Community

Art can do many things for each of us when we look at art in art galleries, private collections in our homes, art festivals and fairs, in artists’ studios, corporate collections, street sculpture in malls, government sculpture of our heroes, cultural art centers, Artists’ demonstrations of two and three dimensional, professional visual artists’ and student art exhibits, digital art, computer art, fashion art, technical art, engineering art, architectural art and any form of art created by human hands.

More than ten percent of the U.S. population is affected by domestic violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  It’s a serious problem and is taken very seriously by the people at Pardee Homes where raising and giving is a primary focus.  Because of company employee efforts, money raised in lieu of a holiday lunch were used to buy gift cards for people in need at the Domestic Violence Center of the SCV and the Food Pantry of SCV, as well.

It was six years ago that Julie Young of Canyon Country, lost a friend’s mother to pancreatic cancer.  Shortly after that, Young was diagnosed with cancer herself.  Today she has a powerful passion for an annual Santa Clarita event called the Relay for Life.
It is a 24-hour trek where walkers take turns circling a Santa Clarita track raising money for the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Her team is called the Summer Santas in honor of her friend’s mom because of her strong love of Christmas.  Last year, Young’s team raised $15,000.

After business and public resistance to a street name change, Magic Mountain Parkway, east of Interstate 5 and Creekside Road will remain the name of the Valencia thoroughfare.  The proposition to make the name change came from the Santa Clarita Auto Dealers Association who withdrew its request after public opposition. The reasoning for the proposed name change was to use a name that reflected more auto-related names.

It’s a win-win situation for donors and recipients of the Gas Assistance Fund.  For every dollar you donate to the fund, Southern California Gas will contribute four dollars (up to $800,000) in an effort to assist low income-eligible customers who can’t afford the increased costs of winter heating bills.  In turn, the bill-assistance program grants a one-time only gift of $150 to those customers facing financial hardships.  Last year the program helped more than 3000 customers.

People watching on the streets of Newhall in the Arts and Theatre District can sometimes be a fascinating way to pass the time.  Now you can add, trash can sightings to your list of visual stimuli.  Thanks to the efforts of the City of Santa Clarita Arts and Events office, ten 55-gallon metal cans have been beautified by artists and placed along San Fernando Road between Lyons Avenue and 5th Street.

“We depend on community support,” says Cheryl Laymon, Executive Director of the Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers (SDFHC) in Val Verde and Canyon Country.  The clinics provide low-cost primary medical care for people who are uninsured or underinsured.  Last year 8,000 people were served thanks to state programs and fund-raising events like the one scheduled for Saturday, February 17.

Santa Clarita Sheriff’s department Sergeant Rich Cohen wants drivers to know that driving is a privilege, not a right and to treat it as such.  He takes his job in the traffic unit very seriously after witnessing 23 years of crimes in the Santa Clarita Valley. His outlook, the efforts of ongoing grant money to enforce DUI arrests and the diligence of the officers on the streets are making a difference in the community, according to Cohen.

It’s been said that a good marriage is like a casserole.  Only those responsible for it really know what goes into it!  That said, and as managing editor for élite Magazine I would like to invite you to explore some of the amazing ingredients that local couples are putting into their highly successful marriages as seen in our February/March edition of élite Magazine, where Cupid’s touch can be found in just about every story.

Don’t be caught off guard by new roadway speed control trailers at various locations on Santa Clarita Valley roadways.  New state funding allocations are driving the purchase of ten of them to deter speeders in the unincorporated communities of Southern California.  The investment follows the findings of a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing that speeding was a contributing factor in nearly half of all fatal accidents last year.

Happy New Year!  2006 was truly a banner year for Santa Clarita and 2007 promises to be just as spectacular.  CNN/Money Magazine named Santa Clarita as the best City to live in California, ranking our City as the 18th top City to live in the nation.  The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation named Santa Clarita as one of its top five most business friendly cities.

The City of Santa Clarita and the officials who serve it, including city council members Laurene Weste, Frank Ferry, Bob Kellar, Marsha McLean and the newly-appointed Tim Ben Boydston, featured on our cover this month, are celebrating, as they should be.  20 years of growth and development have definitely paid off to make Santa Clarita a healthy, thriving place to live.

The William S. Hart Administrative Offices have been turned into a showcase for budding Saugus High School artists.  Student artwork will be on display December 1 through January 31.

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriffs Captain Anthony La Berge of Canyon Country was recently named as the new Chief of Police for the Santa Clarita Valley station, bringing more than 20 years of experience with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to his new post.  La Berge currently serves as Captain for the Office of Homeland Security, Transit Services South Bureau where he works as a unit commander, supervising over 200 sworn and professional staff as part of the dual command for the nation’s second largest transit policing agency.

The College of the Canyons Employee Training Institute and Small Business Development Center are offering a lineup of four workshops and courses from January through March for local business owners and employees. Kicking off the series will be the course “Conflict Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration,” which is aimed at helping attendees handle difficult conversations and learning how to use the power of questions to resolve workplace conflicts.

Immediately after his summer U.K. tour, Vince Falzone, professional musician and recording artist, and long time Santa Clarita resident, releases his Live at the Canyon Theatre Guild album from his benefit concert held in March of this year. It was almost a year ago when fellow musician and violinist David Ewart lost his home in a devastating fire.  David and his son Michael also suffered severe burns to most of their body from the fire.

As they entered The Gentle Barn facility to participate in their violence prevention program, you could have heard a pin drop.  Eight twelve-year-old boys, who were taken out of their abusive homes and are now living as wards of the court at a residential facility, came out of the concrete grey of the inner-city to The Gentle Barn to meet animals in a new light.

In an effort to improve aesthetics along Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country, the City of Santa Clarita teamed up with Edison and removed a series of ugly, brown utility poles between Camp Plenty and Sierra Highway. Funded by Rule 20A appropriations administered by Edison, the utility undergrounding project provides for the undergrounding of older overhead utilities along Soledad at a cost of $5.5 million.