Ducks

For the handful of house guests that showed up at the Porters unannounced on Tuesday, it’s been shredded lettuce and water on the menu as the Glendale family figures out what to do with their guests. Four ducklings have suddenly become dependent on the family after their mother flew away in a panic as Lin and Brett Porter cornered the ducklings with a net and removed them from the pool. The 20-minute-long effort had the ducklings chirping and diving under water to evade capture.

Gabriel Pacheco worked feverishly Friday, removing number tags from the bottoms of several hundred rubber ducks in preparation for this year’s Glendale Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash fundraiser. Pacheco and 50 other clients of the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded removed small silver tags on about 30,000 ducks and packed them inside dozens of blue plastic boxes, which will be shipped to the Glendale Kiwanis Club for the Oct. 18 event at Lake Glendale in Verdugo Park. The Kiwanis Club will then place new number tags on the ducks that correspond to numbers given to people as they donated money.

The Kiwanis Club of Glendale members and friends will be quacking up a storm today during the Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash at Verdugo Park. In its third year, the event is a fundraiser in which local nonprofit organizations “adopt” ducks at $5 apiece and race them in the man-made Lake Glendale in the park. In addition to cash prizes for the top finishers, the nonprofits keep half of the proceeds, with the remaining funds going to event organizers, the Kiwanis Club of Glendale.

As I was photographing this event, one of the Glendale Kiwanis Club members said that the children instinctively run down the side of river as the rubber ducks race to the lower lake. Since most of the people were at the gate where the ducks were released, I knew that they would all come toward me as the "contestants" bobbed downstream. This one little guy leaned over the side to get a duck's eye view. His red hair and red shirt contrasting with the yellow ducks, as well as the strong diagonal line of the side of the pool make for good photographic elements.

Duck season was officially launched Friday at a ceremony co-sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Glendale and the city of Glendale. The event was a kick off for a fundraising campaign for Glendale charities called the Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash (KIDS). The public can adopt ducks that will race from 1 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. on Sept. 10 in a temporary lake at Verdugo Park. Proceeds will benefit nonprofit organizations. Pictured are Kiwanis members Beth Neaman, right, and Susie Dell as they set out the ducks up for adoption.

Robert Chacon The Glendale Kiwanis Club is hoping to make a big splash with its newest fundraiser. The Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash is coming to town Sept. 10, but those who wish to participate have to first adopt one or more of the thousands of faux-feathered aquatic fowl that will be featured in the event. "Adoption papers" for the rubber duckies, which will be raced around "Lake Glendale," are available beginning today at a 1 p.m. kickoff event at the fountain under the Glendale City Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway.

Amber Willard NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Nervously circling the swimming pool, Casey doesn't take his eyes from the noisy intruders who are slowly paddling their way through the water. Casey, a 2-year-old Labrador, lives in a hillside house on Valley View Road whose pool has been taken over every summer for the last eight years by Mallard ducks. Wednesday night, the mother duck appeared with newly hatched ducklings and took up residence in the pool.

Ifeel like I'm the luckiest dog in town! My family lets me go almost everywhere with them. We have a great life. Monday through Friday, I get to go to work with my dad, mom, brother and grandma. My dad wishes all the employees were as excited as I am to come to work. Some days, I get so excited on the drive to work that I howl a little bit on the way. At break time, I get to go for a walk. Some days I even see my girlfriend in the alley. I also keep my eyes on things around here.

Volunteers sought to fill sandbags The city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department on Tuesday appealed for help in filling sandbags for hillside residents at risk of mudflows and heavy rain runoff this winter. The volunteer event will run from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in the lower parking lot at Dunsmore Park, 4700 Dunsmore Ave., in La Crescenta. The sandbags will be distributed to residents in the La Crescenta and Glenoaks Canyon areas. Volunteers should wear sturdy close-toed shoes, sunblock and be prepared for physically demanding work.

The University of Oregon marching band is no stranger to prime-time shows - its student musicians have accompanied their football team to a series of back-to-back bowl appearances, including the Bowl Championship Series title game last year. But the excitement was still palpable Friday at Glendale Community College, where the Ducks rehearsed this week in preparation for their Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game appearances. “For the bands, I think this is bigger than the national championship, which we got to experience last year,” said director Eric Wiltshire.

Just this summer, Glendale officials were expressing concern as they took a machete to the city's budget. But on Tuesday, they were patting themselves on the back for following through on austerity measures adopted the prior year. Finance Director Bob Elliot said city departments came in about $7.6 million under budget for fiscal year 2010-11, spending $167.9 million - or about $5 million less than the nearly $173 million in resources available. “In a year in which you had considerable budget constraints, you closed almost a $10-million deficit,” said Jim Starbird.

Each year, Glendale's GAR Services works with Glendale Noon Kiwanis to prepare for the club's Oct. 15 Duck Splash in which participants sponsor ducks in the event and proceeds are donated to local charities that serve children and youth. To assist Glendale Noon Kiwanis prepare for the Duck Splash, adults with disabilities who are employed by Glendale's GAR Services remove tags fitted on the ducks. This year, clients at GAR Services removed tags from thousands of ducks in a single work day. Founded in 1954, GAR Services was first established to serve children with developmental disabilities by a Glendale couple named Phyllis and Jerry Campbell who had a child with Down's syndrome.

Mark your calendars for the return of several thousand rubber ducks to race in Lake Glendale. The Kiwanis Club of Glendale is sponsoring the seventh annual “Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash” to be held at the inflatable Lake Glendale in Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd., on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kiwanis President Bruce Hinckley kicked off the regular Kiwanis Club meeting last Friday to launch the KIDS race event campaign....

Vanes "Nightmare" Martirosyan hasn't been in the ring since early June, but nonetheless, the undefeated light middleweight has taken quite a beating over the past week. Rather than physical, the abuse heaped on Glendale's most famous fighter in the wake of turning down a proposed Nov. 5 fight in Cancun, Mexico against Alfredo Angulo late last week has been verbal, dished out over the web by sources as varied as Golden Boy Promotions brass, fight fans on Internet message boards and even Angulo himself.

For the handful of house guests that showed up at the Porters unannounced on Tuesday, it’s been shredded lettuce and water on the menu as the Glendale family figures out what to do with their guests. Four ducklings have suddenly become dependent on the family after their mother flew away in a panic as Lin and Brett Porter cornered the ducklings with a net and removed them from the pool. The 20-minute-long effort had the ducklings chirping and diving under water to evade capture.

Amid the quacking and duck jokes, the sixth annual Incredible Duck Splash helped local "duck buddy" organizations such as neighborhood Boys & Girls clubs, elementary, middle and high schools and community support services for families. Heavy machinery loaded thousands of ducks into the temporary "Lake Glendale" for each heat of the day Saturday, manned by Kiwanis volunteers and the Glendale Fire Department. Although the majority of the ducks were presold by the charities and Kiwanis members, close to 400 ducks were adopted by day-of attendees of the event at Verdugo Park.

Representatives for Republican Assembly candidate Sunder Ramani are arguing that his opponent is dodging opportunities to participate in debates ahead of the June 8 runoff election to represent Glendale, Burbank and parts of Los Angeles. Ramani participated alone in a televised town hall Sunday hosted by the Armenian National Committee on Horizon Armenian Television. Democrat Mike Gatto did not attend the event at the Horizon studio in Hollywood because of a scheduling conflict, according to his campaign.

Siblings Isabelle and Henry Avanosian jumped up and down in anticipation Saturday afternoon as they waited for hundreds of rubber ducks to come rushing past them in a man-made waterway. Nine-year-old Isabelle and 7-year-old Henry were among hundreds of residents who went to Verdugo Park Saturday for the fifth annual Glendale Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash, the organization’s signature fundraising event, where community members could make donations to “adopt” rubber ducks for the afternoon’s races.

Volunteers sought to fill sandbags The city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department on Tuesday appealed for help in filling sandbags for hillside residents at risk of mudflows and heavy rain runoff this winter. The volunteer event will run from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in the lower parking lot at Dunsmore Park, 4700 Dunsmore Ave., in La Crescenta. The sandbags will be distributed to residents in the La Crescenta and Glenoaks Canyon areas. Volunteers should wear sturdy close-toed shoes, sunblock and be prepared for physically demanding work.