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Montebello E-News

 February 28, 2009

 It requires wisdom to understand wisdom:  the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

Many a time I have wanted to stop talking and find out what I really believed.
Walter Lippman  

1.  Announcements

2.  "Bravo!” or “Oh, Oh”

3. About Montebello E-News and “My Montebello”  

Holiday Spirit.  For the past several years, Montebello firefighters have brightened the lives of needy children throughout Montebello by providing toys for the holidays.  A large amount of the toys and monetary donations were received as part of the sixteenth annual Firefighters Spark of Love Toy Drive when the Metrolink Holiday Toy Train, beautifully decorated for the season, made its stop at the Montebello-Commerce train station.  The several hundred in attendance were asked to donate a toy for a needy child and in exchange were treated to a holiday musical spectacular, arts and crafts, free refreshments and snow courtesy of the Montebello Fire Department and Montebello Parks and Recreation Division.  “There is nothing quite like seeing the face of a child light up when they receive a new toy or sports equipment,” said Firefighter-Paramedic Frank Osorio, who is spearheading the program for the Montebello Fire Department. . . .
From an article by Anne Donofrio-Holter printed in the February, 2009, Spotlight on Montebello.

More Holiday Spirit.  Hundreds of Montebello residents descended upon city hall December 12 to be part of history as the city celebrated its first-ever holiday tree lighting ceremony.  The brainchild of Montebello Mayor Rosemarie Vásquez, and sponsored by the city council and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the “holiday tree lighting musical wonderland,” as it was billed, had something for everyone—live music, arts and crafts, tree decorating, raffle prizes and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus, who arrived at city hall with lights flashing and siren blaring atop the fire department’s ladder truck.

. . . the 35-foot Douglas fir came aglow with colorful lights as a light snow began to fall.

. . . With her mayoral theme of “Community First—Everything Else Second,” Vasquez expressed hope that the evening’s tree lighting would be the start of a new annual Montebello tradition, something the community could enjoy together. . . .
From an article by Anne Donofrio-Holter printed in the February, 2009, Spotlight on Montebello.

And Yet More Holiday Spirit.  The Montebello Lions Club has been providing food baskets to the needy for more than 30 years. . . . The Montebello Rotary Club approached the Lions 10 years ago and expressed a desire to join with them in providing food baskets. . . . About five years ago, the Montebello Soroptimist Club joined in the effort and now 150 food baskets are delivered at Thanksgiving and Easter to families who might otherwise not have a nice holiday dinner. . . . On the day the clubs assemble the baskets, many students from Montebello and Schurr high schools volunteer to help.  Each service club gives donations to help purchase food for the baskets.  Several area businesses give canned food, bread, milk, pastries, vegetables, and stuffing.  Two individuals donate money for candy for the children. . . . From an article printed in the February, 2009, Spotlight on Montebello.

Music from Montebello.  The Montebello Wiseguys Band has many engagements in 2009 throughout the greater Los Angeles area.  For more information, 323.887.4584.

Let us look at the three “spirit” announcements above.  Did anyone read anything about books as gifts?  Did anyone read about environmental stewardship being a high priority for sustaining our community?  Did anyone read anything about “job baskets” instead of “food baskets”?

Have you heard the slogan “Montebello:  Model of Mediocrity for the New Millennium”?  Should we take that as an insult or as a wake-up call?