It takes a special breed to start and maintain a “Mom and Pop” business in today’s economy. I’ve always been a corporate worker, with steady hours and a steady paycheck. It’s hard for me to understand what motivates owners of small businesses to want to work longer hours, often for less money, and face constant […]
We are blessed in the Crescenta Valley with incredible natural beauty. We’re sheltered on both sides by unspoiled mountains, like two loving arms embracing us. And of course, we have great access to these mountains for hiking, biking, equestrian sports, and just plain finding solitude – but not in La Crescenta! Let me elaborate. On […]
Yeah, you heard me right. There’s a gang of winos hanging out in Deukmejian Park. “We’re not ‘winos.’ We’re ‘wineaux’!” says Stuart Byles, president of the newly formed Stonebarn Vineyard Conservancy. Their goal is to celebrate the historic practice of vineyard cultivation and winemaking in the Crescenta Valley. The Conservancy, in cooperation with the City […]
There’s a witch-hunt on in Glendale with a small group of City Council gadflies and the Glendale News-Press hoping to lead an angry mob. Unfortunately, the man they’d like to burn at the stake is CV’s own John Drayman. It seems to be an American pastime to knock heroes off their pedestals, even when they […]
Last week we heard of the raid on the Hardyman home by 20 misguided locals wearing American Legion hats who had, according to their statements, convinced themselves that this meeting of the Democratic Club was planning the overthrow of the U.S. government. No one got hurt, and the scheduled meeting continued, but our homegrown leftist […]
Two weeks ago I set the stage for a showdown between the left-wing Hugh Hardyman and the right-wing American Legion members in an early conflict of what was later known as the McCarthy Era. Hardyman was somewhat of a political oddball in the very staid, conservative Crescenta Valley. The newspapers of that time jumped on […]
I had promised to continue my story of our own home-grown radical, Hugh Hardyman, but I need to take a brief detour to let you know about a celebration of something that doesn’t come around often – a local organization’s 100-year anniversary. The La Crescenta Woman’s Club hits the 100 year mark next year, having […]
We just went through a very divisive national election. But historically, we here in the Crescenta Valley are no strangers to divisive politics of national impact. As a matter of fact, our little community hosted one of the initial battles of Cold War domestic politics in the form of a minor face-off between members of […]
For those that have been following this story, here’s some of what we know about the much fought over Moreton Bay Fig Tree on Foothill Boulevard and the cool old house it fronts. Let’s go back to the original attraction for Easterners to the Crescenta Valley – the air. The clean dry air of the […]
We all know about the deal that went down last weekend. A new owner, Jenny Nam, head of New Star Realty, bought the historic blue house on Foothill west of Rosemont, which included our much fought-over Morton Bay Fig Tree, and immediately proposed to cut down every tree on her property. There was a lot […]