Charities

DOWNTOWN — Mary Alice O'Connor, the former school board member and volunteer whose service began during World War II and grew into leadership positions in the Tournament of Roses, Friends of the Burbank Library and the Burbank Historical Society, died early Saturday. She was 93. Mary Alice O'Connor passed away peacefully at her home, according to her family. Dozens of well wishers visited in the days leading up to her passing, retelling stories about her life and the lessons they learned over the years.

With more than one in 10 people here without a job, clearly, many of us this holiday season have less to be thankful for. The signs of this “Great Recession” are everywhere — storefronts are sputtering as people cut their spending, more people are clamoring for government-subsidized housing, more children are crowding the doors of nonprofits as their households lose one or both incomes, and demand for bill assistance has skyrocketed....

BURBANK — The line started a few minutes before cook-off and didn’t slow all morning. Hundreds of people wrapped around Tyerman’s Auto on Magnolia Boulevard and Beachwood Drive for the annual Kiwanis pancake breakfast. The event is expected to net Kiwanis, a global organization of volunteers, about $10,000, organizers said. “This is one of our big fundraisers,” said Bruce Varon, pancake chairmen and lead organizer. “This year we did it a little different.

Gary Casella hovered over a 17-foot bundled Christmas tree one recent morning under a large white tent on the Burbank High School soccer field. “This one's going to the city of Burbank,” Casella, 74, said of the 19-year-old tree, one of the first he would deliver this season. Casella's 75-year-old Christmas tree business - founded in 1937 by his father, Paul Casella - has been operating in Burbank for nearly five decades. “I told my dad before he passed I'd get to 75 years,” Casella said of the business.

Throughout the year, the Burbank Association of Realtors stages many fundraisers to raise money for its foundation, with its annual CSF Auction standing as the group's premiere event. This past week, presented under the theme “Live From Burbank, It's Thursday Night Live,” a Who's Who of Burbank Realtors gathered to enjoy an evening of dining, entertainment and bidding on great items at their Magnolia Park facility. Between the Realtor rivalry of bidding on items that included a VIP experience at Disneyland with dinner at the park's illusive Club 33, a skybox suite for a Los Angeles Kings game, VIP tickets for a taping of “Conan” and lunch with Burbank Mayor Dave Golonski, the assemblage was treated to the comedic styling of HGTV's “House Hunters” host Suzanne Whang and the music of the twice Emmy-nominated Gary Stockdale, who was an original member of the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Fifth-graders at Roosevelt Elementary performed a play for parents and teachers Thursday that incorporated a hula dance they learned from Hawaii native and Roosevelt teacher Tiffany Kaloustian earlier this year. Since October, all 95 fifth-graders on campus practiced the hula with Kaloustian, who had flown in orchids from Hawaii to make leis for the performance . In the months that the students rehearsed the play, they also raised $2,500 by selling lollipops. All the money will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which will help grant a child's wish in April.

A Burbank man and a Glendale woman were charged in federal court Monday with false impersonation of American Red Cross members to solicit money under false pretenses. Tino Lee,44, of Burbank, and Gina Liz Nicholas, 22, of Glendale, were charged by the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles for impersonating American Red Cross volunteers taking donations for Hurricane Katrina relief outside an electronics store in Burbank. Lee and Nicholas were taken into federal custody on Monday morning by FBI agents at the Burbank Police Department jail, where they had been held since their arrest Thursday night at the Empire Center shopping center.

In the back corner of the John Burroughs High School courtyard, about as far as you can get from the stage and still keep an ear on the action, Connie Trimble packed up the last of her cooking utensils. On that stage all Saturday morning, the varied and dynamic singing groups of the school's Vocal Music Assn. took the community through a musical odyssey, from warm-ups all the way through a complex harmonized classical piece. Through it all, Trimble kept the crowd well-fed with a signature pancake recipe from her family's restaurant, Barron's.

The Kiwanis Club of Burbank will host its fifth annual fund-raising event at Lakeside Golf Club on Aug. 31. More than 300 people will gather in support of the organization and its 79 years of community service. During the evening, the Cusumano family will be honored for its efforts in the arts and cultural development of Burbank elementary and middle schools and in the community. The fund-raiser will generate money for arts programs in Burbank public schools, the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, the club's scholarship fund for Burbank students and other causes.

While Kiwanian chef Tony Wade Tony Wade was busy flipping his famous pancakes, engines roared, revved and purred around him as exhibitors rolled their prized cars, trucks and motorcycles into Johnny Carson Park for Burbank Kiwanis For Fun Car Show and Arts and Crafts Fair on April 26. This is an annual spring tradition that, along with an incredible display of vintage vehicles, includes a pancake breakfast, vendors offering an eclectic array...