Lawn

Darleene Barrientos The owner of a dog that attacked a 6-year-old girl says the canine has never hurt anyone before. The medium-sized chow-mix dog lunged at the girl Saturday as she walked home in the 1200 block of Viscano Drive from Nibley Park, according to police reports. The girl, who was in Glendale visiting her grandparents, suffered several bites to her chest and her wrists, and scratches on her legs. Vince Zollner, 21, said that the dog, whose name is Sandy, was a birthday gift to him, although its legal owner is his mother, Toni Zollner.

Large inflatable Christmas characters dotting neighborhood lawns may be all the rage this year, but it's hard to beat real, live animals. The Parish Church of Saint Mark in Glendale celebrated its 15th annual live nativity scene Friday night, complete with a donkey, llama, baby pony and an assortment of goats and sheep surrounding volunteers acting out the roles of the famous Biblical story. "This is for everyone," said church administrator Elaine Loke. "We get a good crowd and we're happy to do it."

MONTROSE — David Wood’s artificial turf lawn isn’t going anywhere — at least for now. Following days of intense media attention and public support for Wood’s illegal artificial front lawn, City Council members have been notified that officials will put off enforcement until after the matter comes back to the dais for consideration, Councilman Ara Najarian said Thursday. “In light of the fact that council will look at it again, and there is a possibility that we may permit turf, we didn’t want to have him pull it out until there was a clear direction,” said Najarian, a vocal supporter of artificial turf.

A few weeks ago, upon returning to my home on Pacific Avenue and Cumberland Road in Glendale, I encountered a group of people with large drills drilling holes on the lawn that I maintain on the Cumberland side of my house. I asked them what they were doing, and they said that they were in the process of installing antennas for T-Mobile. I asked them to tell me who authorized them to do such a thing, and they pointed to a man who identified himself as a coordinator for the city of Glendale.

Well, well, well. Wishes do come true. In October 2009, I wrote in this column that I wanted it to snow on Southern California. I wanted to see our cities blanketed in a layer of white in hopes such an act of force majeure would bring society to a standstill. It took 16 months, but it happened. And this time I didn't have to drive 90 minutes to shovel the stuff into the bed of my truck, haul it home and dump it on the lawn so the kids could experience a snow day. When it started last Saturday, I was in line at the Handy Market paying for my tri-trip sandwiches and ribeyes.

As I sat on a teak bench in the cool shade of Barbara Schembari's garden, she confided that she didn't immediately accept the invitation from La Cañada Valley Beautiful to include her garden on the second annual La Canada Garden Tour on Saturday. "I hesitated at first." she explained. "It's just a family backyard. We play boccie ball and horseshoes out here." It's hard to know how to respond to a statement like that, when you're sitting in a manicured park with fountains, gazebo, arbor, and an intensely green, perfect lawn about the size of half a football field.

Beneath a starry sky, Sosé Thomassian and Allen Yekikian held each other on their wedding night, arms looped around hips, eyes locked, for more than 20 minutes so the photographer could capture what would become their favorite wedding photo. Back at the wedding reception in a lakeside Armenian town, the photographer showed off the shot and the crowd cooed. The couple got their wedding, but there will be no first anniversary. About eight months after the wedding, on May 10, Thomassian and Yekikian died in a head-on car crash while on a weekend getaway in Georgia, Armenia's neighbor to the north.

FOREST LAWN, GLENDALE -- Catholicos Aram I, the spiritual leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, will deliver an address at 8:30 a.m. today at Forest Lawn, Glendale during a program commemorating the 1,700-year anniversary of the church. The pontiff will speak to more than 700 students of Prelay Armenian Church School. His appearance at Forest Lawn will mark the second day of a five-day tour of Southern California. On Wednesday, Aram I addressed the congregation of St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale.