, in a bid to establish a nationwide network, might want a package combining bands B and C through several regions to collectively cover the entire country.
The FCC wants all buyers to be able to compete equally and wants to make the most money in the process. But the program it had devised was too complex. “We tested the plane the FCC built and it didn’t fly that well,” says Goeree. The FCC’s program was inefficient–it allowed too many potential combinations of bandwidths and geographic regions. It didn’t maximize profits, or potential wins for the bidders. Most of all, it alienated bidders with its intricacies.
Goeree and Holt tested related auction designs but these didn’t fly well either and were still too complex. So they created a new method.
“We had a very simple idea for how to do it,” says Goeree. In December 2006 they called the FCC and presented their approach, called Hierarchical Package Bidding (HPB). It groups the available licenses for all bands into packages according to a hierarchy with a fixed number of levels or tiers. For band C, for example, there could be three levels that comprise different bundles of regions. At the bottom level, 12 individual licenses would correspond to 12 different regions–Region 1 is the Northeast, for example; Region 4 is the Mississippi Valley; Region 12 is the Gulf of Mexico. On level two, the 12 regions could merge into three packages made of four individual regions each. At the top, it would be winner take all, meaning that if the highest bid was at level one, that bidder would take home the national package consisting of all 12 licenses for band C.
The HPB method gives small players a prayer at winning in the high-stakes game. In a three-level system, participants can opt to bid on any of the three levels simultaneously, though as the bidding war progresses they may find themselves squeezed into a single level.
Although ultimately the FCC wants to turn the maximum profit, it also wants bidders who value a certain license or package the most to win it. Verizon, for example, can probably afford bidding for countrywide coverage, but they might not want it. They may just want one smaller license. Less wealthy bidders can also afford to compete at a local level, where individual licenses will be cheaper. Collectively, individually smaller bids at the local level could add up to more than what is bid at the nationwide level.
At the close of each bidding round, the software calculates the total money bid at each level. In a three-level system, say the bids at level three total $12 billion, at level two they total $11 billion, and the level one bid is $12.4 billion. The software would then advise bidders on their next move should they want to stay in the game. Each of the 12 bidders on level three would be alerted to increase their bid by about $34 million. The four bidders at level two would need to fork over more than $350 million each to stay in the game. Level one could sit tight, until the next round. There would be no need to calculate; the bidders would just make sure they could afford the suggested bid. “It solves the complexity for them,”
says Goeree. It also means that if each bidder at level two or three follows the advice in unison, they can all move on to the next round.
Of course, whoever can’t follow the suggestion will get shut out.
In an October 2007 public notice, the FCC declared, “The HPB auction format was chosen in part because it mitigates issues inherent in some other package bidding formats that give bidders interested in large packages an advantage over bidders interested in individual licenses.”
The FCC chose a two-level hierarchy for the upcoming auction. On level two, 12 individual licenses will be available. Level one is more complex and consists of three packages: a 50-state package will constitute eight of the 12 licenses, another two of the 12 licenses will be made of other U.S. Pacific territories, and an Atlantic package will combine the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and Puerto Rico for the final two licenses. Testing by Goeree and Holt showed that even a simple two-tiered format performed dramatically better than the FCC’s previous setup.
Goeree’s main concern about his hierarchical system was that making packages of licenses without information about bidder preferences would fail to meet bidder interests. The HPB offers prepackaged units, but companies might only be interested in an intermediate choice that matched their needs more closely. They might therefore refuse to bid on Goeree’s setup. “It turned out I was wrong. The HPB auction actually performed better,” Goeree says. He found that allowing his volunteer testers to build their own packages resulted in overlapping regions and too much extra complexity.
“In fact, we will use HPB in part because the mechanism for calculating [prices] is significantly simpler than other package bidding pricing mechanisms,” the FCC reported in October. “In addition, we find that . . . HPB procedures in general strike a careful balance between permitting bidders adequate bidding flexibility and discouraging insincere and anticompetitive bidding behavior.”
Given the stakes and the number of licenses, the auction will likely last for several weeks. There will be several bidding opportunities per day, but just like in art auctions, the bidding ends only when the money runs out.
###
Visit the Caltech Media Relations website at http://pr.caltech.edu/media.
–
January 5, 2008
if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById(‘articleViewerGroup’).style.width = requestedWidth + “px”; document.getElementById(‘articleViewerGroup’).style.margin = “0px 0px 10px 10px”; } PASADENA – John Muir High School is about to get a face-lift.
After months of planning and discussion, community activists will collaborate with city and school officials next weekend and attack a blanket of litter that often veils the neighborhood around the campus.
To do this, members of the Altadena- Pasadena Block by Block Coalition are calling on the public to come help out at a cleanup day on Jan. 13.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Lincoln Avenue in front of the campus.
“I look at this as a quasi `extreme makeover’ project,” said Dave Roberts, who spearheaded the effort along with the Altadena Seventh-day Adventist Church.
He hopes to garner support from neighbors in the community, students at Muir and residents from around the city to help make the school a prouder place.
“This school has a proud history, and we want to bring that back,” Roberts said.
Roberts met with city officials at the campus on Thursday afternoon under heavy rain clouds and discussed what was plausible for the event.
With city officials’ help, group members plan to dispose of trash and other debris that lines the Lincoln Avenue sidewalks from the freeway to Wyoming Street. They might also place mulch in the dirt beds of trees lining the walkways.
What will be done Jan. 13. is largely dependent on the number of people who show up, officials said.
City officials said they would
have to control traffic in the area while the volunteers – many of whom will be youths – are working.They also discussed how much of Lincoln could feasibly be cleaned in four hours, noting that this could be an ongoing project with several phases.
“I don’t think it’s just a one-time shot,” said Pasadena city engineer Dan Rix.
Roberts agreed and hoped that the effort would have a visible, lasting impact on the neighborhood.
Altadena Town Councilman Bobby Thompson is also getting involved with the project, since his district is just up the street from the school.
“It’s like a gateway to Altadena from the freeway,” he said of Lincoln Avenue. “Hopefully as people leave the freeway they can see a progression of cleanliness.”
For information on volunteering, call (626) 794-3953 or show up at the event.
October 23, 2007
Here is a pic of my pix in the Caltech art show!
October 23, 2007
Caltech is having its Art on Your Own Time art show this week and I’ve got a selection of photography on display. It all happens in Dabney Lounge, Tuesday to Thursday, 10am to 3 pm.
Please come, spread the news and vote! Reception Thursday at 3 p.m. where awards will be announced!
I’m displaying 8 pieces! Hope to see you there!
October 1, 2007
Monica Hubbard is a former Caltecher, and I’m a current Techer (well, I use that a bit liberally since the students probably want to own that phrase!).
I’ll be at Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce mixer that Monica is sponsoring — I look forward to meeting you!
Altadena Women’s Network News 10-1-2007
“There is no greater power than a community discovering what
it cares about.”
~ Margaret Wheatley
~~~ Last chance to make a reservation for this Wednesday’s October 3
Altadena Chamber of Commerce mixer. I’m the host. Amy’s Patio
Restaurant is providing the snacks. No-host beverages will be
available. This is a great opportunity for some of you SOHO
professionals like me to get out and meet other local businesswomen.
RSVP to me via e-mail or call 626-797-5912. Operators are waiting to
take your call! Altadena Community Center, 730 E Altadena Dr., 5:30 to
7 p.m.
~~~ So glad to see that this year’s PUSD State of the Schools Address
on Tuesday, October 9 will be held in the John Muir High School
Auditorium, 1905 N Lincoln Ave. A community reception, featuring the
John Muir High School Jazz Band, will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the
presentation beginning at 6:00 p.m. Board of Education President,
Esteban Lizardo, will deliver the annual address. Spanish translation
will be provided. For more information, contact the Superintendent’s
Office at (626) 568-4553.
~~~ Two local restaurants are listed (p. 144) in the October issue of
the fancy new Pasadena magazine. Head out to Lincoln Avenue for your
choice of Mexican restaurants: Lusy’s Place at 3029 Lincoln, or Mota’s
at 2397 Lincoln. What’s your favorite place to eat in Altadena?
~~~ Save the date for Art on Palm. Local artists and artisans will
display their latest creations in a fabulous secluded garden. The
one-day-only show and sale features ceramics, collage, drawings,
fabric, glass, jewelry, paintings, photography and woodcarvings.
Participating artists include: Julie and Rick Ayers, Erica Batchelder,
Cathy Reichel-Clark, Catherine M. S. Cowles, Ellen Dinerman, Mary Jane
Elgin, Bill Haskell, Jim Hueston, Beverly Jones, Diane Kolde, Susan
Kromka, Celeste Lewis, John Meyer, Ron Lawrenz, Piri Mee, Dana Sue
Miller, Simeone Novello, Kathleen Swaydan, Erin Trefry, Bruce Wilson,
and Hitomi Yamamuro, Lucia Yang. Admission and parking are free; light
refreshments will be available for sale. Art on Palm, Fall 2007 will
also benefit the Fisher House Foundation. The artists donate a
portion of their sales to this non-profit organization that provides
humanitarian support for wounded military personnel and their
families. For more information about Fisher House Foundation, please
visit www.fisherhouse.org.
When: Saturday, October 13, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Where: 1239 E. Palm Street, Altadena (Parking on street.)
Information: 626-827-7870
~~~ The Altadena Guild of Huntington Hospital will be sponsoring the
15th annual Lynn Smith Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday, Oct. 15 at
Brookside Golf Course. The Guild is hoping there will be more women
participating in this year’s tournament. The yearly tournament
benefits Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI) and honors the
memory of Lynn A. Smith, a dedicated HMRI board of directors member
and generous benefactor. For more information, call Marguerite
Duncan-Abrams at (626) 297-5804.
~~~ Wondering where to vote in the November 6 Consolidated Election
for Altadena Library District Trustees? Visit
http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/Default.htm , key in your street number
and name, and you’ll find your assigned polling place.
~~~ AWN-er Judy Post, a friend our Caltech days, just sent me her
newest venture — Bead Soup! Check out her jewelry and other designs
at http://beadsoup.fortunecity.com/
~~~ The Altadena Library’s new Web site looks great!
http://altadenalibrary.org They are in the midst of their Banned Books
celebration. Over on the Orange Cat Web site, Karen Klein suggests
that this would be a good time to take your children to a library and
have some discussions about First Amendment rights and freedom of
expression. More online on this at the American Booksellers
Foundation for Free Expression. http://www.abffe.org/
~~~ Parents with children of any age will appreciate an online
newsletter with advice, tips and a calendar of family-friendly events
going on in the San Gabriel Valley. Visit the Orange Cat
http://www.theorangecat.org/ and sign up to receive their e-mail
newsletter. Karen Klein has a great article this month on her math
phobia and a new resource for parents to use to help their children
with math.
~~~ Are you a mom struggling for balance in your life? Kristin
Maschka would like to hear from you. She recently got an offer for a
yet-to-be-titled book on motherhood, to be released by Berkley, an
imprint of Penguin, in April 2009. Kristin is requesting mothers
everywhere to contribute stories and insights to her work. She’ll use
the collective voices of moms to help mothers see the hidden beliefs
about mothers, fathers, money, marriage and work that make motherhood
an often disorienting experience. These collective voices will guide
mothers to things they can do today that will immediately enable them
to break free and think differently about themselves, their families,
and OUR future. Mothers can contribute and sign up for my monthly
newsletter at www.kristinmaschka.com and e-mail Kristin directly at
kristin@kristinmaschka.com .
~~~ Great article and photo in Thursday’s Pasadena Weekly about
Catherine Bauknight, Patricia Cunliffe, and Ellen Snortland who all
stepped outside their normal areas of expertise to make documentary
films. Check out this great article here:
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=5145&IssueNum=91
~~~ Our Youth Activities League at Elliot Middle School is going
strong. Save November 4 for a concert to benefit this worthwhile
program for our young people. 6 p.m. (Note new date for this event.)
~~~ Flu season is almost upon us. If your health care provider’s
office doesn’t have shots available yet, Phoenix Wellness Center on
the corner of Washington and Altadena Drive does. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday through Friday. $25.00. (HERE’S MY CAVEAT ON FLU SHOTS — I’LL NEVER GET ANOTHER ONE. I JUST DON’T BELIEVE IN THEM, DATA DOESN’T SUPPORT THEIR USE. AND THE THREE TIMES I GOT ONE, I GOT VERY ILL. SO I WOULD CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR, AND A WELLNESS SPECIALIST, BEFORE GETTING ONE.–Debbi–AAIA)
Have a great week! ~ Monica Hubbard
> > > If at any time you would like your e-mail address permanently removed from this distribution list, just reply to the message and put
“Please unsubscribe” in the Subject line.
September 30, 2007
Taking hits, but not backing downPasadena Star News, Tuesday September 25 2007 Guest View P Opinion 4
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_6987119
I’VE got a book on the market called “They’re Your Kids, Not Your Friends.” The publishers in Mexico who picked up the rights went along with that title, calling the Spanish version, “Son Tus Hijos, No Tus Amigos.”
Just like I never believed my kids should be my friends, I don’t believe readers of this column have to be my friends.
My kids didn’t like the approach I took to life, and that’s putting it mildly in regard to their feelings about the approach I took to their lives.
Just like those I’ve been hearing from in the community who claim I don’t understand and don’t want to listen to reason when it comes to my recent column calling for the ouster of all those associated with Nia Charter School, my kids always said I didn’t understand or want to hear their point of view.
The angry community members who believe I’ve betrayed them, my ancestors and my ethnicity by outing a black pimping institution, know right from wrong just as my kids usually did. Funny, with all the accusations, I didn’t hear anyone claim Nia was doing a good job.
I don’t write because I want people, black or white, to like me. I write because I have a viewpoint, and while most people aren’t willing to say the emperor is not wearing clothes, I don’t know how to pretend he’s fully dressed.
One curt remark thrown my way reminded me that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Another well-wisher called me petty for having stored up my anger regarding my daughter’s experience at Nia not being what I had “dreamed” it would be.
“Some people, and I guess you’re one,” my detractor reminded me, “get (ticked) off when they don’t get special treatment.”
Adequate education, in America, isn’t classified as special treatment – at least it shouldn’t be.
Writing an opinion column reminds me of the saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I plan to stay right next to the hot stove.
Readers often remind me of the joy one finds in raising kids. Mine claimed to hate me on a very regular basis. Well, that was only until they grew up, moved out and learned life was a whole lot tougher than growing up under the “Captain,” as their friends named me.
That’s not to say I expect complaining readers to grow up – I don’t. But I do hope they will recognize that I’m not biting my nails because they hate what I write.
Was my column that pointed out the lack of learning that takes place at Nia an attack on a black educational institution that has and continues to fail the most vulnerable students in our school district?
Maybe.
Do I write by assignment that which the Star-News dictates?
Get real.
I’m an opinion columnist. I write what I think, and the Star-News hasn’t got an idea what I’ll write about next. They certainly don’t know what I’m going to say, because even I don’t know that until I fire-up my iMac.
Oh, and about kids and readers, I love you all. It’s the rocks that get thrown my way and my inability to know how to write what people want to read that keeps my adrenalin pumping.
shirlee@talkaboutparenting.org
Shirlee Smith is host and producer of the award-winning cable show “Talk About Parenting with Shirlee Smith” and is a resident of Altadena.
September 24, 2007
From Monica Hubbard’s Altadena Women’s Network:
Saturday, September 29, Congressman Adam Schiff invites
constituents to meet him at Coffee Gallery, 2029 N Lake Avenue,
between 2-3:30 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
Monica is hosting the October 3 Chamber of Commerce mixer and would love
to see women business members there. Amy’s Patio Café is
providing the treats. I’ll have some brochures about my nonprofit
consulting practice on hand. And it will be a great opportunity to
network. If you can come, please e-mail me or phone 626-797-5912.
The Altadena Chamber of Commerce is soliciting nominations for its
Citizen of the Year award. This award has been presented since 1945 in
recognition of “faithful, untiring interest and service in community
activities.” Applications are available at the Community Center and
other community gathering places, or e-mail altadenachamber@yahoo.com
Finally, Altadenans all over town are signing on to neighborhood discussion
e-groups, blogs and Web sites to share information and learn what’s
going on in the community. For a list of these blogs and e-groups,
visit a page on Tom Hubbard’s Web site, “Community Building, Part
I.” (Full disclosure – Monica’s husband is running for a seat on the
Altadena Library Board and this information is posted on his campaign
site. http://tomhubbard.net/2007/09/community-building-part-i.html)
September 21, 2007
This just in from Monica Hubbard/Altadena Women’s Network:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Metropolitan Transit Authority recently cut their Immediate Needs Program
by 66%. This program supplies Taxi Coupons to senior citizens.
The Altadena Senior Center will host a public meeting on Tuesday, October
2 at 1 p.m. so that our older residents, those who care for them, and
others who are impacted, will have an opportunity to voice their concerns.
Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s office and the MTA will be represented at
that meeting.
Claudia Curry, director of the Altadena Senior Center, urges all
interested citizens to attend this meeting so their concerns can be
heard. If you have questions, please direct them to:
Claudia F. Curry, Director, Altadena Senior Center
560 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, Calif. 91001
(626) 798-0505 tel
(626) 794-6742 fax
Please feel free to share this information with your respective e-mail
distribution lists as well.
Best wishes,
Monica Hubbard
Pepper Drive Neighbors Co-Captain
Altadena Women’s Network
1843 Pepper Drive, Altadena, CA 91001-3436
tel 626-797-5912 ~ fax 626-797-0210
September 15, 2007
Yes, it’s a little early to start talking about Christmas Tree Lane, but I can’t help it. The weather is cooling off a bit, and I went to see if there was a site for the lane, but the one currently in search engines no longer works (www.christmastreelane.net). So I thought I’d fill the void with this Wikipedia post for now. Susan Kitchens has some pix on her site (www.2020hindsight.org), and I know I have some from past years when Ian Whitcomb entertained and marching bands paraded down the lane. I’ll look for those. More likely I’ll take new ones this year.
I do have one of the old large, round, clear red lightbulbs that I put on my own tree every year, and pack back up in its plastic case. The lighting ceremony is one of those classic community events, full of kitch and pride and joy. And I love that Altadena has been glorifying what was to have been the Woodbury Estate driveway since 1956, when Altadena got Pasadena off our territory!
When I first moved to Altadena in 1995, one of my biggest thrills was driving silently down Santa Rosa with my 240SX’s lights off to not disturb drivers coming the other way. I opened my sunroof and was instantly in a zone of holiday magic. No one was racing down the street, no horns, no indication of life anwhere else. Just the magic of that canopy of Christmas lights overhead. I can’t wait til the lighting ceremony this year — December 8. Don’t miss! I hope to have some AltadenaAboveItAll merchandise there and I’ll surely be taking LOTS of pictures, as well as interviewing the celebrants! In the meantime, send me your Christmas Tree Lane stories and I’ll post them here!
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| Christmas Tree Lane | |
|---|---|
|
Christmas Tree Lane, view looking north up Santa Rosa Avenue from Woodbury Road |
|
| Location: | Santa Rosa Ave. between Altadena Drive and Woodbury Road Altadena, California |
| Added to NRHP: | September 13, 1990 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 90001444[1] |
| Governing body: | Local |
Christmas Tree Lane is mile long (.7 mi.) boulevard of deodar cedar trees in Altadena, California. The trees on the Lane, Santa Rosa Avenue, have been lighted annually as a Christmas Holiday display since 1920. It is recognized as the oldest large-scale outdoor Christmas display in the world and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (1990), and is designated California Historical Landmark No. 990 (1990).
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Deodars were introduced in 1883 to Southern California by Altadena founder John P. Woodbury who first saw a stand of the deodars in Italy. Proclaiming them the most beautiful trees he had ever seen, he returned with seeds. With assurance from a friend of his at the Department of Agriculture that the trees would do well in California, John had his brother Frederick raise them at the Altadena ranch. In two years they were transplanted to Santa Rosa Avenue which would become a driveway from Pasadena up the near mile stretch to Woodbury’s planned estate. The mansion was never realized, but the deodar legacy was left and it flourished for over a century to follow.
In 1920 Altadena resident and Pasadena businessman Frederick C. Nash came up with an idea of lighting the trees for the holidays. He sought assistance from his organization The Pasadena Kiwanis Club and from the City of Pasadena to initially light a 1/4 mile section of the roadway. Over the next few years the lighting expanded until the entire row of trees, 150 in all, were lighted. The boulevard at that time was referred to as the “Avenue of the Deodars.” Though many pedestrians would walk along the lighted street, it was really a spectacle to behold from the seats of slowly passing automobiles.
In 1927 the newer Altadena Kiwanis Club began the custom of taking less fortunate children for rides along what they joyfully called “Christmas Tree Street.” It was estimated that annually more than 50,000 automobiles travel the avenue during the weeks of the lighting, and modern statistics show that number has not changed much.
Lighting went on for the next three decades with Mr. Tom Hoag, the foreman of the Woodbury Ranch who saw to the planting of the lane, doing the honor of “pulling the switch” for each lighting ceremony. In the years 1943 and 44 the Lane was let go dark, not for anything to do with the war effort, but for the fact that the winter snow packs were low and conservation of electricity became a concern (see discussion note). During that period Mr. Hoag died.
The Lane had its share of postcards which were published internationally, but after the war many of the cards came up with the caption, “Christmas Tree Lane.” It is supposed that is where the street actually took its present-day name.
Same intersection in 1959.
In 1956 the residents of Altadena had voted on a measure to stop Pasadena annexation of Altadena lands. This ended a half century of Altadena being bit-by-bit turned into Pasadena, and it also ended the City of Pasadena’s involvement with Christmas Tree Lane. The Altadena community was left on its own to take care of the annual lighting. From a concerned citizenry the Altadenans formed the Christmas Tree Lane Association (CTLA). The original members were able to enlist the assistance of Local 11 of the Electrical Worker’s Union to string the trees each year. Boy Scouts of the San Gabriel Valley Council manned the side street blockades which directed traffic to the top of the Lane.
In 1964 the CTLA was able to enlist the assistance of Southern California Edison to install a permanent grid along the trees with special throw switches in three intersection locations with no cost attached the installations or use of electricity. In 1966 the Women’s Auxiliary was formed to help with fund-raising and keeping the Lane ready each year. In 1973, done more as a public relations move, the Lane was left dark during the Energy Crisis brought on by the world wide panic of low fuel availability.
One of the several signs indicating Christmas Tree Lane as a California State Landmark.
Over time age, disease and weather began to take toll on several of the trees. By 1990 there were but 135 of the original trees still standing. Nevertheless, that year Christmas Tree Lane was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and became California State Landmark No. 990. Of particular interest to those who were reviewing the application, it was noted that Christmas Tree Lane brought about the singularly significant social convergence of two relatively new commodities: the outdoor electric light and the automobile. Christmas Tree Lane is also recognized as the only botanical landmark on the State Registry.
In 1994 a more vigorous Board of Directors of the Christmas Tree Lane Association,instigated by Frank Crunk, forester of the Lane and assisted by new Lane residents Janice and Max Jouanicot and others, began repairing and replacing the strings of lights and re-planting those trees that had been lost over the years.
In the year 2000 the State’s electrical utilities were deregulated. Because of this Southern California Edison gave notice that it would have to charge for electrical use. To this point the electrical supply had been provided freely to the Lane. However, the permitting and installation of power meters is a function of Los Angeles County Public Works. Part and parcel to the permitting process is the inspection and upgrading of the electrical systems. Public Works was not at all accepting of the fifty-year-old electrical grid, and the County Engineer declared the electrical system unsafe. Cursory estimates for rewiring the grids ran from nearly eighty thousand dollars, based on material costs and volunteer labor, into the millions and looked to require months of work, depending on what the County engineers would accept. This put the annual lighting of the Lane in jeopardy.
The Board of Christmas Tree Lane Association,under the leadership of long term CTLA board member George Lewis,CTLA President Jan Jouanicot, Board member Stephen Bailey and Altadena Town Councilman Steve Lamb, appealed to the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. Nelson Nelson, a Public Works administrator, met with the CTLA Board and other concerned community members, and approved an acceptable plan at an estimated cost of $130,000 which was provided by Supervisor Antonovich. The Lane that year was lighted on schedule.
The Lanes lights are now put up every year by a small group of volunteers who start working in mid-October on weekends and most years finish just in time for the lighting.
The volunteers are made up of locals, members of the Christmas Tree Lane Association, and service organizations though anyone is welcome to join. All the light bubs are put on to lines and then put on the trees by hand with the help of pulleys and ladders.
The Lane is generally lighted at a “Lighting Ceremony” on the second Saturday of December unless otherwise indicated. The lights will go on at dark and will turn off around midnight. The lighting will continue to January 1st, or 2nd if its on a weekend.
Then starting in the end of January or early February depending on the weather, all the lights are taken down by the same small group and everything is stored until the next year.
Christmas Tree Lane is located in the unincorporated community of Altadena, California. The most popular route is downhill from Altadena Drive. In the past, all traffic was directed to the top and the Lane ran one way during visiting hours. The Lane operates in both directions now. Though there has also been a custom to drive with the headlights dimmed, the California Highway Patrol has stated unequivocally that there are no special exceptions made for dimming car lights while driving on the Lane, and that general public and pedestrian safety requires car lights to be left on.
Freeway accessing: Westbound 210 Freeway (Foothill Fwy) to Lake Avenue. Drive north (right turn) to Altadena Drive, the very last light going up the hill approximately 3 miles from the Freeway. Turn left one block to Santa Rosa. The lighted trees are a give-away. Uphill motorists can turn left at Woodbury Road, about 2.2 miles up from the Freeway, and drive 4 blocks to Santa Rosa.
Eastbound 210 from the direction of La Canada Flintridge, take the Windsor Avenue off-ramp, turn left to Woodbury, then right for about 2 miles to Santa Rosa Avenue. The tall lighted trees will be a landmark. You can also take Marengo Avenue north to Altadena Drive and turn right to Santa Rosa if you prefer the downhill route.
Eastbound SR 134 (Ventura Freeway) can use either the Lake Avenue approach as above, or take the 210 north to Lincoln Avenue. Turn right to Woodbury; turn right to Santa Rosa Avenue.
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