ARCADIA LANDMARK SUCCUMBS TO SANTA ANAS?

Windmill falls from Denny's [aka, Tiny Naylor's, aka, Van de Kamp's] Arcadia tower.

By the way, this is the last surviving windmill in Southern California.  LA Curbed explains 

Originally a Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakery’s coffee shop, the Denny’s is the last surviving windmill-topped restaurant in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. The windmill had only recently begun to spin again; it was turned on 18 months ago after sitting still since 1989.

The Orange County Register covered the story as well.  Looks like it fell yesterday, Friday, December 29, 2017 at 7:30am.  

The historic windmill atop the Arcadia Denny’s detached and fell into the restaurant Friday morning.

Representatives from Denny’s were not immediately available to comment Friday, but Arcadia police were notified the windmill had fallen at 7:28 a.m., said Sgt. Dan Crowther. 

Signs around the restaurant at noon said it was closed for maintenance. 

Exactly a year and a half ago, on June 29, 2016, Denny’s officially reactivated the windmill, and it had been spinning all day, every day since then. 

The windmill is the last remnant of the Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakery’s coffee shop franchise, which built 15 locations bearing the same design. The Arcadia location, the first of the 15 built, opened in 1967. 

Denny’s purchased the location in 1989. The diner-chain spent about $100,000 refurbishing the windmill — replacing the motor, reinforcing the blades and adding new LED lighting — according to President and CEO John Miller. 

“It’s a bigger bill than we initially thought,” Miller said in 2016. “But we figured when the windmill is still spinning in 100 years, the cost won’t matter.” 

The LA Times adds that

The restaurant and windmilll were built in 1967 as the first of 15 coffee shops in the Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery chain. 

But no word on what caused the windmill to drop.  I guess I could call Denny's and find out. 

ST. RITA'S CHURCH, SIERRA MADRE, CA, APRIL 12, 1988

Dad's funeral was held at St. Rita's Church in Sierra Madre.  The front of the church, behind the altar, had a modern design which I was no fan of.  I don't know who scheduled the funeral.  I think people don't have a lot of options when a death occurs.  They take what is available.  Set in the foothills above Sierra Madre on a rainy day, one could not ask for anything more portentous.  

The interior was modern.  Construction for the church began in 1908 and completed in 1910.  A parochial school opened in 1922.  In 1968, the second structure of St. Rita's was demolished and a third structure was built in 1970 to give the chapel it's modern look seen here.  It lacked tradition, and given Sierra Madre's thirst for legacy, one would have thought . . . oh, well.  But this is where his funeral was held.  For some reason, the secretary from Realty World showed up.  

"O, COME LET US ADORE HIM"

One of my favorite Christmas hymns is "O, Come All Ye, Faithful." This was beautiful. 

Still Nacht (Silent Night).  I love the German language.  This was beautiful. Thanks to the great Lew Rockwell.  

O CLEMENT, O LOVING, O SWEET VIRGIN MARY

My Dad wrestled us guys up out of bed at 5am to get us to 5:40 mass at the St. Joseph's Chapel at Santa Teresita Church in Monrovia.  I did not like waking up on Sunday mornings, but I also accepted its importance and the benefits that came from being with my brothers and my dad and spending Sunday morning with them, though unpleasant it may have been on occasion.  But I always loved my dad's energy and his efforts to organize time on Sunday for us to learn in some systematic way a faith.  It's hard to understand the value of that system as a kid but decades later one at least appreciates the instillation of prayers on the mind as one endures an onslaught of death, envy, evil, defeat, essentially what is referred to as the Valley of Darkness in the Psalm 23 prayer.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.— Psalm 23:1-6 

But there were other prayers as well, like the prayers of the Rosary, some of my favorites that helped protect me from the profanity and paganism of Darwinian, civic organizations.  

The Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen 

The Apostles' Creed: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He arose again; He ascended into heaven,and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgivness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen 

The Our Father: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

The Hail Mary: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen 

Glory Be to the Father: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Fatima Prayer: "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy".  (Our Lady at Fatima, 13th July 1917) 

The Hail, Holy Queen: Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus; O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. 

So there's that.  I am not a big fan of this Pope Francis, for he really is a Marxist.  Period.  Dot.  Stop.  Another favorite of mine is the Serenity Prayer.  In a profane world, this can be restorative. 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.  

Living one day at a time;enjoying one moment at a time;accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;taking, as He did, this sinful worldas it is, not as I would have it;trusting that He will make all things rightif I surrender to His Will;that I may be reasonably happy in this lifeand supremely happy with Himforever in the next.  Amen. 

And upon waking up to get to mass we had to make sure that we carried our Daily Roman Misssals.  These were small, hand-sized prayer books.  I don't think that the ones that we had were in Latin, but I remember seeing prayers missals in Latin for sure.  

But these missals were tiny.  The Roman Daily Missal contained the following: 

The Daily Roman Missal contains the complete prayers, antiphons, and readings (A, B, C cycle for Sundays, two-year cycle for weekdays) for all Masses throughout the liturgical year and the Order of the Mass all in one volume. Short explanations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church are given above the Sunday readings. It also contains English and Latin texts side by side for the Order of the Mass and the Eucharistic prayers, making this a great missal to use when Mass is said in Latin. It contains a liturgical calendar in the front that helps you locate the appropriate readings for the year and month. It has many other features such as the Proper of Saints, Masses and Prayers for various needs and occasions. It also has a very helpful section of Catholic devotions and common prayers in the back, and guides for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Six colored ribbons are included for ease of use.

The one here is a military missal, which is what we could have owned since my dad was a Marine.  

The ones we owned could have also looked like this.  The size is 6 x 4.5.

AUNT MYRTLE & DAD IN WHEAT RIDGE, CO, 1934

It is amazing.  I never met Aunt Myrtle, Dad's cousin, but Dan did.  In fact, he visited her back in 2003 and received some terrific memories from her.  

For me, Wheat Ridge was the first town I stopped in and ate a sausage and egg breakfast back in 2014.  The town sits south of I70 between Golden and I25.  

ST. CLARA'S ORPHANAGE

Mom attended Saint Clara's Orphanage in Denver.  Here are a couple of photographs of kids who attended the school in 1936.  Mom would have been 16, and the kids in those pictures look much younger.  I don't know the year that Mom left the orphanage.  Here is a 1940s picture of St. Clara's. 

Here is a collection of Getty Images of Saint Clara's Orphanage through the years.  The following picture is from a postcard but the listing does not provide the date.  Grrr.

The orphanage was located at 3800 West 29th Avenue in Denver in an area known as West Highland, located west of Federal Blvd. and, of course, west of Interstate 25.  The neighborhood was quite elegant.  Lots of brick-style, turn-of-the-century homes still standing there and throughout the Denver area.  Loved that area.  

This is a terrific photo of an air force soldier visiting with boys from St. Clara's Orphanage.  And that makes perfect sense that an Air Force soldier would visit the kids in Denver, given the fact that the Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, CO., 75 miles or 72 minutes south of Denver.

Below is another shot of St. Clara's Orphanage from Getty Images.  

The caption reads 

JUL 13 1967 St.Clara's Orphanage, which was founded and Built in 1890, will be shut down Jan 1 by Authorities. The 51 children now living in the building will be placed individually in new homes in the Denver area. Credit: Denver Post (Denver Post via Getty Images)

St. Clara's Orphanage, Denver, a home to some 10,000 children since it's origin in 1890, will be discontinued effective January 1, 1968.  Joint announcement of the closing was made Thursday, July 13th by Mother M. Dolorine, Provincial of the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters who operate the home.  The Right Reverend Monsignor Elmer J. Kolka, Director of Catholic Charities, and Roy I. Mason, Mile High United Way President.  The orphanage has been affiliated with United Way and is predecessor organizations for 45 years.  Monsignor Kolka said that appropriate planning will be made for the individual replacement of each of the 51 children, now in the orphanage.

"THE UTMOST concern and solicitude will be extended so that every child from the home will be adequately considered and cared for in the future." Monsignor Kolka said "Child care is one of the greatest functions of Catholic Charities, and St. Clara's became affiliated with the Catholic Charities in 1928."

The structure at 3800 West 29th Avenue, which presently houses the children, was built in 1908 the original orphanage was located at 10th and Champa Streets where the same group of sisters now operate St. Rose's residence a home for working girls children were admitted to the original orphanage on 10th Street on Christmas Eve 1890  Mother Dolorine said the decision to close was made when she and her board attempted to plan for the sister personnel of the order.

Here on Page 11, you'll find an interesting history of how St. Clara's Orphanage became so. 

SEP 22 1962, SEP 23 1962; Saint Clara's Orphanage; Denver -Boulder Orphans *****; In the driver's seat of a Lowry Field T-Bird--a T33 jet trainer plane--is John Weiss, 10, of St. Clara's Orphanage. Behind him, left to right, are Airman Second Class Homer Jackson, Danny Miller, 12, and Ansell Torrez, 10. 200 Denver-Boulder orphans got a tour. The youngsters watched a fire-fighting demonstration, saw an action-filled motion picture and enjoyed an especially elaborate luncheon with officers in the mess hall.;

Well, Mom was long gone from St. Clara's by 1954, but I thought that these photos from St. Regis nearby might be kind of interesting for nostalgia watchers.  

CHARLES WALGENBACH AND HIS SLICE OF LIFE

It is strange what you can find on the internet.  I found this sketch by Dad that he submitted for publication to the Arcadia Tribune.  Publication date was November 10, 1977.  This was published in a small section called "Slice of Life," which you can see at the bottom right-corner of the page in that link.  

Ever since Adam and Eve had trouble sleeping' after they bit into that apple, people have been seeking cures and remedies for insomnia. Countless suggestions, even more than all the sheep you could possibly count trying to catch some sleep, have been made. Some authorities suggest sipping warm milk before retiring. However, the results are questionable. Also this milk method has never been accepted or approved by Morpheus.  Others insist insomnia can be cured with a glass of wine in an attempt to seek sleep. This practice can create problems. Oftentimes one glass is not sufficient for sleep, so subsequent trips to the bottle are required. You'll sleep alright, but you might end up at an Alcoholic Anonymous chapter. And if you were employed, your chances of standing in long lines at an unemployment agency are great.  My suggestion is to discard the above suggestions and get on the tube. Television is the cure.  It's a lullaby--it lulls you to sleep.  It's like a narcotic and you will soon have a sound night's sleep.  And there's no after effects except for the electric bill.   CHARLES WALGENBACH Duarte

DAD'S EXECUTIVE DESK

It got moved around a bit.  This desk has seen better days.  The desk comes with a pane glass top.  It was beautiful to look at when in Duarte for my dad had placed family photos between the glass and desk top so it was always a treat to study the images and faces in black and white and in color arranged just so across the desk.  It filled my heart with wonder and pride and joy.  I loved it.  My dad rarely worked at the desk.  He used it more to store office supplies and some valuable Marine paraphernalia.  He did keep a lamp and a radio on the desk fixed mostly on the classical station.  The lamp he kept on this desk was a vintage retro desk lamp, similar to the one seen here.