News Briefs

New Frontiers hosts virtual open house

New Frontiers for Lifelong Learning, a program of Mesa Community College, will host a virtual open house at 10 a.m. Monday, September 13, to introduce the fall 2021 class schedule to current and new members.

The link to this event and the fall 2021 schedule is available at newfrontiers. mesacc.edu.

NFLL o ers adults the opportunity to learn, socialize and serve the community. As an all-volunteer organization, members explore, develop and expand their lifelong learning resources.

The 2021-22 enrollment fee is $60 per year, and there isn’t a limit to classes. Sessions are o ered in the fall, spring and summer.

Additional fees may be assessed for eld trip admission or materials for classes.

Fall courses run Monday to Friday from September 27 to December 10 at the MCC-Dobson and MCC-Red Mountain campuses, as well as online and surrounding locations. In-person activities are recommended to follow CDC recommendations for social distancing and mask wearing.

Fall highlights include four talks by the docents of the Commemorative Air Force Arizona chapter and a eld trip, Hospice of the Valley discussing how to honor veterans, while NFLL member Bob Dukelow will entertain with two sessions of “Songs of War.”

Scott Sandell of the Phoenix Chapter of the Foundation for Personal Financial Education will o er the latest information on changes to minimum distribution requirements for IRAs, the evolving opportunities for investments, nding unbiased nancial advice, and considerations for living abroad full or part time. Nydia Montijo of the Foundation for Senior Living will help seniors avoid fraud and abuse scams and what to consider in selecting long-term care facilities for loved ones to avoid costly errors.

The arts and entertainment topics in

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the schedule include (online) Beginning and Continuing Piano with Shelia Millhollon, as well as Bette Jones’ series of classes discussing opera. The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright will be covered in three talks by ASU professor Stephen Siek, while NFLL member Donald Larry, a well-known architect, will provide six lectures on the Legacy of Alexander Chandler, one of the architects who worked on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Arizona projects. A eld trip to Taliesin West in Fountain Hills will bring our classroom knowledge to life.

Elder law planning workshop set for September 8

The Benevilla education event series continues at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 8, with a free, online workshop about elder law and estate planning strategies.

The topic, elder law planning, will be presented by Lora Johnson of Johnson & Associates. She will provide advice and direction on smart estate planning strategies covering wills, health care planning, guardianship and long-term care arrangements.

This free presentation is part of the yearlong Benevilla C.A.R.E.S. virtual educational workshop series featuring professionals who can answer questions and provide guidance, practical solutions and resources needed to prepare for senior life changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To reduce the risk of public exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Benevilla has chosen to convert all its education workshops into livestream, online Zoom events.

Reservations are required, and registrants must have a working email address. A secure link and password, with easy instructions, will be given. Call Benevilla at 623-584-4999 or visit benevilla. org/community-events to reserve a spot.

Enrichment program open house

Benevilla’s West Valley Life Enrichment Day program includes an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 6, at Church at Cactus, 8133 W. Cactus Road, Peoria.

One of four Benevilla Life Enrichment Programs, this program supports a diverse group of people with a wide range of care needs. The program provides daytime care for members with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as adults with disabilities or those disabled by a stroke who live in Peoria, Glendale and West Phoenix.

Activities are adapted for speci c physical challenges to include everyone’s participation. Outings, meals and social exchanges create nice days for members and provide caregivers the respite they need.

Stop by the West Valley program and meet Director Kylee Lavigne and her sta .

For reservations, call 623-584-4999. Social distancing and masks are required.

Motors and Meals returns in October

After being on hiatus during the pandemic, Motors and Meals is returning from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, October 30, at the Beardsley Recreation Center, 128th Avenue and Beardsley Road, in Sun City West.

Admission is free to the event, which includes live entertainment, food trucks, displays of restored vehicles, wine and beer tent and exhibits from local businesses and organizations.

“Hundreds of people have attended this event in past years, and we’re glad to be able to bring it back,” says Julie Kent-Partridge, chair of the Northwest Valley Connect board of directors.

“This very popular event will be a great time for people to get together, have a good time, and learn about community agencies and businesses.”

Businesses and nonpro ts wishing to participate can contact NVC Executive Director Kathy Chandler at 623-282-9304.

“We are aware the COVID-19 situation is very uid and will be working with health care professionals to ensure social distancing and provide hand sanitizing and whatever else may be bene cial,” Chandler says.

Northwest Valley Connect is a nonpro t organization to serve Peoria residents and others in the area who need help with transportation in a region that doesn’t have public transit.

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The Langham Huntington is Pasadena’s ‘jewel’

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

Nestled at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Langham Huntington, Pasadena is an oasis among lush landscaping.

Kindness and beauty exude from the Spanish Mission Revival-style resort. Attendants readily share facts about the resort, which is peppered with Pasadena’s trademark roses.

Wedding parties rush around the Langham Huntington as brides and grooms are photographed among the gardens.

“We have a lot of brides who like to do their photo shoots here,” says Leslie Marks of the Langham Huntington. “Even if their wedding is later in the year, they’ll take their engagement photos here.”

Even Marks, a Pasadena native, has fond memories of the resort.

“I remember coming here to have tea when I was little,” Marks says.

Staying at the Langham Huntington is a peek into the history of Pasadena.

Langham history

Afternoon tea is just one of the traditions built into the Langham Huntington.

Constructed by Civil War veteran Gen. Marshall C. Wentworth and designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in the Spanish Mission Revival style, the hotel opened in February 1907 as the Hotel Wentworth.

“The roof was only partially nished and only built up to the fourth oor,” Marks says.

“They had heavy rains that rst season, so guests stayed pretty much at other resort areas. They didn’t come to Pasadena. On top of that, we lost a lot of construction workers to the 1906 earthquake who were rebuilding San Francisco.”

As a result, The Wentworth closed in July 1907. Four years later, it was purchased by railroad tycoon and art collector Henry E. Huntington and reopened in 1914 as the Huntington Hotel after a facelift by architect Myron Hunt, who also designed the Huntington Library. He added two oors and the belvedere tower.

“The hotel had great success — so much so that it went from being a winter resort to, in the ‘20s, nally opening yearround,” she says. “Because of that, in 1926, an Olympic-sized pool was built. It was the rst one in California.” The 20-acre hotel stayed under his purview until 1918 Within the next eight years, 27 bungalows were built to accommodate long-term guests. A subsequent owner, Stephen W. Royce, sold the hotel to Sheraton and it took on a new moniker, the Huntington-Sheraton Hotel, in 1954. Designers covered most of the hotel’s interior detailing and artwork.

“They plastered over all the windows and stained-glass windows,” she says.

“In the ‘50s, I guess, aesthetics wasn’t a thing any longer. They plastered over the gold gilded ceiling as well. It was a Sheraton for many years in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.”

Marks says, in 1986, seismic testing showed the building was not up to code.

“It was like a fourth of what it should be, in terms of ability,” she says.

The neighbors voted on May 19, 1987, to tear down the hotel and build it up again to its original footprint, Marks says. “It was during the construction that a construction worker put his hammer through plaster and 10 stained-glass windows appeared.”

They were covered by Sheraton when the Georgian Ballroom was converted to a dining room.

It reopened on March 18, 1991, as a 383-room as the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel, which is similar to the original but with modern facilities, Marks says. The hotel was sold to Great Eagle Holdings for $170 million and renamed the Langham Huntington, Pasadena, on January 8, 2008.

“We’re on 23 acres, but you wouldn’t know it from just driving up,” Marks says.

The Picture Bridge overlooks the pool, which was shortened because guests jumped o the bridge and into the pool. The Langham Huntington is near charming Downtown Pasadena, which is a foodie’s dream. (Photos courtesy of the Langham Huntington, Pasadena)

Equipped with a spa, steakhouse, poolside dining and afternoon tea, the hotel welcomes visitors from around the world, including U.S. presidents and the Dalai Lama.

The 27 cottages surrounding the property have been converted to private residents on the loop road.

“We still retain eight of them, one of them being Ford Cottage, which is named after President Ford. It was where he liked to stay when he came here.

“I’ve been told Prince Philip came here at some point.”

The Langham Huntington is the home to the Television Critics Association’s upfronts.

Don’t miss

The Picture Bridge is a must-see at the Langham Huntington.

In 1932, the hotel hired a local artist, English immigrant Frank Montague Moore, to paint 41 murals for the hotel.

“The painter was paid $10 a painting, and he and his wife were told they could eat at the hotel while the was working on them,” Marks says.

“It was during the Depression, so I’m sure he said, ‘OK, done.’

“They were up for decades and weathered,” Marks says. “They were so faded that it’s hard to tell the subject matter.

“So, in 2013, they were taken down and put in a climate-controlled art facility, where they still are. They’re too delicate to put back on display. We had replicas

The afternoon tea has returned to the Langham Huntington, Pasadena.

made that are just brighter, cleaner versions of them.”

The Picture Bridge is the Langham Huntington’s jewel.

“It’s the only covered picture bridge in America, and the only other one that I know of is in Switzerland,” Marks says. “That inspired it. It’s a nice little stroll.”

With the help of Pasadena Heritage, a historic preservation organization, and architects who specialize in those

The Royce | Wood Fired Steakhouse features USDA prime cuts, Australian wagyu and Japanese Kobe beef, prepared over a wood- red grill. buildings, the resort reinstalled the artwork and reinforced the bridge.

“They put steel beams and reinforced the wood,” Marks says. “It’s a mix now of the original wood and new, stronger wood. It has descriptions of all the paintings.”

The pool has since been shortened because guests jumped o the Picture Bridge into the pool.

The Langham Huntington, Pasadena’s lobby shines.

“I think the hotel was like, no, no, no,” she says with a laugh.

“I have guests come in and say, ‘My dad used to jump o that bridge.’ I say, ‘I’m glad we don’t have that anymore.’”

The Langham Huntington, Pasadena

1401 S. Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena, California 626-568-3900, langhamhotels.com