Pasadena

“Of The Valley”

The City of Pasadena

Pasadena is located 10 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, is the 7th largest city in Los Angeles County, and the main cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley.

Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena City College, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (the leading robotics and spacecraft design and manufacturing NASA center), Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, California School of Culinary Arts Pasadena, the Norton Simon Museum of Art and the Pacific Asia Museum.

Beauty, art, history, and tradition are the hallmarks of Pasadena.  Culture abounds in the performing and visual arts arenas, along with a number of art museums.

Performing Arts events include:

• Pasadena Symphony
• Pasadena Pops
• The California Philharmonic
• Pasadena Playhouse
• Furious Theatre Company
• Boston Court Performing Arts Center with The Theatre @ Boston Court
• Traveling Broadway Shows
• Music at the Court ranging from classical to jazz
• A wide range of performing arts, lectures, films, classes, and entertainment events held at Beckman Auditorium and other venues on the Caltech campus

Visual Arts

A number of artists of national repute, such as Guy Rose, Alson S. Clark, Marion Wachtel andErnest A. Batchelder, of the Arts and Crafts Movement, made Pasadena their home in the early twentieth century. The formation of the California Art Club, Pasadena Arts Institute and thePasadena Society of Artists heralded the city’s emergence as a regional center for the visual arts.

Art Museums include:

• The Norton Simon Museum
• The Pacific Asia Museum
• Pasadena Museum of California Art
• Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens
• Kidspace Children’s Museum

Pasadena “Wildlife”

Interestingly, Pasadena has a population of naturalized parrots. According to the Parrot Project of Los Angeles, the parrots fall into as many as five different groups including the red-crowned Amazon parrot.  Despite the sheer oddity of the birds’ presence, most Pasadenans have come to accept the birds as part of the city’s life. The parrots can be seen year-round, and are especially noticeable in the winter.

Pasadena Senior Center

Seniors fifty and over can access the activities and services offered by the Pasadena Senior Center.  The Center first opened its doors in May 1960 beginning a partnership of the public and private sectors that created the first nonprofit senior center in Southern California and one of the first in the nation.  The partnership continues today as the Center continues to be a model for other communities.

Seniors can choose from a wide variety of experiences designated to educate, inform, promote wellness, involve and entertain them.  The Center participates in the National Senior Games which is the largest multi-sport event in the world for men and women athletes 50 and older.

Membership at the center includes:

• Subscription to monthly “Center News”
• Weekly email update
• Educational, social and recreational opportunities
• Membership to the Armory Center for the Arts ($60 value)
• Holiday events
• Resource library with Internet access
• Computer lab
• Groups and Clubs
• Volunteer opportunities
• Outreach Department services
• Discounts to events, classes, and local businesses
• Friendship, camaraderie and fun!

Pasadena Retirement Community: Villa Gardens

Located in the heart of Pasadena, Villa Gardens is a place where you can renew your passion for culture and community every day.  It is known as the premier retirement community in Pasadena.

The community is filled with people who share the city’s love of culture, tradition and Southern California style.  Residents are movers and shakers who excelled in their professional lives and see the community and the world at large as part of their sphere of influence. They are travelers, volunteers, community advocates, social reformers and cultural architects. They have a passion for the history and progress of Pasadena, which many helped to develop into the diverse metropolis it is today.

In 1926, the California Teachers Association opened a 14-suite retirement community for teachers in response to a socially vital desire to help teachers live comfortably at retirement.

Villa Gardens is a Continuing Care Retirement Community licensed by the California Department of Social Services.  It offers modern amenities with more than 200 residential apartments for Independent Living, Assisted Living,  a Skilled Nursing Center, and Special Care accommodations.

Villa Gardens is a member of Front Porch Communities and supported philanthropically by the Foundation to Assist California Teachers (FACT).

For more information visit their website at www.villagardens.org or contact them at 800-958-4552.