The Valley Line: LCF Tournament of Roses Assn. holds annual Evening of Wine and Roses
I’m just getting back into the groove after a two-week escape to some favorite places in Italy with my younger sister Chloetta “Nubby” Frauenzimmer.
Nubby decided she would like to drive to our varied destinations and I was delighted to be the “back-seat driver.” The freedom of having our own transportation was a great choice even though at first we spent a lot of time being lost before we finally decided to use the map app on my phone. Can’t say enough good things about using a navigation system, because our plug-in guide got us from point A to point B without hardly a mistake. Sometimes we would wander off to some unplanned place we wanted to see. Our guide always picked up our diversion and set us right back on our original track.
One highlight for us came when we met up with distant cousins in Tuscany. They included our cousin, June Worth, her husband Paul Finnigan and their daughter Sharon Finnigan-Kilby. They are ex-pat Brits from Devon, England who have been living in Tuscany for several years.
Sharon Finnigan-Kilby has her own public relations agency in Italy and England. I met her at the beautiful Borgo Santo Pietro Inn, a stunningly beautiful Relais Chateau property near Siena.
Her mom, June, is a multitalented lady. She’s the author of two books, a rock singer and a weekly blogger. You can find June’s blog, Junefinnigan.com, to read about what’s going on in beautiful Tuscany.
Life is full of surprises. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would run into some Brit cousins in two tiny Italian villages. It’s a good thing I was behaving myself, because you just never know whom you might run into.
Italy is my favorite country in the world to visit and I have been fortunate to travel there multiple times. I will never grow tired of La Bella Italia. This vacation was actually my own treat to me because I am going to be doing something this month that I really don’t want to do: have heart surgery to replace my aorta valve at USC Keck Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles. It will be a long recovery, but that won’t stop me from still keeping up on LCF activities. So stay tuned. My plan is to maybe take two or three weeks off from this column, but I’ll be here most of the time.
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On Nov. 1 the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. held its annual Evening of Wine and Roses at the LCF Country Club. I was sorry to miss that affair, which is always so lovely. But I learned from the association’s publicity maven, Barbie Eland, that this year’s event was well-attended and wonderful, from start to finish.
The evening was in support of “Up a Creek,” the LCFTRA’s 38th float entry in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses’ Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. Guests were greeted by the association’s president, Bill Pounders. Serving as emcee was La Cañada Mayor Pro Tem Jon Curtis and music was provided by Ernie Hernandez Jr.
Each year when this special occasion gets underway, guests are introduced during the cocktail hour to the new Rose Queen and her Royal Court, who are escorted by LCFTRA gentlemen. This year the court includes Rose Queen Erika Winter, a student at Flintridge Prep, and Princesses Bryce Bakewell (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy), Sarah Shaklan (La Cañada High School), Donaly Marquez (Blair High), Natalie Hernandez-Barber (Alverno High), Rachelle Liu (San Marino High) and Regina Pullens (Maranatha High). The young royals were escorted around the room to chat with guests prior to the dinner hour.
I can’t wait to see our whimsical float, “Up a Creek,” when it glides along Colorado Boulevard Jan. 1. Maybe I’ll be well-enough recuperated from surgery to visit the float-building site under the freeway bridge during Decoration Week. That is always such an exciting time for all involved. If you would like more information about our local Tournament of Roses association, visit lcftra.org. They welcome all the support they can get!
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What did you say your name was? Oh, Bond! James Bond! I see that the world’s favorite British Secret Service agent is back in action with the film, “Spectre.”
The La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce hit a home run when they staged their third annual Premiere Night that nearly 200 people attended for our city’s first screening of “Spectre.”
Putting together all the details for this event at La Cañada’s movie house were Pat Anderson, executive director of the chamber; Starr Frazier and June Beemer, chamber staff; Caroline Craven, LCF Chamber Board President Kim Beattie, Suzanne Hart, Lynne Graves and Cecilia Pyzow.
A big attraction of the event was a James Bond Aston Martin that belongs to Bond super fan Paul Wynn. The car is super tricked out — it even has an ejection seat.
Wynn was wearing a “Spectre” mask and his wife Cate a colorful carnival mask.
Paul told me he has been a James Bond and Aston Martin fan since he was young. He has owned the car since 1997 when he began restoring it. A native of Great Britain, he has, since living in the U.S., been working on using the car to raise funds for L.A. Children’s Hospital. He has also been invited to show the car at many corporate events.
Carrying out the Bond theme, bartenders from the Flintridge Proper Restaurant were pouring gin and vodka martinis, shaken or stirred, straight up or dirty.
North Shore Burgers, once again provided a great menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers or chicken burgers. Mike Davitt, LCF City Council member and owner of North Shore, was on hand to make sure everything was cooked to perfection and delicious.
The film was shown in two different theatres and it was a thrill a minute. This was a really fun event. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year they might have to expand to another theater, since this one fundraising event is such a success.
Our local Printefex’s Erik Ovanespour once again did all the red carpet shots of attendees. Jeweler Jack Malian of Cañada Jewelry and Gifts hand-crafted a beautiful sterling silver pin encrusted with beautiful stones in the shape of a martini glass for a special ticket drawing. Winner of the beautiful pin was Mike Mahoney. His wife, Julie, was thrilled as she too ran up to claim the gift.
Bravo, LCF Chamber! It was an outstanding evening.
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JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Cañada Flintridge social scene. Email her at jnvalleysun@aol.com with news and photos of your special event.