Hiring a Contractor?

Be a Smarter Homeowner
Find out how to hire the best tradesmen
with Penny Spark
Thursday March 28, 7:00 p.m.

Are you about to remodel your home or hire a contractor? Then don’t miss Penny Spark’s free presentation at Crowell Public Library. She knows the twenty critical questions to ask when interviewing a contractor, the pitfalls to avoid during your home improvement project, as well as the legal requirements of the contract you sign. She will outline how to navigate the process from the preliminary planning stages through the inevitable changes along the way, to inspections, warranties and final payments. She can tell you what projects will increase the value of your home and what modifications you can make to keep seniors safe.

Penny Spark has been vetting contractors for over ten years and has guided thousands of homeowners through their remodels, additions, and maintenance and repair projects. She started the Southern California Home Improvement Referral Service when she got fed up with contractors she had hired for her own projects. She realized that hiring the right contractor is a very time consuming process and most people do not have the time to do it properly. Matching each job with the right contractor is main objective of her service.

Protect yourself from contractor schemes, dreaded outcomes and nightmare stories. Come to Crowell Public Library Thursday evening, March 28 for this free, informative program.

The Early Years of JPL: The Guggenheim Family and U.S. Rocketry

Monday, March 25, 7:00 p.m.
Nick Curry, Presenter

As a philanthropist, Daniel Guggenheim is best known as an aviation pioneer. He and his family created the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the promotion of Aeronautics June 16, 1926 which provided individual support for physicist Robert Goddard and aviation pioneer Charles Lindberg. Goddard was a physics professor whose contributions to rocket science included one of the first high altitude rockets. Charles Lindberg was most well-known for the first non-stop Atlantic flight.

The Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Engineering Laboratory was established at Caltech in May of 1929 and the family continued to finance the Laboratory through 1945. While serving as the Director, Dr. Theodore von Karman participated in the formation of what was the beginning of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Learn more about this fascinating era of Southern California aviation on Monday, March 25th when NICK CURRY presents a program sponsored by the San Marino Historical Society and Crowell Public Library. Nick is a 1961 graduate of San Marino High School and history has been his lifetime avocation. He has contributed to works on the Doheny family, the Chandlers, the Huntingtons, the Hearsts, the Gettys and the San Marino Centennial publication, just to name a few. He attended USC and Woodbury universities and worked for many years in the savings and loan industry.
Seating is limited and attendance to this free monthly series has been to capacity so arrive early!

LA Opera Talk: Cinderella

SUNDAY, March 17th 2:00 p.m.
Rossini’s Cinderella

In her impoverished stepfather's castle, a kindhearted girl dreams of escaping the tyranny of her vain stepsisters. When the prince announces that he will choose his bride at a glamorous ball, she seizes the opportunity to take control of her own destiny. Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, but Gioachino Rossini's warmhearted retelling is a delightful romantic comedy. LA Opera will bring it to life with dazzling vocal fireworks of an exciting young cast and a production new to Los Angeles.

In the meantime, everyone is invited to Crowell Library where Community Educator DIANE BELTOYA will play excerpts and highlight different aspects of the opera with her expertise. Learn about the variants of this particular version of the Cinderella story: some mice but no bippity, boppity-boo, just to name two. La Cenerentola was composed when Rossini was 25 years old, after his magnificent Barber of Seville. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cendrillon by Charles Perrault. The opera was first performed in Rome's Teatro Valle in 1817.

This introduction to opera at Crowell Public Library is absolutely free. It will undoubtedly inspire one and all to make a trip to the Los Angeles Music Center for a real opera experience.

Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives

California Institute of Technology and Crowell Public Library present
Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives
Featuring the Aquila Theatre Company
Thursday March 14, 7:00 p.m.

Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives is a staged reading that will include a repertoire of selections from Greek drama such as Homer’s Odyssey, Sophocles’ Ajax and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. The ninety minute event will feature five professional actors and will include an introduction, performed readings, a post-show discussion and a town hall-style meeting, including audience comments. Participants will see the reading of artistically enriching classical plays and also gain experience in how to watch, appreciate and participate as a modern audience member viewing an ancient Greek play.

AQUILA THEATRE is a not for profit company founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and based in New York City since 1999. Aquila’s mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number. To this end Aquila presents a regular season of plays in New York, at international festivals, and tours to approximately seventy American towns and cities each year. Aquila produces an extensive educational program and is also professional company in residence at the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience and appreciate Greek drama in the twenty-first century.

This free evening of theatre is brought to you by Cal Tech and Crowell Public Library.

Design Review: Tree Ordinance Workshop

for San Marino Residents: Design Review: Tree Ordinance Workshop
Thursday March 7, 7:00 p.m.

Are you planning exterior changes to your home, but are not aware of the City’s architectural design policies and procedures? Do you want to know when a tree removal permit is required? Are you planning to re-landscape your rear yard, but aren’t sure if you can remove any trees?

If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions, then this free Design Review-Tree Ordinance community workshop is for you. Both newcomers and longtime residents will benefit from this workshop, which will be held on Thursday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Barth Community Room of the Crowell Public Library. City staff and a Design Review Committee member will make a presentation regarding the design review process and tree removal procedures and will answer your questions. For more information, call Planning & Building Director Dave Saldana at 626-300-0710.

Surviving American Medicine

Monday March 11, 7:00 pm

We live in a time when the business of health care has superseded the care of health. Virtually every American is experiencing dramatic changes in the delivery of health care and the insurance programs that pay for it. In Surviving American Medicine, San Marino resident DR. CARY PRESANT lays the foundation to help people take control of these issues and become their own advocate. Learn how to access the best doctors, good insurance, safe hospitals, and affordable medicines ¬from an author and physician who has been a national expert on health care on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Crowell Public Library. With insights from his medical experience and reliable internet resources, Dr. Presant will give information to survive, reduce the risk of illness, and control diseases. Learn the questions to ask your own doctor that can get you the increased attention you want and need.

Cary A. Presant, M.D., F.A.C.P., has been a practicing hematologist and medical oncologist in Southern California since 1979. He was the director of cancer programs at Washington University School of Medicine, the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Citrus Valley Health Partners, and St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. After being Director of Medical Oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center, he started a private practice in West Covina in 1982. In 2004, he merged his Center with Wilshire Oncology Medical Group, Inc. and is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. He received his medical degree in 1966 from the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University in New York City, the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
You won’t want to miss this free program on how to take control of your health care.

The more the merrier! Share this event on Facebook & Twitter.
1890 Huntington Drive, San Marino, CA 91108-2595 ● Phone: (626) 300-0777
For more information, visit our website www.CrowellPublicLibrary.org

2013 ONE BOOK, ONE CITY SELECTION

The Friends of the Crowell Public Library have announced their ONE BOOK, ONE CITY selection for 2013: Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. “It is rare for someone to emerge in America who can change attitudes, beliefs, and culture. It is even rarer when that someone is a middle-aged, six-foot three-inch woman. Julia Child’s story, however, is more than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft. Julia had an effect on and was equally affected by the baby boom, the sexual revolution, and the start of the women's liberation movement” (from the publisher’s description).

Bob Spitz is the award-winning author of The Beatles, a New York Times best seller, as well as seven other nonfiction books. His articles appear regularly in magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and O, the Oprah Magazine among others.

Check out a copy of Dearie at Crowell Public Library and mark your calendars with these upcoming One Book, One City events which take place in the Library’s Barth Community Room:

March 12, Tuesday, 7 pm
John Dewar: Recipe for Spying

John is a USC graduate who currently works for the Pasadena Police Department and is in charge of a joint FBI Task Force. John served in the United States Navy as an Intelligence Officer.

March 21, Thursday, 7 pm
Peg Rahn: Our Julia

Peg Rahn was about half way through cooking from Mastering the Art of French Cooking the first time she met Julia – appropriately at Jurgensens! Peg has been writing, cooking and traveling with food as a focus for several decades. A regular on the KNX FoodNews and ABC News, Peg was a regular writer for Metropolitan Home, Better Homes and the Pasadena Star News. Currently, she runs the FRESH classes at the LA Arboretum.

April 4, Thursday, 7 pm
Dee FitzGerald: AIWF, Julia’s Darling – Seeking the Recognition It Deserves

Dr. FitzGerald is Chairman of the Orange County American Institute of Wine and Food, a 501(c)(3) national organization founded by Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Richard Graff to support Culinary Scholarships and the trademarked Days of Taste (www.daysoftaste.org) which introduces Title I fourth and fifth graders to good food habits and enjoyment. His presentation will trace the history, intention, present focus and current challenges of the 24 chapter, 3,000 member organization.

April 11, Thursday, 7 pm
Wine and Cheese Tasting Event (location & details to be determined)

April 18, Thursday, 7 pm
Author talk and book signing.

In person, Bob Spitz: Author of Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child.

Movie Screening: February 21, Thursday, 10 am
Julie & Julia, 2009.

Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.

Every year the Friends of Crowell Public Library present a series of ONE BOOK, ONE CITY events that bring the community together in celebration of the joy of reading. Past selections have included Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker, Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart, Samurai’s Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama, The Ragtime Kid by Larry Karp and 2012’s The Sherlockian by Graham Moore.

For further details on this exciting program and others at Crowell Library, keep an eye on the website: http://www.CrowellPublicLibrary.org.