An Uplifting Spirit

Things have been crazy in the Goldsworthy household these past few weeks. I sit on the boards of the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, the Salvation Army, Prom Plus and the CV Chamber of Commerce, among others.

For the Kiwanis Club, Steve and I were planning to host a wine and toffee tasting fundraiser in August but the storm of the century was supposed to blow in and, because the event was being held outdoors, we opted to postpone it to October. We’re all praying for no wind and no excessive heat (“Indian summer”) in October.

The Salvation Army has suffered a loss of donations for its food pantry and is holding a food drive at several stores on Saturday. (I will be at the Ralphs at 2675 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.)

For Prom Plus, I will be at the high school today, Sept. 7, for the annual back to school barbecue. Many thanks are extended to Gelsinger’s and Schreiner’s for donating the delicious meat for the barbecue. Their donations greatly – and positively – impact our bottom line.

As an aside, I know that I’ve said how I’m planning to step back from Prom Plus but it’s hard when so few parents are willing to step up. Come on, parents: Why do I care more about your kids than you do?

And the CV Chamber of Commerce is going through a definite transition. I’ve been “upgraded” from secretary to president and have had to make some tough decisions. Among these has been populating our board of directors and shutting down the CV Chamber office and cohabitating with another business (more about that in next week’s paper).

But what I wanted to share with you is the strength of those board members. When the tough decision was made to relocate the chamber office, board members showed up at every opportunity to either scan materials, move boxes or assess the needs of the chamber and its office. Remember: we had been at 3131 Foothill Blvd. ‘D’ for over 20 years and accumulated so much stuff. While the decision to close and move was emotionally challenging, it was also physically challenging. Like I said, over 20 years of stuff was in the space and all of it had to be gone through and either discarded, saved and moved or thrown out.

If I had to do it by myself I couldn’t have done it. I mean, I run a business, too and there would be no way that I could have given the chamber office the attention it needed. But thanks to the board, the office has been cleaned out, almost in its entirety, and we’re eagerly looking ahead to what the future holds.

In next week’s paper, in the Business section, I’ll share some of our ideas for the CV Chamber of Commerce and detail the contributions of those board members.