With Taste Behind Us, Bring on the Holidays

Last Wednesday eve, the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Taste of the Foothills event at the Ralph’s Shopping Market in La Crescenta. Aside from the little gusts of wind that surprised us from time to time, the weather was ideal for such a night. Well over 350 guests attended the event; adults and children alike seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Especially excited to be at our event was most likely our raffle winner of an iPad Mini, Rebecca Emmerich Johnson. Congratulations, Rebecca! It was such a wonderful evening. Thank you to all who donated and participated in this year’s Taste of the Foothills – you are the reason this event turned out so great!

Everyone was able to enjoy more than a mouthful of more than 25 food vendors and tastes of all sorts, including participating plaza restaurants Baja Fresh, Little Caesar’s, Starbucks, Togo’s, and representatives of Pom presented by Ralph’s. Also, four of our local participating businesses that provided refreshments for our guests were Crescenta Cañada Pet Hospital, Crescenta Valley Insurance, Crescenta Valley Weekly and State Farm Insurance-Chris Aristo. Great auto attractions were provided by Dwight Sityar and his crew from Early Rodders car club with their luxurious display of cars from all eras for our mini car show.

Let’s definitely not forget the Crescenta Valley High jazz band that did an outstanding job providing live entertainment for all of our guests. These are a very talented group of teenagers who donated their time and musical creativity to us and we greatly appreciate it. We would also like to send a very special thank you to music teacher Mat Schick and his parent coordinators for their help in organizing the student’s participation.

We would also like to extend a very special thank you to all of our volunteers. This event would not have occurred if we did not have such dedicated members in our chamber and community who are willing to donate their time. One organization to be mentioned is our very own Prom Plus Club kids and adult volunteers. We truly appreciate their assistance during the event and clean up. And definitely not to be forgotten: thank you to Liza from Bonner’s Party Rentals for supplying all of our equipment. Thank you to electrician Bill Geist, Dennis Erdman of the CVWD for providing the generator, and the sheriff’s volunteers for monitoring the event and guiding traffic.

Do not forget to mark your calendars ahead of time for next year’s event that will take place around the same time in November. To all of those who joined in supporting this event, we hope you had a great time. Also, if you have any feedback, please feel free to drop by the chamber office or visit our website at crescentavalleychamber.org and submit your comments. We are always happy to receive your constructive advice. If you did not happen to make it out this time, just remember there is always next year!

In the holiday spirit, here are just a few upcoming events…

It’s the 20th anniversary of the Turkey Trot! The La Cañada Flintridge Community Center is hosting its Thanksgiving Day Run and Food Drive next Thursday, Nov. 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. 5K registration deadline is Nov. 26. Visit their website at www.cclcf.org for pricing and details.

The Montrose Shopping Park is having its White Friday & Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 29 in the 2200 block of Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. Visit www.shopmontrose for more information.

The Montrose Christmas Parade is coming up on Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. It will begin at Honolulu Avenue and Rosemont Avenue and run east to Verdugo Road.

For more details or other events taking place, contact us at the chamber office Monday thru Friday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at (818) 248-4957 or visit our website at crescentavalleychamber.org.

  Michele SIERRA