Serenade at Pasadena market, remembrance service held for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day in Los Angeles County included the fourth annual Mother’s Day Serenade at Vallarta Supermarkets’ Pasadena store and a remembrance service at Hillside Memorial Park & Mortuary in Culver City.

The two-time Grammy-winning group Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea performed at the serenade, which included mothers receiving a complimentary rose, free pastry, an agua fresca sampling and a Chef Merito seasonings essentials gift bag.

The remembrance service was led by Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot of Temple Judea in Tarzana and followed by a grief counseling session.

Archbishop José H. Gomez blessed mothers as he celebrated a Mass marking the 75th anniversary of Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Long Beach.

The Dodgers marked Mother’s Day by placing a photo booth and card- making station in the Centerfield Plaza for the monthly Viva Los Dodgers family friendly festival, having wives of Dodger players throwing the ceremonial first pitch and making the announcement that precedes every game at Dodger Stadium, “It’s time for Dodger baseball.”

Pitchers Dustin May, Shelby Miller and Yency Almonte surprised fans by handing out flowers and taking photos.

Following the 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers expanded their customary Sunday Kids Run the Bases to also include their mothers.

Major League Baseball again teamed up with Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, on Mother’s Day to honor mothers and offer support while facing breast cancer, especially highlighting efforts to eliminate disparities in diverse communities.

A tribute video was shown before all of Sunday’s Major League Baseball games featuring major league players with the their mothers, including Los Angeles Angels stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout.

All uniformed personnel wore caps featuring pink club logos.

Jerseys included the pink special breast cancer awareness silhouetted batter decal.

A matching pair of pink socks was optional for every player.

Many players used pink bats.

The pink ribbon also appeared on the bases at each stadium and the official dugout lineup cards. MLB will direct 100% of its royalties from on- field Mother’s Day socks and caps to MLB Charities, a nonprofit organization that will then donate those funds to Susan G. Komen to support its mission in the fight against breast cancer.

In 1980, Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became the Susan G. Komen organization, which has gone from having $200 and a shoebox full of potential donor names to the world’s largest nonprofit source of funding for the fight against breast cancer, according to the organization.

Susan G. Komen bills itself as the only organization that addresses breast cancer on multiple fronts including research, community health, global outreach and public policy initiatives.

In his Mother’s Day proclamation, President Joe Biden wrote, “On Mother’s Day, we celebrate the moms and the women filling the role of a mother in our lives, who bless us with a total sense of what it means to be family. They believe in us so we can believe in ourselves.

“They sacrifice to give us opportunities they never had. They are there for us at our highest points and our lowest moments, lifting us up when we need it most.”

Mother’s Day was initially proposed in 1870 by activist-poet Julia Ward Howe as a call for peace and disarmament. It was celebrated in 18 cities in 1873, continued for another 10 years or so in Boston under Howe’s backing, then died out.

The second attempt to establish Mother’s Day began on May 9, 1907, the second anniversary of the death of Anna Jarvis’ mother Ann.

Jarvis invited several friends to her home in Philadelphia in commemoration of her mother’s life, which included providing nursing care and promoting better sanitation during the Civil War, helping save lives on both sides.

Jarvis announced to her friends her idea of a day of national celebration in honor of mothers, which was first celebrated on May 10, 1908, at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Ann Jarvis worshipped.

The church is now known as the International Mother’s Day Shrine.

West Virginia Gov. William E. Glasscock issued the first Mother’s Day proclamation in 1910.

By 1911, it was celebrated in nearly every state. President Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional joint resolution in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day nationally.