The Old Town Monrovia report: July 4 motivates city

Opinion by Shawn Spencer

What the city of Monrovia could not give us last year, due to COVID, they sure made up for this year! Library Park was beautifully decorated in red, white and blue, with Old Glory proudly waving in the breeze. I don’t think we could have asked for better weather! Top 40 band, Night Owl, rocked the night away to a very full, but decently spaced crowd in and surrounding the park. The firework show did not disappoint! It was outstanding! Something about fireworks always gets me right in the feels. There is something so sentimental and patriotic about them. I am so thankful that our city puts on such a great show for the community.

With that being said, I was very surprised at the number of residents that brought their dogs to the show. Quite of few of them got spooked and ran off. The few that were around me did not seem to enjoy the fireworks at all. It was obviously very loud and way too crowded for our short, four-legged friends to attend safely. A lot of people swear by Benadryl for pets, but that doesn’t always work. Always consult your vet first, especially for dosage amounts. RA House of CBD, at 302 S. Myrtle, has CBD products for pets that can be used for a variety of things, namely anxiety; perfect for an evening of fireworks. Or in the case of Monrovia, a week or so of fireworks.

The Friday Night Street Fair opened to its full pre-COVID size. There were many more vendors, spanning down Myrtle. There was a live band: Temperamental. They were fantastic, as usual. I think the house plant booth might have been my favorite! They had an amazing selection. The kid’s area was back, complete with inflatables, petting zoo and camel rides. It was a lot of fun! It was well done and very well attended!

There was a bit of a to-do with street fair animals. A few passersby felt that it was way too hot for the animals to be laying on the ground, specifically the hot asphalt. While I am not a professional, I can Google just as well as anyone. Camels are kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer by their thick coat of fur. They live in extreme temperatures, ranging from 20 degrees in the winter to 120 degrees in the summer. They have thick, leathery patches on their legs, which protect them when they kneel or lay on the hat sand. As for Zebras, they are protected from the heat by their stripes. The black stripes absorb the sunlight and the white stripes reflect it, causing them to absorb only 30% of the sun’s rays. Their pattern of stripes dispels the rest. Again, I am not expert on African and Gobi Desert wildlife, but I do know that the City of Monrovia will be looking into this matter further. I have complete faith in their ability to assess the situation, versus the few non-experts that addressed it on social media. As always, the city has the community’s best interest at heart.

If you haven’t stopped into the newly opened Açai Bar, you are definitely missing out. It’s healthy, delicious and so perfect on these warm summer days. I’m hooked on the Bulletproof cold brew and the overnight oats.

As I drove to work this morning, I saw work being done at the clock tower building at 316 S. Myrtle. Stay tuned for more info, but it looks like Old Town is getting a new dance studio. They plan to open on the second floor. Not now, but soon. They need to put an elevator in the building first, for ADA requirements. At least it is headed in the right direction. That building has been empty for far too long. I’m looking forward seeing some great additions to Old Town there, especially on the ground floor.

Until next time, Old Town…

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