Kiwanis

Columbus' voyages to the "New World" were just the beginning of the intermingling of peoples and cultures that formed our nation; this rich and varied history is reflected in the prehistoric sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts found throughout the Southwest. Greg Warriner's film, as part of the Kiwanis travel series, evokes a beautiful land of deserts, mountains and fertile valleys which is both very old and very new. The Southwest contains venerable adobe communities and ancient, long-abandoned prehistoric ruin collectively representing thousands of years of habitation.

Erik Boal NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- With two swings of Chad Nacapoy's bat, the second that much harder and farther than the first, the first all-Foothill League final in the 10-year history of the Little League District 16 Major Baseball Tri-Cities Tournament was emphatically decided. The Kiwanis catcher/pitcher belted two home runs, including a grand slam in the third inning to break open a tie game, to lift the Foothill League champions to a 13-3 win against the Jets and their first Tri-Cities title Friday night at Babe Herman Field.

From big band to Dixieland, it will be a day devoted to jazz music when the Glendale Kiwanis Club sponsors its largest fund-raiser for the year, the Glendale Jazz Festival. This year's "A World of Jazz" will be from noon to 11 p.m. June 28 at Glendale Community College. Among the attractions will be 20 musical groups on six stages, dancing, food, prizes, artisans and a children's instrumental petting zoo, where kids can see musical instruments up close.

Erik Boal MONTROSE -- As if winning five straight Foothill Little League regular-season titles wasn't enough to earn the proper respect among a talented field in the District 16 Major Baseball Tri-Cities Tournament, Kiwanis stated its case again Saturday. Against Vaquero League-champion Russo, which was considered by some aficionados as one of the favorites to win the 15-team tournament, Coach Errol Simonitsch's squad proved that it is far from a one- or two-person team.

Hamlet Nalbandyan NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Bold statements were made Tuesday after the Kiwanis 9- through 12-year-old Major Baseball team outlasted the Glendale Police, 4-2, in seven innings in a winner's-bracket semifinal game of the Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament at Babe Herman Field. The first came from Police Coach Gregg Alsdorf, who was not the least bit worried that his team dropped to the second-chance bracket and will next play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Montrose Park against a team to be determined later.

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.

Thank you to the volunteers who helped make last Thursday's annual Rabies/Pet Clinic a success. About 100 dogs and cats received vaccinations and licenses as volunteers worked until 8:30 p.m. keeping our pets healthy. A special thank-you to Dr. Woody Walker and the staff of the La Canada Pet Clinic, the La Canada Noon Kiwanis Club, Canada Auxiliary of Professionals of ASSISTANCE LEAGUE of Flintridge, the Pasadena Humane Society and the SPCA for volunteering time, energy and resources to make the event a tremendous success.

Where is Lake Glendale? Everybody always asks me that question. The Glendale Kiwanis Club will transform Verdugo Park into a very large lake full of rubber duckies on Oct. 20. Each of the rubber duckies will have a number painted on it, and the ducks will be ready to go round and round and down the slides to see who is the fastest ducky. Remember your rubber ducky from early bathtub days? These are the very same rubber duckies, and now they are all ready to race. You can adopt a duck or a whole flock of ducks that might win you a prize from the Kiwanis Club.

A bite by a black fly carrying a microscopic parasite worm can cause blindness. The blindness is called River Blindness. It is currently affecting about 770,000 people in 30 countries in Africa and South America. The Lions Clubs International has begun a campaign in conjunction with The World Health Organization to fight the spread of River Blindness and help the visually impaired. River Blindness is commonly treated with an oral medicine called Ivermectin. Vincent De Santis, from the Northwest Glendale Lions Club, told about the disease and the details of the Lions Clubs "Campaign Sight First II" during the Crescenta-Cañada Lions Club meeting on May 25. The Lions hope to raise $200 million to prevent the disease worldwide.

The sound of thundering basketballs echoes throughout the Glendale YMCA's large gym every Saturday morning. Some 150 youngsters, ages 5 to 13, are members of the Junior Lakers League, a sports program that the YMCA is looking to expand. The YMCA hosted an all-star game and pizza party on Dec. 15 to reach out to the community and bring attention to the camaraderie and sports training it offers to the youth of Glendale, said Mineh Petrosian, assistant sports director of the league.

The Glendale Kiwanis Club raised roughly $75,000 at its annual duck splash in Verdugo Park on Saturday, a total that, despite the weak economy, is in line with what the nonprofit has made in the past, organizers said. This year's event, which featured hundreds of rubber ducks racing down a makeshift river, brings the club's seven-year fundraising total to $550,000, all of which goes to local schools and community groups in need, said Secretary Vic Legerton. “These organizations all have needs for funds,” he said.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — It took a little bit extra from both teams to decide the Tri-Cities Junior Softball Tournament of Champions title game between Crescenta Valley Kiwanis and the Burbank Fusion on Thursday night at Scholl Canyon Ball Fields. The see-saw affair lasted over three hours and went nine innings with a combined 27 runs and required starting pitchers who had been relieved needing to come back on the mound to close it out, but in the end, Kiwanis prevailed, 15-14, to claim the championship.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The Tri-Cities District 16 Minor Softball Tournament of Champions title game between Crescenta Valley Kiwanis and the Burbank Heart Breakers played out in the exciting fashion one would expect in a winner-take-all game. The nailbiting contest played Tuesday night at Scholl Canyon Ball Fields needed extra innings and more than the two-hour time limit to settle which team would be champion and runner-up. Finally, with the sun setting in the eighth inning, Burbank's Ariana Farias stepped up to plate with Emily Monterrey on second base and lined a single to left field, scoring Monterrey for the game-winning run to give the Heart Breakers a 4-3 win and the championship.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Familiar foes Crescenta Valley Kiwanis and Crescenta Valley's J's Maintenance faced each other for the fifth and final time this season at Scholl Canyon Ball Fields on Sunday with a chance to play for the Tri-Cities District 16 Minor Softball Tournament of Champions title game. Kiwanis had dropped three of the previous four to J's Maintenance, but prevailed this time, 9-7, and will play the Burbank Heart Breakers at 6 p.m. today at Scholl. "It's always a close game when these two teams play," Kiwanis Coach Dan Jensen said after clinching a spot in the finals.

MONTROSE — Cross-town rivalries usually bring out the best in teams. That wasn't the case when two Crescenta Valley teams, Kiwanis and Muir-Chase, combined for six errors, eight walks and five hit batters in a first-round game of the Tri-City Junior Division Softball Tournament. There was only one hit between the Crescenta Valley teams after five and a half innings of play. Kiwanis' bats finally came alive in the bottom of the fifth for two big hits and three runs in a 6-3 victory over Muir.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — The Jewel City Kiwanis squad received some unlucky news the night before playing in the second round of the District 16 Tournament of Champions Minor Baseball Tournament — one of its top players had suffered a broken finger. While there's no telling if Ethan Miller's bat and pitching would have done anything to change or prevent the 14-9 defeat to the Pacific Dolphins on Friday at Babe Herman Field, Kiwanis Coach Rafael Larin said he sure could have used him. "It was a big loss," said Larin, who had a four-hit day from Miller in the team's first-round win. "He would have pitched the middle innings, but instead we had to throw a lot of arms out there.

A pink shirt and matching tie didn’t deter Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) from sinking his hands into a soon-to-be planted flower bed Friday at College View School, as Glendale Unified school board member Mary Boger distributed 300 worms nearby. “My father, when I was a kid, used to teach me the importance of getting down and working with the dirt, and I just think it is an important life lesson that kids should learn,” Gatto said. “It gives a really rewarding feeling when you plant something and a couple of months later you get a chance to see it grow, and then you get a chance to eat it.” Gatto was one of dozens of civic leaders, education officials and schoolchildren laboring to create a new garden at the special-education school, made possible in part by a grant the freshman state representative secured through Western Growers Foundation, the charitable arm of the agriculture trade association Western Growers.

The Burbank Kiwanis Aktion Club had its annual Bowl-A-Thon on Feb. 27. This fundraiser affords club members the opportunity to attend the Kiwanis Aktion Club Convention in late summer or early fall. It was a very successful event, thanks to the support they received from friends and family, as well as from their friends in other Kiwanis clubs. Some of the clubs bowled and others provided great financial support. The Aktion Club would like to thank the Burbank Noon Kiwanis, Burbank Sunrise Kiwanis, Sylmar Kiwanis and San Fernando Kiwanis for giving so much of themselves.

Standing on a chair in front of 200 Glendale Kiwanis members, 5-year-old Reece LoCicero's smile kept growing. First came a signed and framed poster from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilots, followed by Disneyland tickets, Mickey Mouse ears and the promise of an outing in retired Glendale Police Lt. Donald Shade's Cessna airplane. "Reece is going to be so excited to go and fly; it is going to be amazing," said his mother, Natalia LoCicero. Friday marked the latest outpouring of community support for the LoCicero family and for Reece, a La Crescenta Elementary kindergarten student struggling with an undiagnosed illness that has resulted in repeated hospitalizations during the last 4 1/2 years.