Venturing Out

The Claremont Chamber of Commerce, currently presided over by former our Assistant City Manager Bridget Healy, will hold its 30th Annual Village Venture Arts & Crafts Faire tomorrow from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.   Claremont's environmental mindfulness will take an eight-hour break to allow vendors to flood the Claremont Village with tchochkes of every ilk.  Get there early before the best ones are gone.

Here's what the Chamber's website tells us:

Directions to Village Venture

Claremont Chamber of Commerce ( Village Venture HQ)
205 Yale Ave., Claremont CA 91711
909-624-1681

Click here to go to Google Maps and get directions from your location to Village Venture

---

Village Venture

has become THE annual event where family, friends & neighbors meet to wander The Claremont Village, which is filled with over 450 arts & crafts booths including photography, pottery, jewelry, clothing, and garden knick – knacks. Don’t forget to stop by the village businesses on both sides of Indian Hill that will be open all day. This is the place to kick off your one stop holiday shopping, you’ll find something unique for everyone on your list! Sit and relax at one of our sidewalk cafes, or enjoy the international cuisine located on First Street. Well over 20, 000 visitors attended Village Venture 2010 to enjoy not only this one-day event, but also the wonderful shops and restaurants that are located in our city.  

The following streets are closed:

Bonita, Second and First between Indian Hill and College
Yale and Harvard from Fourth ( Fourth is not closed)

This is the place to be every year on the fourth Saturday in October - mark your calendar - Saturday October 22nd, 2011.  

Click to Enlarge

This Weekend in Claremont

BEER FEST II

If you thought Claremont would spend the weekend drying out from Wednesday's downpour, think again.  The Claremont Beer Fest returns to town for its second go-round tomorrow, October 8, from 12:30pm to 5:00pm in the Claremont Village. The CBF website has all the details:

Claremont, CA - October 8, 2011

The California Beer Festival (CBF) is coming back to the city of Claremont! With over 60 craft brews on tap, four live bands, and mouth watering food. CBF will be the event of the year for any beer enthusiast! CBF's main goal is to shine a light on the craft beer movement and celebrate great beer!

Proceeds will benefitGen Giammanco Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial support to student athletes to assist in their pursuit of both scholastic and athletic success in the city Claremont.

Tickets are $40 for general admission or $25 for designated drivers.

As you can see, the money goes to a good cause.   And nothing says "athletics" like an ice cold brew.  Apropos of which, where are the donuts?  We're missing out on the chance to have the first beer and donut fest, a Beer-athlon.

In the meantime, you can get your tickets for this year's beer fest at:

• Eureka Burger
  580 W. First St.
  Claremont, CA 91711
  (909) 445-8875
  
  
• Rhino Records
  235 Yale Ave
  Claremont, CA 91711-4725
  (909) 626-7774
  
  
• or online here

Downtown Beer Fest

Downtown Claremont plays host to the California Beer Festival tomorrow, October 16, from 12:30 to 5:30pm. The event will take place in front of the Claremont Packing House on First St. between Oberlin and Cornell. Tickets are $40.

They're also offering a designated driver ticket for $25. That includes a free meal and free non-alcoholic beverage. Yellow Cab will also offer discounted cab rides -call (909) 622-1313 for information.

The event's website says there will be three live bands and food from various local restaurants, including a preview from Eureka!Burger, which is supposed to open in the Packing House sometime this winter.

New Arrivals

CGU NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

The Los Angeles Times reports today that Claremont Graduate University has named economist Deborah Anne Freund to be CGU's next president. Freund will replace interim president Joseph Hough, who came out of retirement after Robert Klitgaard stepped down last year.

Freund is a Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. From 1999 to 2006, she served as the university's provost and vice-chancellor for academic affairs.

According to the Times, Freund was considered the leading candidate for the chancellor's post at UCLA four years ago, but the deal fell through because Freund's husband Thomas Kniesner, who was chair of the economics department at Syracuse, wasn't able to secure a teaching job at UCLA. CGU has apparently offered Kniesner a job.

The Times article explains why Freund took the CGU job:

In a telephone interview from Syracuse, Freund said that her expertise and career fit better with a private university like Claremont that emphasizes cross-disciplinary studies, and that she harbors no ill will toward UC. "I just think this is sort of meant to be," she said. "I come from a private university now and the kind of work that CGU does really stokes my passion."

Freund's area of expertise is health care, and she has been working on a special research project for New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. The project is examining ways of reforming a system used by health insurers nationwide to reimburse customers for out-of-network doctor visits. The project is funded by $100 million in settlements the New York AG obtained from 13 different insurers following the AG's investigation.

Freund's work on the project caused a bit of a stir earlier this year when the Syracuse Post-Standard published a story about Freund holding a seat on the board of Excellus, one of the health insurers who settled with state of New York. The Post-Standard reported that Freund received $61,000 annually from Excellus for the board position. After the story came out, Freund said she had made full disclosure of her connections to Excellus, and she subsequently resigned her board seat.


CHEESE CAVE UP AND RUNNING

One of Claremont's latest non-academic arrivals, Cheese Cave, opened for business on June 18. The weekend business seems good, and store has received several thumbs up in the form of positive Yelp! reviews.

The Cheese Cave owners have jumped right into the Claremont mix, joining the Chamber of Commerce and serving up some of their wares at Claremont Rotary's Taste of Claremont in May. They plan a grand opening on July 24.

Cheese Cave
325 N. Yale Ave.
Claremont, CA
(909) 625-7560

Hours:

Tuesdays to Thursdays - 11am to 7pm
Fridays - 11am to 9pm
Saturdays - 10am to 6pm
Sundays - 10am to 4pm

Closed Mondays

CASA MORENO OPEN FOR DINNER

Like Cheese Cave, Casa Moreno, the new Mexican restaurant in the Village Expansion, has had a "soft opening." This week they're conducting a trial run and are open for dinner only. If all goes well, they should be open for lunch and dinner starting next week. There's no website yet, but you can check out the site for Casa Moreno's original venue on Citrus Ave. in Covina.

Casa Moreno is located in the Village Expansion public plaza next to the Hotel Casa 425 and the Laemmle Theatres.

Casa Moreno
101 N. Indian Hill, C2-103
(909) 447-5000

Put a Fork in Them (!)

Like a lot of folks in town, we've been wondering what happened to The Forks Chop House. The overpriced eatery located in Unit 7 of the Claremont Packing House has been closed since the December 17, 2008, fire that gutted the kitchen and a stairwell. Ever since, the restaurant's management has been promising that they would reopen, but the place just sat there.

We tried checking The Forks' website, but that is no longer working. That was our first clue as to an official demise. We didn't have to search very hard to discover what had happened. The Packing House website's business directory told us that Unit 7 has a new tenant coming in the Winter of 2010:



Eureka!Burger currently has just one location (in Redlands), and their website informs us that they're supposed to open another in Fresno some time this month. There's a menu posted online that, among other things, has exhausted the company's exclamation point allotment for the next decade. They serve craft brews and upscale Angus beef burgers, as well as sandwiches and salads. The burgers are all around eight or nine bucks and include fries.

We couldn't help thinking that this is just what our town of 35,000 people needs - yet another place to get a beer and a burger. Burger bars in Claremont have suddenly become the equivalent of hair salons. Lookout, Back Abbey and Burger Bar.

A one-minute walk from the Packing House to the Village Expansion will be all that separates the Eureka from Back Abbey. We're anxious to see how those two higher end establishments compare. Eureka!Burger's fare looks good, and, if you include a soft drink with your burger and fries, that's all probably about $10 cheaper than the same order at Back Abbey, though the twice-fried pommes frites at Back Abbey are probably going to be a couple orders of magnitude up from Eureka!Burger's. On the other hand, the burgers may be better at the new place.

By the way, we thought we had a real scoop with this stuff, but we just now checked City Manager Jeff Parker's latest weekly report and learned that Parker beat us by one day:

EUREKA BURGER The City has recruited a new restaurant (Eureka Burger) to fill the former Three Forks location on the west end of the Packing House. The new restaurant is described as an authentic one-of-a-kind burger bar experience, serving a wide selection of Angus beef burgers, gourmet tossed salads, signature hand cut fries, and a distinctive assortment of craft beers and wine. For more information, see their website at http://www.eurekaburger.com/.

Looks like Parker cheated the new Packing House tenants out of an exclamation point or two.

It's a shame The Forks didn't make it, but they might not have survived the Great Recession anyway. We don't know how well The Forks was doing before the fire. When it first opened, the joint seemed crowded for dinner. Their business was no doubt aided by a glowing review from S. Irene Virbila in the Los Angeles Times review of the place.

We came across a lawsuit filed in LA County Superior Court by one of The Fork's suppliers, Premier Meat Co, a subsidiary of the Wayne Distribution Center. The defendants were Bollicorp LLC dba Three Forks Chop House aka The Forks and Mark Bollinger, along with a DOE or two. The plaintiffs sought $25,953.29 - the unpaid amount the plaintiff claimed was owed on a Forks account with Premier Meat Co.

The suit was filed on 11/25/08, about three weeks before the fire, so it's possible that business was slowing even before the fire occurred. A default judgment in the matter was entered on 5/9/09, and the plaintiff filed a satisfaction of judgment on 11/23/09.

To indulge the prying eyes among us, we dispatched the Insider Copy Service to downtown LA and got the actual filing. Here's the complaint:

2010 OLA Fiesta Continues Today, Tomorrow

Claremont's Our Lady of the Assumption Church's 63rd annual fiesta opened yesterday and continues today and tomorrow. Admission is free, and there's a variety of activities for the entire family, including games and carnival rides, live music, along with plenty of food and drinks.

Click on the image for more details.

OLA Fiesta

Saturday, May 8, 11am to 11pm
Sunday, May 9, Noon to 9pm

OLA Church
435 Berkeley Ave.
Claremont

Catching Up

CLAREMONT HOT TOPICS

Here are some updates on recent city issues:

• David Allen visited last week's Claremont City Council meeting and watched as the council approved an ordinance that allows drive-throughs in certain unimportant parts of town, such as south and northwest Claremont. Allen noted that Claremont already had a couple drive-through locations south of the 10 Freeway, and then he summed the issue up in one sentence:

  My assumption is that Claremont officials didn't mind if the area looked tacky because most people will assume it's in Pomona anyway.
  
  

• Allen also noted that the person who wants to put a 7-Eleven in the empty building at Foothill Blvd. and Mills Ave. is appealing the Planning Commission rejection of a conditional use permit for the business. The matter will now go to the City Council. The City's website has some information on the matter:
  

  7-11 Appeal Filed
  
  On March 2, 2010 the Planning Commission officially denied a request to allow the establishment of a 7-11 convenience store in a portion of the building located at 601 E. Foothill Boulevard. The proposal included the sale of beer and wine and 24 hour/ day operating hours. The applicant has appealed the Planning Commission decision. The City Council will conduct an appeal hearing on Tuesday March 23, 2010 in the Council Chamber located at 225 W. Second Street. The appeal hearing will not commence before 7 pm. A copy of the appeal document is attached. For more information, please contact the Planning Division at 909-399-5470.
  
  * View the Appeal (Adobe Acrobat, 2964KB)
  

  
  We were surprised that the applicant is proposing to limit the 7-Eleven's hours of operation from 5am to 1am seven days a week. We don't know of any 7-Eleven stores that aren't open 24-7. But, this being Claremont, we have to do everything differently. Just because.
  
  
  
• The City's has settled its claim for the Dutch Elm that had to be removed from its spot at Indian Hill Blvd. and Tenth St. The City has posted this information:
  

  City Settles Claim for Dutch Elm Tree (Mar 10, 2010)
  
  The City has successfully settled the claim with Terno Construction and its insurance company over the removal of a Dutch Elm tree at the corner of Indian Hill Boulevard and Tenth Street. The City will be reimbursed $79,000 for the replacement of the tree.
  
  The City worked with an arborist to determine the value of the tree and costs associated with replacing it. The City asked for and received $79,000 for the cost of replacing the tree and to compensate for its loss. The City will use the funds to replace the tree after the signal installation is complete. The remaining funds will be used to address the backlog of trees that need replacing in the City.
  
  The contractor will have materials and hardware to finish the project within two weeks. Staff anticipates the work to be completed March 30, 2010.
  

  
  
• Allen also tells us on his blog that the future Cheese Cave on Yale Ave. has had some further versification.
  
  
  
• FiOS Update - A reader wrote in a while ago asking about the status of Verizon's fiber optic system installation north of Base Line Rd. We hadn't heard much about this issue lately, but the City is reporting that the installation has been halted because Verizon has a contractual obligation to complete installations in "diverse underserved cities" before it can finish in other more privileged areas such as Claremont:
  

  FIOS Halted In Claremont
  
  Verizon has temporarily halted the FiOS build in Claremont due to contractual agreements with the 18 Local Franchise Agreement cities. Where contracts to finish the builds in those cities have come due, Verizon is obligated to complete the builds per the contracts. Verizon is also obligated, as per our State Franchise, to complete a certain percentage of the FiOS build in diverse underserved cities in California. Claremont does not meet the criteria of a diverse underserved city. In order to meet this obligation, Verizon has had to step up the build in those cities. Verizon hopes to be back in Claremont to continue the FiOS build, however no date has been set. Residents may call Gary George, Verizon Director of Government & External Affairs at 909/261-0663.
  

  
  

Local Eats

Photo courtesy of Euro Café's Facebook page

Claremont's Euro Café was reviewed last week by Daily Bulletin writer Elaine Lehman. Elaine liked her ham and brie pannini, and she was also treated to a side of linguiça, which owner Joe Medeiros makes himself:

Just when I was wishing I had more of this amazing food, the owner came over with a plate filled with slices of toasted bread and linguica (Portuguese-cured pork sausage) for me to try. I had heard that lucky patrons have had the pleasure of hearing him sing to them. His daughter-in-law, who works the counter, says his singing is so beautiful it makes her cry.

One of the things we like about Euro Café is that mom-and-pop feel. The pastries, for instance, are made right there. Where else in Southern California can you find real bolas de Berlim? Those little custard filled confections dusted with powdered sugar may be the best donut around (sorry Pixie Donuts). One of those and an espresso and you'll find yourself transported to Lisboa.

Euro Café
546 E. Base Line Rd.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-4666

Cheese Update

Wallace and Gromit rejoice! We have more Cheese Cave news.

The owners of the fromagerie that's coming to downtown Claremont have joined the Claremont Chamber of Commerce. The Cheese Cave also has a Twitter site.

We suspect the Cheese Cave may be something along the lines of Frogs Breath Cheese Store in the city of Orange. Some friends took us there a year or two ago, and we had a delicious, if pricey, goat cheese tasting.

You have to respect shopkeepers who are tasteful enough to appreciate Escondido's Stone Brewing Company and artful enough to think in verse.

Aldonza Graphics

Pie Day

“Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken.”
Jonathan Swift


From what we read on David Allen's blog, today is National Take Your Pie to Work Day, or something like that.

Actually, it's National Pie Day, and the American Pie Council (there really is such a group) offers up some pie trivia:

Learn About the History of Pies

• Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians. The first pies were made by early Romans who may have learned about it through the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in "reeds" which were used for the sole purpose of holding the filling and not for eating with the filling.
  
  
• The Romans must have spread the word about pies around Europe as the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word pie was a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was published by the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.
  
  
• The early pies were predominately meat pies. Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The crust of the pie was referred to as "coffyn". There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.
  
  
• Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them "coffins" like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffin.
  
  
• Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term "as American as apple pie."

We decided to celebrate by finding a good pie crust recipe and came across an interesting one with a surprise ingredient. Here's hoping you all have a Happy Pie Day.

Getting Ready for the 4th

The 4th of July will be upon us soon, which for Claremont means lots of things - a pancake breakfast, a 5K run/walk, the festival in Memorial Park with food, games, music, and the annual Speakers Corner, the 4th of July parade, and the evening fireworks show at Pomona College.

The City of Claremont's website has all the information about the events:

Rockin' Hoppin' 4th!

Celebrate the 61st Annual Independence Day Celebration in Claremont! Start the morning off with the Claremont Village Freedom 5000 Run/Walk hosted by the Claremont High School Cross Country Team. Hungry? Enjoy the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. Tickets will be sold on site. Then stroll on over to the Official Opening Ceremonies to salute the flag and hear some inspiring words from our community leaders. Next, it's time to enjoy lively entertainment, music, children's games, water bounce houses, Willard Hunter Speaker's Corner, delicious food, and visit all the different non-profit booths. Get ready to enjoy the parade at 4 p.m. as we promenade Indian Hill in red, white, and blue style. Your evening is ready to go at Pomona College (corner of 6th and Mills) for the Amazing Firework's Sky Show and Concert featuring the Ravelers. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., so be sure to get your tickets in advance. Last year we sold out! Tickets are available at City Hall, Alexander Hughes Community Center, Chamber of Commerce, Von's, and Wolfe's Market, $6 presale and $8 at the door, if available. Visit www.Claremont4th.org for more information.

City Manager Jeff Parker's weekly CM report also had a list of the event:

July 4 Memorial Park Activities (840 N. Indian Hill Blvd.)

7 a.m. - 10 a.m. Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Claremont Village Freedom 5000 1K Walk
8 a.m. Claremont Village Freedom 5000 5K Run/Walk
10 a.m. Opening Ceremonies & Flag Raising
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Festival (10 a.m. Food Booths Open)
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Speakers Corner
4 p.m. Parade
6:30 p.m. Gates open for Ravelers Concert and Fireworks Show
(Pomona College, Strehle Track)

Taste of Claremont - Saturday

The Claremont Rotary Club is hosting its 10th Annual Taste of Claremont this Saturday, April 18, at Claremont's Taylor Hall in Cahuilla Park, located on Indian Hill Blvd. north of Claremont High School. The Rotary has a website for the event with the following information:

Rotary Club of Claremont Presents the 10th Annual A Taste of Claremont

Saturday, April 18, 2009
5pm to 8pm
Taylor Hall
1775 Indian Hill Boulevard
Claremont, CA 91711

Ticket prices:
$50 through 3/31 ~ $60 after 3/31
Must be 21+ to attend

Live music, raffles, art gallery and more!
Proceeds will benefit Rotary International’s
PolioPlus, African Water Projects and
Local Community Organizations

For more information call 909.447.7717

Tickets are a bit pricey, but get on out if you can. It's always a fun event, and the money goes to some worthy causes. Also, unlike last year, it doesn't conflict with the Claremont Folk Music Center's Folk Festival.

Tonight at The Press

The Press Restaurant is hosting an event for the debut of a new beer, Shameless McDale, from the Dale Bros. Brewery.

Dale Bros. beer is brewed locally in Upland and is featured at many area restaurants and wine shops, including The Press, Winestyles, and the Packing House Wine Merchant in the Claremont Village, and dba256 Gallery Wine Bar in the Pomona Arts Colony.

For more information about tonight's beer debut, see The Press' website.
The event begins at 8pm. The Press' site has this to say about the new beer and the evening's entertainment:

The Dale Brothers have created what may be the world's first green Irish Red beer - Irish Red in style, and green due to their using 100% organic grains. Come to The Press and be among the first to sample the new Dale Bros. Shameless McDale green Irish Red beer! We'll have coupons for $2 off your pint, while supplies last, and live entertainment will be provided by The Kurt Ross Band.

Dale Bros. Brewery Spring Beer Launch Party
Tonight - 8:00 PM

The Press Restaurant
129 Harvard Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 625-4808

David Allen on the Local Food Scene

We're sorry to have missed this one -

Last month, the Bulletin's David Allen visited the new La Parolaccia restaurant on Indian Hill Blvd. in the Claremont Village Expansion and had a brief review:

They have a selection of pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven, some with unusual ingredients such as eggplant, smoked salmon, yellow squash and goat cheese. Pastas include ravioli, linguine and fettucine, often with pesto, olive oil or other non-marinara treatments.

We had the Napoletana pizza ($12.50) with tomato sauce, mozzarella, capers, black olives and anchovies, and the linguine con i frutti di mare ($18.50), with fresh seafood. The latter was essentially a bowl of seafood (scallops, shrimp, clams, etc.) with a dollop of linguine and was quite good. The pizza, after I got past my unrealistic expectations that it would be as creative as Pizzeria Mozza's in L.A., proved quite good as well, thin and crisp.

We haven't had a chance to try La Parolaccia, which opened a few months ago, but we can't help but notice how crowded it is every time we pass by. We've sampled a bit of their pizza or two at Winestyles, the wine bar located next-door to La Parolaccia but it was difficult to get a read on them because they had been sitting out on hors d'oeurvre trays for a little while and were cut into small squares.

Still as Allen noted, the menu does look interesting, and the place seems to be bustling with customers and energy. The restaurant, which also a Long Beach location, describes itself on its website:

La Parolaccia, in Italian, literally means "The Bad Language." In Italy, the Osteria was a modest place where friends would gather to enjoy good homemade food, great wine, and very often some "bad language" would be used. At La Parolaccia Osteria, we still serve homemade food, great wine, and occasionally bad language is heard, but strictly Italiano.

Lunch: Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Dinner: Mon-Sun 4:00 p.m to 10:00 p.m.

201 N. Indian Hill
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 624-1516

This Weekend in Claremont

No reason to be bored in Claremont this weekend. There's a veritable smorgasbord of events in town this weekend, beginning this morning:

• COLLEGE CRAFT FAIRE: The Pomona College Staff Council is sponsoring a craft faire today from 11am to 1:30pm on the college's Stover Walk.
  
  
  
• TREE LIGHTING: Don't forget about the annual Holiday Promenade and Tree Lighting from 5pm to 9pm. There will be music in the plaza in front of the Laemmle Theatre and at other locations in the Village, and Santa will be setting up shop in the Packing House. At 6pm, the tree gets lit at the Claremont Depot.
  
  
  
• IMBIBING: After 9pm, after all the festivities, you may be ready to get lit too, and you can find an outlet and at the Back Abbey, the Press, or Danson Espiaus, to name a few of the downtown drinking holes. The Press has live music tonight starting at 10pm, according to the restaurant's website:
  

  HT Records Presents
  10:00pm
  
  HT Records was founded in 2003 as a way to share the music of Inland Empire bands. This show, one of an occasional series held at The Press, will feature the legendary Wckr Spgt.

  The Press is located at 129 Harvard Ave. in the Claremont Village.
  
  
  
• GYPSY SISTERS ART SALE: The Claremont Forum is hosting the Gypsy Sisters Art Show & Sale today through Sunday in the Packing House. The Packing House is located at 540 W. 1st St. The Gypsy Sisters hours are:
  

  Friday, Dec. 5th - 4pm to 9pm
  Saturday, Dec. 6th - 10am to 8pm
  Sunday, Dec. 7th - 10am to 5pm
  
  

• FOLK MUSIC CENTER EVENTS: The Claremont Folk Music Center hosts two LA folk groups, I See Hawks in LA and The Chapin Sisters, tomorrow night. Tickets are $15. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 7:30.
  
  On Sunday, beginning at 4pm, the Folk Music Center is holding a Rhythm Child event. Tickets are $5. The Center's website says:
  

  "Soulful, Uplifting and Interactive Music for Kids and their Parents"
  
  Making music is at the heart of Rhythm Child, an organization started by Norm Jones and his wife Heather. The idea is to introduce young kids to the rudimentary elements of music in a family drum circle experience. This concert is in conjunction with The Rhythm Child Network, which is a specialized resource for teachers, parents and caregivers that are looking for ways to interact with their children in order to bring about cultural understanding, musical appreciation and creative expression.
  

  
  
• GALLERIA BERETICH: You fans of Big George may find something to your tastes at Galleria Beretich's Christmas Show this Sunday from 3pm to 6pm. Be sure to say hello to Coco B.
  
  
  
• LWV TURNS 70: The Claremont Area League of Women Voters celebrates 70 years in Claremont from 2pm to 4pm this Sunday with a community event at the Alexander Hughes Community Center. The Hughes Center is located at 1700 N. Danbury Rd.
  
  
  
• HOLIDAY HOME TOUR: The Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center is holding a fundraising home tour this Sunday from 10:30am to 4:30pm. The tour begins with an English Tea at Claremont's Taylor Hall. There will also be a holiday craft boutique, a "gourmet shoppe," and drawings for gift baskets and a one-week vacation condo in Brian Head, UT.
  
  Taylor Hall is located at 1775 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Tickets are $25 pre-sale and $30 at the door. You can call (909) 865-9669 for more info.
  
  
  
• MEET YOUR COUNCILMEMBERS: Want to chat up your favorite Claremont City Councilmember? Now's your chance. The councilmembers will be taking turns at Claremont Farmers Market this Sunday from 8am to 1pm. The Daily Bulletin's Claremont Now site has all the info:
  

  City council members from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. will be answer questions of residents at the city council booth at the Farmer's Market in the Village.
  
  Here is the schedule:
  
  8 a.m. - 9 a.m. - Sam Pedroza
  9 a.m. - 10 a.m. - Peter Yao
  10 a.m. - 11 a.m. - Corey Calaycay
  11 a.m. - noon - Linda Elderkin
  Noon - 1 p.m. - Ellen Taylor

  The market is located on 2nd St. between Indian Hill Blvd. and Yale Ave.
  

Pomona Blog Scene

Image Courtesy of the Pomona Public Library

- Click to Enlarge

Pomona possesses what must be the liveliest blogging community in the Inland Empire. We're fans of M-M-M-My Pomona, Goddess of Pomona, and Images of Pomona. Also, Metro Pomona has the scoop on the happenings in downtown Pomona.

A reader sent us three more links to Pomona blogs we've managed to overlook. We're adding these to our local blog roll, so they'll be there in future:

• Pomona's Art Colonists - As the title indicates, this site has news about the downtown Pomona art scene.
  
  
• Blurry Memoirs (A Bartender's Take on Life) - This is a blog by Tibbi, a bartender at dba256 Gallery Winebar.
  
  Meg at M-M-M-My Pomona offered this description of dba256 last month:
  

  In other news (or not-news, really), we headed down to dba256 last night for a drink before supper. We spotted Dave Allen, but he looked deep in conversation, so we didn't bother him. Then who should wander up but our own John Clifford. As the three of us chatted on a couch, a couple of other Pomona Heritage members came by and joined us. The five of us talked so long, Mix Bowl was the only place open when we finally turned our attention to supper.
  
  That, I must say, is the dictionary definition of the "local," English style -- the pub where you stumble in for a drop to cure what ails you and end up meeting half your neighbors. I haven't had a local since they closed the Salty Dog Saloon for my going away party in 1988, putting a sign up on the door saying "We're at Meg's -- if you know where that is, you're invited."
  
  

• Pomona Subterraneo - This blog belongs to Pomona resident Andre Martinez, who describes his efforts thusly:
  

  Pomona Subterraneo is gritty, crass, obnoxious, cerebral, stupid, borracho and many more pretty things.
  
  
  
  

Goings On

BURT & ROCKY'S UPLAND STORE TO CLOSE

The Daily Bulletin reports the Burt and Rocky's Ice Cream Company location in Upland will be closing. The Claremont location at Bonita and Yale across from Rhino Records will remain open.

The article said:

Owners Brent and Sherry Hunter have decided to shut their shop at 360 W. Foothill Blvd. due to a significant increase in rent.

"The building has sold twice since we've been here, and each time it sold for a lot more money," said Sherry. "So all of the taxes have gone up to where they doubled our rent, and if we renew our lease our rent would triple."

The Hunters purchased the company 11 years ago from founders Roberta and Roy Marley and upgraded to a larger space across from Upland High School about five years ago.

"It's sad that we don't have a store in Upland for the time being, but that doesn't mean we won't come back," said Sherry.

KARL ROVE TO SPEAK AT CMC MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH

Claremont McKenna College's Marion Cook Miner Athenaeum will host former presidential advisor Karl Rove as a speaker on Monday, September 15th at 6:45pm. The CMC Forum blog had a post about the event, and so did CMC student Charles Johnson at the Claremont Conservative.

Marion Cook Miner Athenaeum
385 E. 8th St.
Claremont,
CA 91711
(909) 621-8244

MUSIC AT THE DOUBLETREE

And in case you forgot, we received another Raveler spam about the band's appearance tonight at the Claremont Doubletree from 7-10pm.

Hey Now!

The Ravelers are returning to our favorite casual hang-out this
Friday evening for a party on the patio....Friday, September 5- Let's party on
the patio!
---Doubletree Hotel Claremont
---555 W. Foothill Blvd
---Claremont, CA 91711
---(909)626-2411 (Please call to make
reservations if you would like to eat dinner, it helps them to set up the right
number of tables on the patio)

The Ravelers play from 7:00 pm - 10:00
pm. Meet with friends, food, and fun!
On Foothill Blvd between Indian Hill
and Mountain Ave.

If you are having a birthday, this is a great place to
celebrate. If you are looking to wind down after a week of work, this is a great
spot to wind down with some cocktails, dinner, and some fun music. If you are
wondering where to meet some friends for fun at a nice outdoor setting...well,
this is the place!

The weather looks to be perfect for a patio party on
a summer's eve! See the attached photo to view the setting we have arranged for
you and your friends.

See you Friday!
Hai, Pat, Martie, Rob
The Ravelers

David Allen Reviews New Pub

David Allen reviews The Back Abbey, the new Belgian pub on Oberlin Ave. next to the Claremont 5 Laemmle Theatre. Allen thought that at $13 his burger was "possibly the most expensive in the Inland Empire." He was very impressed with the fries, and the beers he could take or leave, though he does tell us he's not a real beer fan.

Like Meg at M-M-M-My Pomona, Allen thought the noise was overwhelming.

New Belgian Pub Open

We got a note from a reader who reminded us that there's a new pub in town:

Subject: I'll never have to go to the Press again!
To: "Claremont Insider"

The new Belgian Beer bar, The Back Abbey, is open!

The Daily Bulletin had a pre-opening article on The Back Abbey, which opened this past Monday:

The Back Abbey, housed in a tiny Spanish-style building beside the Laemmle Theatre on Oberlin Avenue, will feature an additional 50-60 imported beers in bottles, a rich wine list and a unique food menu of burgers, sausages, salads and other items, said owner John J. Solana.

Solana said the beers would be 60 percent to 70 percent Belgian, with the remainder from France, Germany and England.

"(I'm) hoping to capture an intimacy that's only found in those little hole-in-the-wall pubs in Belgium," said Solana, a La Verne resident and professional chimney sweep.

The intimate pub - it fits 45 inside and 45 on outside patios - opens at 11 a.m. and has city permits allowing it to stay open until 1 a.m., though Solana says it may close earlier depending on business. The pub will be closed Sundays.

Meg over at M-M-M-My Pomona ran the first review we were able to find, and she described the place as only she can:

The place was a ZOO, I'm telling you. Every available seat was taken, every standing space filled, every oxygen molecule converted to CO2. And it was so noisy that K. and I had to shout into one another's ears to be heard. It was like being at club, and I'm not talking some piddly little Jonathan Richman show but a full-on International Noise Conspiracy performance. Without earplugs.

So don't say you haven't been warned. Until the place calms down some AND (not "or") they add some acoustic dampening, I can't recommend it for a fun evening with friends. It would, however, be a great place to take someone you don't really want to talk to.

The Back Abbey is located inan old ice house on Oberlin Ave. behind the Hotel Casa 425 and next to the Claremont Laemmle Theatres. The Claremont Courier's Tony Krickl had an article back in January giving the backstory to the pub and the building:

The 1050-square-foot building was originally located at the corner of First Street and Indian Hill Boulevard, said Ginger Elliott, executive director of Claremont Heritage. Owned by the Edison Company, it was moved to its current location in the early 1920s.

When the union ice house company managed the building, large quantities of ice were stored there and cooled fruit from The Packing House through an underground tunnel, Ms. Elliott said. Ice was also loaded onto each end of freight trains that transported fruit cross country and was reloaded at various icehouses along the way.

“They could almost be described as a partnership between the citrus and the railroad industries before refrigerated carts were used,” Ms. Elliott said.

The Ice House was still functional until the early 1990s, selling ice to individual and event organizers throughout the region. In 1996, the city purchased the building along with much of the land where Hotel Casa 425 and the Village Expansion plaza now sit.

OLA Fiesta Today and Tomorrow

Don't know how we missed this one. Claremont's Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church is holding its annual Fiesta this weekend.

OLA's Fiesta 2008 began yesterday and continues through the rest of the weekend. There are rides, entertainment, and food. All sorts of fun for the family with music from the classic rock band The Answer tonight from 5:30pm to 10pm.

There's also a Vietnamese Entertainment and Dragon Dance event tomorrow afternoon between 1pm and 2pm, as well as a country-rock act, Neil Morrow and Memphis 54. And, they're raffling off a 2008 Nissan Versa tomorrow as well.

OLA Fiesta 2008
OLA Church
435 Berkeley Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 626-3596

Saturday, May 10, 11am to 11pm
Sunday, May 11, Noon to 9pm