HOME GROUND

(Continued from page 2) when, in fact, they don’t have a clue about how or what it takes to run a business, let alone a food business.

They should have kept Steve on for at least a year to carry over a smooth transition and assure themselves that the success he created would be theirs as well.

I really hope these folks do a turnaround and treat Steve in the manner he deserves. This comes from not only a patron but a good friend.

They should have kept Terri Aronson Hollywood Dell

As a member of the Village Pizzeria (VP) family, I felt the need to comment on this article. I have been eating at VP for nearly 20 years. Even when I moved east, I would drive through Hollywood just to grab a slice and visit the family!

When I learned Steve was passing the business on I was relieved to hear he would be there during the transition — assuring us all that VP would be the same. This never happened.

I stopped in one time out of curiosity. The one thing that caught me off guard was Steve’s memorabilia. Why was it still there? Why would these new owners feel the need to keep Steve’s memories and not create their own? I did not know it at the time, but these items had become a point of contention, (including NYC street signs I had donated to the walls). Now that I have learned what the owners have done, it baffles me they want to put up this fight and to treat Steve and his family in this manner.

To the New Owners: pull these items down. Pass them back to Steve and his family. Create your own Village Piz-

SECTION ONE

WORLD CUISINE. 14 HEALTH, FITNESS & BEAUTY 11 SCHOOL NEWS 16 CAMPS 20 YOUTH SPORTS 22 TIPS ON PARENTING 25 ENTERTAINMENT

Theater 26

Movies 27

On the Menu 29

SECTION TWO

VIEW:

Real Estate Museums, Libraries Home & Garden

JOYS, perils of driving. 5 HOME GROUND 3 MUSEUMS 6 REAL ESTATE SALES 6 ON PRESERVATION 10 LIBRARIES 12 POLICE BEAT 14 BEEZWAX 15 WORD CAFÉ 15 (Please turn to page 30)

VICE PRESIDENT Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff were joined by Big Sunday Executive Director David Levinson (far right) and about 1,500 people to help fill bags of food at the recent Thanksgiving Stuffing event at Baldwin Hills Elementary School. Photo by Bill Devlin

Big Sunday to host MLK Day Clothing Drive

In honor of the New Year, Big Sunday plans to put together 2,023 winter clothing kits at its annual MLK Day Clothing Drive & Community Breakfast on Mon., Jan. 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The nonprofit’s block party-style event will be at 24th St. Elementary School, 2055 W. 24th St.

The Blue Breeze Band will perform, arts and crafts projects will be offered, and a civil rights exhibit will be on display.

Participants can sponsor new clothing bags for $25 apiece and volunteer in person to help pack the kits. To find out more about these and other opportunities, visit the group’s website, bigsunday.org.

To be COVID-19 safe, only donations of new clothes and shoes will be accepted. Everyone 5 and older must be vaccinated.

F

LIGHTS SHINE ABOVE

many of those involved in installing them. FRESH SNOW in the Tailwaggers parking lot was a treat for families, including pets.

Larchmont

(Continued from page 1) Contributions are still being welcomed, and the Larch-

STREETLIGHTERS at the Dec. 3 dedication of the new Larchmont café lights included people partly responsible for promoting and funding the lights. Attending were, from left: Patty Lombard, Patti Carroll, Cindy Chvatal-Keane, David Rhodes, Heather Duffy Boylston and Todd Warner with Santa Paws and Mrs. Claws. mont Chronicle hopes to publish a full list of donors next month.

In the hours leading up to the illumination, there was lots of holiday related fun on the street at the LBA’s annual Holiday Open House. A small open-air bus shuttled shoppers up and down Larchmont for free, and the bus went all the way to the Rotary Tree Lot in the 500 North block of the street. There, Santa listened to requests, surrounded by green firs and Boy Scouts from Troop 10.

Along the Boulevard, walkers, shoppers, and diners enjoyed live music performed throughout the day. Another highlight, in the middle of the main shopping area — in the Tailwaggers parking lot — was a fenced-in field of fresh snow, brought down from nearby mountains to create a frosty play land for children (and pets).

SANTA CLAUS set up shop at the Rotary Tree Lot, where Scouts from Troop 10 were present as part of the festivities.

Trees

(Continued from page 1) cock Park Homeowners Association (HPHOA) pay for the project, said HPHOA president Cindy Chvatal-Keane. She and members of the association’s tree committee have been working for months with arborists and city staff to prepare for this latest round of tree plantings.

Larchmont Chronicle staff spoke with members of a seven-person crew installing two large camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora), during the afternoon of December 15, in the parkway on the north side of Sixth Street, just west of Highland Avenue. The workers commented on what is well known to local gardeners, the firmness of the clay soil in this part of town. But aided by a small tractor, the diggers were getting the job done, creating large, square holes ready to receive the new trees. In addition to the Sixth and Highland location, new trees can be seen on Hudson, June and Las Palmas in Hancock Park. Learn more about, and see beautiful photos of, Hancock Park’s parkway trees: tinyurl.com/2bca72u2. NEW TREES for the streets of Hancock Park include this camphor tree being planted on the north side of Sixth Street, just west of Highland Avenue.