See whats going on in the Glendale Community.
Be sure to stop by and check on updated information in the upcoming future!
Be sure to stop by and check on updated information in the upcoming future!
Colonial Honda is proud to be involved in the Glendale and the surrounding communities. For countless years, Colonial Honda has always believed in giving back to the people and organizations that make our community a better place. Some of the organizations, programs, and people that we have sponsored so far include:
Ramirez Family Limo Donation
Tuesday, April 30, 2007, would be a miracle day for Maunela Puenta Ramirez of Simi Valley, California, but she didn't know it just yet. Ms. Ramirez, a single mother of six children, four still at home, would be blessed by some generous local businessmen that would significantly change her life, and the lifeof her four young children.
The Ramirez family was truly be "Touched By An Angel," as Bruce Nation, a generous Conejo Valley businessman, hands the keys and the car to Manuela Ramirez, and the Ramirez family on Mother's Day as a surprise Mother's Day gift. The family was picked up at their home in Simi Valley, in a limousine provided by Colonial Honda of Glendale, (818) 244-8674, and transported to Westlake Village. Colonial Honda, a car dealership well known for supporting Glendale and the surrounding communities, was glad to oblige. "Whenever we are presented with an opportunity to help out our neighbors, we try to participate anyway we can." Kent Sokolow, Owner of Colonial Honda says. The
Conejo Valley Rotary Club has also pledged to pay for the liability insurance for the vehicle for the next five years.___________________________
Glendale Fire Department
Cool car for a hot topic
Customized SUV is intended to help educate children about fire safety and prevention.
By Jason Wells
May 18,2007For an SUV described as a rolling billboard to a cartoon on wheels to just plain cool, its purpose could hardly be any more serious for the people who created it.
Everyone, say "hi" to Rusty — the new public education vehicle for the Glendale Fire Department.
Whether the Honda Element — with its flame-wrapped hood, lowered profile and chrome rims — looks like a tricked-out ride for late-night cruising or a flashy toy car depends on the eye of the beholder, its creators said, but its mission of reaching out to Glendale youth is one aspect not up for debate.
A state-of-the-art sound and DVD system that swings out of the back cargo area can broadcast a wide range of instructional and promotional videos at outreach and education events.
"At a minimum, this is all about prevention," said Jack Lee, a representative of Catholic Healthcare West/Glendale Memorial Hospital, which donated $6,000 to help outfit the Element.
But as a class of Columbus Elementary third-graders ogled the SUV during an official unveiling ceremony Thursday at Fire Station 21, it was clear there was nothing minimal about it.
The students gushed over the Element's graphics and high-tech features as they sat glued to its flip-out widescreen television playing a fire-prevention cartoon.
"I like the flames — and, oh yeah, the TV is cool, too," 9-year-old Avetik Galstyan said.
It was a sentiment fire officials are counting on as they begin introducing the Element to Glendale Unified School District campuses in an effort to pique student interest in fire safety, prevention and careers, Glendale Fire Chief Chris Gray said.
"We're trying to affect children at an early age," he said. "All you have to do is capture a little attention."
It's a goal the Element should have no problem reaching as it zips around town running errands and attending outreach events at area schools, said Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Arellanes, who helped coordinate the project.
"It's basically a rolling billboard that everyone can be proud of," he told the crowd of supporters at Thursday's ceremony.
The project — coordinated by the Glendale Chamber of Commerce's 2006 Leadership Class — took about one year to complete after Colonial Honda in Glendale donated the $26,000 Element.
"We sort of jumped at the opportunity," dealership owner Kent Sokolow said.
Funds and labor worth more than $15,000 were donated by DreamWorks Animation, Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Crush Creative in Burbank and Galpin Auto Sports in Van Nuys to turn the stock Element into its more flashy incarnation.
"If this ever saves just one kid, then it's worth 10 times the money and effort," Glendale Unified School Board Member Mary Boger, who was a member of the 2006 Leadership Glendale Class.
For Adrine Aredian, who was at the fire station to chaperon her third-grade class, fire instructors should have no problem surpassing that goal.
"With all its technology, it's what this generation is all about," she said.
"Look at them. They're so into it."
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Donation: 2006 Honda Element to be used for the “STOP-DROP-n-ROLL” educational outreach program for the Glendale schools. This program aims to inform approximately 30,000 children in the Glendale area about the importance of fire safety. The program helps children learn the STOP, DROP, and ROLL procedure in the case of a fire.
http://www.fire.ci.glendale.ca.us/
Letter Recieved from Christopher R. Gray, City of Glendale Fire Cheif:Colonial Honda-Please accept our heartfely thans for your generous donation of a Honda Element to the Glendale Fire Department. We will defenatly put the vehicle to good use and thousands of kids will recieve a positive message.Respectivly,Chris Gray
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Donation to the Annual Fun
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Children’s Burn Foundation
Donation to the Annual Fund
http://www.childburn.org/
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Cresenta Valley Booster Club & Senior Babe Ruth
Donation: Team Sponsorship
http://cvfalconsbaseball.homestead.com/
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G.L.A.D.-The Greater Los Angeles Agency of Deafness, Inc.
Donation for the Spring/Sumemr 2006 Newsletter
http://gladinc.org
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Petersen Automotive Museum
Donation to the Annual Gala and Sponsorship for Checkered Flag 200
http://petersen.org
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Donated a Toys R Us gift certificate to a little girl who saved the life of her 2 year old little brother in a car accident. Here's the story...
July 26, 2006
Little Hero
By: Annie Flanzraich, Reno Gazette Journal
Arianna Masten was looking forward to a weekend of water-skiing at Lake Tahoe, Chuck E. Cheese and a ride on the slingshot at Reno's Grand Sierra Resort.
Instead the 10-year-old West Covina resident risked her life and lost an arm saving her 2-year-old brother, Matthew, when their van swerved and tilted to the passenger side on the way to visit her father in Nevada. Arianna said the accident was a slow-motion blur of sparks and screams. At the end of it, her left arm was severed at the elbow. "I'd rather lose my arm than have my brother dead," she said. Matthew underwent surgery Wednesday, family members said. Arianna said Matthew tried to get out of his car seat when the van started to flip. She then unbuckled her seat belt and threw her arms over her little brother to protect him from the impact. "We fell back and there were all kinds of sparks," Arianna said. "I tried to put him somewhere where he doesn't get burnt or nothing." Matthew was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and treated for serious injuries, especially road burns. "She pretty much sacrificed herself for her little brother and she got the bad end of it," said Arianna's father, Richard Masten, 30, of Reno. "I call her my little hero."
The Masten family was driving in two vehicles from Southern California to Northern Nevada to spend the weekend with the father. Richard Masten's mother Janice, 57; his niece Marissa Goodin, 16; and children Matthew and Arianna were traveling in one van. His other daughter Amanda, 13, and a family friend, Alan Batista, 17, drove behind in a car. The accident happened about 8:40 a.m. on July 15 near Independence when Arianna's grandmother veered into the right shoulder of U.S. 395 and over-corrected a left turn, which caused the van to flip onto the passenger side and slide about 200 feet. California Highway Patrol officer Brian Johnson was on the scene and said it was chaotic. "It's pretty tough," Johnson said about working with an accident involving children. Arianna said she didn't feel her arm being ripped from her body but was shocked when she looked over to her left side. "Please tell me this is a dream," she said. "I couldn't believe it. I can't believe it."
Arianna is right-handed, so she doesn't need to learn how to write again; but she said she might not be able to play the clarinet any more. "I'm going to start playing the drums," she said. "I don't need two drumsticks; I only need one." She thinks she can still play catcher on her softball team. "Catchers don't need two arms; they only need one," the Rowland Elementary School fifth-grader said. Her cousin DJ Moutray, a sixth-grader at Foothill Middle School in Azusa, said his grandmother had him and his two younger sisters tie their arm behind their backs so they had some idea what it was like now for their cousin. "The most difficult part was putting shirts on," DJ, 11, said. In Reno, Masten's supervisor Richard Walker at Sonora Roofing started a fund in Arianna's name to help pay for medical expenses. "It just tears me up," Walker, a father of four, said. " really needs comfort and support right now." When Walker went with Masten's family on an Easter egg hunt in Carson City this year, he said Arianna was always looking after her little brother.
Arianna, who now refers to herself as "the one-armed girl," said she and Matthew are very close. "Whenever he cries or falls down, he'll call my name," she said. Doctors want to wait until Arianna is older to fit her with a prosthetic arm, her father said. "It happened to my little girl," said Masten, a single dad who moved to Reno two years ago and left his children in his mother's care. "You would think nothing like that would ever happen but when it does its like, 'is this a dream?" Masten said he still wants his daughter to have a normal life despite her injury. "She asked me if we were still going to go to the sling shot at the Hilton," he said. "I'm a little nervous, but I'll do it for her." Staff Writer Marianne Love of Pasadena Star News contributed to this story.
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July 27, 2006
New Found Fame
By: Lynn Uwanawich Correspondent, Pasadena Star News
Arianna Masten hid her face behind a large burgundy pillow Thursday as the television camera was being set up for her interview.After interview requests from newspapers and TV networks in the last few days, Arianna has made the quick transition from a 10-year-old West Covina girl playing in her backyard pool, to a "little hero" who saved her little brother's life, and now a media star in the spotlight. "She's a little nervous, quite nervous. She doesn't know how to do this kind of thing," said Ray Moutray, Arianna's uncle.
Arianna lost her left arm in an auto accident on July 15 near Independence while saving her 2-year-old brother, Matthew. The family was on the way to visit Arianna's father in Reno, Nevada. The children's grandmother, Janice Masten, 57, swerved the van to correct a turn and it flipped onto the passenger's side on U.S. 395, sliding about 200 feet. "I went to go grab my brother and then I didn't have this arm. That's how I found out," Arianna said.
Matthew was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and is being treated for serious injuries.
A story about her heroics appeared in this newspaper on Thursday. By Thursday afternoon she was facing TV news reporters. As the cameras kept rolling, Arianna became comfortable with her new surroundings.
"Never pay attention to the cameras," she advised. Her 8-year-old cousin, Autumn Moutray, has gotten used to the cameras following Arianna around.
"She's popular," Autumn said. "Now she's really famous." Arianna said her arm still stings occasionally, but when she massages it the pain goes away for awhile. "Having one arm is OK, but just the pain has to go away," she said, in which she immediately perked up and commented on how she just made a rhyme.
Her grandfather, Rick Masten, said the accident has not changed her positive attitude. "She's still very active. She has a lot of energy," he said.
Arianna is especially excited about her brother's release from the medical center. The family expects Matthew out of the hospital in the next two weeks. Arianna plans on taking him swimming in their pool and taking him for pizza at John's Incredible Pizza Co., where the restaurant is throwing a party for the children. The next time Arianna rides the Twister, she wants her little brother to sit next to her. Arianna will be fitted for a prosthetic arm before school starts in September. Her doctor told her she might even get a chance of being fitted for a robotic arm. svintern@sgvn.com
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Sept. 5, 2006
A Hero's Welcome, 10-year-old returns to school after losing part of arm
By: Jennifer McLain Staff Writer, San Gabriel Valley News
Like many students, 10-year-old Arianna Masten was nervous about her first day of school.
But outside the first-day jitters, Arianna was also worried about returning to Rowland Elementary School in West Covina after her arm was amputated in July when she saved her 2-year-old brother, Matthew, in a car accident. "I was afraid that people were going to make fun of me," Arianna said Tuesday after school. While several students did make jokes, Arianna said the day was fun and went by fast.
While on a family road trip to Reno on July 15, the car Arianna was riding in swerved and crashed. Arianna threw herself over her brother to protect him from the impact, and her arm was amputated to the elbow as a result. Her brother also experienced major injuries.
Arianna told her story to her fifth-grade class on Tuesday, and like all of her day, she was met with many questions. "A lot of people touched my arm, and asked me what happened," Arianna said. Life for Arianna after the accident has brought a lot of attention to the energetic and outgoing girl. Besides extensive media coverage, she met one-armed drummer Rick Allen of rock band Def Leppard. But her injury has also brought looks and reactions that Arianna hopes will disappear. People act like I can't do anything," she said. "I want to just tell them, `Please don't treat me like that. I'm still the same, I'm just missing something."'While she won't be able to play softball and the clarinet anymore, Arianna will be taking up soccer and is even contemplating learning the drums. Her mother, Janice Masten, even thinks her daughter has a better outlook on life since the accident. "Her head is sure getting big after all this," Masten said. Arianna will have to make minor adjustments in her routines, but her mother said she does not what to treat her differently than before.
"I want her to do everything she can," Janice Masten said. Arianna is scheduled for her first visit for the fitting of a prosthetic arm Monday. Masten said this is one of many doctor appointments, and she is concerned they might interrupt Arianna's school schedule. Other than that, Masten is expecting a normal year for her daughter. "I waited to see if the school would call me today," she said. "But they didn't. Arianna did fine."
jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com_________________________________________________October 5, 2006Hometown Hits Fair: West Covina Make annual Fairplex AppearanceWest Covina's city dignitaries, special hero, local talent and youths were recognized during the city's special day at the Los Angeles County Fair on Sept. 29. West Covina was honored, along with Covina and Fontana, with a parade along Sycamore Street to the Stage at Park Square. A ceremony at the stage hailed 10-year-old Arianna Masten as the community hero. Arianna came to public attention when she lost her left arm up to the elbow protecting her 2-year-old brother during a traffic accident. She is a student at Rowland Elementary School. Eighteen different cities were recognized over the course of the Fair, which closed Oct. 1.