My Thoughts, Exactly » Jim Chase

Discounts for Dessert So are you ready for the big day? Can you believe it’s only one week away? Are you feeling the excitement? Made all your preparations? Ready to consume as much as you possibly can? If you think I’m writing about the Thanksgiving feast, you are so-o-o-o-o old school. No, I’m referring to […]

Treasures of the Valley » Mike lawler

Remembering the Thick Pine Forests in our Mountains The south face of the San Gabriel Mountains that loom over our valley are stark and majestic. In the late afternoon when the slanting sunlight brings out the pinks and oranges of the rock faces, our mountains look very much like desert mountains, bare and rocky like […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Anita Had Two Clocks I spent several years working with Anita Peet Geyer in Peet Stationers including the time of her passing. I too was an inheritance recipient. Working in that store was like “stepping back in time” as Anita never threw anything away! You never knew what you would find hidden in the rafters […]

My Thoughts, Exactly » Jim Chase

Pedalers Welcome So how did I find myself before the sun came up last Saturday morning, sitting on a hard, painfully narrow bicycle seat, waiting with my wife and thousands of other cyclists for the start of a 50-plus mile “fun ride” through the Santa Inez Valley, in 38-degree, fog-laden air with nothing more than […]

Treasures of the Valley » Mike lawler

War Memorials in CV Like many American communities, we have honored our young men and women who have served their country in our military forces. One of our first war memorials was a “service roll” mounted on the side of a drug store in Montrose near the end of WWII. It consisted of a large […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Disappointment with TJ’s As much as I appreciate having a Trader Joe’s in Montrose, it was disappointing to watch another new building go up without solar panels. For anyone concerned with clean energy, this was a missed opportunity. With the City now drafting plans to develop north Glendale and Foothill Boulevard, I urge fellow residents […]

My Thoughts, Exactly » Jim Chase

Home Is Where the Office Is Last week I “celebrated” 15 years of self-employment. That word is in quotes because, frankly, the economic freefall of the past few years has hit my industry even harder than most. In the ad biz, it’s common knowledge that when the economy goes south, advertising budgets are the first […]

Treasures of the Valley » Mike lawler

The Montrose Town Clock When I visited the new Montrose Trader Joe’s, I happily noted how well they had used the themes of the community in their architecture and interior décor. I wish all new developments would take a clue from the success of this philosophy and let their new structures say something about the […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Found Some Inspiration Born, raised and still living in Glendale and La Crescenta, I graduated from CV a little before Jim Chase in 1971. While there are some differences in our life experiences and philosophy, many overlap. Whether it be backpacking, baccalaureate, conservative politics, faith, family traditions, or the myriad of things to wonder (or […]

My Thoughts, Exactly » Jim Chase

A Whale of an Expensive Day Welcome back. Okay, where were we last week? Oh, yes … outside the exit to SeaWorld’s Shipwreck Rapids ride discussing the $5-a-pop walk-in “drying stations.” It’s actually an ingenious set up – first you soak shivering riders to the bone, then offer them immediate relief – for a price. […]