The Crescenta Hotel Disaster of 1887 In the late 1880s, La Crescenta founder Dr. Benjamin Brigg’s dreams of establishing a town were coming together. He had built a schoolhouse, and in spring of 1887 he convinced a couple of real estate investors to build a hotel on the corner of Foothill and Rosemont, where Fosters […]
What the Eggnog Wrought Maybe I can blame it on bad eggnog, but the other night I dreamed that I bumped into Dr. Seuss and Clement Clarke Moore while we were all searching for Christmas lights at OSH (they were sold out, of course). For some reason, the three of us got to kvetching about […]
Good-bye to an Old Friend Twenty five years ago at the corner of Honolulu Avenue and Verdugo, a restaurant opened that would touch the lives of many people. I am grateful to say that I am one of them. I started working at the Rocky Cola Café 24 years ago when servers were still called […]
Playing My (Christmas) Cards Right It’s that most wonderful, horrifying time of the year: time to decide who gets a Christmas card and who doesn’t. Do we send a card to everyone in our address book, or just close friends and relatives? Do only those people who sent us a card last year get one […]
A Hike Through Crescenta Valley in 1910 In 1910, a writer for the Los Angeles Times wrote about a hike he and a friend took from Glendale to Tujunga one January day in a piece titled “A Walk With Bill Through La Crescenta Valley and On To Sunland.” At that time the Crescenta Valley was […]
Suggestion to Vons The letter [in the Nov. 29 issue] about the interaction between a customer and Vons corporate loss prevention folks highlights two problems: 1) there is an big theft issue at that store, so prices are increased for all of us to compensate for the losses and 2) most shoppers are honest, pay […]
1939 Grocery Store Opening Extravaganza When a new supermarket opens today, they usually put out some balloons, give away some free items to entice new customers, and offer some bargains. But in 1939, the opening of a new grocery store in Montrose had elaborate circus entertainment, stage shows, and a dance in the parking lot. […]
Taking the Weekend By Storm This past weekend, while my CV Weekly colleagues were dog paddling down Honolulu Avenue during the Montrose Christmas parade, my wife and I were having our own weathery adventures out of town. We drove north on Highway 14 late Friday afternoon, stopping in Mojave to fuel up and getting our […]
“There ought to be a law for that” I try to seek bill ideas from regular Californians. I have gotten some great ideas from sources as varied as local cops, utility ratepayers and even my father. For example, my friends in the Glendale Police Department came to me a couple years ago and asked me […]
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! The good weather made the Montrose Christmas Tree Lighting Festival a great success … no rain fell on this parade. A snow-making machine helped make Honolulu Avenue feel like a Winter Wonderland. Saw little kids and bigger kids with gray hair throwing snowballs. One even hit one of the […]