Boy Scout Offers Thoughts

on Sidewalks

I am a Boy Scout from Troop 390 in La Crescenta. I am working on my Communications badge and wanted to write to you about the missing sidewalks of La Crescenta.

I really like living here but one thing I have noticed is the lack of sidewalks. If my family wants to take a walk together it makes it hard and kind of dangerous to have to walk on the side of the street and if a car is parked on the street we have to go farther out into the street. I think sidewalks would encourage more people to get outside and exercise more and sit on the couch less. It would also create jobs for the county by needing workers to lay cement for sidewalks. It might also increase the value of our homes.

Thank you,

Tyler Mesa

La Crescenta

Boy Scout Memorial Plaque

Congratulations to Boy Scout Troop 317 and their worthy Scoutmaster Richard Toyon on receiving the Montrose Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce Award for Outstanding Service to the Community.

I was pleased to see the large photos of the beautiful memorial bench and plaque memorializing “the valley’s model Boy Scout” of the 1920s, Paul Mc Carton. At age 15 he became the area’s youngest Eagle Scout.

I rediscovered this remarkable young man on the front page of the Crescenta Valley Ledger dated Sept. 6, 1928. Paul had been a victim of an accidental shooting in the eastern Sierras where he was vacationing with his parent. Young and old wept at his passing. He was widely known for his dedication to the community and his leadership in scouting.

On the morning of his funeral 100 Boy Scouts acted as his honor guard in the procession leading to the Little Church of the Flowers in Forest Lawn.

Shortly after Paul was laid to rest, members of the local scout troops planted a 12-foot Deodar Cedar tree as a living memorial in a small triangular in Montrose bordered by Orangedale and Mira Vista avenues. Later, a small concrete bench and plaque were placed under the tree. Sadly, winds blew down the tree and vandals destroyed the bench and plaque.

In 2006 the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley received permission from the County to build another memorial bench and plaque in the small park. The Boy Scouts of Troop 317 under the supervisor of master stone mason Stuart Byles gave up five of their Saturdays to assist in digging the footing, carrying the rocks and manually making tons of wet concrete in large wheelbarrows. Occasionally Mr. Byles would allow the boys to smooth the damp cement creation with his trusty trowel.

On Saturday, April 29, 2006 the re-dedication ceremony took place. In full Scout regalia the young builders experienced the full satisfaction of a good deed well done.

Art Cobery

Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley

CVHS Robot Needs Support

We want to thank everyone who has donated to the CVHS robotics team. The community support has been greatly appreciated.

We would like you to know who we are and what we do.

Our team consists of about 40 students from Crescenta Valley and seven adult mentors from Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Crescenta Valley High School.

In December we entered the JPL Challenge and won third place but our main competition is in less then six weeks.

Each year the robotics club participates in the FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology] Robotics Competition. On Jan. 8 we were among an estimated 50,000 members of teams across the country and the world that listened to the challenge we will be facing in this year’s competition. Inventor and FIRST founder Dean Kamen introduced the game called “Logo Motion.”  We will be competing on a 27-by-54 foot field with poles attempting to earn points by hanging as many triangles, circles and square logo pieces as possible. Bonus points will be earned for each robot that can hang and assemble logo pieces to form the FIRST logo. Robots can also deploy mini-bots to climb vertical poles for a chance to earn additional points.

We are very excited about the possibility of a mini-me robot. Once we learn of the rules we immediately start brainstorming to create a design and began to construct the robot. The students are divided into groups, each focusing on a different aspect of the robot. And we don’t stop working on it for six weeks.

The competitions are amazing. We all get to meet other teams and exchange items that represent our team, like buttons, or last year one of our members welded together dolls we called Jacob dolls after the designer.

These regional events give us a chance to meet teams from all over the country. We compare how they built their robot and talk about their school programs. During the competition we are paired with two other teams, which inspires team building.

We couldn’t do this without volunteer mentors and our parents who feed us and help us find needed equipment. Each year our program grows and to stay competitive we have decided to take our robot and team to a FIRST competition in San Diego. This is in addition to the regional one in Long Beach.

All of this costs money and with programs being cut and education funding for special projects low we must depend on support from our community and corporations.

If anyone would like to support our team or knows of a corporation that would like to sponsor future scientists, engineers, mathematicians and all around geeks please have them contact us.

Again for those who have supported us we thank you. We have never had to leave the lab to ask for donations before and to know that people do care about this type of competition is very rewarding.

Thank you

The CVHS Robotics Club Management Team

For more information or to donate please contact Greg Neat at CVHS (818) 249-5871 or email molly.shelton14@gmail.com

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