www.WISPPA.ORG
  • Home
    • WISPPA Board
  • Meetings/Forums
    • 2021 Meetings/Forums
    • 2020 Meetings
  • Issues
    • Post SB 9 & SB 10 World
    • Commission updates
    • No on Measure N
    • Women in Government
    • No on 710
    • Beyond The 710
    • Massage Parlor
  • Events
    • Awards
    • Forums - Workshops
    • Community Events
  • Join Or Renew
  • Contact Us
  • Documents
  • Important SP Info
    • City of South Pasadena
    • South Pas Commissions
    • South Pas Organizations
    • News Sources
    • Disater Preparedness
    • California State Legislature
    • CA Voter Info
COMMUNITY EVENTS

WISPPA at the PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
 Saturday September 15, 2018
The Pasadena Playhouse graciously hosted WISPPA in the morning for a behind the scenes tour. 
In the afternoon, WISPPA members and guests attended the play "Native Gardens"

WISPPA thanks the Pasadena Playhouse for a fascinating day and Barbara Sinclair for coordinating the event.
Picture
WISPPA members enjoying a wonderful backstage tour of the Pasadena Playhouse.

WISPPA SUMMER CONCERT MEET-UP 
Sunday, July 15, 2018

WISPPA members gathered at the free Garfield Park concert for an enjoyable evening listiening to the Phat Cat Swinger Band (Swing).  This was ​one of ​WISPPA​'s purely ​social events allowing members to get to know more each other better! 
 Thank you Judy Harris, Shadi Towfighi and Kelly Koldus for organizing the event! ​ 
Picture
Lynda Sullivan and Dollie Chapman
Picture
Lynda Sullivan, Dollie Chapman, Connie Wardlow & her mother.
Picture
Center of picture - Shadi Towfighi and Kelly Koldus

SOUTH PASADENA 2018 FESTIVAL OF BALLOONS!
 Theme - "Our Schools" 
The two grand marshals for the parade were Chris Bengford, the longest tenured teacher at the Holy Family School, a private Catholic school, and Jill Reddy, who has been named Teacher of the Year for the South Pasadena Unified School District.

Picture
WISPPA President Bianca Richards (left) and Lela Bissner, former president and current Treasurer
A number of WISPPA members were parade dignitaries - Mayor, City Council Members, School Board members, City Treasurer, etc. and members of other organizations, so WISPPA was represented throughout the parade.  

WISPPA Co-Sponsored "HERstory" presented by the
Pasadena Commission on the Status Of Women

Honoring Two Remarkable Women In Celebration of Women's History Month
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Picture
City Councilwoman Margaret McAustin with honorees Roberta H. Martinez and Dolores Hickambottom (L to R)
Picture

SANDS OF SILENCE: WAVES OF COURAGE
Wednesday, January 10th, 2018



​The award winning documentary SANDS OF SILENCE: Waves of Courage was presented by WISPPA and the South Pasadena Library  at the South Pasadena Library Community Room.  This special screening was in honor of Human Trafficking Prevention Month and National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (January 11).  After the showing of the film, there was a question and answer period with Director Chelo Alvarez-Stehle and Survivor Virginia Isaias.  Additional sponsors were The League of Women Voters – Pasadena, The Rotary Club of South Pasadena, LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Carrie Adrian-Cuban and Latin American Fine Art,  NWPC of Greater Pasadena, Holy Family Church South Pasadena, Woman’s Club of South Pasadena, Woman’s Civic League of Pasadena, and the Kiwanis Club of South Pasadena.  Proceeds from the event funded the film’s impact campaign and the Human Trafficking Survivors Foundation.” 
Picture
​This film is a 15-year quest to expose the underworld of sexual exploitation and trafficking from Asia to the Americas  and leads world-reporter and producer/director/writer of the film to the windswept beach where her childhood ended and family secrets began.  “Through the searing stories Chelo Alvarez-Stehle tells in her film, she demonstrates that sexual abuse and sexual trafficking are but points on a continuum. In so doing, she has made an important contribution to the national conversation about sexual assault and rape culture. This film is part of the new movement of independent documentary films that reveal important truths about the terrible secrets we keep as a society and the toll they take on all of us.” — Jack Lerner, UC Irvine law professor, Director of the UCI Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic, member of the Board of Directors of the International Documentary Association.

SPHS Play - Almost Maine 
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Picture
A group of WISPPA members and family members attended the wonderful production put on by SPHS students.  Every program had a different cover created by the students.  
Picture
Lela Bissner, Dollie Chapman, Betty Emirhanian, SP School District Board member Julie Giulioni, Bianca Richards, Clara Richards.
Picture
The students were fantastic - it was a very enjoyable afternoon!

South Pasadena Water Facility Tour
​
Saturday, September 23, 2017
​
​Over a century ago, South Pasadena residents had the vision to know that water would be key for the city in order for it to grow and thus acquired water rights to the San Gabriel Valley Aquifer. Our city obtains almost all of its water from this water source.

The aquifer is like a natural underground reservoir and holds water that percolates into it from sources such as rainfall. The last five years have taken a terrible toll on the aquifer. The Watermaster, who has oversight of the aquifer, has the responsibility of making sure cities that obtain water from the aquifer do not draw more water than their allocation. The Watermaster also is responsible for maintaining the on-going “health” and stability of the aquifer. It was recently reported by the Watermaster that the aquifer is at its lowest level in recorded history.

One might ask, “How can this be, as we just had great rainfall last winter?” The answer is that our ground was so parched that rainfall runoff never made it to the aquifer and instead seeped into land closer to the mountains. The water never made it to the area where it could percolate into the aquifer. The result was that five years of drought conditions remain and our aquifer is dangerously low.
                                                     Key Well Levels                                             
      Historic Low:              172.2 ft.                          October 7, 2016 
      Historic High:             295.30 ft.                        July 20, 1983 
      Current Level:            183.7 ft.                          As of  October 13, 2017

For more information about the monitoring of the aquifer, go to http://www.watermaster.org
Just think about the City of San Diego. It needs to import all of its water today. ​ The reason is that it had underground aquifers but drained them down to where they collapsed. Once an aquifer is gone, it cannot be restored.In order to protect the San Gabriel Valley Aquifer and to make sure we do not lose this valuable resource, the Watermaster will be purchasing outside water to replenish the aquifer. This outside water is expensive and all cities that utilize the aquifer will need to contribute to pay for the cost of this water. The City of South Pasadena will need to support this purchased water, not just for one year, but for a number of years.

​The City of South Pasadena is just like thousands of cities around the nation facing up to the fact that we have not taken care of our infrastructure. We have been living off investments made over a century ago. In the last few years we have been playing catch-up with the investment and building of the Garfield and Wilson Reservoirs, but there is more to do. We have the Graves Reservoir that needs modernization and our pipes need replacement.  --- Kimberly Hughes 

The Woman's Club 2017 Fashion Show and Scholarship fundraising luncheon
Saturday, September 23, 2017   
 
​The show featured fashions from Chico’s of La Canada for the workplace, casual attire, and evening.
​ Live music by Ed Simpson on the keyboard, followed by a delicious catered luncheon with wine.. 
Picture
WISPPA members Kim Hughes, Dollie Chapman, Ellen Wood, Claire Richards, Bianca Richards & Betty Emirhanian (taking the pic) enjoying the luncheon.

WISPPA JAZZ NIGHT AT THE BLUE GUITAR WITH THE ELLIOT CAINE JAZZ BAND 
September 7. 2017
Picture
Judith Harris, Betty Emirhanian, Barbara Sinclair, Brad Colerick, Gretchen Robinette, Elliot Caine, Suzie Abajian, Diana Mahmud

SOUTH PASADENA 2017 FESTIVAL OF BALLOONS!
 “Freedom on the Road. Celebrating Route 66”
Marshalled by author and South Pasadena resident, Glen Duncan, who wrote “Route 66 in California”. 
Picture
Kate Joyce, Kim Hughes, Estelle Rubin, Cynthia Erlander, Judy Harris, Lela Bissner, Betty Emirhanian, Marina Khubesrian

Picture
WISPPA President Bianca Richards & Bob Emirhanian
Picture
Glen Duncan and Lela Bissner

SOUTH PASADENA 2016 FESTIVAL OF BALLOONS!
WISPPA members marched in the parade honoring WISPPA presidents, past and present.  
Sincerest thanks to Ellen Daigle for pulling this together and to her husband, Joe, for lending us his spiffy Lexus red convertible.  We cranked up the sound system with patriotic music - great fun!
Picture
Above, Anothony Portantino came by for his annual picture with WISPPA (L to R:  Dana Farrar, Ellen Daigle, Ron Rosen, Gretchen Robinette, Anthony Portantino, Janet Bruan, Betty Emirhanian, Ellen Wood, Connie Wardlow, Kim Hughes)

South Pasadena
​ Chinese-American Club
Chinese Banquet Dinner & Dance 4-2-16
WISPPA members enjoyed delicious food, music, chatting, and dancing at this wonderful fundraiser held at the NBC Seafood restaurant in
​Monterey Park.​
 The dinner dance, which is SPCC’s only fundraising
​ event each year, funds the organizations many educational programs, community service activities, and cultural events.  SPCC awards scholarships to high school seniors, distributes grants for special school and library programs, and holds annual events to celebrate the Moon Festival and Chinese New Year.  Other activities include serving dinner at Pasadena’s Union Station homeless shelter and contributing to the South Pasadena Educational Foundation and the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library.

CERT TRAINING 
A number of WISPPA members have gone through CERT training and are very proud to be official South Pasadena Community Emergency Response Team Members.
​
Picture
Picture
Picture

Woman's Club of South Pasadena: For The Love of Chocolate ​
​WISPPA members attended a festive dinner and delicious fundraising event on Saturday, February 6th, 2016 at the Woman’s Club of South Pasadena. All proceeds from “For the Love of Chocolate”  benefited the Club’s philanthropic and charitable projects, including annual scholarships for local high school students. The event was filled with a variety of chocolate sweets and treats, appetizers, wine, and catered Italian dinner. Entertainment for the evening was the magic and music of Patrick Bell, and his “Operakadabra” production that creatively and artfully combines beautiful arias, stunning magic and interactive comedy.

Picture
ART + WINE = BENEFIT FOR WISPPA
Laurie Hendricks and the Hendricks Burgess Gallery held a benefit for WISPPA highlighting their new show "A Passion for Color: 8 Women Artists".  WISPPA is very grateful to Laurie for not only holding this benefit, but also for donating one of her paintings for a silent auction with all of the proceeds going to WISPPA.  She and her husband, Peter Milio, also donated 10% of all sales during the evening to WISPPA.   One of the artists featured, Peggy Kroll, generously donated one of her paintings for a silent auction benefitting WISPPA.                                                                                                                                              9/24/15
Picture
WISPPA Members at the show
Picture
Lively conversation, wine, and cheese
Picture
Peggy Kroll sharing her experiences as a female artist.
Picture
Betty Emirhanian & Lela Bissner flanking two of the lovely artists
Picture
Laurie Hendricks of the HendricksBurgess Gallery and host of the event

WISPPA Shows support to "Beyond The 710" and "No on 710"
​at the July 4th 2015 Festival of Balloons Parade
WISPPA once again participated in the 4th of July Festival of Balloons parade. Due to focus on the 710 and the draft EIR/EIS, WISPPA wanted to show our support for not only NO on 710, but also for Beyond the 710 which emphasizes putting scarce transportation dollars to their best use.

4/4/15


WISPPA members attended the LAAAW- The Los Angeles African American Women PAC's Breakfast on the Block 

Picture
The names from left to right: Jacque Hawthorne, Janet Braun, Betty Yee, Ellen Wood, Celestine Palmer and Ellen Daigle. (2015)

Special Olympics Kickoff Fundraiser on January 28th, 2015
WISPPA members supplied an amazing array of hors d'ouvres for this very successful event held at the home of Mary Urquhart. 

Many thanks to Ellen Daigle who did a great job coordinating and presenting WISPPA's contributions.   MOMs and other South Pasadena organizations also contributed desserts and food.
Picture
Picture

SANDS OF SILENCE


WISPPA co-sponsored a fundraiser for the documentary film by Chelo Alvarez-Stehle, Sands of Silence, at the Library Community Room.  The film and evening highlighted the worldwide problem of sexual exploitation and human trafficking which may have even touched upon our very own city.  It was truly an evening of inspiration with Conchita Sarnoff, founder of Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking, as moderator, the producer/director Chelo Alvarez-Stehle, and Virginia Isaias, survivor and founder, Human Trafficking Survivors Foundation.  For more info on this film, go to http://www.innerlens.com/SANDS_OF_SILENCE.html

2014 Fashion Show and Luncheon presented by the Women's Club of South Pasadena

 Event proceeds supported the Club's Arts & Music Scholarship Fund for SPHS Seniors.  A lovely fashion show by POSH Boutique of San Marino and luncheon by Heirloom cafe of South Pasadena was enjoyed by WISPPA members and many other members of the community.


Thank you Women's Club for a great afternoon!


2014 July 4th Festival of Balloons

WISPPA once again participated in the South Pasadena Festival of Balloons.  Twenty two WISPPA members and friends of WISPPA "Danced in the Streets".   A great time was had by all.

Picture

Ulises' Odessey - film by Lorena Manriquez

WISPPA was proud to co-sponsor the first public showing of this documentary by one of WISPPA's members on 11/10/13. The film chronicles Lorena's personal family history and the hidden torment that divided her family during and after the military coup that occurred 40 years ago in her homeland Chile. 

The event was a great success.   Held in the South Pasadena community room, there was live music by Chilean singer-songwriter Angela Roa.  Lorena and friends supplied the lovely appetizers, desserts and drinks. 



Picture
Kiwanis Club - 90 Years of Memories & Entertainment

Honoring South Pasadena Community Champions Bill Glazier & Sally Kilby.    It was an evening out with a nine decade walk down memory lane.  Here are a few of our WISPPA "suffragettes".


California Women Win the Vote Film

Thank you all for your support in last night's program.   We estimated that about 60 attended, from all of our organizations.  I believe  everyone enjoyed the film as well as the lively discussion by the two co-producers, Martha Wheelock and Jane Guthrie.  If you want to show the film to  your groups, you can order either the 39 or 27 minute versions from Martha  Wheelock at www.wildwestwomen.org.  The 39 minute DVD that we used last night will be donated to the Pasadena  Public Library, so can be obtained that way, as well. "    Marguerite Cooper  8/29/13

THE 2013 4TH OF JULY PARADE "Dancing in the Street"

Kudos to the  WISPPA members and family who braved the heat as they showed off their great dance moves in the parade down  Mission Street.  They brought a great deal of spirit, fun, and enthusiasm to the festivities as well as attention to our organization.
Picture

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 
SOUTH PASADENA!
South Pasadena Celebrates
 Its 125th Birthday 

We honored past and present women members of city council and described our organization and its accomplishments at the WISPPA booth.  South Pasadena women have been politically active in our community since its founding long ago, beginning with Lucretia Garfield.

March 3, 2013

Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.