Special thanks to members of the American Legion and the VFW, and to everyone else that helped decorate the chamber float for the Montrose Christmas Parade on Saturday. Our newest member to the chamber, Reindeer Rick Liss, made sure our sleigh and riders made it through without any mishaps. Along with chamber board members, we had the pleasure of two military veterans riding with us.

A lot of time and work is put into this community event – thanks to all of you as well.

Due to the generosity of the community, the Chamber is still shipping packages to our soldiers in Afghanistan. So far we have sent 16 boxes with more waiting to be shipped. We would like to encourage any members of the community, including students, to drop off cards or notes to go along with these packages. All correspondence should be in unsealed envelopes.

There have been some questions lately regarding the prohibition of the use of plastic bags in Los Angeles County. The new ordinance is scheduled to go into effect in the unincorporated area of the county next year. Since La Crescenta is split between L.A. County and the city of Glendale, it is a little confusing, because incorporated cities, like Glendale, are not included in the new ordinance.

The environment is important, but there will always be those who are careless. However, I think we need to give credit to our local businesses, regardless of location, as most have been asking if customers needed bags long before this ordinance passed.

This would hold true for many residents who turn down bags if they are not needed.

A reminder for all those new electronics that might find their way under the Christmas tree: to replace the old ones, the chamber is holding an eWaste recycling date on Saturday, Jan. 15.

We hope you take the time to enjoy the holiday events taking place right here in our community. We have some of the best.

By phone, email, vehicle or sleigh, the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce can be reached at (818) 248-4957, crescentachamber@aol.com, www.LaCrescenta.org, and at 3131 Foothill Blvd., Suite D. We welcome your visits and comments.

  Business, jean maluccio