Candle

As the last rays of the sun set this evening, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins, marking eight days of celebration, gift-giving and reflection. The holiday occurs between the end of November and the end of December every year and celebrates important events in Jewish history. "In general this holiday has the most universal message — a message of light over darkness, freedom over oppression," said Rabbi Simcha Backman of the Chabad Jewish Center in Glendale. The history behind the celebration dates back more than 2,000 years to the victory of the Jewish army of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, which had tried to make the Jews renounce their faith, said Rabbi Richard Schechter of Glendale Temple Sinai.

Three candles sat atop a white sheet cake adorned with hot pink and purple roses made of icing. Florence Tuckman leaned forward to blow out the first candle ? an oversized digit in the shape of the number one. Someone pushed the cake closer to her as she struggled to blow out the second candle ? in the shape of a zero. With an extra push, she blew out the last candle and exclaimed ?I?m gonna live forever!? The last candle was a seven. On Monday afternoon, friends and family gathered at Elms Convalescent Hospital to celebrate Tuckman?

Karen S. Kim The Neighborhood Services Department wants to crack down on trespassing in Glendale, even if it's committed by a light bulb. The department has prepared a draft ordinance about "light trespassing," when the lights on one property shine too brightly on neighboring property. The ordinance is to be considered later by the City Council. "The ordinance was written because of resident complaints regarding their neighboring properties exuding too much light into their bedrooms and other rooms of their homes," Neighborhood Services Administrative Associate Suzana Delis said.

Forty family and heirloom quilts hand crafted by a dozen La Ca“ada women are on view at Lanterman House during a show that opened this week and continues through Dec. 22. For several of the exhibitors, quilting has been a family tradition. Peggy Barber's grandmother sewed for the 13 children she raised on a Texas cotton farm. Some of the quilts and the sun bonnets were passed down to Barber and used by her children during their early years. "Grandmother started this quilt in 1930," Barber explains, holding up a bright flower patterned quilt.

Connie Baker GLENDALE -- Imagine awakening one day to clouds of gray, darkening into an impending storm. Imagine them parting, opening to brief rays of light, only to become gray shadows again. Imagine the light never returning. Ever. For Liesl Bauders and Khachik Mirzoian, the nightmare became a reality they struggle to accept and live with every day. Bauders, a 77-year-old emigre of Dusseldorf, Germany, came to the United States in 1952, the happy wife of a La Canada Flintridge road worker.

The tail end of the holiday season marks the second birthday of the Glendale Philharmonic. On Sunday (Jan. 8) the orchestra celebrated that milestone and this evening's opening of their third season by performing at the First Baptist Church of Glendale. Tickets ranged from $15 to $100. Philharmonic concert-goers were more than willing to open their wallets for Haydn and Prokofiev. Glendale residents included Lois Lovi, Don McPoland and Bryan Rusenko. Those from the neighboring communities included Eagle Rock residents Andrew Hoagland and daughter Lily Hoagland, 5. Philharmonic stars were Maestro Mikael Avetisyan, cellist Ruslan Biryukov, concert master Limor Toren-Immerman and narrator-comedian, Glendale resident Emo Philips.

Robert Chacon Christmas is a time for giving, and while people remember the act of gift-giving during the holidays, it is also important that they remember the ultimate gift that God gave to the world -- so went the message delivered by Pastor Bruce Johnson during an hourlong Christmas Eve candle- lighting service at Lutheran Church in the Foothills. "People need to focus on the manger and the Christ child," Johnson said Wednesday. "God's gift to the world was his son."

GLENDALE - While today may be just another Friday to some, for others it is the eve of the 25th day of the month of Kislev, the start of Hanukkah. For Glendale residents Emily Bergman and her husband, Mark Allen, the eighth-day holiday is a celebration of freedom. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the victory in 165 B.C. of the Maccabees, a family of Jews from Judea, over the Syrian tyrant Antiochus IV. "This small band was miraculously able to beat a much larger and more powerful army to gain their freedom," Bergman said.

Amber Willard RIVERSIDE RANCHO -- Four people, two cats and two dogs were homeless Monday following a fire that destroyed their home at 212 Irving Avenue. The Glendale chapter of the American Red Cross was helping with housing and other necessities for the family, officials said Monday. The fire, which was reported at 7:34 p.m. Sunday, was started by a candle left unattended, Glendale Fire Marshal Steve Howard said. No one was injured by the blaze.

How many times during your lifetime have you been told to "blow out the candles and make a wish"? Well, today is my day to do just that, and since I don't believe that wishes told are wishes denied, I am going to tell you what I wished as I blew. I wish that the lights on Foothill Boulevard would be synchronized to a uniform speed limit -- maybe 35 or 40 mph -- so that a driver could travel east or west over its entire length from the Foothill Boulevard exit of the 210 Freeway in La Canada Flintridge to Sunland Boulevard without stopping.