Recently, I met with a producer who was interested in using various
locations in Eagle Rock to film a movie. He described Eagle Rock as a
community with a “small town” feeling and emphasized that this is “very
hard to come by these days,” especially in Los Angeles. A month before
that, I had a friend come and visit from Minnesota. As we sat outside
Colombo’s and ate our dinner, various people in the community mingled in
and out of the restaurant and either smiled or stopped by to chat. At one
point in our meal, my friend turned to me and said, “You really have that
community feeling here and I have never had the experience of belonging to
a neighborhood like this before.” What I realized in both of those
conversations is that the experience of “community and goodwill” is not
easy to come by and that it does not happen in every city, but for some
reason it IS happening in our city! It happens through the hard work,
commitment and dedication of many individuals and organizations working
together.
Building a Better Business Community has been the right path for the
Chamber of Commerce in 2006. We have hosted many exciting community events
throughout the year like the Farmer’s Market every Friday night, the
Summer Concert Series in the Park, the Arts and Crafts Festival or the
first Town Hall meeting with Councilman Huizar last spring. Most recently,
the Business Expo on June 27th was a smashing success due in most part to
the excitement and interest put forth about our thriving business
community. Thank you to every single business that participated either at
the Women’s Club or at your store location and thank you for creating a
fun and energetic atmosphere, despite the unusually warm weather. We look
forward to your involvement next year. If you are interested in
participating in the planning of the Business Expo event 2007, please
contact me at millerd2@ah.org.
Belonging to a community is a rich and rewarding experience. Next time
you’re out and about in the neighborhood take the opportunity to look
around and to get to know all of the unique businesses making Eagle Rock
their destination of choice! We look forward to seeing and meeting you at
our monthly meetings & mixers on the 4th Tuesday of every month. We also
invite you to enjoy our other Chamber sponsored events throughout the
year. I look forward to our rich exchange of information and ideas and the
fun times to experience in 2006. Denise M. Miller
