Change is in the Air

Like many folks, I sometimes have a tough time with change. This week CV Weekly has seen a couple of changes that have made me a little melancholy and a little pensive. First the melancholy.

Over 30 years ago, Steve and I moved into our house on Altura Avenue with our little boy Patrick. It was a flag lot – that is, a shared driveway with a house behind a house. Roger and Tracy Frey lived behind us with their brand new baby girl Kelly. As the economy changed, Roger decided to pursue a career in the culinary arts, graduating from the cordon bleu college then located in Pasadena. He went on to teach there, too.

As our families grew and we eventually moved up the hill, the Freys and the Goldsworthys kept in touch. They eventually purchased Frank’s Famous Kitchen and Bakery on Verdugo Road. They’ve catered several big events for us and always made sure the Goldsworthys, then the staff at CV Weekly, were well taken care of. I was always excited when working with them to cater the CV Weekly Finest party in September and our annual pre-parade Christmas party. Their food was always beautifully presented and delicious.

On more than one occasion – this Sunday being the most recent – the Freys joined the Goldsworthys at Memorial Park for Music in the Park. They had introduced us years ago to the ’80s cover band Past Action Heroes, which were at Memorial Park on Sunday, and we had a blast listening to them again.

But life changes rolled through and the Freys decided to make the move to be with their kids in Idaho. This week they turned the keys to Frank’s over to Arbi, the new owner. Arbi too has a background in food-ology (I just made that word up) and I’m excited about what he’ll be bringing to the menu. But I’m sad that our longtime friends are moving away, though I do take comfort in the standing invitation they’ve extended for us to come visit.

The other bit of news is solely business-related.

As you know, tariffs have been placed on various imported goods. What you might not know, though, is that newsprint is one of these items. Consequently, our printer – Newspublishers Press out of Glendale – had to raise our printing costs. Though 100% understandable – and the increase was modest – it comes at a tough time. Summer is always a tough time here at CV Weekly. Many of our advertisers hold off promoting their products and services during summer opting instead to go on vacation or hold steady anticipating a decrease in their business. This summer was no exception so coupled with a decrease in revenue we are experiencing an increase in production costs. Ouch!

I’ve been in this business for a while and know that this is just a temporary lull but it’s challenging nonetheless.

Luckily there is a way to counter this pensive mood – by sharing the good news with our 2018 Finest winners that they were chosen by our readers as the very best in their field. The tallying is done and the CV Weekly staff is in the process of congratulating these awesome individuals and businesses. There are some new names on the winner’s list this year and I look forward to extending an invitation to them to the 2018 Finest party. We’ll have a chance to collectively raise a toast to the hard work they’ve put in – which paid off.

  robin goldsworthy