Occidental College

Five Glendale Community College science students interning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will present research papers at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) to be held Saturday, Nov. 18 at Occidental College. The students are Shirley Mims, Jessica Lotozinski, George Hernandez, Jessica Soler and Julia Torres. All are in the Student Independent Research Intern (SIRI) program and are the only community college students represented in the sciences at the conference.

"Midsummer Night's Garden Party," an alfresco celebration benefiting Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC), will be held Sunday, June 24, at 6 p.m., at the Collins House Garden at Occidental College. With the vibrant garden in full bloom, guests will enjoy music, gourmet cuisine, fine wines and good cheer. Co-chairing the event are Antoinette Adams , Mary Blodgett , Eileen Stueck Leech and Jennifer Harris Sliskovich . Suggested dress is summer cocktail attire.

Noel Agoston of La Cañada and Roberto Lopez-Freeman of Los Angeles exchanged vows on July 23 at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jozsef Agoston of La Cañada Flintridge. The bride graduated from Flintridge Preparatory School, earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Occidental College, and her master's degree in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University. She is a practicing psychotherapist in Pasadena specializing in the treatment of children with mental illness.

Music lovers who regularly attend concerts presented by the Pasadena Symphony and who read the program notes closely are well aware that the renowned orchestra has been without an official assistant conductor since Lois Johnson retired in 2004. The Pasadena Symphony decided to fill the vacancy this past season by inviting each candidate for the assistant conductor position to assist Music Director Jorge Mester at rehearsals for a particular concert. Since the number of candidates matched the number of performances - the Pasadena Symphony performs eight times yearly, October through May - the candidates took turns, in effect, auditioning' as interim assistant conductors.

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 7, the La Cañada-based Towne Singers will present their annual spring concert at Thorne Hall on the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock. The concert begins at 4:30 p.m. and will feature a Bach cantata and several Beatles tunes, along with an assortment of Broadway classics, designed to appeal to the broad range of musical interests that are characteristic of Towne Singers audiences, and to showcase the choir?s ever-expanding artistic range and depth.

A longtime resident of La Cañada, Mrs. Jeannette "Jane" Lamson passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 19, after a long fight with Alzheimer's disease. She leaves her husband Robert ("Bob") of 55 years. She also leaves a son, Robert Jr. and his wife, Patricia, of Pleasant Hill; and a daughter, Nancy Wildy and her husband, Paul, of Seal Beach. Also left is a stepdaughter Kathleen Kusanovich of Grass Valley. Jane had three granddaughters, Andrea ("Annie"), Amanda, and Kerry. Jane was born in Atlanta, Ga. on Aug. 28, 1919, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Juett.

Those wishing to expand their repertoire of Christmas Carols beyond "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls" this holiday season may want to consider joining The Pasadena Symphony on December 10 when it presents British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Joining the orchestra on stage for this performance are baritone Ralph Wells and the Combined Choirs of Occidental College. Although Vaughan Williams' work is not as well known as the carols traditionally associated with Christmas, members of the audience will recognize fragments of holiday standards throughout the performance.

Flintridge Prep defeated the La Cañada boys' varsity soccer team, 2-1, in the first round of the La Cañada Tournament on Dec. 13. La Cañada, which fell to 5-4, hosted the La Cañada Tournament through last Friday and also participated in the Riverside Poly Tournament last Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. No results were available at press time. The Spartans will not play again until Jan. 5, when they will travel to Glendale for a nonleague match at 3:15 p.m. Prep's Isaac Jabola-Carolus scored both goals for the Rebels.

The grassroots effort to block a proposed underground tunnel connecting the Long Beach (710) and Foothill (210) freeways coalesced on stage this weekend when a number of elected officials and scholars panned the project as wasteful and unwanted. Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) delivered a keynote address Occidental College against the proposed extension and said there’d likely never be enough money to fund the project. “Shoving tunnels down the throats of the people is shortsighted,” he said before his speech.

Melissa Mazin , an eight-year resident of La Cañada Flintridge, has been seated as president of the La Cañada Junior Women's Club , it was announced Tuesday. Originally from Wilmington, Mass., Mazin graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Spanish. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1992, she has worked at various nonprofit organizations, including AIDS Project Los Angeles, Project Angel Food and Occidental College, and received her master's degree in Latin American studies from UCLA.

In the toughest, longest case of Steve Mercer?s 12-year law career, he stood before the United States Supreme Court, spoke with a photo in hand and a mission in mind: to represent his client, 19-year-old Melanie Ookhtens, who was murdered by her cousin. The La Cañada resident serves as deputy attorney with the California attorney general?s office in Los Angeles and dedicated 14 years to Knowles v. Mirzayance, which involved the fatal stabbing and shooting of Ookhtens, a sophomore at USC, by her cousin, Alexandre Mirzayance.

If you ask 13-year-old Lukas Bartke or 14-year-old Clayton Bonura, ?Star Wars? is the best song to play at the Verdugo Youth Musicians Assn. As the orchestra inches to the intro, and the conductor announces the song, all the kids let out a sigh of relief. In 2001, the association began providing classical music training from professional musicians to children of all ages who live in Glendale, Burbank, La Cañada, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. As part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Partnership Program, the collaboration gives children their first seat next to a monstrous cello or drum.

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The grassroots effort to block a proposed underground tunnel connecting the Long Beach (710) and Foothill (210) freeways coalesced on stage last weekend when a number of elected officials and scholars panned the project as wasteful and unwanted. Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) delivered a keynote address Occidental College against the proposed extension and said there’d likely never be enough money to fund the project. “Shoving tunnels down the throats of the people is shortsighted,” he said before his speech.

Beverly Marie Hamilton Beverly Hamilton (Bev Shushnar), 57, a 28-year resident of La Cañada, passed away peacefully on Nov. 11, 2009 with her family at her side. Bev was born Feb. 16, 1952 in Monroeville, Pa., to Mary and John Hamilton. She was the devoted wife of Gary Shushnar and loving mother of Mark and Steve. Bev is survived by her sons Mark and Steve, her husband Gary, father John, mother-in-law Eda, sister Connie, brothers Jim, Bill and Dan, and nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws and many exceptional and loyal friends.

It?s not the early season losses that will matter in the end for the Flintridge Prep football team. Rather, its the crucial stretch of Prep League games the Rebels find themselves in now that will determine the success of their season and they are currently playing their best football of the campaign. Behind a 406-yard team rushing performance and a defensive effort led by five interceptions, Prep defeated Viewpoint, 41-14, on Friday night at Occidental College, improving to 2-2 in the league, achieving their first two-game win streak of the year and building some much-needed momentum going into the season-finale showdown with Chadwick on which a playoff berth will hinge.

With its playoff hopes teetering, wide receiver/running back Kory Hamane stepped up to make the two biggest plays of the season for the Flintridge Prep football team Friday night. They came on consecutive plays and helped keep Flintridge Prep’s postseason hopes alive on its final drive. Hamane caught a fourth-down pass and then scored on a 10-yard run with 1:29 left to give Flintridge Prep a 24-21 Prep League victory against Webb at Occidental College. The Rebels improved to 2-5 and 1-2 in league with two league matches remaining.

Tom Fry, a Flintridge Preparatory School teacher and football coach, died last week at the age of 52 following a battle with cancer. A devastating loss,it is hard to find the words. Andrew Zwerner (Prep Class of ’98) explains: “Coach Fry was one of the most influential figures in my whole life. Those who knew him could tell stories about him for days. This always sounds so generic, but he was truly one-of-a-kind.” Thomas Wirt Fry grew up in west La Cañada.