Front Desk

Darleene Barrientos Horace Mann Elementary School's front office has been like home -- the place where school careers begin and where students go if they're hurt or need help. But home will lose three family members on June 30 with the retirement of clerks Sarina Schroeder, Anoosh Hambarsumian and administrative secretary Joy Pruett. With Track A students and teachers leaving for off-track vacation Friday, teachers and administrators are dreading the three longtime office workers' retirements.

After 30 years reaping the benefits of the Glendale YMCA, Bill Hughes has started giving back. Swimming six days a week at the YMCA is what keeps him in shape, but now he sticks around two days a week to volunteer at the front desk. When members come to use the facility, he checks them in to the building and answers questions about the YMCA's services. He also points them in the direction they need to go. "I enjoy it," Hughes said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing it. It gives me something to do. If I wasn't doing something, I would go crazy."

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- As the holiday season rolls around, police are not only searching for criminals, they're looking for toys. Glendale Police need gifts to give children at holiday parties it has planned, as well as gifts for officers to hand out throughout the year. "We're having three parties for disabled and needy children," police spokesman Sgt. Rick Young said. New, unwrapped toys for children 12 and under can be dropped off at the police department front desk at 140 N. Isabel St. through Dec. 25. Officers also keep toys in the trunks of their patrol cars on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 to hand out to needy children they come across, Young said.

The Glendale Police Department is in the process of recruiting interested individuals to participate in its Citizen's Police Academy. This Academy is designed to help the citizens of Glendale understand the role and responsibilities of the department. Those enrolled in the academy will learn what happens when the police are called, how criminals are apprehended and how they are prosecuted. They will also learn how to protect themselves, their property and their identities with informative interactive classes from the Glendale Police Department's finest.

Sid Gordon's mother, Rosaline, worked at Charles B. Behrens Memorial Hospital when he was young. Now he has become curious about the hospital, which was the precursor to Verdugo Hills Hospital. "My mother was a nurse and she always talked about work, but I was a kid then and didn't pay attention," said Gordon, who was a student at Clark Junior High School at the time. "She worked there after we came to California in 1960," he said. "We lived in La Crescenta, and she drove down to the hospital every day. My sister Randi was born there in 1962."

GETTING INVOLVED runs periodically in the Daily Pilot on a rotating basis. For information about adding your organization to this list, call (714) 966-4600. COSTA MESA SENIOR CENTER The multipurpose senior services facility at the corner of 19th Street and Pomona Avenue seeks volunteers who can greet members and the public at the front desk and volunteers for the Resource Department with Excel computer experience and sharp telephone skills. The Senior Meals program also needs people to deliver meals to homes.

A laptop and cell phone were returned to a Burbank Water and Power employee Wednesday after the items were stolen from him while he was walking to his car the day before, police said. A person dropped the items off at the front desk of BWP and the employee, Mahesh Saraswat, informed police that he had his city-owned phone and personal laptop were in his possession, Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said. Saraswat was leaving work and walking in the 100 block of West Magnolia Boulevard shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 10, beneath the underpass toward his car, when he was confronted by two men, Ryburn said.

Barbara was born in Los Angeles to Hollett and Lauretta Mae Conley, was raised and spent her entire life in Glendale. She worked for the Glendale YMCA for approximately 18 years and enjoyed many a summer working at Camp Fox in Catalina. Employment in later years was for JonDouglas/Prudential/Coldwell Banker Realty, as a front desk receptionist. Retired for 11 years, she enjoyed road trips and lunches with friends. Barbara is survived by sons, Steve Lauterback (Joyce) and Scott Van der Kolk and daughter, Sandy McKee; grandsons, Joshua McKee, Dale and Keith Lauterback and great grandsons, Cole, Grant, Taylor and Devon Lauterback.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's bomb squad detonated a pipe bomb Saturday night that belonged to a Glendale man in his 40s. The man, whose name was not released, drove to Glendale Police headquarters at 9 p.m. Saturday with the pipe bomb in his car to turn it over, officials said. Accompanied by family members, he parked across the street from the building entrance on Isabel St., and then walked into the building to speak with officers at the front desk. “He was coming seeking assistance and advice,” Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Flag retirement planned for Tuesday The Crescenta Valley High School ROTC will have a flag retirement ceremony at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9. The ceremony will be on the school’s softball field. Anyone who has a flag that needs to be disposed of can drop it off at the front desk of the school where a collection box is provided, or take to the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce office and it will be taken to the school on June 9. The American Legion and VFW will assist with the burning.