Friday, May 29, 2009

Project Altadena!

You might've read about this on Tim Rutt's Altadenablog.com ( http://www.altadenablog.com/ ) and in the Pasadena Star News ( http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/business/ci_12461255 ) but I wanted to convey just how excited I am about it!

For those of you who haven't heard about it yet, the Altadena Arts Coalition is going to be handing out disposable cameras for $20.00 a piece to the first 100 persons who show up at Photography by Walt from 8:00 a.m. on July 1st. Photograph places you love, people dear to you, whatever it is in Altadena that floats your boat....the only requirement is that you live in Altadena. These photos will end up being a part of a huge exhibit on Saturday, September 5th, the date of our next North Lake Business District Open House. Of course, you will receive your photos back after the exhibit.

Can you imagine? 100 disposable cameras with 27 exposures each.....that means roughly 2,700 photos that will comprise this exhibit. 2700 photos of Beautiful Altadena as you see it - that's truly huge! I think this is such an amazing project!

The timing couldn't be better to give our lovely town a large dose of feel-good. I've been reading a few articles concerning Altadena online at PasadenaStarNews.com ( http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ ), and the comments that follow them. I'm appalled about the perception of Altadena from outsiders. I'm appalled at the comments from insiders, too. I don't understand why this town is getting such bad press, but the AAC will be working hard to change this situation. Altadena needs some consciousness-raising, some help with the collective self-esteem. Altadena needs to feel good about itself....and it should! There's lots to love about our community and the beauty of it is only the crown at the top.

The Altadena Arts Coalition, and Webster's Fine Stationers, is all for helping Altadena be the best it can be. You can help us by spreading the word and joining the fun!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Congratulations to the AAC For A Fabulous Event!





The evening of Friday, May 15th, the Altadena Arts Coalition's North Lake Avenue Open House brought people out in droves to have fun while re-discovering the delights of the area....and what a party it was! I'm so proud of the founding members of the AAC and their efforts in this endeavor - it just goes to show you what a little creativity and a lot of hard work can do. What's surprising is how well it went off with only a few short weeks of planning, due to the combined talents of Ben McGinty, Lance Anderson, Molly Tierney, Chef Jeff Kline, Ms. Dragon and all the other members who pitched in! Extra kudos to to Ms. Dragon, who spent many hours compiling names and addresses of the businesses involved and printing the maps that were handed out for the evening....all your hard work is genuinely appreciated.


Thanks are also in order for those whose contributions made the evening magical. All our Altadena/Pasadena Bloggers: Karen Bugge (AltadenaHiker), Susan Carrier (OpenMouthInsertFork, TheOrangeCat and CancerBanter), Petrea Burchard (PasadenaDailyPhoto), Tim Rutt (Altadenablog) and Bill Westphal (AltadenaWeatherCam)....all of you rock and thanks so much for lending us your expertise for the evening! Readers, you can find links to all these wonderful blogs below in my blogroll. Thanks to Steve Salinas of Altadena Hardware for fashioning and providing the brackets to hold the banners Scott made and also for rockin' the crowd with his band, The Dispositions....you guys were great! Thanks to Karen and Robert Myers of Karen's Hallmark for donating the balloons that marked each participating business - from New York to Altadena Drive, that was a lot of balloons, and we appreciate it. Special thanks also to Pierre Dupuy, who drove his Jitney up, down and around North Lake Avenue for hours, ferrying people to the different activities. Thanks to all the businesses who participated....this was the first of many events to come and they'll just get better with your help. And lastly, thanks to our Altadena residents....you are the ones who attended and made this an evening to remember....we appreciate it and hope you'll spread the good word about your local businesses!


Be sure to check out all our local blogs....there are pictures posted now and more to come, so don't miss out.




Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Altadena Arts Coalition Open House May 15th

There'll be lots of community activity this week and we think that's a good thing. You've all read about how important it is to shop locally, especially during these hard times. You know how spending money locally benefits your community and that more of your consumer dollar stays in your community than if you'd spent it at a chain or a big box store. So now that you know all this, what better time is there to have a get reacquainted with your local businesses party? The newly formed Altadena Arts Coalition, comprised of galleries, merchants and small business owners, are throwing a party....an open house spanning businesses from New York Drive to Altadena Drive along North Lake Avenue....with entertainment, goodies and good times for all this Friday evening, from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm or later! Read on about what AltadenaBlog.com has to say about it, and thanks to Tim Rutt for allowing us to use this:

"Altadena Arts Coalition/North Lake Open House 5/15/09
The Altadena Arts Coalition invites you to the North Lake Business District Open House, Fri., May 15, 4-9 PM. Many businessess will be open, and there's a full roster of events for the whole family. Come on over and meet your business neighbors:

Activities to date include:

Altadena Hardware, 849 E. Mariposa: Steve Salinas and "The Dispositions,: 6-9 PM.

Altadena Junction, 2524 & 2526 El Molino Ave: Alex Schaefer will be painting 20 minute oil portraits from life, 7-10 PM: "Sit and get painted."

Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake:

Gallery at the End of the World, 2475 N. Lake: Underground Arts Society presents the Group Show, "Spring Fever" May 15-17. Opening reception, Fri., 4-9 PM.Featuring the work of:Victor Cass Johnny Fox Barbara Kaletta Nora Koerber Dave Lovejoy Caroline Maxwell Ben McGinty Ngene Mwuara Hector Pedraza Alison Proulx Domingo Ramos Robert Rodriguez

Photography by Walt, 2455 N. Lake. Opening reception, "Emerging Photography" Emerging Photographers from around the Los Angeles Area on display for the weekend.Opening Reception Friday May 15, 2009 @ 4:00-lateSome work will be available for purchase.Photographers: Rafael Agustin Delgado Phillip Kim Daniel Paul Michelle G Aron Kearney Candace Boysen Martin Nguyen Vivian Lin Jessica Torres Hanson

Ronnie's Automotive, 2012 N. Lake: Classic car show.

Steve's Pets, 2395 N. Lake: Altadena Chamber of Commerce mixer, 5:30-7 PM.

Webster's Fine Stationers, 2450 N. Lake, Ste. B:"Blogger's Cafe," including snacks, coffee, and tea, and a chance to meet some of our local bloggers (including Altadena Above It All, Open Mouth Insert Fork, Altadenahiker, Pasadena Daily Photo, and others.) Ask questions, get advice, meet the faces behind the keyboard."

WOW....what a line up, and there's more coming! I'm very excited about this (as you can tell) because I think Altadena needs to be recognized for the unique and beautiful place it is. Ever since Old Fashioned Days fizzled out, we as Altadeneans have had no reason to all gather to support each other and have fun. Oh, there've been functions and there have been parties and benefits galore, but there has been no true public event that Altadena could call their own....until now. The Altadena Arts Coalition, the brainchild of Ben McGinty, Lance Anderson, Molly Tierny, Chef Jeff Kline, Ms. Dragon and yours truly, has great hopes that this open house will be the prelude to many more to come. We hope to engage the Altadena resident - our customers, patrons and supporters - and get them reacquainted with their local shops, businesses & art venues. Why go elsewhere when our community is so rich with everything you could possibly need?

Come join us Friday evening and let us show you how Altadena rocks! Webster's Fine Stationers will be hosting the Blogger's Cafe on Friday night. Come meet your community's most prolific bloggers....ask questions, get advice about what blogging is all about, how to blog, and why blogging is so important to the area. We'll be sampling our Wind & Willow gourmet appetizer mixes and there'll be refreshments for all!

We hope to see you Friday evening....it'll be a wonderful time with many surprises in store, and you'll never know who you'll run into up here....could be a celebrity siting or two? Hmmmm.....maybe!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Easter Bunny Stops at WFS.....Gives Prizes & Fun!





























What a great time we had on Saturday, April 12th, as the Easter Bunny made a stop at WFS, spreading Spring cheer in his wake. It was a scream to see him dancing a conga line of kids through the store and up and down the street! The culmination of festivities was, of course, the great prize giveaway for the children who'd entered our Easter Coloring Raffle....the expressions on their faces was priceless. We want to thank all our customers and children of our community for making this such a wonderful event, one we hope to repeat for many years to come!