Monrovia Old Town Report (04/13/17 Issue)

– Courtesy photo

By Pam Fitzpatrick

Just when you think you know what you’re talking about, somebody sharper steps up and sets you straight.  So, last week I started a little challenge, looking for the first person to identify a holiday ornament in one of the Old Town Trees.  The next day after this column published, an Old Town regular walked into my store and identified the purple ornament…except, it was a different tree and a different ornament!  Then, the hunt was on, and at the end of the weekend visitors had identified 3 ornaments in 3 separate trees.  Kudos to the Felix family, winners of a collectable “Monroviaopoly” and a cute stuffed animal!

On the same subject … that is, not knowing everything… I stand corrected on another topic. I hear that the Monrovia Street Fair move to Library Park will not happen until June 30th and that the subject will probably be brought to the Council at the beginning of May.  My guess is that this is already a done deal, but I would encourage any of the affected merchants who have comments/concerns, to please contact Tina Cherry, our City merchant liaison.  I know the City is actively working with business owners in an attempt to mitigate their potential loss of customers on Friday nights.  It is important for business owners and the public to speak out and be a part of this process because Historic Old Town Monrovia is now, and should always be, the people’s gathering place.

I attended a meeting of the above-mentioned merchant group this week, and finally a plan to bring atmospheric music back to Old Town has been approved for the next 18 weeks.  The plan, in the beginning, will involve alternating between five key locations.  Beginning May 3rd, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday evenings there will be music rotating between these five locations:  Library Park, the 100, 400, 500 and 600 blocks of S. Myrtle.  Performers will vary, and at this point it looks like The Lance and Gary Show will be part of the mix.

I brought my almost 13-year-old grandson to the MOTAB meeting, and I was thinking about the importance of starting to get our kids connected at a young age.  Collin has been coming to City meetings since he was a little guy, and, as long as I promise to feed him afterwards, he is a pleasant tag-along.  I wish it was that easy to get more of our adults to this meeting, which, I will remind everyone, is the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in Council Chambers.  This morning our audience included  the Monrovia Chamber Executive, Karin Crehan, our alternate Council Liaison, Larry Spicer, and several City staff – plus, two – only two —  Old Town Merchants.  Kind of sad to have a five-member volunteer board looking out to a peanut gallery of only 2 of the 240 or so businesses they represent.  Hmm… maybe if they served food….

It was good to see David Garcia from Family Dog and Cat Hospital (136 W. Lime) – which, by the way, is my very favorite animal hospital – at that Tuesday meeting.  We’ve been having reports at MOTAB about issues involving the growing population of “campers” that spill over into Old Town when Library Park closes at 10 p.m.   David gave a very clear, yet sympathetic, report of the issues, including trash and illegal drugs, that plague his parking lot.  I know when Captain Alan Sanvictores gave his presentation on these issues to Community Services, and then to City Council recently, one of the things he stressed was, “if you see something, say something.”  Good to see folks working together to resolve this issue.

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