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THURSDAY, APRIL 2 - APRIL 8, 2009 VOLUME 14, NO.27
ARMENIAN SCOUTS HOLD 40-YEAR REUNION IN PASADENA SATURDAY •By Terry Miller•
This frame was taken from the Animal Planet series “Jockeys”, starring local jockeys Mike Smith and Chantel Sutherland.
Local Jockeys Star in TV Series— But Now, Focus is on Derby Day
Approximately 350 people attended Saturday’s reunion of Armenian Scouts and their families in Pasadena Saturday evening. I was privileged enough to be invited to the lavish, catered affair Saturday at the AGBU building on Altadena in Pasadena. Sponsored in part by AGBU which is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Armenian identity and heritage through humanitarian, educational, and cultural programs As the guests arrived and greeted friends from years past, I couldn’t help but feel the stalwart emotions even though I didn’t understand one word spoken. Luckily, I later had a translator who clued me into the various speeches by visiting scout masters from as far away as Australia. As guests arrived they were visibly stunned with how each of their former scouting friends had changed and spent a lot of time looking at all the photos from the past that ac-
cented the walls of the AGBU hall. In fact, many guests were uploading photos they were taking on Saturday evening to Facebook for their friends in Iran who were eagerly awaiting postings of photos and details of the event. Technology that simply didn’t exist in the early days of scouting have now become a mainstream tool for almost all involved. This particular scouting group celebrating 40 years was founded by Shahen Vartanian in October of 1968 in Tehran at a local AGBU elementary school called Nevart Gulbenkian. For the first few years the group was called Gulbenkian School Scouts Group. The name changed to AGBU Scouts Group in mid 70s. The group started with 20 plus boy scouts. A few weeks later a girl’s scout group was added with more than 10 members. The group was headed by Jemma Ghazarian who is now the honorary head of the group in
Scouts on 14
72ND RUNNING OF THE SANTA ANITA DERBY THIS SATURDAY •By Bill Peters•
Starting last February, Animal Planet began a TV series on the cable-only network that purports to show the lifestyle of jockeys. The series was shot at Fairplex in Pomona, Santa Anita racetrack, and at the residences of the seven jockeys featured. Much of the simulated drama surrounded the Oak Tree Meet at Santa Anita this past year. The sort of reality-TV,
soap-opera, docu-drama show intercuts scenes of jockeys Jon Court, Aaron Gryder, Mike Smith, Alex Solis, Kayla Stra, Chantal Sutherland and Joe Talamo taking viewers behind the scenes at Santa Anita, as well as affording an inside look at these famous jockey’s activities at the track, plus intimate peeks of them at home with their families and friends.
The show, “Jockeys” has attracted a wide viewing audience that reached more than 9.2 million during its 12 half-hour segments, Animal Planet says. That has prompted the cable channel to commission a second season of seven episodes which will be expanded to a full hour. The extended series is now set to begin in August. Officials at Animal Planet believe that hour-long
segments will allow a deeper look into the world of racing, horses and the track. Jockeys Garrett Gomez and Corey Nakatani will be added to the “cast” in the second series. Jon Court leaves the series due to a move to the Midwest. Mike Smith, named to the Hall of Fame in 2003, and his girlfriend, jockey Chantal Sutherland, are fea-
Jockey on 3
Sheriff’s Charge Two in Last Year’ Slaying of 16-Year-Old Sammantha Salas in Monrovia Rayshawn Blackwell a nd Nick leis Blackwell, who a re bot h a l ready i n c u s t ody for on pre v iou s of fen se s , w i l l be charged with the Jan 26, 2008 slaying of Salas and the attempted murder of her unident if ied fr iend. T he hea r i ng or ig i na l ly slated for last week has
been postponed until mid April. Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson said he was del ight ed t he t wo have been charged with Samantha Salas’ murder. Johnson credits the Monrovia Police Dept. and Sheriff’s homicide bureau as well
Salas on 3 -Photo By John Stephens
Sevak Simonian, pictured in his official Armenian Scout uniform, was one of 350 guests at the huge 40th Reunion of Scouts at the Armenian Benevolent General Union -Photo by Terry Miller
From the Superintendent’s Desk: Stimulus Dollars for AUSD •By Emily Litvack•
Superintendent of the Arcadia Unified School District Dr. Joel Shawn does not “pretend to have all the answers” when discussing the budgetary crisis his district, among all California school districts, is ensnared in. He admits that “…there are just a lot of unknowns” and that nobody is immune. But when I met with Dr. Shawn on Tuesday to ask him if and when stimulus money will
help AUSD rescind some of the well-known 41 pink slips certified teachers within the district, his response was something of a scandalous story; state officials, he said, have recently discussed the possibility of withholding Federal Stimulus dollars Arcadia was to receive at the end of March. The state of California has three funds receiving
AUSD on 12