"Eagle Rock: Where land use and planning is a contact sport"

THE EAGLE ROCK ASSOCIATION

TERA

-- e.letter --

May 9, 2002


 In this issue:


1.  THIRD ANNUAL ECLECTIC EAGLE ROCK HOME TOUR -- MAY 19 -- BUY TICKETS NOW!

2.  EAGLE ROCK RENAISSANCE OF PLEIN AIR ART SHOW -- THROUGH MAY 26

3.  "SHOULD I STUCCO MY WOOD HOUSE?" -- NO -- PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

4.  BEAUTIFUL NEW BUSINESSES IN EAGLE ROCK!

5.  CATFISH BITE FEATURED THIS MORNING ON CHANNEL 7!

6.  GOOD NEWS FROM HIGHLAND PARK AND NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES

7.  PRIME EAGLE ROCK LOCATION/COMMERCIAL SPACE FOR LEASE

8.  HIGHLAND PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL NEWS

9.  LETTERS AND E.MAILS

10.  QUOTE OF THE WEEK


1.  THIRD ANNUAL ECLECTIC EAGLE ROCK HOME TOUR -- MAY 19 -- BUY TICKETS NOW!

Mark your calendars for TERA's third annual Eclectic Eagle Rock Home Tour!  It takes place Sunday, May 19, 2002.  The event will begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue throughout the day until 4:00 p.m.

This is a fantastic and very fun event.  We have a WONDERFUL AND ECLECTIC array of fines homes this year -- from a lovely Asian-inspired Craftsman to a Conrad Buff/Richard Neutra-designed home built for plein-air artist Buff in 1927 to a terrific Spanish Colonial to an Irving Gill-influenced home designed by its architect/owner only five years ago, and more!

Tickets can be purchased by mail at TERA, PO BOX 411675, Eagle Rock, CA 90041 or online at www.tera90041.org.  You can purchase tickets in Eagle Rock at the following locations:

Beaujolais Boulangerie,  1661 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock
Eufloria,  1576 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock
The TERA booth at the annual Dahlia Days Arts Festival, May 18, on Caspar and Merton Avenues


Tickets are $10.00 in advance for TERA members, $12.00 for the general public and for all $15.00 at the door.

The Home Tour begins at 5418 Dahlia Drive.  Call 626 844-2256 for more information.

Volunteers welcome!  There are openings for docents, ticket/brochure handlers, table monitors, etc.  All volunteers receive a complimentary ticket to our Home Tour and an invitation to our post-tour party, which is always great fun!  Please call Wanda Kuenzli at (323) 256-7297 or by e.mail at wmkuenzli@earthlink.net.


2.  EAGLE ROCK RENAISSANCE OF PLEIN AIR ART SHOW -- THROUGH MAY 26

The Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society, the Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center, The Eagle Rock Association (TERA), and the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce present:

Eagle Rock Renaissance of Plein Air
Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center
2225 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock, CA  90041
(323) 226-16171

Plein Air  paintings, "Scenes of Eagle Rock" are on display from May 5 to May 26.  Mondays to Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m.  Many of the same artists who produced these works will be painting on site during TERA's Eclectic Eagle Rock Home Tour on May 19 -- another great reason to attend the tour!


3.  "SHOULD I STUCCO MY WOOD HOUSE?" -- NO -- PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

A note from Nicole Possert, President of the Highland Park Heritage Trust:

Highland Park Heritage Trust thanks the TERA e.letter and Tracy King for re-publishing information from our educational brochure, "Should I Stucco my Wood House?"  We are pleased to see the positive responses from readers!  The complete brochure is available on our website, http://www.hpht.org.  It's easy to print (from an Adobe Acrobat format) and hand out as a finished brochure to anyone who desires it -- for free and for the masses!   We hope to hear about positive results and reactions from readers in the future.

The pdf file can be viewed at the TERA website:  www.tera90041.org.


4.  BEAUTIFUL NEW BUSINESSES IN EAGLE ROCK!

GALLERY OPHELIA held its grand opening and official ribbon-cutting with Council member Nick Pacheco on April 13, and it was a standing-room-only crowd!  It's great art in a great space imaginatively transformed from a termite eradication business into a very visually appealing storefront that compels you to enter and partake of its creative magic.

Colorado Boulevard is finally beginning to reflect Eagle Rock's and Northeast Los Angeles's largely arty population, and we have Gallery Ophelia, among others (described below), to thank.  We want to acknowledge Linda and Terry Allen, and daughters Candace and Mindy, for their creativity and energy in bringing such a wonderful business to our town!

Please visit Gallery Ophelia at 2114 Colorado Boulevard here in Eagle Rock, or contact the gallery at 323.982.9945 or http://www.galleryophelia.com.

Gallery Hours: Tues-Friday 12-7pm, Saturday 12-5pm or by appointment.


TOROS POTTERY held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting on April 26.  Again, Council member Nick Pacheco was on hand to help celebrate the opening of this new business.  Owner Toros Tngrian creates beautiful artworks in glazed and fired clay, offering ornamental pieces as well as those for function, and he conducts on-site classes in ceramics making.

Toros, too, has a beautiful storefront, located in a 1940s building erected by Juanita Bell, grandmother of Eric Warren, native Eagle Rocker and president of the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society.  Toros has tastefully upgraded certain features of the building, and it is a delightful space that helps to create a more appealing shopping district in our town.

Toros Pottery is located at 4962 Eagle Rock Boulevard.  Please call (323) 344-8330 for more information.


TOWNSEND III GALLERY held its opening party on May 4 to a very enthusiastic crowd!  The artworks displayed were beautiful and the hors d'oeuvres sumptuous.  The gallery occupies a space that was once the site of Performance Auto, and the building is one that hails from Eagle Rock's early-twentieth-century days.

Owners Deborah Boudreau, Ian Callendar, and Tim Yalda have transformed the building into an absolutely stunning interior space, restoring the original brick walls and revealing the rough wood-trussed ceilings.  The lighting is wonderfully designed and beautifully showcases the artworks by Karima Muyaes, painter, Jaled Muyaes, sculptor, and a variety of other artists.  Also offered are handmade jewelry, accessories, and a variety of lovely and unique items for the home.  The current show can be seen through June 30, 2002.

The wonderful Townsend III Gallery is located at 1581 West Colorado Boulevard, at the northeast corner of Townsend Avenue and Colorado, here in Eagle Rock.  Please call (323) 478-9513 for more information.


YOGA ESSENCE held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 6, and it was truly inspiring!  Council member Nick Pacheco presided.  A terrific and well-designed space (another older building creatively brought back to life), wonderful and needed services offered, and items for sale that are found nowhere else in Eagle Rock -- a marvelous addition to our town's business district, and another reason not to travel to surrounding cities for the goods and services we Eagle Rockers want and need!

Please visit Yoga Essence and owners Krista and Phillip at 1577 Colorado Boulevard, on the north side of Colorado just east of Townsend Avenue.  Call toll free at (866) 937-9642 or (323) 550-8182 for more information.


5.  CATFISH BITE FEATURED THIS MORNING ON CHANNEL 7!

We hope you caught (or will catch) Channel 7's early morning show today between 5:00 and 7:00 a.m.!  It featured Eagle Rock's own Catfish Bite as one of LA's best bargain outlets.  Congratulations to owner Gina Muzingo and her folks, Roe and Bob.


6.  GOOD NEWS FROM HIGHLAND PARK AND NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES

Highland Park Heritage Trust received a coveted Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award at the May 8th luncheon for producing the educational video, "Lure and Legacy of the Lower Arroyo Seco."  This 15-minute video examines the vibrant landscape and layered history of the Lower Arroyo Seco including greater Highland Park and the communities of Garvanza, and Mt. Washington.  The video is available for a contribution to HPHT of $19.95 to anyone interested.  It's an excellent overview and fun way for all residents, new and old, to learn about the wonderful, rich history of the communities we live in.  HPHT also is providing a free copy to local schools and community organizations as a resource to share with their membership.  Contact Nicole Possert at aguild@pacbell.net for more information.

In addition, Northeast Los Angeles received more LA Conservancy Awards for the rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of the Ziegler House in Highland Park and two studies of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway) sponsored by Caltrans.


7.  PRIME EAGLE ROCK LOCATION/COMMERCIAL SPACE FOR LEASE

For lease near Eagle Rock's main intersection of Colorado and Eagle Rock Boulevards is a 900-sq.-ft. commercial space located at 2152-1/2 Colorado Boulevard, just a few storefronts east of Swork Coffee.  $1550 per month.  Other tenants in this building are Cingular Wireless, Lucky Money, and PC Bang.  For information, please call Jacob Rahmanizad at (213) 225-7108 (office) or (310) 236-3257 (pager).


8.  HIGHLAND PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL NEWS

Dear Highland Park Stakeholders:

There will be a SPECIAL MEETING of the Interim Board of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council to discuss and prepare for our certification hearing on May 28, 2002 (The hearing will be at Franklin High School at 6:30 pm).

The SPECIAL MEETING will be this week, Thursday, May 9, 2002 @ Police Museum @ 7:00pm

Our boundary modifications have been decided internally, our outreach has been good and we have only minor modifications to our bylaws. The next step is to formally present our application and give cause to why we wish to be certified.  

Everyone is welcomed to participate in this planning meeting to help present the best face for Highland Park.  If you choose not to participate in the planning for our presentation, please plan on attending the hearing and give your support to Highland Park.

THANKS, Juliet Arroyo


9.  LETTERS AND E.MAILS

"One of the reasons we were glad to leave Nashville, Tennessee, was the corporate vandalism being perpetrated by Walgreens against historically significant buildings, and the inability or unwillingness of the local government to stop them."

-- Tania and Win Owen, Pasadena residents


" I love your TERA e-letter.  It's a great calendar of events and happenings in the NE LA area.  I'm going to run down and get my tomato plant today and then Saturday night, while we're celebrating Cinco de Mayo (on the 4th), run over to visit the new gallery.  Thanks for all your hard work."
 
-- Kathy Gallegos, manager, Avenue 50 Studio, Highland Park


"While it is most certainly his right to dislike 'Hipsters,' French food, new businesses or even the Ulmers personally, the implicit personality assassination, obvious untruths and fabricated quotes in Tom Topping's Boulevard Sentinel article, 'Have Parking? Will Bake,' are an irresponsible breach of journalistic ethics, and an abuse of community trust.

Seeking a variance for zoning and parking codes is a legal option available to any successful businessperson who is willing to invest the time and money to do so. There is nothing sneaky or dishonest about it, as Topping implies. The  claim that Eric Ulmer had cards printed 'instructing' customers to call Nick Pacheco's office on his behalf is, quite simply, false. Nor is it is true that Eric would dare say anything resembling 'f--- you Americans' to anyone; Eric himself is a very proud, voting, American citizen, as well as an industrious neighborhood entrepreneur.

A responsible reporter is honor bound to corroborate his stories before printing  any indirect quotes, especially inflammatory ones, even if gleaned from a friendly (if not reliable) source. The sheer number of column inches devoted to what is ultimately not a major scoop or story suggests hostility, as if Mr. Topping holds some kind of grudge against the Beaujolais businesses. Meanwhile, his report that none of the neighbors of the Boulangerie appeared at the hearing (to oppose the variance) might well indicate that it is not an issue of great concern to them. In fact, I suspect that these same neighbors might actually enjoy having a choice of lunch and coffee spots located conveniently within walking distance."

--D. Hosking, Eagle Rock resident


"Hi -- Thanks for the great e-mail newsletter.  I always feel so informed about my community after reading it.  Do you know anything about what appears to be a new restaurant going in on the north side of York Boulevard just east of Eagle Rock Boulevard, apparently called 'Eaglerox?'  It looks like it might be nice.  Thanks --"

-- Jean Rosenbluth, Eagle Rock resident and TERA member


"I think it was the Highland Park Heritage Trust that created a '10 reasons why you should not stucco your historic home'-type brochure in English and Spanish.  Do you know the folks there? I could make a call if you like.  It would be great if they would reproduce and distribute it again."

-- Chris Nichols, Eagle Rock resident


"With much appreciation, and great regard -- thank you everybody at TERA for all of your support at our Grand Opening on April 6th.  We feel that a large part of its success was due to your presence.  We feel honored and blessed to have you as friends.  Best always --"

-- Krista and Phillip, owners, Yoga Essence


"I would love to continue receiving the TERA e.letters.  They are great and most informative.  You all do a wonderful job and make me feel as though I live in a lovely community."  [We replied: "You DO live in a lovely community!"  Then we received this:]
 
"I agree 100%.  I've been here nearly two years and I just adore everything about Eagle Rock, as well as what the future may bring.  Keep up the great work."

-- Ken Johnson, Eagle Rock resident


10.  QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Some see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I of dream things that never were, and say, 'Why not?'"

-- George Bernard Shaw


We welcome your comments.  Please include your name.


Joanne Turner <artburn@earthlink.net>
President, The Eagle Rock Association (TERA)