Mistletoe Mania Hits Eagle Rock

If you've gone to do your money transactions at the on Colorado Boulevard in the past few days, no doubt you've caught sight of an interesting new business in front of the building’s main door: Mistletoe sales.

It's the latest endeavor of the First Lutheran Church in Glendale, an organization that is trying to raise money for hot holiday meals for the local homeless.

This past Friday morning, Stephanie DeSantos, a freshman at the College of the Canyon, was seated beside a table stacked with freshly cut green stems of mistletoe be-ribboned in red. DeSantos said that Chris Noonan, a church volunteer, has been driving up to Big Bear every couple of days to cut mistletoe, a parasite that grows on certain trees such as birch, oak and sycamore.

Of course, most Patch readers will know mistletoe's holiday lore: if you hang it above you and the person of your affections walks under it, you are well in your rights to ask for a kiss—an old English tradition.

Seems like a lot of Eagle Rockers might be ready for that smooch. DeSantos said that over the past 10 days, volunteers briskly sold branches (at a suggested $3 donation). They've already collected $1,400 for meals for the needy.