NorthPrimrose

Wildcats vs. Falcons, Tonight!

 Neighbors:

Our Monrovia HS Wildcats will be carrying the flag just a short way down Huntington Drive Friday night to take on the Duarte High Falcons in the Quarterfinals of the Mid-Valley Division Playoffs.

The winner will head to the semi-finals, a chance to play for the Division Championship.

This is a re-match of a game earlier this season at MHS which the Wildcats won. However, Duarte lacked their standout running back, who is now healthy, and has made it this far themselves. 

The game is at 7:30, it's just down the road, and is a great opportunity to support the local kids!  So come out and cheer for them!

Wildcats Take a Lickin'; Lions Stop Tickin'

They say a  picture is worth a thousand words...

It was a rough yet glorious night for the Wildcats.  They handily defeated the El Monte Lions, 34-7, but paid a price in pain to do it. Quite a few of the 'cats got hurt, including one who was taken away by ambulance in the first quarter (not the young man above). But, the good news is, they made it to the second round of the palyoffs. And, the important thing is none of the injuries looked extremely serious.

Marquis Williams and Kendal Boggs largely ran all over the Lions, or, more to the point, ran away from them, as Boggs did on this 80-yarder.

The home team's defense held El Monte scoreless until the fourth quarter, yet another impressive, stifling performance.

And, it's a good omen.  True fans of the game know: Defense wins championships!

If you weren't in the crowd, You can read the full story in today's Pasadena Star-News. But, if you weren't there, you might be in the minority of Monrovians.  The bleachers were full and featured many familiar faces.

Next Friday, the Wildcats will face a second round opponent in their quest for the Mid-Valley Division Championship. No word on who they'll face or where.

Kudos also go to the MHS Band which put on yet another impressive showing!

Update From MPD On Burglaries and A Crime Prevention Tip

Neighbors:

We just got a call from CPT Hunt of MPD who was nice enough to give us a ring on his day off.

While he could only release limited information on the recent burglaries in the Scenic/Canyon area, he said there does not appear to be a tie between them, and there is no statistically unsual trend or a "rash" of crimes.  The most recent crime was investigated and that investigation is ongoing.

Apparrently some leads have been developed in the previous case in that area (involving a local realtor's family) and the two appear to be unrelated.

Special Crime Prevention Tip

CPT Hunt wanted to remind all of you that the holidays are coming, and that means special crime prevention measures are in order.  Primary be extra careful about leaving valuables in plain sight in your car during and after Christmas shopping.  In his words: "Crooks need presents too"

MPD usually sees a major spike in such crimes around the holidays, 99% of them involving items in plain site and/or un-locked cards.  He added that GPS systems, Ipods and cell phones are tempting targets, and should be hidden away when you park, lest they should be hidden in a thief's pocket when you return.

Thanks, always, to CPT Hunt for going the extra mile on his day off!

Gem City Images Goes Crazy!

Neighbors:

If you've never seen it, GemCityImages.com is a wonderful web site.  If you want a rich look at the community, architecture and life of Monrovia, Keith offers an excellent, artful overview.  Each day, he posts a new photograph of our town, taken with far more talent than we've ever imagined having.

Why bring this up now? Because he went all kinds of crazy and is using Robert's photo of the MHS Band from last Friday is featured as a guest photo for today's lead image!  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

So, go take a look!  And go to tonight's game!

Reminder: Monrovia H.S. In Football Playoffs Friday Night

  C'mon, folks!  If she can do this for the Wildcats...

... Can't you stand on your own two feet for 'em?

7:00, Monrovia HS, About $12 for adults.

SURVEY SAYS: Primrosians Mostly Like The Bells

Neighbors:

Here's the latest on the survey of the Presbyterian church bells.  I think one or two responses actually came from off our street, but, bottom line, two-thirds of those who responded like the dulcimer tones.

 

   

Despite the Conflagration, MFD is Ready to Serve Monrovia

We drove by Monrovia Fire Department Station 1 this afternoon and were pleased to see an engine, ladder truck and battalion chief vehicle sitting at the ready.  We snapped this (really lousy and shaky) photo by cell phone camera on the way past.

With this weekend's fire disaster, many cities are calling for mutual aid. Earlier this year, an MFD crew spent nearly three weeks on the road, fighting fires in Northern California.

But, while some MFD fire fighters are no doubt away on the front lines in Santa Barbara, Sylmar or Yorba Linda (note that this is Engine 701, a reserve engine, so the primary, Engine 101, is probably near the hot spots), MFD has a full complement of troops to respond to our needs.

Hopefully, we will never need fire fighters from Sylmar, Santa Barbara or Yorba Linda to come to Monrovia. But, merely knowing they are available is the return on Monrovia's mutual aid investment.

Monrovia HS Wins Rio Hondo League; Wildcats Head to Playoffs!**

UPDATE: Monrovia will host El Monte HS Friday night for their first-round play-off game!  Let us know if you'd like to go!

Friday night, the Parry family ventured out to Monrovia High School to support our Wildcats as they battled the San Marino HS Titans.  On the line was the Rio Hondo League championship, which the Wildcats could capture with a victory.

It proved to be a great night for the home team, which rolled up four touchdowns in the third quarter alone, charging to a 41-19 victory and a trip to the playoffs. 

Monrovia's stand-out running back, Marquis Williams scampered all over the Titans, picking up three of those scores with 193 yards - just in that quarter - on maybe six carries. (For those who aren't well versed in football statistics, 100 yards in a game is considered a good performance!). Williams finished with nearly 300.

It was truly an impressive display of blocking and running. 

The home team's defense was stifling, denying the Titans much opportunity to move the ball. Cornerback Dujawn Jones capped off the quarter (and, really the game) with an electrifying interception return for a touchdown that covered 60+ yards.

The full story is here, in the PSN.

 The Wildcats finished the season with an eight-win, two-loss record, and undefeated in their league. They now move on to the CIF playoffs, where they will take on a yet to be determined opponent. 

The MHS Marching Wildcat Band put on a great half-time show build around a variety of classical music. It was quite entertaining, especially for any wives who might have been in the audience, indulging their otherwise grown-up husband's love of football. If there were any such wives present. Which, there might have been. 

That's what Robert heard. :-)

Anyway, next week, the Wildcat football team heads to the playoffs and the quest for a division championship.  If it's a home game or close-by road game, we might go cheer on the local kids as they represent the community. If you'd like to join us, perhaps we can make a dinner-and-game outing of it as a group. Let us know!

EVERYBODY LOVES A PARADE!!

Wow!  What a Great Day!!

If you missed the Monrovia Day Parade this morning, you missed a great time.  Of course, if you missed it, you might also have been the only Primrosian who wasn't there, either in it or watching!  Here's a photo run-down of the Saturday morning fun.

Primrose Neighbor and School Board President Ed Gilliand was one of the many elected officials, of course, in the parade. He got to ride in a great Ford Fairlane!  Lucky him!

Ms. Omnipresent Monrovia, Becky Shevlin, brought along a Birthday cake-shaped hat as she joined the Monrovia Reads program.  That woman is everywhere!

Among the cutest entries in the whole parade was the Girl Scouts' Brownie Troop with Monica Wilkerson and Alyssa leading the way with the banner!

Of course, it's hard to have a parade without an audience, and Primrose was well represented.  At one point, we managed to gather the Luconis (yes, all three!), the Parrys and Oulettes in one spot! 

And, a parade also requires bands and flags and floats! the Monrovia Day Parade didn't disappoint!

The MHS Band was one of the leaders of the day!

 

Every good parade has a big red fire engine (or, so Robert says).  Got that covered too!

Oh yeah, you can't have a parade without the Mayor, either. And he gets a fancy convertible, too!!!

Monrovia is a flag waving kinda town, and some of the best presenters of the Stars & Stripes are the MPD Explorer Post color guard.  They looked really spit & polished, as always! Very impressive!

The Blue Star Families, getting started once again here in town were there, as well as many of their service-member families members in uniform, and looking proud.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONROVIA!!!!!

Speeding Update & NPRA General News

Some updates on NPRA and Primrose issues:

Robert talked to CPT Hunt of MPD during the last City Council meeting. He advised that the blue pick-up truck in question has been tickted several times since we brought it to his attention. This is good news!  Also, we are in the MPD traffic enforcement matrix, and should be getting a couple of hours of coverage each week. Several of your have complained that there just does not seem to be enough happening from the City. However, the speed trailer is making another rotation through at Oaks and Primrose, so hopefully that will have an effect. 

We think the consensus of the neighborhood, however, is that passive measures are having a limited effect.  Dennis, from the 200 block, will be sending an email to City Manager Scott Ochoa in an attempt to get more progress.

With that in mind, we'd like to have a neighborhood meeting to discuss some issues.  One of the things that were brought up back in January was the idea that this effort of ours should have some formal structure. We had resisted that idea, because we wanted to keep things simple, and not overbearing.  However, in light of recent developments, we'd like to have a meeting to discuss that very idea.

We will let you know when and where, but would appreciate your thoughts and ideas, plus preferred dates. Email us at northprimrose@gmail.com.  We will try to combine this "business" meeting with a presentation from the Monrovia Police Department on crime prevention, and make it a two-fer, possibly a backyard barbecue.

In addition, as most of you are aware, the Monrovia Police Officers Association and the City Council are at laggerheads over a contract. We have received a lot of questions on this.  We would like to hold a discussion with a representative of the Council and one from the POA so you can ask them questions, face to face, and guage their answers for yourself. We might even make that meeting a three-fer.

Let us know your thoughts.  We hope to see you all at the parade this weekend!