Promotion

On August 1, Tujunga resident Vahram Vardazaryan earned a promotion from the leading direct-sales wellness company Nikken. Vardazaryan is an independent consultant for Nikken and was promoted to the Silver level after successfully achieving in qualifying criteria. “I am honored to be promoted and I thank the entire Nikken family for their support and encouragement leading up to this,’ said Vardazaryan. Initially attracted by Nikken’s success and stable growth over the decades, Vardazaryan continues to build a successful independent business with Nikken.

Tim Willert GLENDALE -- The Glendale-based International House of Pancakes restaurant chain will change the name of its Dollar Pancakes to Golden Dollar Pancakes as part of a new promotion with the U.S. Mint to circulate roughly 6 million golden dollar coins. The renamed pancakes will remain the same size, but will be part of a new breakfast called the Golden Dollar Rooty, said Patrick Lenow, director of public relations. The promotion is expected to last two months, during which time participating IHOP restaurants will give the golden dollars as change.

Judy Seckler DOWNTOWN -- The message was loud and clear -- "Keep it simple." The response was to a discussion on district elementary school promotional activities at the Nov. 21 school board meeting. Some elementary school promotions -- or graduations -- were becoming a bit too sophisticated. In her report to the board, district Assistant Supt. Alice Petrossian explained that a survey in June found "a wide spectrum of practices for sixth-grade promotional ceremonies and activities, many which did not adhere to district administrative regulations."

BURBANK ? Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams testified on Wednesday that he would have considered promoting Officer Patricia Larrigan, who is suing the department for alleged discrimination, had she passed necessary exams. Larrigan, a 22-year veteran of the force who suffered knee, back and hip injuries in a job-related incident, alleges that the department denied her a promotion to sergeant because of her disabilities. Since her injury, Larrigan has been among 1% of the force that is considered a permanent, limited-duty officer incapable of field duty.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Bryan Longpre (Crescenta Valley High, 2005) Lansing Lugnuts pitcher : Longpre has been downright spectacular at the start of his second minor league season, so much so that he was quickly promoted to the Class A Lansing Lugnuts from the Class A short-season Vancouver Canadians. Longpre, a distance runner and All-Area baseball player in his days at Crescenta Valley, was promoted on Thursday.

Karen S. Kim DOWNTOWN -- Jamba Juice in downtown Glendale will host a Free Smoothie Celebration on Friday, giving away free 24 ounce smoothies. Glendale's giveaway is part of a Southern California Jamba Juice promotion going on all week. Sixty-five of the company's stores are handing out free smoothies this week. The promotion gives customers a chance to donate money to charity rather than to their drinks. Volunteers from local American Cancer Society chapters will be on hand at Jamba Juice locations during the giveaway to accept donations.

Homeowners group to meet The Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council will hold its monthly meeting Monday to discuss issues affecting Glendale residents. At the top of Monday's agenda will be a visit from city Planning Department staffers, who will discuss the highly debated issue of view and privacy protection. The council meets at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Glendale at 2001 Cañada Blvd. Pirate tryouts are part of promotion Children ages 4 to 12 dressed in pirate gear will tryout for an upcoming Albertsons promotion between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. today at the Tujunga Albertsons, 6240 Foothill Blvd.

I'm not a Montrose merchant, but I'm related to one, so let me take a crack at answering Maria Leinenweber's question about what John Drayman meant in his letter rhetorically asking which events Mrs. Leinenweber would like the merchants' association to eliminate. The festival was created as a promotion for the shopping park. Reasonable people can disagree as to its success. However, the fact is that there are limits to how much money the merchants have in their bank account to do the promotions mentioned by Mr. Drayman.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an accomplished poet, novelist and guru of all things to do with writing and book promotion. Her how-to guide, "The Frugal Book Promoter," won USA Book News' Best Professional Book and the Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award, and she has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide. On March 3, Howard-Johnson will bring her expertise to the California Writers Club, San Fernando Valley in a special workshop program on "Media Kits, Tactics & Book Promotion."

Family Festival issue has been beaten to death There needs to be another point of view expressed regarding the Family Festival and its costs (losses). This event was planned as a promotion, not as a fund-raiser. The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. assesses itself to pay for promotions. The Montrose Shopping Park Board of Directors exists solely for the purpose of planning events to encourage customers to like and do business in Montrose. All of the promotions cost the Montrose Shopping Park money to put on. Here are some examples of past events and their related costs to the Montrose Shopping Park: 2001 Car Show, $12,181; Cinco de Mayo, $6,852; Halloween, $4,444; St. Patrick's Day, $4,273; Christmas decorations, $34,741.

The cable news network MSNBC has posted a piece about the Magnolia Park district in Burbank in preparation of "Small Business Saturday," an event hosted by American Express that urges people to shop at local, non-chain stores. Small Business Saturday is set for Nov. 24, the weekend following Thanksgiving. -- Dan Evans, Times Community News  

Maria Gandera, executive director of human resources for Glendale Unified, as been promoted to assistant superintendent of human resources, officials announced Thursday. She will replace David Samuelson, who retires at the end of the school year. “Maria is an outstanding administrator who will provide us with a seamless transition,” Supt. Dick Sheehan said in a statement. Gandera started her career with Pasadena Unified in 1990. She was hired as a teacher specialist at Glendale Unified's Franklin Elementary School in 1998.

Katy Perry made an appearance in Glendale Wednesday to showcase a new line of false eyelashes called Katy Perry Lashes Created by Eylure. A few hundred Perry fans crowded in front of the stage in Americana at Brand to get a glimpse of the pop star. -- Tim Berger, Times Community News

Boy Scout Troop 127 named five of its Scouts Eagle Scouts. All children of first generation Armenian and Lebanese families, the Eagle Scouts are Christopher Raffi Ovanesian, Sasoon Amerian, Allan Robert Issai, Shunt Yervant Manoel, and Steven John Ayoob. All five young men are Glendale students. Each Scout earned 21 merit badges by providing service to the community and outdoors in addition to taking on leadership roles and organizing a service project. Ovanesian's project included donating four picnic tables and building two picnic benches for Brand Park.

What started out as a phone call quickly turned into a nearly $1-million no-strings-attached check for Providence High School - the largest gift from an individual in the school's history. Now, Providence High officials are using the anonymous donation to establish a faculty endowment designed to help retain top-tier teachers and foster professional development. “Donations like that don't come every day, so the opportunity to set up an endowment as a lasting legacy of the gift was very important for the administration,” said Paul Kaminski, director of advancement.

BURBANK - Burbank opened its doors to mixed martial arts on Saturday night, as Alberto Crane's National Fight Alliance presented "Valley Invasion" at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center. Headlined by Glendale's Sevak Magakian, a former "The Ultimate Fighter" cast member, claiming victory in his return to the cage, the nine-bout card thrilled a healthy throng of fight fans. "Finally, it's good to be back, to be back in the cage," said Magakian, cornered by Glendale fighter Karen Darabedyan, legendary trainer Gokor Chivichyan and Alex Ariza, who's Manny Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, "I'm never gonna stop, I'm gonna keep going.

Earlier this week, the Burbank Fire Department held a “Badge Pinning Ceremony,” honoring the promotions of Travont “Tray” White and of Jason Murphy, who rose to the ranks of captain and engineer, respectively. In addition, Captain Peter Hendrickson was named to the Fire Prevention Bureau, making him the department's official spokesman. White was hired in September 1997, became a permanent firefighter in 1998, became a provisional engineer in 2007, and promoted to probationary Engineer in 2008.

The “Protect Children” campaign has begun in full force this year with our community service clubs taking the lead in the public relations fundraising for the campaign. Two weeks ago the Banners on Brand campaign came to life. All 115 banner poles on Brand Blvd now have a “Protect Children” banner to raise our awareness of the dangers of leaving children alone in a car. The stories about children being left alone in cars are very depressing. I have heard stories about heat stroke causing brain damage, emotional trauma, carbon monoxide poisoning, runaway cars in accidents and many more depressing stories.

California officials today announced that Burbank would be among ten cities across the state to get thousands of dollars to promote their historic preservation programs. The California of Historic Preservation will send $5,000 to Burbank to "engage the community in ongoing preservation efforts," according to the announcement. Burbank officials have been working to make the review process for historic property designation easier and less daunting in effort to add more buildings to protected status.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level. Bryan Longpre (Crescenta Valley High, 2005) Lansing Lugnuts pitcher : Longpre has been downright spectacular at the start of his second minor league season, so much so that he was quickly promoted to the Class A Lansing Lugnuts from the Class A short-season Vancouver Canadians. Longpre, a distance runner and All-Area baseball player in his days at Crescenta Valley, was promoted on Thursday.