A Community Versus a Place to Live

On Thursday last week I had the chance to attend an evening ribbon cutting and CV Chamber of Commerce mixer at KNA Clawssy at 3156 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta (at the south east corner of Pennsylvania Avenue). Not only was the weather beautiful, in attendance were several representatives of dignitaries and Chamber members and supporters.

Though most of the festivities (including several vendors, a taco truck and DJ) were in the expansive parking lot, I did have the chance to visit the interior of this salon. I have to say that I recognized immediately that this is a place for the ladies. Just about everything is pink – but none of that bright, over-the-top pink but a subtle, inviting shade of pink. KNA Clawssy offers a wide range of services including for nails, hair and lashes. They have trained personnel for facials, too. I was so pleased to present the owners Kira and Christina with a plaque designating their business as one of the most recent additions to the chamber of commerce.

Then on Sunday, I switched hats to Kiwanis vice president. I hosted a toffee tasting and wine pairing at the house. One of our Kiwanians is a master toffee maker (Cynthia Paez with GG’s Gourmet Toffee) and her toffee was paired with three different wines provided by Marcelo Waldheim of 8Wine8.

Cynthia brought her renowned pistachio mole, and her light and dark chocolate toffees that were paired with white, rosé and red blend wines. The choices that sommelier Marcelo made with the 8Wine8 selection for each of the toffees was magical. He provided the wines and extensive notes for me to share with my guests because he had to go to work unexpectedly (typically Sundays are his days off). He’s a sommelier and wine director at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills and when work calls … Thankfully his notes were extensive and a lovely presentation was made of his wine and GG’s Gourmet Toffee.

At one point I was talking to one of my guests who was commenting on how lucky I was to live in the Crescenta Valley. He mentioned that it was things like the CV Weekly, a newspaper that strives to bring the community together by sharing information of interest to readers, and our service organizations, like the Kiwanis, the chambers of commerce, and the Lions among others, and our places of worship that unite our community.

How true. As most of you know, I grew up just over the hill in Sun Valley. I know that the newspaper would not survive there – it’s too transient a population. We sink deep roots here and we look to each other for support, help and, oftentimes, guidance.

I think being part of a community rather than just living somewhere is the better choice.