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Best Christmas Displays in Monrovia

If you want a list of Christmas-decorated homes to see, try the winners of Monrovia's Annual Holiday Home Decorating Contest. The winners are:  

  • Best Still Display - 702 East Lemon Avenue (Note: a reader believes this may actually be E. Lime)
  • Best Neighborhood Effort - Valmont Drive & Valmont Place
  • Best Outdoor Display - 409 Meadow Lane
  • Best Window Display - 550 South Park Rose Avenue
  • Holiday Spirit Award - 639 Parker Avenue
  • Snowman Award - 632 Terrado Drive
  • Toyland Award - 214 South Alta Vista Avenue
  • Best Decorated Outdoor Tree - 308 West Lemon Avenue
  • Children's Choice Award - 333 Norumbega Drive
  • Judges' Award - 2514 Rochelle Avenue
  • Most Effective Use of Outdoor Holiday Lighting - 163 Mauna Loa Drive
  • Tim McKeehan "Best of Season" Award - 309 North Madison Avenue


- Brad Haugaard

Fire Truck Santa Touring Monrovia

Santa is making his rounds on the top of a Monrovia fire truck. I snapped this poor quality picture tonight. Here's his schedule: http://goo.gl/0b5rgi

- Brad Haugaard

More Monrovia Christmas Lights


The most Christmas-light covered house I have seen so far this year. Very nice! On Alta Vista south of Foothill, about a half block north of Palm. 

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Football Player Spencer Commits to UCLA

Monrovia football star Octavius Spencer commits to UCLA. http://goo.gl/WUjg3j

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Congresswoman Judy Chu Rebuked by House Ethics Committee

Congresswoman Judy Chu, who represents the top edge of Monrovia, has been rebuked for interfering with an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into whether some of her staff members used some of their time to do campaign work. The committee found she didn't know about the improper work, but that she did interfere with the investigation. She apologized. http://goo.gl/Cy2h4R

- Brad Haugaard

Rain Shouldn't Cause Debris Flow Below Madison Burn Area in Monrovia

LA County Department of Water and Power predicts that the current rain shouldn't result in "appreciable amounts of debris on streets or specific public infrastructure locations" from the Madison Fire burn area above Monrovia. http://goo.gl/g0qbj2

- Brad Haugaard

Montgomery Named President of Citrus Board | Monrovia Dancers Place First | More Rain?

~ Joanne Montgomery has been installed as president of the Citrus College Board of Trustees during the board's annual reorganization meeting on Dec. 2. Montgomery represents Monrovia and portions of Bradbury and Duarte on the Citrus governing board. She was an elementary teacher for the Monrovia Unified School District for 32 years, she worked with the district's gifted and talented education program and was named Teacher of the Year. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona and a master's degree from Azusa Pacific University.  She completed postgraduate work at the University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; Pepperdine University; and the University of La Verne. Source: press release

~ On Saturday Monrovia High School Dance placed first in its category, first in its division, and first place overall, earning the dance team the championship banner. http://goo.gl/ZxLajd

~ Cloudy with occasional rain tomorrow, Tuesday. 60% chance of showers. http://goo.gl/HdDex8

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Police: Drunken Bicycling; Refusing to Leave Hotel; Domestic Violence; Etc.

[Monrovia Police activities from the Police Department's Neighborhood Watch Report for December 11-14. - Brad Haugaard]

Following are the weekend’s highlighted issues and events.

Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance – Suspect Arrested
December 11 at 4:40 p.m., officers responded to the 500 block of West Lime regarding a family disturbance. A female subject went to the location in an effort to visit her children. Family members at the location observed the female acting bizarre and called the police. Upon investigation, it was determined the female was under the influence of methamphetamine and she was arrested. The female was taken into custody and later released on a citation after a sobering period.

Theft From a Vehicle
December 12 at 8:53 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 100 block of North Grand on the report of a theft from a vehicle. Unknown suspect(s) entered the victim's unlocked vehicle and stole identification items from the glove box. The theft occurred sometime overnight. The investigation is continuing.

Residential Burglary
December 12 at 8:54 a.m., a residential burglary was reported in the 200 block of Jasmine. The suspect(s) entered the victim's unlocked garage and forced entry into their vehicle by smashing a window. The victim's purse was in plain view and stolen from the passenger seat. The suspect(s) then left the area undetected. The investigation is continuing.

Possession of a Controlled Substance – Suspect Arrested
December 12 at 4:40 p.m., an employee from a hotel in the 900 block of West Huntington called police to report a guest refusing to leave. The subject was contacted by an officer and found to be in possession of methamphetamine. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody. He had warrants for his arrest and was held for the warrants.

Riding a Bicycle Under the Influence of Alcohol – Suspect arrested.
December 13 at 1:15 a.m., an officer observed a subject riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road in the 1500 block of South Myrtle. Through investigation, the subject was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and was arrested. Battery December 13 at 1:50 p.m., officers responded to a local bar in the 100 block of East Olive regarding a battery report. The fight inside the bar was over a female patron. All parties refused to prosecute.

Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol – Suspect Arrested
December 14 at 1:25 a.m., dispatch received a call from a female subject reporting her husband was intoxicated and left the residence in his vehicle from the 700 block of West Foothill. Officers found the vehicle and stopped the driver. Upon investigation, the driver was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and was arrested.

Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol – Suspect Arrested
December 14 at 3:00 a.m., an officer stopped a vehicle for a vehicle code violation in the area of Myrtle and Foothill. Through investigation, the officer determined the driver to be under the influence of alcohol. The driver was arrested and taken into custody.

Public Intoxication – Suspect Arrested
December 14 at 1:57 p.m., a male was seen walking south in the 100 block of South Myrtle and appeared to be heavily intoxicated, staggering back and forth slowly as he walked. Officers detained the subject and determined his was too intoxicated to care for his own safety; he was arrested.

Petty Theft – Suspect Arrested
December 14 at 5:29 p.m., a female was detained at a store in the 1600 block of South Mountain by store loss prevention. She had entered the store and stole bathroom items, knowing she did not have enough money to pay for them. Officers arrived and accepted the store's private person’s arrest. The female was issued a misdemeanor citation at the store, then released on a citation pending court appearance.

Domestic Battery – Suspect Arrested
December 14 at 6:23 p.m., dispatch received several calls reporting a disturbance in the 700 block of West Foothill. Police then received a 911 call from a female, believed to be the victim, who reported her husband had just beaten her up. Officers responded and determined this was an ongoing marital dispute. The female was taken to a hospital for complaint of pain to her back. The husband was arrested for domestic violence.

Mental Evaluation
December 15 at 5:58 a.m., a caller reported an erratic driver in the 200 block of South Myrtle to police. Officers responded and found the subject in the vehicle. After speaking with the subject, it was determined he was a danger to himself and others. He was placed on a mental evaluation hold and taken to a hospital, where he will be held for 72 hours.

Watch Out for Gold Line Testing Train

Watch out for the testing train. It will be riding along the Gold Line track through Monrovia until Dec. 19. It "will be moving very slowly and will result in short-term stoppages of street traffic at the intersection." Occasional short-term stoppages of street traffic at the Mountain Ave. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Only on weekdays; no weekend testing is expected. Details: http://goo.gl/8tNPsI

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia's First Fire Engine Being Restored - Needs Another $50k

Monrovia's first fire engine, a 1917 Seagrave, is being restored by volunteers but it is going to cost another $50,000 to complete it. If you'd like to donate, send check to "Save the Grave," P.O. Box 2021, Monrovia, CA 91017. Pictures and details here: http://goo.gl/eFbo1r

- Brad Haugaard

The Origin of Pink Christmas Flamingos on Monrovia's North Alta Vista



A letter from MonroviaNow reader Anna Marie Hetman.

I noticed your compliment in MonroviaNow ( http://goo.gl/E8aSEM ) regarding the flamingos and lights on North Alta Vista. I'd like to tell "the rest of the story", stealing a line from Paul Harvey, so you have the background.

Several years ago my husband, Tom Hetman, and I returned from seeing the lights at Hastings Ranch. Tom was telling our neighbor, Tony Hunt, about the light displays on various streets. Tony suggested we should do a street theme. As the two of them discussed it Tony came up with the idea of pink flamingos with Santa hats. Why? Because no one else has done it. Tom had a friend at work make a prototype that Tony painted. Unfortunately before being able to present the idea to the neighbors Tony developed cancer, and after giving it his best he passed away the summer of 2003.

Every year Tom put up that flamingo in Tony's honor. A couple of years ago when we had the high winds our flamingo took flight. We surmise it broke into pieces and the city crew must have picked it up with the debris.

As autumn of 2013 came Tom started wondering about what we were going to do without a flamingo in honor of Tony. Tom decided it was time, ten years after Tony's passing, to make his idea come to life. He talked with our neighbor, Sherm Jaffee. Sherm, who does a lot of wood work, drew out and painted a flamingo. We invited our neighbors over one Saturday morning and presented the idea. We were not expecting the enthusiastic response that was shown. We were also not prepared for how it touched Tony's wife, Carol, and daughters, Chris and Heather.

The flamingo had to come from the same template and be pink; otherwise it was open to each family's creativity. If you take the time to look at each flamingo they are unique. Neighbor, Nancy Matthews, really built up momentum with her encouragement and ideas. Some neighbors had painting parties. Occasionally we would see a neighbor carrying the template to another neighbor to cut out.

It was fun to watch each individual flamingo go up. Tom and I were out of state for a couple of weeks, and Nancy sent reports as to how many had gone up. When we arrived home and saw the lit up flamingos it was truly amazing to see Tony's idea come to life.

The night of judging the neighbors came over, brought food and drink while we awaited the judges arrival. Nancy and Cindy had the idea of luminaries to tie the street together. Along with some of the neighbors we must have had over a hundred luminaries lining the street when the judges came.

One of the lovely things we experienced as a result of Tony's flamingos was getting to know neighbors better. Although this has always been a great neighborhood, with wonderful neighbors, it definitely brought us together with a common activity. And now, the flamingos are spreading. Several neighbors between Foothill and Hillcrest are sporting their own unique take on Tony's flamingos.

You probably are wondering why Tom felt it was necessary to make the flamingos happen in honor of Tony. Well, there are many stories to tell about Tony, but probably bottom line was his role as a homeowner mentor to Tom. Whenever there was a question Tony was right there to help. Tony truly epitomized what it was to be a neighbor. Now, many neighbors did not know Tony, but it was only right that his being a "neighbor" should blossom into the neighborliness this project has developed.

Thank you for letting me tell you about Tony's flamingos.

Merry Christmas,

Anna Marie Hetman

Also, Nancy Matthews has sent along a 12-slide PowerPoint presentation showing how to make your own giant flamingo. She said the neighborhood made the slide show "in response to the numerous requests we have received from others (as far as Sierra Madre) who want to make their own super-size flamingo. We are happy to help others." Here it is: Make a Pink Flamingo

Handel's Messiah Tonight at Monrovia's First Presbyterian Church

Handel's Messiah tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Monrovia's First Presbyterian Church (corner of Myrtle and Foothill), directed by Dr. Peter J. Green. Also other Christmas favorites with choir and orchestra, harpsichord, and organ.  Childcare provided. Concert is free (with a no-pressure free-will offering to support this and other local concerts). Arrive early for best seats as this is always well attended!

- Brad Haugaard

Mud Clean-Up on Highland Place


While not much mud made it down to Hillcrest, as you can see, quite a bit covered Highland Place.

- Brad Haugaard

Power Outage Affects 694 Monrovia Customers

Southern California Edison is reporting a 694-customer Monrovia power outage caused by rain. From the SCE map it appears to be in northeast Monrovia. It says it has identified the problem and is working to restore power. I am also reading reports of lights out on East Lime. http://goo.gl/kgQQJ7

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Rotary Holding 'Santa Clothes' Event Sunday

This Sunday, Dec. 14, Rotary Club of Monrovia will hold its third annual Santa Clothes event at the Monrovia Kohl's store, from 8 a.m. to noon. The club will take 50 4-to-12-year-old shopping for school clothing, shoes, backpacks, alarm clocks, and - new this year - one small toy. The children are chosen from the client families of Santa Anita Family Services. These are families in crisis and unfortunately, these may be the only Christmas presents some of these children will receive.

Sylvia Domotor, chair for the Santa Clothes event adds: "To make it more fun for the kids, we send the children shopping with Interact (Monrovia High School Rotary Club) students - 'cause adults ain't cool! Each child is allowed $125 in purchases ... and we expect them to use every penny! The event is usually a wild circus; 50 children, 20 Interact students, about 20 Monrovia Rotarians, volunteers from Kaizen Martial Arts and the Monrovia Wells Fargo branch and always helpful Kohl's associates."

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at Chili's


Lunch at Chili's on Huntington. Got the $7 lunch special with chicken enchilada soup and a Fresh Mex Bowl with chipotle chicken. Plus an iced tea, $2.59. Both soup and bowl tasty. The Mex Bowl was kinda like those teriyaki rice bowl things but with Mexican ingredients.
- Brad Haugaard

Rain Runoff; Small Power Outage; Maintenance on Dec. 15

~ I checked the area below the Madison Fire on Hillcrest near Highland Place early this morning and saw just a thin and spotty bit of mud on the street. Very minimal so far.

~ Southern California Edison reports a small weather-related outage in Monrovia affecting 21 customers. Although it doesn't give an exact address, it appears from the SCE map that the outage is on Lincoln Place north of Foothill. http://goo.gl/gmyRj8

~ The city reports that to perform maintenance, on Dec. 15 Southern California Edison will cut power from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the west side of Peck Road 105 feet south of Atara Street and at the northwest corner of Peck and Jefferies. http://goo.gl/VlP8O8

- Brad Haugaard

Monrovia Council to Consider Extending Home Demolition and Construction Moratoriums

The Monrovia City Council will consider extending the two moratoriums it adopted at its last meeting from 45 days to 10 months and 15 days, so they'll expire on November 17, 2015.

The moratoriums prohibit demolition of homes built before 1940 ( http://goo.gl/l4G0sr ) and issuing building permits for new homes. (This second moratorium proposal, by the way, includes an interesting map showing the ages of various homes throughout the city: http://goo.gl/k5z13p )

- Brad Haugaard

Cooperative Christmas on Monrovia's Alta Vista Avenue



The folks on Alta Vista, north of Hillcrest, have really worked together this year on their  Christmas decorations. In addition to their signature pink flamingos, folks along the street have set up a strand of blue lights a block long. Very cool! Never seen that done before. 

- Brad Haugaard 

Magnolia Ave. to Be Closed Below Freeway for Construction

The City of Monrovia reports that Magnolia Avenue will be closed from Evergreen Ave. (the south-side freeway access road) for two blocks south to Genoa St. from December 18 to January 5, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., for electrical construction. Detours will route traffic to Mayflower and Myrtle avenues.

- Brad Haugaard