Garden tour to help grow cancer rehab program

Four major surgeries, six months of chemotherapy, countless hours of nausea, and for Laura Friedman Lemoine, the effects of her March 2006 breast cancer diagnosis are still being felt.

Her seemingly constant state of medical crisis over the past two years has, even for this self-assured civic volunteer, taken its toll.

“You’re never free of it, ever,” she says in her modest mid-century living room overlooking Glendale.

But as chairwoman of Design Review Board No. 2, Friedman Lemoine trudged through the invasive medical procedures and side effects while serving on one of the most laborious city commissions.

She accomplished this in part with pain killers — she recalled grabbing a handful of Vicodin just a day after surgery to attend a joint meeting with the City Council — and free, fitness-based rehabilitation classes at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena and at Glendale Memorial Hospital.

But the classes in Glendale were suddenly dropped for funding reasons, and the rush hour commute to Pasadena grew too burdensome. That’s when she resolved to bring the free rehab program back to the Glendale area.

Friedman Lemoine and her husband, landscape architect Guillaume Lemoine, conceptualized a garden tour as a fundraising tool and broached the idea with the Glendale Historical Society, which in turn worked with Glendale Adventist Medical Center to put together the logistics.

On Sunday, the chain reaction comes to fruition with “The Glendale Garden Tour,” the proceeds of which will be used to establish a fitness rehabilitation program for cancer patients through Glendale Adventist at its satellite campus in Eagle Rock.

Ticket holders will be guided through 15 distinct northwest Glendale gardens, from tropical to topiary, and in the process help resurrect an important recovery tool for cancer patients, organizers said.

“This is a different type of venture for us,” said Arlene Vidor, president of the Glendale Historical Society, which usually focuses on structures, not plants.

And when raising funds, the money is usually directed to coincide with the society’s mission of preservation, not cancer treatment programs, “but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do it, or shouldn’t do it,” Vidor added.

The spirit of common purpose among unlikely partners has fueled the success of the garden tour even before it begins, with hefty donations of time and money from city officials, artisans and developers, some of whom were likely dealt a few frustrating cards from her group on the other side of the design review table, Friedman Lemoine said.

“They didn’t care. They forgot all about that,” she said.

After announcing the garden tour last month, those professional fissures were swiftly ironed over, she said, with developers and city officials pitching in to bring the running tally of money raised to more than $30,000.

“If we have any influence, we should use it to benefit the city,” Friedman Lemoine said.

Glendale Adventist officials wouldn’t say how much money they needed to open the program, but Malina Thorp, director of cancer services for the hospital, said they were planning to get it off the ground by July.

“Any money raised would be wonderful,” she said.

The program, which is tentatively planned to be free to all cancer patients, would start out small, offering classes two days a week, and then grow to match demand and donations, she added.

For many cancer patients and survivors, recapturing their strength after months of debilitating treatments requires specialized approaches to build muscle mass, restore range of motion and balance and reduce stress, Thorp said.

Even after the program is established, Friedman Lemoine said she plans to continue work to maintain funding and acquire greater self-sufficiency for the program, possibly through the creation of a foundation, especially since the rehab program won’t be permanently tied to the garden tour.

Tickets for the garden tour can be purchased online at www.glendalehistorical.org for $25, or $30 at the event.

Raffle tickets will also be sold to auction off a handful of prizes, like a private dinner catered by former Los Angeles Times food critic Charles Penny for the winner and their friends.

The Glendale Historical Society will continue to accept donations on behalf of the rehab program even past Sunday.

?JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.