And The Award Goes To.....

Tonight is Hollywood's favorite night.  Stars from all over will descend on Hollywood, walk down that red carpet and a few of them will take home that coveted golden statuette.  Now, let's take a moment and think about who really deserves an award.  While I'm sure there are countless worthy individuals, I think the small business owners who have struggled through these hard times and are still open deserve a shout-out.  These businesses owners who contribute to their community's well-being by hiring local employees, use local services, pay local taxes and recirculate their hard-earned dollars in that community.

The video posted above (also posted on our store's Facebook fan page) shows one town in Georgia that has thrived despite the downturn.  I recommend watching this video to see what would be possible here if we all worked together to make it happen.  I'm speaking about Altadena, of course, but you can make this happen anywhere in the country if you happen to live elsewhere.  If I'm being repetitious, forgive me, but it bears repeating that our recovery from the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression won't happen until it happens with small businesses.  We are truly the bedrock of the American way of life.  If small businesses keep disappearing at the alarming rate they're disappearing now, our lives will be changed forever, and not in a good way.

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know how strongly I feel about this.  It's particularly important now, in light of the recent fracas with our Fancy Food Truck Fridays event and the County of Los Angeles' Planning Department.  For those of you who aren't aware, our gourmet food truck/open house party for the community that we held on Feb. 11th and was very successful.  So successful, in fact, that we must've ticked off a few people and complaints were lodged with various County agencies.  The County, as far as we can ascertain, has told us we can't do it again because it violates Title 22 of their voluminous Civil Code.  As the wrangling with the County goes on towards some kind of resolution, I will also recommend they watch this video as well.

Let's all work together for a better Altadena.  Let's do it now.

Have a wonderful week, my friends,

Lori & Scott