The water in Baldwin Lake at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, which is actually a sag pond, is evaporating, and the water is not being replenished by the artesian well because of low levels in the water table. The lake is famous from the television show Fantasy Island. The last time Baldwin Lake was dry was 1991.
The history of the peafowl from Indian and Java that live in Arcadia is presented. Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin imported three pairs from India in the 1880s. His daughter Anita Baldwin added some birds from Java. The peacock is official bird of Arcadia, is protected, and should not be fed. See also VF "Peacocks" for copy of article.
Writer Charles Cooper recounts the history of the Los Angeles County Arboretum, including previous landowners Hugo Reid and Elias J. ("Lucky") Baldwin.
Arts & Culture spotlight on the new exhibit at the Ruth & Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum. The exhibit is called "Roll 'em!: Motion Pictures Filmed in Arcadia and Surrounding Communities." Photos include Dana Dunn, curator at the museum, and movie posters of "A Star is Born" starring Judy Garland and James Mason, and "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
Rose Queen Courtney Lee and her Royal Court visited City of Hope to bring holiday cheer to patients. Courtney Lee is from Arcadia and will reign over the 120th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day, 2009.
Carol Libby and Scott Hettrick of the Arcadia Historical Society are both on the Baldwin Adobe Restoration Committee, which wants to restore the Hugo Reid Adobe on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Arboretum. They want to re-create the adobe as it was in its heyday, when Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin lived there from 1875 until he died in 1909.
Gordon Kirk, a senior pastor of Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, has resigned abruptly. Some concerns have been raised by Pasadena attorney Wiley Bunn. One concern involves the sale of Kirk's home in Arcadia.
Peter Atkine, Chief Executive Officer of the Arboretum, has told the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation Board of Trustees that he will resign as of July 1.
The Hugo Reid Adobe still stands in disrepair at the Los Angeles County Arboretum five years after preservation and restoration efforts should have started. At issue is whether it should be preserved as the Hugo Reid Adobe or reinterpreted as the Elias J. ("Lucky") Baldwin Adobe.