The Arroyo Seco River Song

LA River Revitalization Corp Names First Executive Director

Omar Brownson, Chairman of the Board of the Liberty Hill Foundation and Associate Principal of Seslia and Company, was named today as the first Executive Director of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation (LARRC), a non-profit organization created to improve the quality of Los Angeles by revitalizing the LA River Corridor with sustainable land development projects.

Brownson, a graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and UC Davis, is a Coro Fellow with a background in real estate development and financing in the public and non-profit sectors.

Details of his specific role and duties will be announced shortly.

What If We Cut The Fence? Highland Park Leader Honored as Arroyo Seco Icon

She once shouted 'what if we cut the fence' to passing motorists racing along her beloved Arroyo Seco Parkway (don't dare call it the Pasadena or 110 Freeway). Over the years, she's worked with such diverse organizations and projects as the Audubon Society, the Arroyo Seco Scenic Trust, the Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition, the Lummis Day Festival, ArroyoFest, and the Arroyo Seco Foundation, to just name a few.

Last Thursday night, Highland Park resident Nicole Possert was honored with the 2010 Arroyo Verde Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the Council of Arroyo Seco Organizations (CASO) to honor an icon whose impact has promoted and protected 'Arroyo Culture' for a decade or longer.

For the past twenty years, Nicole has been a fixture at just about any Arroyo Seco corridor activity and event of significance. She cut her teeth on Arroyo Culture as a volunteer and Board President of the Highland Park Heritage Trust, which received the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation and the Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award in 2002. From that civic starting point, there has been no stopping her. Nicole's community contribution and outreach efforts are so tremendous that even local politicos know to 'take her temperature' before announcing new initiatives and programs that may affect 'the Arroyo,' as she fondly calls it.

Congratulations, Nicole Possert, on your achievement as the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Arroyo Verde Award Winner. We look forward to another 20 years of service to the Arroyo Seco community.

It's Time to Cruise Along Christmas Tree Lane

ENJOY THIS REPOST FROM MY DECEMBER 2009 BLOG

The road sign post reads 'Santa Rosa Avenue' but everyone in Altadena and nearby Pasadena knows it as 'Christmas Tree Lane.'

Every year, since 1930, automobiles and walkers have journeyed up this street after dark to experience one of Southern California's most emotionally satisfying array of holiday light shows, with colorful globes hanging on the elongated branch arms of spectacular deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara) trees.

How to describe this magical experience? Think Christmas tree illustrations from Dr. Seuss' How theGrinch Stole Christmas' or Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas' with a stand of towering snow-laden cedars in the background.

Though Christmas Tree Lane's deodars are rarely snow-laden due to the mild Southern California climate, they do come alive every year with extensive strands of 10,000 colored lights that draw visitors to the mile-long 'lane' from around the world.

What makes Christmas Tree Lane, an official California Landmark listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, special is that since 1956, Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane Community Association (CTLA) has continued this tradition on a purely volunteer basis, seeking donations to cover the electricity utility costs, and stringing and maintaining the light show through hundreds of hours of service from the efforts of local homeowners and renters, senior citizens and schoolchildren, Altadena veterans and newcomers to the community.

If you've visited Christmas Tree Lane before, why not drive by this year and recapture the magic of this "Mile of Christmas Trees?" If you've never visited, come on by and start a new family holiday tradition. The show runs nightly from dusk to midnight, now through January 7, 2011. Come see what happens when nature, technology and love converge along a foothills lane.

It's the Second Saturday of the Month...and You Know What That Means

There are many fun and FREE things to do in Northeast Los Angeles (NELA) along the Arroyo Seco but few are more imaginative and interesting than the monthly NELA Second Saturday Gallery Night Art Crawl.

What I love about Second Saturday is that it's easy to 'pick and choose' from over 30 galleries which open their doors monthly from 7-10pm.  During the summer months with late daylight, bicycling from gallery to gallery is fabulous. During the holiday season, it's a great night of art and shopping rolled into one excursion.

And then there are the nearby eateries. Here are some of my favorite nosheries while travelling between galleries:

Chico's (mariscos. ole') at Figueroa & Avenue 50 walking distance to the Avenue 50 Studio.

The York (also the local hangout for many NELA artists) & Cafe de Leche on York Blvd at Ave 50 near a cluster of galleries in walking distance

Taco Spot & The Coffee Table on Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock walking distance to Jose Vera Fine Art & Toros Pottery

Of course, you'll find numerous food truck sightings, too. If you are one of THOSE foodies, go to http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/ for truck locations.

Here are my 'stealth' recommendations for great gallery stops:

1. The MorYork Gallery at York & Avenue 50. The only public time you can get into this gallery is during Gallery Night and it's worth the visit. An amazing space created by the inimitable Clare Graham.
http://www.moryork.blogspot.com/

2. New Puppy Gallery in Cypress Park. A little out of the way but worth the trip for this adventuresome art spot with friendly hosts and a happy vibe.  http://www.newpuppyla.com/

Since today is the Second Saturday, here's your chance to come out tonight and visit some of the most fascinating galleries in all of Los Angeles. 

Here's the map: http://www.nelaart.com/images/maps/SecSatMap.pdf