Success

There was a great deal of success enjoyed by the four local softball teams during the 2012 season. Burroughs High and Bellarmine-Jefferson captured league championships. Providence remained in the running for a share of a league title until the final regular season contest and Burbank was still in contention for a crown up until the final week of the Pacific League campaign. Bell-Jeff went on to play in its second consecutive CIF Southern Section Division VII championship game and the Bulldogs made an impressive run to the Division III quarterfinals Heading into the 2013 season, three of the squads are dealing with their share of departures.

This is the first in a four-part series looking back on the sports accomplishments of the four local high schools during the 2011-12 year. This installment is Burbank High: ¿ It didn't take long from the beginning of the school year for a Burbank High team to enjoy a successful season, as the Bulldogs boys' cross-country squad surprised many during the fall campaign. It had been nine years since the boys' program qualified for the CIF-State Cross-Country Championships.

The success of 110 seniors who graduated from Providence High School on Saturday will not be judged today or tomorrow, but in a few decades, said commencement speaker Michael Madden, vice president for advocacy and development at Providence Health and Services. The list of renowned universities and colleges that graduates will attend next year is only an interim measure of the class' success, he said. "The long-term measure is how you become leaders in your community," Madden told graduates.

BURBANK — It was a good sign last season when three of the four area baseball teams qualified or the CIF Southern Section postseason. Only Providence was left out of the playoffs. However, neither Burbank, Burroughs or Bellarmine-Jefferson could make it out of the first round of the playoffs. With their share of returning players, and a sprinkling of new athletes, all four programs are looking forward to successful seasons this year. Here is how the teams are shaping up:   BELLARMINE-JEFFESRON There is no doubt which area program has enjoyed the most success in recent years.

It?s not the first time that Sam Orlandini has been named All Area Girls? Volleyball Player of the Year. The sports writers and editors of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader, Crescenta Valley Sun and La Cañada Sun unanimously voted the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy setter to that award last year as well. The Tologs? highly successful 2007 season also was not the first in which Orlandini garnered co-Most Valuable Player honors for the Mission League ? it was the second consecutive time ?

Thank you for the wonderful article about Patty Smola and her success at BTAC. When Pat took the position, everyone who knew her knew that she would be a success. No one becomes a director of a nonprofit organization because it is a path to fame or fortune. You take the position because you have a real passion for the mission of the organization. Pat Smola has that passion. She brings to BTAC her intelligence, her experience, her integrity and, most of all, her compassion for others.

Looby making opposition loopy Burroughs High boys' golfer Jeff Looby is doing a good job driving opposing players crazy with his fine play this season. Just a sophomore, Looby's perfection on the golf course has been paying dividends for himself, and the Indians. In seven matches, Looby had captured low-medalist honors in five, as Burroughs has a 4-3 record. He also finished first in the Serrano Golf Tournament March 8 at the Spring Valley Lakes Country Club in Victorville.

One second. That was the only thing that separated Mike Sheridan from obtaining his season-long goal. That goal was to reach the Masters Meet in the 1,600 meters, a feat that eluded him by the narrowest of margins. While coming up just a bit short stung at first, the Crescenta Valley track and field standout can take pride in knowing the rest of his season's accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. For his success, Sheridan has been named the All-Area Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year as voted on by the sports editors and writers of the Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Cañada Valley Sun. "When I found out I was really excited, it was something I didn't expect at all," Sherdian said.

BURBANK: THEN & NOW On Sept. 24, 1920, the Music Section of the Burbank Women's Club made its debut at the Burbank Fall Festival. Under the direction of Charles Leroy Munro, along with his wife and accompanist Myrtle Radcliff-Munro, the program was a smashing success. What was not fully evident at the performance, however, was the magnitude of their success. The Music Section of the Women's Club, which shortly afterward became known as the Burbank Choral Club, would become the longest continuously performing arts organization in the entire San Fernando Valley.

It's 100, but service hasn't gotten old at Rotary International. The Burbank, Glendale and Universal City Sunrise Rotary chapters will host a birthday celebration of Rotary International, celebrating the club's first 100 years and looking toward the future for another century of success. Started by four businessmen in 1905, the organization has more than 1 million members worldwide. But it's the concept of service above self that really sets the organization apart from other service groups, treasurer Lee Stacy of the Burbank Sunrise Rotary Club said.

With the Colony Theatre teetering on the edge of insolvency, many feared its latest production, "Falling For Make Believe," might very well be its last. In a turnabout worthy of Hollywood, the show, which has garnered spectacular reviews - including one by this publication - has become a huge smash. It's last show was scheduled to be this Sunday, but due to demand, Creative Director Barbara Beckley said the show will return to its 270-seat home on June 6 and go as long as it can. Ticket sales for the show, according to officials, have already brought in more than $40,000, topping the sales of the venue's previous hit, "The Morini Strad," which was itself the Colony's biggest blockbuster in three years.

Look no further than John Burroughs High School to find the national grand champions of all high school choirs in the United States. After months - and for some students, years - of work, two choir teams at John Burroughs High School secured the greatest prizes in the high school show choir world when they performed before 4,800 people and several judges at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago on April 27. When the Powerhouse team of 52 students took...

It's been a rough two years for Bob Hope Airport, where a precipitous drop in the number of passengers using the regional airfield has meant a worrying drop in revenues. Fewer passengers mean fewer receipts at parking lots, concessions and other revenue-generating enterprises that fund operations and pay for badly needed infrastructure upgrades. Assuming what's good for the airport is good for the airlines, the solution seems simple. "If the airlines reduced their rates at Burbank and made it more competitive, there would be more passengers and we'd be in better shape; there's no mystery to this," said Terry Tornek, a member of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

Officials are hoping for a repeat for Measure S on the April 9 ballot. Only this time it's a different set of officials. And, for that matter a different measure. The initiative, called Measure S - not to be confused with the $110-million school bond of the same name that voters approved last month - would subsidize trash and sewer services for low-income seniors and disabled people. Residents have already been supporting the subsidies for more than 20 years through extra fees, but recent changes in state law suggest the city faces legal risks if it continues to offer the programs under the current structure.

Burbank school board President Larry Applebaum choked back tears Thursday evening as he reflected on the weeks of campaigning that went into passing Measure S -- the $110 million bond measure that more than 60% of city voters approved on Tuesday. “It was a very long road to get there and the road started with trying to convince the people on this dais that it was a need because they were some of my harshest critics,” Applebaum said, adding that school board member Ted Bunch told him the Burbank community “will never do it.” During Thursday's meeting, however, Bunch publicly thanked Applebaum for initiating the discussion about going after the bond and then serving as a driving force behind the campaign.

It may have been a tiny turnout, but Burbank voters on Tuesday sent Measure S -- the $110-million school bond -- well above the 55% approval threshold needed to pass. Of the 6,595 votes counted, 4,053, or 61.5%, were in favor of the bond, according to the Los Angeles city clerk's office , which administered the election. PHOTOS: Supporters of Measure S gather at Burbank's Gordon Biersch during election night Burbank has 61,153 registered voters. But low voter turnout was expected, given that interest in the Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees election is typically tepid at best.

The Burroughs High boys' golf team is coming off a season in which it placed third in the Pacific League behind Arcadia and Crescenta Valley. However, the Indians lost their No. 1 and No. 2 golfers, including former All-Area honoree Kelsey Danzeisen, who placed eight in league last season. The other was Chris Kesicbasian, who placed 11in in league. Burbank finished fourth in the Pacific League in 2012, but the team is off to a good start and the Bulldogs could be a factor in determining the eventual league champion.

The Burbank High baseball team got a taste of what it takes to compete with the top teams in the Pacific League last season. The Bulldogs tied for second place with Arcadia and were competitive with champion Crescenta Valley. “What we were able to accomplish last season and how we played in league, that is something that we're looking to build on,” Burbank Coach Bob Hart said. “We are looking to continue that success in league and hopefully carry that over to the playoffs.” Providence is also coming off a successful year after taking a season off from Liberty League competition.

While supporters of the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley did their best to conceal the fates and fortunes they had been dealt, they did nothing to hide their enthusiasm for the youth organization that staged their annual Texas Hold'em and Bingo Tournament on the campus of Woodbury University this past Friday evening. Following a buffet dinner in the university's New Woody's Cafe, the poker-faced assemblage was welcomed by the club's chief executive, Shanna Warren, for their participation and support.