Residents Awarded by Cultural Heritage Committee

The Cultural Heritage Committee of the Pasadena-Foothills Association of REALTORS® presented its annual awards to two South Pas residents last Friday.

Each year, the Cultural Heritage Committee selects two recipients who have shown exemplary community service in the areas of historic preservation, preservation awareness and education and awareness of our historic resources.

Orville Houg, a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker, San Marino, has been involved with countless community-based organizations including Pasadena Heritage, , San Marino Historical, and has served on the Board of the South Pasadena Preservation Commission.

Additionally, Houg is a charter member of the Cultural Heritage Committee that was founded nearly three-decades ago. Orville has been a licensed REALTOR® since 1975.

The second award went to Glen Duncan. Duncan is an author, a historian, a preservationist and lecturer. Glen has served as Commissioner of the South Pasadena Preservation Commission. He lives in a landmarked historic Craftsman home that is in the path of the proposed 710 freeway, a path that he has been fighting for more than twenty years, arguing the destruction of historic landmarks and the health concerns of those who would be near the freeway.

Duncan is also an expert on Route 66; His book Route 66 in California is published through Arcadia Publishing. Duncan is very active in the preservation of the historic on Fair Oaks in South Pasadena.

Current chair of the Cultural Heritage Committee, Matthew Berkley, stated in his presentation of the awards “each year becomes increasingly more difficult to decide on who should receive the awards—not because there aren’t enough people to receive the award, but because more and more people are taking preservation of our historic resources very seriously.”

He went on to say: “this year, though we had many nominees, it was clear from the beginning of the nomination process who would receive the award.”

After introducing each of the recipients, past chair Ljiljana Grozdanic presented the awards to her long-time friends. A reception with Congressman Adam Schiff (D) Pasadena was held after the presentation as part of the Brokers/Managers meeting.