Taste of Montrose

As I promised in last week’s column, I’m going to share with you the topper of two weekends ago: Sunday’s exciting day along Honolulu Avenue.

After being quiet for two years due to the pandemic, Honolulu Avenue came alive on Sunday, May 1 when the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. hosted the annual Kids N Kritters event. The avenue was crowded with folks buying fresh goods from the Harvest Market, families enjoying the exotic animals that were brought out for the day and kids having fun on the various inflatables. But, to me at least, the highlight of the day was Taste of Montrose.

This fundraiser, which benefits Prom Plus, is one of my favorites. It gives an opportunity to local restaurants to showcase their fare while allowing folks to purchase a wristband to try these delicious goods. This year’s participating restaurants – Seasoning Alley, Froyo Life, Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizza, Alissa’s Ocean View, Gus & Andy’s, New Moon, Thee Elbow Room, the Stonebarn Vineyard Conservancy and even a catering truck from Papua Coffee – provided ticketholders with tastes of some of the best food in town. In addition, Montrose Town Kitchen & Grill donated $20 gift certificates to their restaurant so ticketholders could circle back and try their food another time (they’re closed on Sunday afternoons so couldn’t participate. Likewise toasted offered discounts to ticketholders who purchased a meal on Sunday).

I am so grateful to everyone who participated, whether by providing tasty bites, discounts and coupons or who bought a ticket. The Taste of Montrose is a big fundraiser for Prom Plus and, like Mary O’Keefe’s story on the cover states, Prom Plus hasn’t been able to have many fundraisers these past two years. Taste of Montrose (and the generosity of local friends and businesses) is making up that shortfall. Mary’s article details some of the history of the 28-year-old organization and shares some of the changes that are being implemented. It’s an exciting time and I’m proud to be a part of it.

On page 19 you can find out how to donate time, money or whatever other assistance you want to offer the Prom Plus event, which is being held on June 4/5 at the YMCA in La Cañada. Being the tech savvy team that we are, we’ve created a SignUp Genius that outlines what the needs are and how people can address them (donating product, helping out during Prom Plus, etc.). The link for that is https://tinyurl.com/PP2022SignUp.

I’ll be at the Y on June 4/5 and I’d love to see you there, too! And, as always, thank you for supporting Prom Plus.