May 2010 - North Valley Community Connection
Transcription
May 2010 - North Valley Community Connection
VOL. 7, NO. 6 S ERVING Business Briefs Business Expo The North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Expo will be held on June 5th & 6th at the Northridge Community Hawaiian Festival at Northridge Park. Businesses interested in participating in the Expo can call the Chamber of Commerce at 818-349-5676. May Chamber of Commerce Business Calendar Announced THE C OMMUNITIES OF N ORTHRIDGE • G RANADA H ILLS • C HATSWORTH On Saturday, May 22, 2010, Harvey Eisenstadt will present "Step Up To Sales Success," a step by step presentation conveying tangible sales techniques focusing on building and strengthening relationships and the direct effect this has on closing more sales. To attend this meeting, RSVP with the Chamber of Commrce at 818-349-5676. Matadors Community Credit Union Announces New Chair and Vice Chair P ORTER R ANCH • N ORTH H ILLS MAY 2010 Northridge Community Hawaiian Festival Fun Filled Week-end Event at Community Festival Fireworks, dancing and food— oh my! An estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people are expected to descend on Northridge Park from all parts of the Valley and beyond on Saturday June 5 and Sunday, June 6. The annual event, formerly known as the Salute to Recreation has been taken over by local com- munity organizations as a result of Los Angeles City budgetary conThe keiki of the Aloha Hula Studio from Granada Hills performs a straints. To insure the continuation of Tahitian otea. this popular community event, which has traditionally centered around the Hawaiian Festival (and will continue to do so), the Northridge Kiwainis, Moana Continued on page 5 The North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly business workshops and calendar of events has been announced.. For details, visit the Chamber’s website at www.nvrcc.com to view the workshop topics; for the monthly calendar of events see page 19. Technology Associates Guest Speaker to Address Sales Techniques • The Aloha Hula Studio dancers performing a traditional Hawaiian hula with "pu'ili's (the bamboo implements in the dancers hands). Summer Begins with Valley Cultural Center’s 11th Annual Food, Wine & Microbrew Festival Experience the ultimate in dining indulgence at Valley Cultural Center’s 11th Annual Summer Food, Wine & Microbrew Festival. The event will be held on Political Memorabilia Show – A “Hot Button” Issue On Sunday, May 16, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., members of the public can buy political Americana, have political items appraised (and possibly auctioned off), and meet other collectors at the annual political memorabilia show and sale hosted by the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) This semi-annual show is an at 10100 Balboa Blvd at Mayall opportunity for the public to disStreet (just south of Devonshire Continued on page 6 Blvd) in Granada Hills. LA’s Music Scene Goes Green WorldFest 2010 Earth Day Festival What do you get when you mix music, sunshine, fabulous food, and a non-stop array of celebrity speakers who are passionate about animals, the environment, and healthy living? WorldFest 2010: Los Angeles’ biggest and best solar-powered celebration of all things green. Continued on page 6 Thursday, May 13, 2010 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at Westfield Promenade, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd. (corner of Erwin St. and Topanga Canyon Blvd.) in Woodland Hills. This year’s festivities will take place under a 20,000 square-foot luxurious venue which is climate controlled for your enjoyment. Guests will have the opportunity to sample delectable and tasteContinued on page 5 Matadors Community Credit Union (MCCU) congratulates Robert Stoneham as the new Chair, and Jeff Young as the new Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Robert is a retired lecturer from Cal State, Northridge and Jeff is the Assistant Chief of Police at UCLA. Stan Malin and Ilene Rubenstein were also re-elected to the Board of Directors. A Community Service Publication of the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce • (818) 349-5676 • www.nvrcc.com • Save the Date Grand Opening of the Granada Hills Veterans Park Work is nearly complete on the Granada Hills Veterans’ Park and the date is set for the grand opening ceremony on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, 2010. More details on the event will be announced as they become available This project by the Granada Hills Rotary Foundation has transformed a dilapidated traffic The memorial statue and tribute median at the corner of Zelzah bricks being installed in advance Ave. and Chatsworth St. into a of the grand opening on MemContinued on page 8 orial Day. North Valley Community News • (818) 534-1797 • Email: [email protected] • • Web site: www.NVCN.org • PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE MMP DIRECT PAGE 2 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS MAY 2010 MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 3 Notes From Behind the Badge On the “Lighter” Side Let’s Write a Story … The Dream-Time Dinners And You Pick the Ending Revisited By LAPD Senior Lead Officer Kathy Bennett It’s Tuesday morning and you’ve just sent your spouse out the door and on their way to work. Now it’s time to turn your attention to getting your children ready for school. From the kitchen, you shout directions as to what the kids should wear while you’re making their lunches. Once you’re all ready to go (and no one is happy with the clothing choices), you make sure the children are buckled up, and drive them to school. As is your usual routine, you drop off the North Valley Community News is published monthly by Decision Publications on behalf of the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce is not responsible for the contents herein and does not endorse the advertisers. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Publisher: Wayne Adelstein [email protected] Associate Publisher: Ilene Diamond [email protected] Advertising Sales: Barry Mann, Rob Murphy Accounting Manager: Janis Karbelnig ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Decision Publications 5699 Kanan Rd., Suite 269 Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Email: [email protected] 818-534-1797 www.NVCN.org oldest kids first…at the middle school. Their middle school is located on two major streets and like every other parent, you’re searching for a Kathy Bennett good place to deposit your kids so they can walk the shortest amount of distance to the school. But this morning, you’re already running late due to the battle of the “too baggy and saggy pants.” There is no place at the curb to park anywhere near the school, so you double park on one of the major thoroughfares to let your child out of the car. After all, it’s only going to take a few seconds…besides those drivers behind you are either dropping off their own kids, or they can go around you - after all, they should know that traffic is bad around a school. Now that you’ve got the older kids scowling their way to class, it’s time to take the younger children to the elementary school several blocks away. Traffic around this school is even worse than at the middle school. The elementary school is located in a residential neighborhood, and most of the children are driven to school. There are a lot of signs posted with parking restrictions and regulations, but you ignore them, and swing your car into the school bus zone to drop off your third and fourth grade students in front of the school. You can see by the number of children streaming through the school gates, most of the buses have already dropped off their riders, so it’s no big deal that you’re stopping there, and no one is getting hurt by you breaking the rules. Continued on page 7 By Barry Pascal, Pharm.D. Humorist, Satirist, and All-Around Nice Guy I just renewed my pharmacist license again and I was reminded of this article I wrote several years ago. I thought you might enjoy it again – I know I did. In order to renew professional licenses, many state boards, including California, require continuing education each year. My pharmacist buddies, Michael and Steve, and I attended a continuing education course that changed my life. The program, Memory, Aging, and Sleep, helped me to correct some bad nighttime habits I didn’t know I had. I used to think that I was a great sleeper since I could fall asleep in the middle of a sentence. I could get to slumberland, all right, but I was not getting much of those desired restorative forty winks. The muchwanted state, deep sleep, can be rather fragile, and requires some specific conditions. At night we used to leave the hall light on, and many times, the television. I used to fall asleep watching The Tonight Show or the news or a ballgame. Well, I learned that these are undesirable sleeping habits. Since we now sleep with the TV off and not a single light on, I enter REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and I am dreaming like crazy. And that’s becoming a problem…not the restorative Stage V sleep, but the dreams. I am having trouble telling what happened and what really happened. I love almost every dream now because they all take place in restaurants. Every night I am dining at one of the finest eating spots in the city. It is getting so exciting that I am now dressing up to go to bed and tucking in fresh napkins each night. (This is a big improvement since I used to go to bed naked and I would frighten myself when I woke up and looked in the mirror.) The dinners are so good that I am reluctant to wake up to go for a bathroom break. (Soon, that is going to become a big problem.) I could never remember dreams before, and now my entire night is filled with them. I have all these adventures while dining -Intrigue … Romance … and Food! It is fun and very exciting, and I wake up each morning refreshed and full. Not only that, in my dreams I get to eat those prohibited dishes not allowed on my reduced-calorie diet; yummy treats like bread pudding, chocolate soufflé, French fries, and, of course, hot fresh baked bread with real butter. I am sleeping longer through the night as well, but I think that is because I have not finished with my dream meal. I used to sleep for four or five hours, but now I am getting five or six hours a night, depending on how many hors d’oeuvres I have had. Not only am I dreaming like crazy, but also so is Shirley. We wake up talking to each other but we have no idea what each of us is talking about. It is like going to the theater together and winding up at different movies. For example, I might wake up saying, “Please pass the French rolls.” Shirley could wake up mumbling, “Just a minute, I’ll ask Cary Grant.” Then I say, “What?” And she says, “What?” And we spend the next ten minutes trying to explain what we meant. Did you ever try to explain a dream? It just doesn’t work, and it can’t really be done well. So, we have just given up. Now we just mumble and grunt at each other and have a free zone where neither one of us pays attention to what the other is saying. Sometimes I think she stretches this period out longer than she is supposed to, but what the hey … we are both rested. My other nighttime problem is that as long as the TV was on and Shirley laughed, I just assumed it was due to the program she was watching. Now, when she laughs with the TV off I know it is about…me. It would be a complement if I was trying to be funny, but there are certain times, especially at night, usually in bed, when you want to be serious and not funny. When the television was on I just assumed it was Leno or Letterman, not Pascal. We learned in the class that improper sleep affects memory and aging. Now I know what laughing at the wrong time affects, too. About the Author - Barry Pascal, our former North Valley Honorary Mayor and Sheriff, owned Northridge Pharmacy for 32 years and is now retired. He has written seven comedy books and writes a humorous column for the California Pharmacists Association Journal and our North Valley Community News. Pascal also claims that when he was younger he was a rock and roll star known as Conway Twitty. © Barry Pascal 2010 PAGE 4 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS MAY 2010 Our Schools Community Involvement Critical Before Closed Campuses Can Reopen ensure that issues concerning parkBy Tamar Galatzan, ing and traffic had been resolved to LAUSD Board Member the satisfaction of all parties. Unless one has a yen for rows Of greater long-term signifiof weeds, broken windows, and cance, the District has changed the cracked asphalt, closed LAUSD RFP requirements for the closed campuses are not a pretty sight. I campuses at Highlander and Oso know because three of them located in Boardmember Steve Highlander, Platt Ranch, and Devonshire -- are located in my Tamar Galatzan Zimmer's district - by adding a component that calls on potential board district. Finding a valid educational use for these operators to show proof of widespread and campuses - and the other three located in the solid community support. Rather than LAUSD arriving on the scene Valley - has been among my main priorities since joining the Board. I sponsored a resolu- after an operator has been selected and trying tion last year, which was approved by my col- to woo skeptical residents, the applicant will leagues, designating the three closed campus- be required to meet with the community first es in my District specifically for charter to answer questions and address concerns. Its success or failure in this effort will go a schools. But the selection of a new operator on a long way toward determining whether that closed campus is not exclusively a question particular operator is granted an RFP. Currently several operators have of academics, especially for neighboring residents. With good reason, they are as con- expressed interest in both the Oso and cerned about the potential impact on quality Highlander sites. Deadline for submitting of life in the area. Even an ugly closed cam- the RFP is July 9, which should give them pus might be considered preferable to a ample time to reach out to key community school that disregards the legitimate concerns groups. The conversion of closed campuses to of its neighbors. I am pleased to report that the District not well-run charters that offer the standard feaonly acknowledges the problem, it has recent- tures of an excellent school - good teachers, ly taken steps to actively engage the commu- strong parental involvement, and sufficient nity before making decisions concerning resources - is a tremendous benefit to public education in Los Angeles. But the these properties. An example took place earlier this year, Superintendent, Board, and the District must when the Board approved Our Community at the same time ensure that the needs of the Charter moving to the Devonshire campus in surrounding community are acknowledged, Northridge beginning in September. The respected, and addressed. Only then can we officially relegate the action occurred after the District's charter division and Our Community had worked closed Valley campuses to the proverbial closely with nearby community groups to dustbin of history. new! Supporters of Law Enforcement in Devonshire Annual Pancake Breakfast Metro Information Just for Seniors Metro helps Seniors maintain their independence. And now, we’ve got an information packet designed specifically for Senior riders. Packets are available at Metro Customer Centers or by mail. To receive one, complete the form below and mail it to: Metro Senior Information Packet Mail Stop 99-19-2 One Gateway Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90012 Neighborhood Councils in Devonshire to enlarge and refurbish the gym equipment. Thanks to the generosity of our community and generous donations, the officers now are enjoying their new larger facility and gym equipment. The cost of Devonshire’s gym project was close to $30,000.00. SOLID invites you to bring your children, grandchildren and other young people for free fingerprinting. The HollywoodWest Valley Masonic Lodge will be providing free child ID which will include a digital picture and a thumb print. Again, we invite you, your friends and your family to join us at our Annual Pancake Breakfast where we will be honoring our Police Officers and celebrating Armed Forces Day. For more information please call 818-7189498. Becky Leveque is a SOLID Board member. Northridge Spine & Sport The packet includes a Senior Rider’s Guide with essential details to help make riding Metro easier, plus a special TAP User’s Guide with everything Seniors need to know about obtaining and using a reduced-fare pass on TAP. By Becky Leveque The Supporters of Law Enforcement in Devonshire (SOLID) will host their Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, May 15, 2010. Breakfast will be served by many of our Devonshire Los Angeles Police Officers at the Devonshire Area Police Station, 10250 Etiwanda Street (l block East of Reseda Blvd on Devonshire) in Northridge. Join SOLID from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM. Tickets will be $7.00 per person and they will be available at the door. SOLID is a registered 501(c) 3 organization. Proceeds from the Pancake Breakfast are used to purchase “non-city supplied equipment and materials”. SOLID’s main project this year is the building and equipping of a training facility at the Devonshire Police Station. The estimated cost of this project is $10,000 to $20,000. In 2009, SOLID enlisted the help of the Physical Therapy Dedicated to Returning You to Your Highest Level of Function name address state zip Please print clearly. 10-1921jl ©2010 lacmta city Therapists Rick Katz, Anne Katz, Larry Cummings & Rod Castaniaga, have been a part of the Northridge community for decades. Trusted neighbors, neighborhood close. Why travel? You Have a Choice for Physical Therapy Services! 11260 Wilbur Avenue ~ Northridge, CA 91326 Phone: (818) 832-5656 Fax: (818) 832-5654 MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Proceeds to Benefit Brain Cancer Research Family Fitness 5K/10K Challenge Community Hawaiian Festival (Continued from page 1) Ventures (Hawaiian Festival), The Fourth Annual West Valley North Valley Regional Chamber of Optimist Family Fitness 5K/10K Commerce and the Northridge Challenge will be held on Saturday, East, Northridge West, Reseda and May 22, 2010. The location is Winnetka neighborhood councils Warner Center Park, Woodland and Northridge 100, have teamed Hills. This event was formerly up with the L.A. Department of known as the Dads’ Day Dash. In Recreation and Parks to continue addition to the running events, this popular event. added to this year’s competition A senior dance, once again will be a 5K Bike Fun Ride and 2K sponsored by the North Valley Doggie Run. Regional Chamber of Commerce The first race is at 8 a.m. This Senior Services Business Council event represents just one aspect of the Childhood Cancer Campaign conducted by Optimist International. (SSBC) kicks off the festivities Optimist International is a leader of programs designed to aid today’s youth. Proceeds from this fundraising Friday, June 4 at 5 p.m. “There event will go to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital – Brain Cancer Research Program. The hospital is test- will be line dancing—all kinds of ing a non-pharmaceutical vaccine that neutralizes brain cancer cells in children through the immune system. dancing—a deejay and a live Complete details about the races, plus entry forms, will be found at dadsdaydash.com. band,” says Jay Bolton, one of the SSBC members. Moana Venbtures presents continuous Hawaiian music and dancing; over 50 Hawaiian Style boutique vendors; tasty PolyPhone (818) 645-3565 Fax (818) 804-3488 nesian and South Pacific foods, 21021 Devonshire Street Ste 202 and for the very first time, tradi- Law Offices of Emily F. Robinson Master’s Touch Painting Chatsworth, CA 91311 email: [email protected] website: www.emilyrobinsonlaw.com Full Service Painting Company Family Law and Mediation Services, including divorce, custody, support, asset division, restraining orders. Understand and Protect your rights NOW. Call today for a free half-hour consultation! Presented by North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce (818) 349-5676 Sat., June 5 • 10a - 8p Sun., June 6 • 10a - 5p tional Armenian plates. On Saturday evening (June 5), the Northridge East Neighborhood Council will present its traditional fireworks extravaganza. Adding to the festivities are the carnival rides; children’s shows, art & crafts displays; community council awareness centers; and more. And as always, the Festival is FREE Charles Kiaha and Ilima Lei Russell, organizers of the Hawaiian festival, say Aloha (welcome) and "A Hui Hou" (see ya later!). This is a great family day event you won’t want to miss. See the ad on page 5 for more details about the festival The North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce invites you to visit the Business Expo at the Hawaiian Festival INTERIOR - EXTERIOR RESIDENTIAL - COMMERCIAL Licensed, Bonded & Insured Lic# 481493 Call Samie (818) 427-6166 masterstouch4u.com The wahines of the Aloha Studio swirling to the drums. 11th Annual Food, Wine & Microbrew Festival (Continued from page 1) BUSINESS EXPO PAGE 5 tempting items from over 29 food vendors including; B.J.’s Restaurant, Breeze-An American Grill at Warner Center Marriott, Cavaretta’s Italian Deli, Café Firenze, Fins Restaurant, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Follow Your Heart, Four Seasons Hotel, Westlake Village, Henry’s Farmers Market, Woodland Hills, Hilton Hotel & Towers, Woodland Hills, Holiday Inn, Woodland Hills, Kate Mantilini, Maggiano’s “Little Italy”, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Moz Buddha Lounge, Nicola’s Kitchen, Pomodoro Cucina Italiana, Poquito Mas, Profile Wine & Grill, Renaissance Agoura Hills Hotel, Rosie’s BBQ, Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion, Woodland Hills, Ruby’s Diner, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Spark Woodfire Grill, The Grill on the Alley, Westlake Village, The Rack, Woodland Hills Promenade, Trader Joe’s, West Hills – Woodland Hills, Zin Bistro Americana, Dandy Don’s Homemade Ice Cream, Cookies By Design and SuzieCakes. For wine, microbrews and other beverages, there will be over 22 vendors including; Anheuser Busch, Fireman’s Brew, Firestone-Walker Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, The Great Beer Co., Inc., Duckhorn Vineyards, Duke of Bourbon, Giessinger Winery, Jorge Ordonez Spanish Wines, Krupp Brothers Estates, Maddalena Vineyard Brands, Louis M. Martini Winery, Merryvale Winery and Starmont Vineyards, Silver Oak Cellars/Twomey Cellars, Stone House Vineyards, Schramsberg Vineyards, Robert Talbott Vineyards and Trefethen Family Vineyards, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Rocky Roaster, Coca-Cola and Maui Wowi Hawiian Coffee & Smoothies, Encino. “Each year since 2000 our Food, Wine & Microbrew Festival has continued to expand and grow beyond our expectations. We anticipate another very successful fun-filled evening this year of experiencing the ultimate in dining indulgence including the tasting of fine wine, great beer and a mix of virgin beverages. Live music will be on hand with a wonderful live & silent auction ….” said Lois Curran-Klein, Chair, of this year’s event” Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door. Group rates are $45 per ticket when purchasing 10 tickets or more. Tickets can be purchased at the Duke of Bourbon (20908 Roscoe Blvd, Canoga Park) Valley Cultural Center (21550 Oxnard St., Suite #470, Woodland Hills), and at Westfield Topanga or Promenade (6100 or 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd.) at the Concierge Desk. You may also order tickets via the telephone with your credit card by calling (818) 704-1358 or by visiting us on the internet at www.valleycultural.org. Click on Special Events and print the PDF application under Food, Wine & Microbrew Festival. Net proceeds directly benefit the Valley Cultural Center, which produces FREE community programming such as Concerts in the Park, Movies in the Park, Dennis P. Zine’s July 4th Extravaganza and Monday Morning Concerts for children, just to name a few. PAGE 6 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS New Technology Benefits Those With Hearing Loss By Joel Lipin Dr. Daniels, while reviewing the results of Betty Carson’s recent blood tests says “Mrs Carson, I think it is time for us to begin a low dose of Lipitor, you can take that with ice water”. Sarah, Betty’s daughter nods in agreement. Observing her daughter, Betty tentatively nods. As Dr. Daniels exits the room, Betty turns to her daughter with a perplexed expression as says “Why does Dr. Daniels want me to sit by the door with a fly swatter? I don’t even see any flies.” Sarah looks at her mother with understanding. Sarah has observed her mother frequently misunderstanding conversations, more so recently. What’s going on? Is mom exhibiting the early symptoms of dementia? Did she recently have a stroke? No, mom has classic age related hearing loss. Betty is lucky; she has a daughter who can act as mom’s hearing aid. Sarah can fill in the blanks to assist her mother in understanding the doctor’s instructions. Of course there are better solutions. The lesson from the above story is effective communication is critical, especially for seniors. Seniors are frequently put in situations that require effective communication. When they are meeting with their physicians to plan treatment options, meeting with financial planners making plans for their grandchildren’s education, speaking with their attorney as they plan a family trust or simply speaking with the checker at the checkout counter in the super market, effective communication is essential. Hearing loss can make each of these tasks very difficult if not impossible to complete. The Doctor can’t be certain that the patient will follow through with instructions if the patient is unclear what those instructions are, the financial planner is uncertain if his client truly understands how the 529 college savings accounts actually work, the attorney is uncomfortable that her client may not understand how a trust works, etc…. Hearing loss is common amongst our senior population. In fact, studies suggest that 40% of seniors over the age of 70 have sufficient hearing loss to require correction with hearing aids. Today’s hearing aids are the best they have ever been. Most patients will observe an appreciable improvement in both hearing and speech understanding. These hearing aids incorporate digital technology and advanced directional microphones that allows these devices to focus automatically on speech in front, and deemphasize noise signals from behind. Many patients are able to benefit from the use of Open Ear hearing aid technology. Open Ear technology provides for a very transparent, comfortable and seamless system without the sensation of plugged ears that is often associated with older hearing aid technology. Hearing Aid Specialists is a family business established in 1962 by Martin Lipin. The company is now run by his sons, Joel and Eugene Lipin. Joel Lipin and his brother Eugene Lipin have over 50 years of combined experience using the most advanced testing and fitting technology to help the hearing impaired to hear their best. May is Better Hearing Month, and in the spirit of better hearing, Hearing Aid Specialists will offer free hearing screening to seniors and free hearing aid check-ups. Contact Hearing Aid Specialists today in Northridge at 818.701.5484 or in Burbank at 818.848.5484. ADVERTORIAL WorldFest 2010 Earth Day Festival (Continued from page 1) On May 16, WorldFest kicks off its 9th annual day of eco-conscious entertainment with celebrity guests including John Salley of TV’s “The Best Damn Sports Show Period,” bestselling author Rory Freedman, chef to the stars Tal Ronnen, and surprise musical acts representing the best in live rock, jazz, and world music. The Festival will be held at the beautiful outdoor setting of Woodley Park in Lake Balboa, from 10:30 am to 7:00 pm/ Come and roam the green marketplace with more than100 earth-friendly exhibitors, check out the eclectic array of global vegetarian cuisine in the fabulous food court, and relax with liquid refreshment at the Oasis beer and wine garden. The family-friendly extravaganza offers dedicated entertainment areas for children to get active with their peers, and for pets to meet and mingle with other four-footed friends. Don’t have an animal companion? Now might be the time to add to the family: dogs and cats will be available on-site for adoption. “This year’s event will prove once again just how cool compassion can be,” says Toward Freedom President Jill Hahn. “Saving the planet is a joint effort, and there’s nothing better than WorldFest for bringing together likeminded people who want to have fun and be entertained in a smart, sustainable way.” For more information on WorldFest 2010, visit www.worldfest.com. Check back regularly for the latest updates on WorldFest’s musical entertainment, exhibitors, and speakers. To Advertise call Decision Publications at (818) 534-1797 Support our Advertisers… They make North Valley Community News possible! tel: (818) 441-3858 fax: (818) 701-5811 MAY 2010 Political Memorabilia Show (Continued from page 1) cover the value of political treasures, see interesting displays of political memorabilia, and learn about the politics through campaign buttons, posters, flags, and other ephemera. The public may bring in political items for free appraisals. Hidden in attics, trunks, and cigar boxes, many political collectibles are gathering dust while their owners are unaware of their value. Previous appraisals have uncovered such valuable finds as vintage JFK campaign posters, Teddy Roosevelt presiden- tial autographs, and rare FDR buttons. “The political campaign button is an American original and people who collect political memorabilia are fascinated by American history,” says Adam Gottlieb, President of the Northern California chapter of the APIC. “While some buttons can sell for thousands of dollars, many buttons can be acquired by new collectors for a few bucks!” Admission is $2.00 (children 13 and under and all students with ID are admitted free). For more information, call (818) 894-6113. Smallest Repairs with Pride Concrete Brick Fireplaces Block 818-953-7489 Scott Whiting Whiting Masonry Inc. Lic.#636900 Stucco Tile Since 1972 Liab&Work Comp MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Three Tips for Remembering Who You Are By Steve Karbelnig, MA With life running at such a feverish pace, it’s easy to feel lost in it all. Weeks and months fly by. It seems like the December holidays were just here and now summer is right around the corner. Many feel the demands of family, children, spouses or partners, careers and even elderly parents. In attending to the demands of others, many people are so busy or distracted, they seem to forget who they really are– they lose touch with themselves and their selfidentity. The loss of one’s identity can be gradual and therefore, it is hardly noticed until something arises that reminds them of who they once were or how they used to be. People obtain and wear labels such as husband, wife, lover, partner, mom or dad and take on these roles, often sacrificing themselves when caring for and attending to the responsibilities inherent in each of these roles and capacities. After a while, the loss of self can make you feel empty, incomplete, depressed, lonely and alone which can result in resentment Helpful suggestions can and anger that can also be found on the undermine valuable Internet. relationships and enjoyThird, keep a journal. able activities. If you already do, great, Once you develop and if not, there’s no better the awareness that time to start. Even a few you’ve lost touch with minutes every day or two yourself or even feel you no longer know Steve Karbelnig can be helpful to gather who you are, there are several things your thoughts and feelings, vent you can do to rediscover yourself frustrations or even express your again and more importantly, begin hopes and dreams. Take time to to find ways to take care of yourself remember who you used to be, and actually go back to being that what you love about yourself and make a plan to get yourself back. person you were meant to be. Therapy can also be a very First, it can be helpful to spend some time alone. Take a walk or helpful way to find yourself again find a quiet peaceful place to sit, and regain control of your life. You maybe in a park under a tree. This may have forgotten who you are should be a time to unwind and let but the memories are still there so your mind relax, trying to let go of that you can be rejuvenated and replenished back to yourself once the hectic pace of your life. Second, meditation has been again. Steve Karbelnig, M.A., is a regshown to offer relaxation, quieting the mind and helping to alleviate istered Marriage and Family negative thoughts and replacing Therapist Intern (IMF 50939) * He them with positive energy. If you can be reached at (818) 623-7118. don’t know how to meditate, the *Supervised by Steven Glass, local bookstores often have easy Psy.D, (PSY 18509. ADVERTORIAL guides to help you get started. Notes From Behind the Badge (Continued from page 3) As you direct your little girls to hurry out of the car because you’re already late to work, your youngest daughter, in her haste to follow your directions, gets out of the car, slams the door and promptly slips right out of her sheepskin-lined boot. You are oblivious to this drama as you lurch back out into the traffic of other frazzled parents whose goal is to drop off their kids and get to work. You don’t even notice the bright yellow school bus swerving into the bus designated parking place that you’ve just vacated. You miss the glaring expression the bus driver is trying to sear into your rear view mirror. You also don’t notice that your precious little girl is hunched down at the curb, pulling on her stylish boot. So what do you think happens next? As a writer, I know how I’d continue this story, but the ending of this story is up to you. As a parent I understand and appreciate that it’s hard to get a family out the door and to their respective places for the day. As a police officer, I don’t understand the total disregard for the law and the safety of the children that goes on at and around schools every school day. What’s even worse, is many of you reading this article are guilty of these actions and/or similar actions around the schools…and yet you don’t think I mean you! I do mean you! This is one area where you, as a citizen, can have great impact on your community and it won’t cost you, or anyone else a dime. So the choice is yours…does the little girl live? Kathy Bennett has been a Los Angeles Police Officer for 20 years and currently is assigned as the Senior Lead Officer for Basic Car 17A67 in Devonshire Area. She can be reached at [email protected] or (818) 634-0495. To Advertise call Decision Publications at (818) 534-1797 PAGE 7 Community Calendar Coming Soon: 5thAnnual Citrus Sunday The 5th Annual Citrus Sunday is set for Sunday, June 13. Residents with fruit growing trees can be part of this annual fresh fruit drive that brings tens of thousands of pounds of citrus fruit to needy families. You don't have to sign up as a volunteer - just pick oranges, grapefruits or other citrus from trees in your yard, rinse off with water, and place in plastic bags. Drop off the bags of fruit at Fire Station 87 at 10124 Balboa Blvd. in Granada Hills on Sunday, June 13. Valley Interfaith Council will collect the fruit and distributes it to struggling families served at their food banks in the San Fernando Valley. To offer your home as a picking location please call (818) 756-8501. SFV Art Club Announces Spring Exhibition “Views & Visions” is the title and theme of the 2010 Spring Art Exhibition sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Art Club. The show at the VIVA Art Center in Sherman Oaks will open Wednesday, May 19 and run through Saturday, June 5. The public is invited to a reception at the VIVA Art Center on Sunday, May 23 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Exhibit Chairperson Regina Wolford is excited about the upcoming event. She stated: “We’ll have over 75 works of art on display from more than 40 different artists. The quality and variety of work that will be on display will be very impressive.” Club President Michelle Nosco added that, “the most difficult part of this juried show is determining the works which will be included among the many entries submitted.” That selection will be made by the juror of entries and awards, Bob Privitt, Professor Emeritus at Pepperdine University and renowned artist recognized for his imaginative works in sculpture, drawings and collage. He has won numerous local and national awards and his works are included in both public and private collections. The VIVAArt Center in Sherman Oaks was selected for the show because it’s centrally located in the San Fernando Valley. This makes it convenient for artists, friends and guests to view the works on display. The gallery is at 13261 Moorpark Street (corner of Moorpark and Fulton Avenue). The hours of the exhibition are Wednesday through Friday, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Saturdays, noon to 4:00 PM. The San Fernando Valley Art Club was founded in 1943 and has served the visual arts community continuously for over 66 years. It currently has a membership of about 150 artists of varying skill levels from professional to beginning amateurs. Club meetings are held on the first Tuesday evening of each month and include demonstrations by professional artists and a members’ mini art show. Guests are always welcome to attend. For more information on the club, go to the Web site at www.sfvartclub.org. Neighborhood Watch Meeting Neighborhood Watch, serving Northridge and North Hills, will meet on May 13th, 7 pm held at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 17037 Plummer St. in Northridge. The guest speaker will be Traffic Officer Mark Cronin. The public is urged to attend YMCA Holds Two, Free Guided Hikes in May Summit Seekers, the monthly hiking group from North Valley Family YMCA (www.ymcala.org/nv), will hold a one-mile family hike and a moderate 4.5-mile hike in May. The hikes are free and open to the community. The family hike begins at 9 a.m. Sat., May 8, in Corriganville Park in Simi Valley. The second hike starts at 9 a.m., Sat. May 22, in Mission Point in Granada Hills. Hikers meet at the trailhead. For location information: Jody Guerrero, 818368-3231, Ext. 2329, [email protected]. May 22, YMCA Splash Festival Focuses on Water & Summer Safety “Dad Couldn’t Remember How To Get Home.” Preserve Your Life Savings Today... Before It’s Too Late Did you know that in Los Angeles County the average cost of a nursing home is $6,843.75 a month — $82,125 per year???? Do Not Miss The Free Seminar! Come to this free seminar and learn: s How you can use sound, proven legal and financial strategies that can preserve your assets, and become qualified for Medi-Cal to cover nursing home costs. s How you can employ these strategies even if you DO NOT qualify for long-term care insurance. s How you can also employ many of these strategies even after you or your loved one has entered a nursing home. s How a disabled or over age 65 wartime veteran can get government money to help pay medical and nursing home bills through “Aid & Attendance.” P Geisler Patterson Law Firm Two days only. Seating is Limited. Refreshments Served. Tuesday, May 4, 2010 6:30pm-8:00pm Holiday Inn Warner Center 21101 Ventura Blvd. s Woodland Hills Wednesday, May 5, 2010 10:00am-11:30am Holiday Inn Warner Center 21101 Ventura Blvd. s Woodland Hills Reserve your space today. Call: 866-452-9657 21900 Burbank Blvd., Third Floor | Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Phone 866-452-9657 | Fax 866-867-0148 www.marthapatterson.com It’s safety first – in the water and anywhere else this summer – when North Valley Family YMCA (www.ymcala.org/nv) holds a Splash Festival from 2 to 5 p.m., Sat., May 22 at 11336 Corbin Ave. in Northridge. The free event is open to the public, including activities in North Valley’s indoor pool. Safety booths, child safety kits, nutritional booths, police department participation, water safe games, inflatable jumpers and much more! Information: contact Sarah Baham, (818-368-3231) x2342. Attention All Artists The Chatsworth Fine Arts Council’s 2010 Annual Depot Art Show will be presented June 13th at the picturesque Chatsworth Metrolink Depot. The Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm, show offers artists two opportunities to participate, an outdoor 10’ X 10’ individual artist area, and an indoor single-piece-entry themed-exhibit. The A Western View theme exhibit will award cash prizes. Artists who participate in the main outdoor show are eligible for A People’s Choice Award. Entry deadline for the indoor themed exhibit is May 31, 2010. The outdoor show is open until it is full. For full details artists should email [email protected] and request a prospectus, or call (818) 772-1639 New Service Offers Neighborhood Crime and Public Safety Updates from the LAPD The LAPD now offers a free service that allows L.A. residents to sign up to receive messages directly from the Police on crime, traffic, missing persons, emergencies and other public safety information directly to their phones or email inboxes. Residents can sign up online to receive the updates by text message to their phones, or by email, or both. They can sign up for bulletins for multiple locations. To sign up, visit www.Nixle.com Valley Greek Festival - May 29 - 31 Enjoy a weekend of Greek culture, music, food and dancing for the whole family. There will be live music, dancing, booths with gourmet Greek food, homemade pastries, cooking demonstrations, children's activities, a Greek market, and a shopping boutiques. Admission is free; St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Corner Plummer St. and Balboa Blvd. in Northridge For info visit www.valleygreekfestival. PAGE 8 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Reduce the Risk of Falls, Broken Bones with Physical Therapy By Carla Kazimir PT Often I hear patients tell me how their condition is not something that can be cured so Physical Therapy is not really going to help them. Physical therapists are not in the business of curing illness. We are trained professionals in problem solving. We evaluate balance, strength, flexibility, coordination, sensation and a multitude of other things. We look at our patient’s medical history, the drugs they take, the living environment they live in and we look at the functional challenges that they have. Each person is different. Some clients can work on certain exercises and improve in their strength and their flexibility and this improves their situation. Others require pain management to get out of pain first and then address their functional ability. Still others require bracing and others home modifications. The benefits of seeing a physical therapist is that you are evaluated on many levels and your treatment program is customizable to work towards specific goals. Often times a 20-30 percent improvement in flexibility or strength will make a significant improvement in the functional ability of a person. Their quality of life dramatically improves. Simple things like learning to correctly get in and out of a chair can significantly reduce falls. Advising a patient on home modifications in the bathroom can dramatically improve home safety. Teaching a person how to get off the ground is also a great skill to have. At North Valley Physical Therapy we have different components in our gym that work on balance, coordination, strength, endurance and flexibility. We try to evaluate each client carefully. It is important for the client to feel comfortable with the therapist and open and honest about their struggles Carla Kazimir PT or challenges. The more honest the communication is, the more customizable the treatment program can be. We can zero in on the issues that are providing the most challenge and design a more effective treatment plan. If you or someone you care for is having problems with falls or balance, try to pay attention to the details. How often are they falling? Where do they fall? How do they fall? When do they fall? All this information is helpful when going for an evaluation with a physical therapist. It helps us to plan a treatment program and it also helps us to know if we are being effective. We can never promise to prevent further falls, but we should be able help our clients reduce their personal risk. If you would like to schedule a Physical Therapy evaluation please contact North Valley Physical Therapy 818-217-4868. North Valley Physical Therapy is located in the Knollwood Shopping Plaza in Granada Hills. www.northvalleypt.com NVPT is a Medicare Provider and bills all private insurances. They also have a cash based wellness program. ADVERTORIAL MAY 2010 Granada Hills Veterans Park (Continued from page 1) beautiful tribute to the military men and women who have served our country. The improvements include a new pergola (thanks to the generous contributions of the Granada Hills Improvement Association), new landscaping, brick and cement work, flagpoles, a monument and a statue (thanks to the generous contribution of Jake Parunyan, the 2009 Gil Benjamin Granada Hills Citizen of the Year.) In addition to support from our office, other contributors have been Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council, Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2323 and the Granada Hills Rotary Foundation. The tribute bricks are currently being installed, and more are still available for community members to dedicated to veterans, businesses, friends and loved ones. For information about donating for tribute bricks, contact John Weitkamp at (818) 363-3144 or [email protected]. Real Estate Making the Best Where There Are No Good Choices By Monique Bryher Homeowners who can no longer afford their mortgage payments and whose loan is greater than the current value of their home face a number of tough decisions, none of which are pleasant. This assumes that a loan modification has been attempted and failed. Readers of this column and my real estate fraud blog know that to date that while there have been very few approved loan modifications, there have been many rip-offs by loan modification firms that charge upfront fees of as much as $3,500 but make little or no attempt to obtain a modification from the lender on behalf of the homeowner. What are the alternatives? First, the homeowner can do some quick math and realize that he can sometimes stay in his house for 6 months to a year or more without making a mortgage payment before the bank forecloses. That gives him time to save up money to move to a rental, where it’s possible the landlord will demand three months of rent upfront to hedge the risk of renting to someone with bad credit. But the foreclosure will mean credit will only be extended at high interest rates, if at all, and the negative rating could remain for up to five years. On the other hand, the homeowner can place his home on the market and sell the property in a short sale. Short sales are complicated because they involve a third party – the lender – which may take months to make a decision on a buyer’s offer, only to reject it, leading to frustration for both the seller and the buyer. If the short sale is approved quickly, the borrower almost always receives a negative reporting to the credit agencies, although it is less negative than a foreclosure. But that, along with a shortage of funds, can make it extremely difficult to find a rental. The bright side, if there is one, is that, with some Monique Bryher legitimate credit cleaning, the former homeowner might have decent access to credit within 2 years or so. However, there is a potentially serious downside to doing a short sale, one that is often unmentioned or minimized by some Realtors when pitching a short sale to a homeowner in distress. The bank agreement to proceed with the short sale should contain language to the effect that the bank agrees to not only release the lien but also to forgive the debt. Borrowers beware: buried in the fine print could be language that the lender reserves the right to pursue a deficiency judgment. That means if the house sold for $85,000 less than what the borrower owed, the lender can pursue the borrower over an extended period of time in order to reclaim as much of that $85,000 as possible. If you decide to sell your property short, make certain to read all the paperwork thoroughly so that you understand and are in agreement with the terms of the sale. Monique Bryher is a Valley real estate agent Ca. Lic. 01766461. She can be reached at 818-430-6705. w w w . N V C N . o r g THE SENIOR SERVICES BUSINESS COUNCIL OF THE NORTH VALLEY REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Northridge Community Hawaiian Festival 50+ Senior Dance FRIDAY JUNE 4, 2010 5:00 pm - 9:30 pm re Whe Northridge Park Gymnasium 18300 Lemarsh St. Northridge, CA 91325 s Raffle ts ven E f eo dul Line Dancing- 5:30-6:30 Sche Lite Dinner- 6:30 Dance Band- 6:30-9:30 s Single m e! Welco 1 $ For More Information Call the Chamber of Commerce 818-349-5676 Admission The SSBC wishes to thank the following sponsors: Northridge West Neighborhood Council Northridge East Neighborhood Council North Hills West Neighborhood Council Gelson’s Market Souplantation Bank of America Starbucks The Senior Services Business Council is a group of local companies dedicated to serving the senior community. MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 9 Valley Dining Rosie’s BBQ & Grillery: The Alter at Which Meat-Lovers Worship By Eric Feigenbaum “You can just keep eating until you can’t breathe,” a patron said in line for the salad bar. After all, the salad bar alone not only has all the salad fixin’s you could want, but a line of homemade pasta, potato, specialty salads, desserts, fruit and parmesan garlic rolls. And all of that comes with the dinner entrees. Rosie’s BBQ and Grillery is the altar at which meat-lovers worship. Incredible slabs of baby back ribs, beef ribs, tri-tip, chicken halves, chicken breasts and even salmon and crab legs fill the plates and tables of dining room patrons. On Sunday night at dinner time, every table is full. Is it the special seasoning, the slow smoking of the meat, the abundant portions, or the extensive salad bar with the meal that bring in the crowds? Or could it be that all of this food – much of which leaves in take-out boxes - runs between $15 and $20 per person for dinner? Rosie’s owners know a thing or two about Continued on page 20 Lannathai Restaurant: Each Dish is a Winner SUMMER DAY CAMPS IN: SFV, WEST LA, SOUTH BAY Call (310) 827-8827 www.performingartsworkshops.com Support our Advertisers … They make North Valley Community News possible! By Eric Feigenbaum A new generation of the Mekpongsatorn family is helping their restaurant blossom. Lannathai Restaurant in Sherman Oaks will soon change its name to Thai Jasmine. Bo Mekpongsatorn began transitioning into running the family business three years ago. Now that his father and uncle – who founded Lannathai in 1977 – are retiring, Bo and his brother Ben realize that their restaurant on Van Nuys Blvd, just a half block north of Ventura is in a prime location. Continued on page 15 Garlic Pork Color in a whole new dimension Here’s what our customers have to say about our store: “Amazing!” “Extraordinary” “Sensational” “The best selection…” Come see for yourself! 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PAGE 10 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS MAY 2010 “Unity in Our Community” Northridge West Neighborhood Council Visit our web site to view the www.NorthridgeWest.org Sign-up for RESIDENT CAMPS Z Z SUMMER at the YMCA Camps for kids entering 3rd - 10th grade Locations: Big Bear, Mammoth, Catalina Island & Cabrillo Beach for the latest Agenda and Draft Minutes (818) 886-3534 Next Community Meeting: 7 p.m. – May 11, 2010 Beckford Street Elementary School DAY CAMPS 19130 Tulsa Street, Northridge, CA 91326 TinyTot Camp for the toddler at the YMCA Z Preschool Mini Camp at our Preschool locations Z Discovery & Adventure Camp for grades K-5 at 12 elementary schools in the area 818-368-3231 Z Junior High Camp at Porter Middle School Z Expo Camp (Art/Science or Sports) at Darby Elementary Z North Valley Family YMCA www.ymcala.org/nv Vacancies on Northridge West Neighborhood Council exist for the Renters, Education, Northridge Fashion Center, Business, and Homeowner seats. The New board was seated at the April 13, 2010 meeting. If you wish to fill any of these vacancies please send your official request to the NWNC Secretary at [email protected] with a copy to the President at [email protected] by June 1, 2010 to be on agenda for the June 8, 2010 NWNC meeting. Proof of qualification is required for all seats. Support our Advertisers … They make North Valley Community News possible! Beauty Lab #1 Selling Hair Design Franchise in the Global market Specializing In: • Color • Perms • Make-Up • Wedding Make-Up & Hair • Extensions • Cuts Now Offering the Internationally known “Brazilian Keratin Magic Straight” revolutionary hair treatment that reconstructs, straightens and eliminates frizz safely (818) 757-0675 or (818) 757-0680 17613 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91406 www.parkjunusa.com www.parkjun.com Open 7 Days a Week • 9 A.M. – 7 P.M. Keratin Magic 30% OFF with coupon To Advertise call Decision Publications at (818) 534-1797 MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Neighborhood Councils Offers a New Vision for Northridge Northridge Vision is a joint mission between the Northridge Neighborhood Councils and the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, California State University Northridge and Councilman Smith’s office to plan our community’s future. A contract with the Mulholland Institute, a local public policy center, has finally been approved by the City of Los Angeles to help answer the basic question: What do we want Northridge to look like and feel like in the next 5, 10, 20 years? The first stage of the plan, which includes the cultivation of a college town atmosphere, street improvements, development of more accessible public transportation and eliminatContinued on page 19 PAGE 11 ATTENTION What will you do if you do not have a pharmacy coverage insurance plan? Up to 40% discount on medications at Neighborhood Councils Are Here To Stay News from the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Controller Wendy Greuel swore in new PRNC board members at the April 6, 2010 meeting as a crowded room of stakeholders looked on. The PRNC welcomed Maha Batta and Richard Rippey to the council. The board elected new officers including Mel Mitchell as President, Paula Cracium as Vice President, Ali Dabirian as Secretary and Maha Batta as Treasurer. Outgoing board members Past President Ronald Nagai and Treasurer Chris Cooper were thanked by the board and received commendation certificates from Mitch Englander, Chief of Staff for Councilman Greig Smith. Continued on page 15 Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council Council Election Results Challenged Granada Hills North Neighborhood Challenge with the City Clerk’s office over Council was happy to have over 226 people whether or not one of the recently elected come out and vote on March 2nd, 2010. A board members had run in the correct GHNNC board member has filed an Election Continued on page 14 To help our community in this economic recession, especially for those who have lost their pharmacy coverage plans, or for those who do not have a pharmacy insurance plan at all, Knollwood Pharmacy is honoring the LARx Prescription Savings Program contract with LA County to support its community. The LARx Prescription Savings Card Program is designed to lower the cost of prescription medications for the residents of Los Angeles County. The savings card will give you a discount from 5% to 40% on virtually all brand and generic drugs. There are no required qualifications to use the LARx Prescription Savings Card. Everyone qualifies! In addition, there is no membership fee and the card is ABSOLUTELY FREE! If you have any questions regarding the LARx Prescription Savings Card program, call 1-877-FOR-LARX (1-877-367-5279) or go to www.forlarx.com for more details and pricing information. 11862 Balboa Blvd., Granada Hills, CA 91344 Phone (818) 363-8107 Fax (818) 831-2024 To Advertise call Decision Publications at (818) 534-1797 metro.net/works F E I L E R S C K I R F O THE W TRAF IN vements al impro it p a c k metrolin ements y improv a w e e r f i- 5 g projec s widenin s a p a d e ulv i-405 sep t tension Metro is delivering transit and highway improvements to the San Fernando Valley. From extending the popular Orange Line to adding a carpool lane to the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda Pass, congestion relief and thousands of new jobs are in the works. Help us shape a better future for LA County. Visit metro.net/works to learn more. 10-1480mr ©2010 lacmta e ex r ange lin me tro o PAGE 12 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Ah Spring … Time to Refresh and Renew By: Kathy Cryer Are you ready for something new, but the economy’s holding you back? With proper planning and direction you can easily revitalize your home and stay within your budget. different. Here are a few décor styles: Eclectic A mix of colors, patterns and materials reflecting your personality in the look and feel of your home. Frame what you like, and live with the furniture you enjoy. Mix traditional and modern elements together and use worn surfaces combined with refined surfaces. A contrast of colors against a neutral background adds flair. One-of-a-kind items are essential to Eclectic décor. Design Without Borders Travel the world without leaving home. Global and multi-cultural décor are mixed and matched to create a world tour at home. The difference can be slight. You may find that Eclectic and Global styles overlap one another, so allow it to happen and remember; if you can't go there, bring the part of the world to you. MAY 2010 Societal Responsibility Natural elements in everything from furniture to flatware create serene surroundings that can bring you back to what's most important. Reuse what nature has provided. The colors used in these rooms are various shades and tints of earth tones. Worn is the Continued on page 13 Voted Best Green Exterminator How do you choose your design style? First find a foundation for the rest of your design. This can be your favorite piece of art, a swatch of fabric or a piece of furniture. Add other items that work well with your foundation piece, and start grouping them together. Don’t be afraid to try something Install your new air conditioning or heating system this year, and you can receive more than $2,000.00 in rebates and tax incentives. Call us for more information and to see if you qualify. on work performed by June MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 13 Does the IRS Owe You Money? “The Most Thorough Carpet Cleaning Ever Or It’s FREE”* *If all you want is a cheap-brush-the-dirt-off-the-surface so all the spots come right back typical carpet cleaning, PLEASE call someone else. On the other hand, if you would like the most thorough cleaning ever and the most value for your dollar, you will feel our green, allergy clean process that is the most thorough cleaning you have ever had. If a spot comes back we will rush back to re-service your job for free, NOTHING is more important to us than your complete satisfaction. $ 50 OFF YOUR 1ST CLEANING FREE CARPET AUDIT Carpet Care 877-955-BEST “You’ll be EXCITED too, when it’s Done Rite!” (2378) www.dontbeavictim.net An AUDIT is MUCH MORE than a free estimate. We will come to your home or business and tell you the exact cost (with out surprise charges) and inform you on exactly what we will do to make your carpets cleaner, healthier and last longer. Call and say, “I want a free healthy home carpet audit.” HEALTHY & GREEN ALLERGY CLEAN PROCESS By Congressman Brad Sherman Depending on whether you are due a refund or owe a debt, you have come to either love or hate Internal Revenue Service (IRS) around this time of the year. Overall, I suspect that public sentiment towards this agency takes a turn for the worse – especially during tough economic times like we are experiencing now. That is why, with the tax filing deadline behind us, I am highlighting the fact that the IRS actually owes some Los Angelenos money. This year, there are nearly 5,000 taxpayers in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties who are owed a collective $5,477,862 in undeliverable tax refunds from the 2008 tax year. In many instances, the United States Postal Service was unable to deliver refund checks due to mailing address errors. Of course, we made sure to find out the correct address to mail our returns to the IRS, but why does the IRS not know ours? If a taxpayer moves after filing his or her tax return and doesn’t leave a forwarding address, the Postal Service returns the check to the IRS. If a person changes his or her name, perhaps after marriage, and doesn’t notify the Social Security Administration of the name change, then their Social Security number will not properly match in IRS computers. This can slow or prevent the transfer of old refund checks to them. And, in the case of deceased taxpayers, some families and executors of estates may not know that they had an unclaimed refund. I am a supporter of legislation that requires the IRS to do more to find taxpayers to whom it owes money. In the meantime, in an effort to assist taxpayers collect their tax refunds, I have posted a list of Congressman these people who are Brad Sherman owed a refund in 2009 on my web page at BradSherman.house.gov. In California, the top three undeliverable refunds average almost $380,000. Nearly $5.5 million in 2008 tax refunds did not reach the intended Los Angeles County and Ventura County residents with the average check totaling $1,126 in Los Angeles County and $937 in Ventura County. This information is also listed at BradSherman.house.gov. The Internal Revenue Service owes refunds to 831 residents in the San Fernando Valley alone. Clearly, we must make it easier to reunite taxpayers with their tax refunds. For a struggling family, a few hundred or even a thousand dollars can help defer the costs of housing, food, medicine and other important provisions. If there is any chance you have an unclaimed refund, please check my website to see if you’re on the list and learn how to contact the IRS to collect your refund. If you do not have access to the Internet, call my San Fernando Valley office at (818) 501-9200 and my staff will check for you. Where Have My Teeth Gone? By BERNIE VILLADIEGO, DDS You brush and floss like you were told to. You see your dentist two to four times a year and get a wonderful report each time. You would expect your teeth to last a lifetime, right? Everyone would like to have healthy perfect teeth, but nature is rarely so accommodating. Teeth would last a lifetime if they were used as they were intended. Nature did not create teeth to be used for opening cans and bottles nor used to hold sewing needles and pins. Heavy brushing and abrasive toothpaste have also contributed to premature tooth wear, especially at the gum level. Hard candies and popcorn kernels have also caused excessive interferences leading to many broken enamel and fillings. Surprisingly, chemical erosions caused by acid stomach reflux and excessive consumption of acidic beverages (orange juice, lemon and lime sucking, and colas) can dissolve the enamel. Psychological stresses of life (divorces, death in the family, work) can cause physical habitual grinding and clenching. Drugs containing caffeine, nicotine or amphetamines can trigger the contractions of the jaw muscles leading to dental attrition. Many people have “old dentistry” that was done in bits and pieces using abrasive materials that would grind down the opposing teeth. This extensive wear Bernie Villadiego, DDS would create an appearance that can age a person beyond their years. Furthermore, this could lead to a poor bite causing jaw joint problems, muscle tenderness, and even headaches. Chewing and speech may also be affected as well. If you suspect that you may be damaging your teeth, please contact Dr. Bernie Villadiego at 818-341-1345 for consultation. Dr. Bernie Villadiego is the first and only dentist in North San Fernando Valley to be accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a distinction only earned by 243 cosmetic dentists worldwide. For more information, you can visit his website at www.powerofthesmile.com. ADVERTORIAL Time to Refresh and Renew (Continued from page 12) new "new" and this décor gives style to comfort. Sanctuary Home Your home is your sanctuary, especially in tough times. Create a “secure” environment that comforts and offers peace and serenity. Embrace simple, understated luxury and serene colors inspired by the earth's oceans, beaches, deserts and forests. It's all about you Your interior design choices are meant to create a comfortable home for you and your family. Decorate accordingly. Your home and your interior design choices should reflect your interests, personality, ideas, and lifestyle. Let us help you find a style that is all your own. In-home consultations are provided free from The Great Frame Up. Cathy Cryer is the owner of The Great Frame-Up located at 9010 Balboa Blvd in Northridge, 818-920-4000. ADVERTORIAL PAGE 14 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Protect Your Family Legacy A Good Way to Spend Your Tax Refund: Get Your Estate in Order By Thomas P. Christopher, Esq So you’ve gotten through tax season and are waiting for or already have that long awaited Tax Refund check. Use your Tax Refund wisely this year! Rather than using your refund to take a quick weekend jaunt to Vegas or Palm Springs, or to buy more “stuff” (that you don’t need anyway) you should use your refund check to get your Estate in order. Use your Tax Refund to protect your family legacy! Creating an Estate Plan using a Living Trust and Power of Attorney documents is a process that will allow you to protect your family legacy, with as little cost, formality and time as possible. Yes, you still have to make an appointment with an attorney and talk about what you want to do with your assets when you pass away. The process, from start to finish, should take about 30 days. The cost will probably be less or equivalent to what you pay for car insurance or home owners insurance in 1year. This is minimal when you compare it to the value of transferring your entire estate informally and privately. The alternative is a time consuming and costly process. If you don’t have a Living Trust in California, and you have an estate that exceeds $100,000 in value, your family, your loved ones, will be at the mercy of the Probate System. A probate proceeding requires the filing of numerous legal documents, will result in costs averaging 12% to 15% of your estate (if no contests) and takes approximately 1-2 years. Probate fees for attorneys and executors are based on Gross Estate Value. In most cases, avoiding the Probate System by creating a Living Trust will save tens of thousands of dollars, avoid Support our Advertisers… They make a 1-2 year delay in distributing your estate and allow you to determine whom you want to receive your property rather than the California Probate Code. Make how you use your tax refund really Thomas P. mean something this Christopher, Esq. year! Schedule a complimentary appointment to review your estate planning options or to have your existing Trust reviewed by an Attorney. I founded Christopher Law Group, Inc. to provide an easy, comfortable and convenient way to create an Estate Plan. My office is conveniently located in Porter Ranch. I will visit you in your home at your convenience if you wish. I will do the same for you if you have a Trust or Will already but want your documents reviewed amended or updated. Thomas P. Christopher, Esq., Christopher Law Group, Inc., (818) 3609500, 11260 Wilbur Ave., Suite 100, Porter Ranch, California 91326; www.christopherlawgroup.com. ADVERTORIAL 1 Source IT Solutions Taking stress off you in managing computer network • Network design/setup • Antivirus/antispam • Backup Onsite/Offsite • Email and Exchange • Remote access and VPN • Internet and VoIP • Managed IT services MAY 2010 Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council (Continued from page 11) district. The challenge is being reviewed by a panel of Neighborhood Council members and Commissioners who will decide whether the challenge is valid and will make a determination. Unfortunately the new GHNNC board will have to wait until the meeting on May 24, 2010 to be sworn in. The new board members are anxious to get seated and get to work. We invite all of the public to attend the May 24th meeting and meet the new GHNNC board. GHNNC’s Planning and Land Use Committee (PLUM) has been very busy the last few months and one of the items they are working on is the JETS Project. Currently there is a Jewish trade school (JETS) on the property of the former Jewish Community Center on Rinaldi and they wish to expand the school. The PLUM committee has been meeting with the owners and the lobbyists for the owners to work out the details and conditions before they present the plan to the public to hear their comments, concerns, or praise on the project. There will be a public meeting in the very near future regarding the expansion of the trade school and as we go to print, we don’t have that date available, but if you wish to attend this meeting, please watch our website for the details. GHNNC will be participating in Councilman Greig Smith's Citrus Sunday event on Sunday, June 13th. GHNNC will be partnering with Fire Station 18 on Balboa at the Knollwood Country Club to collect fruit. So bring your extra fruit to us and it will be distributed to food pantries in the area. For more information on that event, see the CD12 website. As always, we invite you to visit our website at www.ghnnc.org, read about our committees and find a way to get involved with your community. • Choose a health plan to fit you needs! As low as $39.95 a month per household. • Dental Plus Program – Only $19.95 a month per household. Includes Vision, Prescription & Chiropractic. All ongoing medical/dental problems are accepted (818) 349-3562 www.EveryOneBenefits.com/ESilverman North Valley Community News possible! www.1sourceits.com Call us: (818) 264-5516 LAW OFFICES OF RICHARD T. MILLER T (818) 994-8234 • F (818) 994-8235 7120 HAYVENHURST AVE., SUITE 108 VAN NUYS, CA 91406-1221 EMAIL: [email protected] WEB SITE: WWW.RICHARDTMILLERLAW.COM Call about our Personalized Pre-Paid Legal Services Plan General Civil Law Cases: Real Estate, Contracts, Business Development/Disputes, Personal Injury/Defense, Probate/Wills/Trust, Landlord/Tenant, and all Aviation related law. MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 15 Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Financial Focus (Continued from page 11) When Evaluating Investments’ Performance, Avoid Common Mistakes Wendy Greuel began her remarks discussing her audit of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) which provides support and financial transaction processing for the neighborhood councils, “NCs are a critical part of how we operate. NCs are a great part of how we operate. They are here to stay.” She noted that petty cash was a weak point for neighborhood councils and presented opportunities for misuse. Councils leaned towards using the purchasing card to avoid having to rely on slow check payment processing. Greuel explained that the policy whereby unused council funds were rolled over to the next year, was not consistent with the way the rest of the City operates and was difficult to track. In fact, in the early years DONE was funded for more councils than had been certified and had extra money to fund councils that used all their funds. Further, reviewing council audits was a huge task that DONE was behind on. Stakeholders inquired about the implementation of the controller’s audit recommendations. She responded that in the 2004-2009 period 46% of what Controller Laura Chick recommended was never even discussed for implementation. To remedy that Greuel plans to track the City Council’s action or inaction on recommendations to at least bring them to the point of being considered. The meeting wrapped up with information provided by stakeholder Wes Rogers that Sempra Energy Southern California Gas Company (SCGC) has filed an application to expand their facility known as the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility at the top of Porter Ranch. Their expansion includes running a new high voltage transmission line from Newhall. Rogers notes that in October 2008 the Sesnon Fire was caused when a SCGC power line fell onto brush that had not been cleared. He requests that the proposed expansion not be approved until SCGC take actions to mitigate against future risk of fire. Find out more: http://PRNC.org/index.htm#SCG C PRNC board members will be identifying their vision for the coming year and specifying upcoming committee projects at the May meeting. Come and learn how you can Help Make Porter Ranch a Better Place to Live, Work and Grow. Our next meetings are scheduled for May 4 and June 1, 6pm at Shepherd of the Hills Church. Find out more at www.PRNC.org. Provided by Marty laff, ChFC, Edward Jones Financial Advisor As an investor, you might think it’s easy to evaluate your investments’ performance. After all, the bigger the gain, the better, right? This statement is true enough, but as an investment strategy, it’s incomplete — and, if followed rigidly, it could lead you to make some mistakes that could hinder your progress toward your financial goals. What are some of these potential mistakes? Here are a few to consider: Evaluating performance over a short period of time — If you measure an investment’s performance over a relatively short period of time, you may be more tempted to invest emotionally — that is, you’ll buy more shares of an investment when you “feel good” about it because its price has risen, and you’ll sell more shares when you “feel bad” because the investment’s price has fallen. This behavior is the opposite of the classic piece of investment advice: “Buy low and sell high.” Try not to make investment decisions based on short-term performance. Instead, look at an investment’s long-term track record. While it’s true, as you have no doubt heard, that “past performance can’t guarantee future results,” it’s nonetheless useful to see how an investment has fared in different market environments. Neglecting the impact of contributions and withdrawals — If you put more money into an investment, it will be worth more — until the price drops — and if you take money out of an investment, it will be worth less — until the price rises. Yet many people mistakenly attribute their investments’ performance to these inflows and outflows. Failing to distinguish between “growth” and “income” investments — To help achieve your long-term goals, you’ll need a mix of growthoriented investments, such as stocks, and income-producing vehi- cles, such as bonds. However, bonds will typically not add m u c h growth to your overall portfolio, so keep this in mind when Marty Laff you look at the year-to-year change in value on your investment statements. Maintaining unrealistic expectations — In 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 19%, while the S&P 500 jumped more than 23%. But if you anticipate such unusually high returns annually, and you base your investment strategy on them, you’ll likely be disappointed and have trouble meeting your goals. For a variety of reasons, most investment experts foresee relatively modest returns in the financial markets over the next few years, so you’ll want to plan accordingly. Comparing investments to benchmarks — Try not to compare the performance of your investments to benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. If you’ve chosen an aggressive investment mix, your returns may show wide swings, beating the benchmarks substantially in some years while trailing them significantly in others. On the other hand, if you’re a conservative investor, your returns may consistently lag the major benchmarks, but you’ll probably experience less volatility. Once you know what to expect from your investments, you’ll be less likely to be disappointed at your returns — and you’ll be better prepared to create and follow an investment strategy that works for you. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Marty Laff, ChFc, CLU - 818 886-4670. Thailand. The chicken larb – a chopped meat salad with onions, cilantro, chilies, garlic and fresh lime juice has all the flavor and spice one would expect in Thailand’s northeast Issan provinces. The chicken satay with its rich peanut sauce as well as the green curry with fresh eggplant and meat or Call for a Free Consultation (818) 981-4556 tofu of choice employ the savvy use of rich coconut milk found in the deep southern provinces of Thailand along the Andaman Sea. The tom kha gai – a spicy coconut milk based soup with galangal root, lime leaves and chicken is a favorite of central Thailand. It’s a specialty of the house and one of Bo’s personal favorites. With large portioned dinner entrees ranging from $8 to $16 and lunch specials at only $7.25 to $9.50 which include soup, salad and rice – Lannathai is a great value. The family also knows how to build a business of regular customers – so prepare to be served and treated like family. Lannathai Restaurant, soon to become Thai Jasmine is located at 4457 Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Their phone number is (818) 995-0808 and they can be found online at www.lannathai-restaurant.com. 16830 Ventura Blvd., Suite 500, Encino, CA 91436 [email protected] www.AsherLevinLaw.com www.NVCN.org Lannathai Restaurant (Continued from page 9) MAKING BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU Accounting Systems (QuickBooks ProAdvisor) Financial Reporting Small Business IT Excel & QuickBooks Training Excel Expertise [email protected] / 818-307-4956 / www.rpsexp.com Asher Levin Don’t Leave Your Family or Your Business Unprotected. We Can Help. General Counsel for Local Businesses Probates, Trusts, Litigation Chapters 7 & 13 Bankruptcy Bo believes a new younger sounding name, a little remodeling, a full bar, some additional publicity and new presence on the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can help the community to become aware of the restaurant’s already first class Thai food. Lannathai is smart. They don’t try for too much. The menu is not the most extensive Thai menu you’ll ever encounter, but the quality is so high that each dish is a winner. From the amazing peanut sauce with the soft, tender chicken satay to the extremely flavorful medium textured pad thai, everything is fresh and impressive. Often, Thais do best with the cuisine from their own region. Menus often bend toward a family’s area of strength. The Mekpongsatorns come from Bangkok – Thailand’s one great, booming metropolis in the center of the country. People in Bangkok don’t always have a knack for provincial cuisine. However, Lannathai succeeds wildly with dishes from all over ADVERTORIAL PAGE 16 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS MAY 2010 Retail & Professional Services Directory ACUPUNCTURE Nadia Marie Harding, LAc (818)882-9765 www.ItsTreatableAcupunct ureHerbs.com ADULT DAY CARE E-SOL (818)881-4427 Law Offices of Emily F. Robinson (818) 645-3565 www.emilyrobinsonlaw.com Law Offices of Gregory Caplan- Criminal law (818)536-3630 thelosangelescriminalde fenseattorney.com ADVERTISING/ MARKETING MARKETING SERVICES Christopher Law Group Estate Planning (818)360-9500 christopherlawgroup.com Money Mailer of the West SFV (818)366-8493 moneymailer.com/mmwsfv Forry Law Group General Law (818)361-1321 http://forrylaw.com ADVERTISING SPECIALTY ITEMS SPECIALTY ITEMS Ashnault Specialties (818)998-1435 golfpromotions.net AIR CONDITIONING & HEATING Larios Air Conditioning, Inc. (818)349-8125 Richard T. Miller Attorney at Law (818)994-8234 www.richardtmillerlaw.com Park Parthenia Apartments (818)772-1080 Rockwood (818)367-7404 www.rockwoodca-apts.com Sonoma at Porter Ranch (818)341-1103 www.sonomaatporterranch.com Tesoro Apartments (818)576-0442 tesoroapts.com University Commons (818)718-8003 Village Point Apartments (818)996-5142 Villagio Apartments/ Carlo Inc. (818)773-1155 www.thevillagio.net APPLIANCES Angel Appliances Sales, Service & Parts (818)988-4313 angelappliances.com ATTORNEYS Law and Mediation Offices of Christine A. McClane – Family Law (818)885-6074 www.mcclane-law.com Bank of the West (818)894-6434 www.bankofthewest.com First Private Bank & Trust (818)832-3807 Martha Patterson, Certified Elder Law Attorney (818)746-5641 Meridian Place (818)998-0601 BANKS/CREDIT UNIONS Kantor & Kantor LLP Insurance Law (818)886-2525 kantorlaw.net Kahn Air Conditioning (818)886-2600 www.kahnair.com APARTMENTS/CONDOS Sunness Automotive (818)773-8969 www.sunnessautomotive. com Capital Source Bank (818)363-7400 www.capitalsourcebank.com Asher Levin Law Offices of Levy, McMahon, & Levin (818)981-4556 Thermal Comfort Systems, Inc. (818)705-4060 Omega Automotive and Transmissions (818)701-4061 www.omegaauto.net Gerald Raphael General Law (818)360-1818 Fresh Air Systems (818)700-1233 www.freshairfast.com Spring Heating & AC Service, Inc. (818)576-1448 www.springhvac.com High Octane Automotive (818)349-4335 AUTO BODY REPAIR & PAINT Hovee’s Auto Body (818)882-9999 www.hovees.com Jo Jo Auto Body, Inc. (818)775-1777 www.JoJoAutobody.com Maaco (818)895-8800 www.maaco.com Northridge Body Works (818)349-0000 AUTO SALES/ SERVICE Hamer Toyota, Inc. (818)365-9621 hamertoyota.com Mobility Works Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (818)780-1788 Northridge Toyota (818)687-6170 northridgetoyota.com AUTO TIRES & SERVICE Chatsworth Tire & Service Center (818)341-8631 www.chatsworthtire.com AUTO TOWING TOWING Day & Night Towing (818)709-3897 www.911tow.com AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR Cadillac Independent Garage (818)349-4335 www.cadillacindependent garage.com Matadors Community Credit Union (818)993-6328 matadors.org One West Bank (818)734-2940 Union Bank – Rinaldi St., Porter Ranch (818)831-5152 uboc.com Union Bank – Tampa Ave., Northridge (818)885-4167 uboc.com Wescom Credit Union (888)493-7266 Wilshire State Bank (818)773-6130 wilshirebank.com BANNERS Hightech Signs & Banners (818) 341-3227 hightechsignsandbanners. com BEAUTY SERVICES/ SUPPLIES CDM Corp (818)885-1910 Cosmoceutical Research Center (818)988-5426 crclabinc.com BILLING SERVICES Savi Group, Inc. (818)388-4885 www.billingsavi.com BOOKKEEPING SERVICES Casino Bookkeeping Services (818)700-0497 www.casinobookkeeping. com The Quickbooks Guru (805) 732-8431 www.gotquickbooks.com The Squeaky Mouse (818)631-1702 Qbooks.net BURGLAR ALARM/SECURITY ALARMS/SECURITY Division Patrol Private Security (818)745-7464 www.divisionpatrol.us Guardian National Security (818)703-9807 www.gnsguard.com Nuvicom (888)838-9892 www.nuvicom.com Protection Alarms (818)885-7726 protectionalarms.com BUSINESS CONSULTING/ TRAINING CLEANING/JANITORIAL CLEANING/JANITORIAL SERVICES SERVICES Executive Suite Services (818)993-6300 CLOTHING CLOTHING Northridge Suit Outlet (818)718-7848 www.northridgesuits.com COLLECTION COLLECTION AGENCIES AGENCIES COMPUTER TRAINING COMPUTER TRAINING Kate Wolman Computer Training (818)882-4918 kwct.com CONCESSION EQUIP CONCESSION EQUIP.. RENTAL & SALES RENTAL SALES Road Show Concessions (818)585-4017 www.roadshowconcessions. com CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES SUPPLIES Harvey J. Eisenstadt (818)701-7799 Transworld Systems, Inc. (818)585-7796 www.collections4less.com Sokol-Krieger Consulting (818)997-7575 kriegertraining.com COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS Far West Plywood Company (818)885-1511 American Cancer Society (818)772-0194 cancer.org Northridge Lumber (818)349-6701 Resource Planning Solutions (818)307-4956 www.rpsexp.com CARPET CLEANING Green Clean (818)920-3819 valleysheavensbest.com CEMETERY SERVICES Mount Sinai Memorial Park Dyna Levinson (818) 489-9546 CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS Bavan & Associates (818)787-1473 www.taxcpaworld.com Breard & Associates (818)886-0940 baicpa.com Irwin Zigmond, (818)704-7900 Kelfer and Assoicates (818)832-9500 www.kelfercpa.com LAPD Devonshire PALS (818)772-1717 devonshire-pals.org Multi Cultural Music & Art Foundation of Northridge (818)998-0326 www.mcmafn.org Northridge Woman’s Club (818)360-4691 US Concrete Design (818)998-9220 usconcretedesign.com Northridge/Chatsworth Rotary (818)773-9800 idolaw.com Pathpoint (818)773-9570 www.pathpoint.org Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship (818)700-2971 rideon.org MTX Financial, Inc. (818) 772-2277 www.mtxaccounting.com COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES Takata & Marzalek, Inc. (818)703-1040 besttax.com A.C.A. Network Solutions, Inc. (818)363-4105 acanetworks.com CHIROPRACTIC CARE Askew Network Solutions (818)723-4086 askew.net 1 Source IT Solutions (818)884-1749 Balfour Health Center (818)701-7070 Synaptic Systems (818)710-0647 synapticsystems.biz Dr. Sharone Rosen Traveling Chiropractor (818)341-3435 www.sharonerosen.com The MSM Consulting Group, Inc. (818)882-8987 msmcg.com Porter Ranch Medical Center (818)831-8000 porterranchmedicalcenter. com Ultimate Health Chiropractic Center (818)368-3484 www.iwantultimatehealth. com Gaby Sunrise Construction Inc. (818)441-3858 Sterling Construction (818)700-8883 sterlingconstruction.us Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind (818) 708-1740 www.tlc4blind.org Tiny Town Indoor Play Center (818)366-0305 www.tinytownindoorplay.com DS Honda Construction, Inc. (818)908-1300 Northridge Kiwanis Club (818)377-4566 www.northridgekiwanis.com Michael Russo and Co., LLP (818) 501-6644 CHILDREN'S CHILDREN’S ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT CONTRACTORS U2W, Inc. (818)718-8623 www.u2winc.com COMPUTER SOFTWARE Western Computer Services (661)255-0235 www.wcs-corp.com COPYWRTING COPYWRITING SERVICES SERVICES Filbert Marketing Communications (661)212-805700 www.filbertmarcom.com COUNTRY CLUBS Porter Valley Country Club (818)360-1071 www.portervalley.com CUSTOM PICTURE CUSTOM PICTURE FRAMES The Great Frame Up (818)920-4000 www.northridge.thegreatframeup.com U-Frame-It (818)781-4500 www.uframeitgallery.com DENTAL/ORTHODONTIC SERVICES Arleen Azar-Mehr,DDS (818)886-6666 losangelesorthodontist.com Balboa Dental Group (818)360-1946 balboadentalgroup.com Blooming Smiles (818)727-1800 www.bloomingsmiles.com Bernie Villadiego, DDS (818)341-1345 drberniedental.com Brian Kim, DDS, MSD, Inc. (818)363-7900 www.kimorthodontics.com Charlotte Roberson DDS (818)368-6266 John R. Dandona DMD, Katherine J. Curry DMD (818)366-8180 northridgeortho.com MAY 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 17 Retail & Professional Services Directory Mid-Valley Dental Care (818)886-3500 midvalleydentalcare.com Hamilton Insurance Group (818)368-1884 Napeloni Dental (818)701-9700 www.napelonidental.com Leyden & Associates Insurance (818)775-1185 leydenassociates.com Northridge Dental Group (818)886-6100 www.NorthridgeDental Group.com Northridge Dental Office (818)831-9990 northridgedentaloffice.com DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT STORES STORES COSTCO (818)775-1860 costco.com Northridge Fashion Center (818)885-9700 Wal-Mart (818)832-0642 www.walmart.com DISASTER EMERGENCY RESTORATION Immediate Response Service, Co. (818)898-4055 www.Immediateresponse. com DRAIN CLEANING The Drain Co. (818)344-1114 thedrainco.com DRUG & & ALCOHOL DRUG ALCOHOL COUNSELING COUNSELING MG Financial Services (818)390-4695 MML Financial & Insurance Services (818)368-9512 mmlfinancial.com FLORISTS Frank's Flowers & Gifts (818)993-8733 FLOORING The Floor Club (818)885-0844 FOOD & BEVERAGE Dream Dinners (818)368-8106 dreamdinners.com Frozen Crush (818)882-8486 www.frozencrush.com GIFTS Baskets by Judi (888)222-2806 basketsbyjudi.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Experience Graphics (818)488-1108 www.experiencegraphics.com GROCERS VIP Drug and Alcohol Education Center (818)734-2761 www.vipotc.com Gelson’s Markets (818)377-6494 HAIR SALONS ELECTRICAL ELECTRICAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES SERVICES SUPPLIES William Kremin Electrical Contractor (818)368-8809 www.kreminelectric.com Copycutters Hair Salon (818)993-0957 www.thecopycutters.com Park Jun's Beauty Salon (818)757-0675 www.parkjun.com EMPLOYEE BENEFITS OHM Benefit and Insurance Solutions (818)832-9990 www.ohmbenefits.com EMPLOYMENT SERVICE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE VOLT Services (818)920-5700 volt.com ENTERTAINMENT/ RECREATION Brunswick Matador Bowl (818)892-8677 Cartwright Entertainment (818)882-7553 nancycartwright.com Mad Dog's Gamers Paradise (661)253-4508 www.maddogparty.com Skateland (818)885-7655 skateland.net FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SERVICES Gupta Insurance & Financial Services (818)992-6000 guptains.com Supercuts – Devonshire St., Northridge (818)832-5071 HANDYMAN SERVICE George’s Handiyman Services (818)489-7769 HEALTH CARE APDA Information & Referral Center (818)885-8623 www.valleyparkinsons.org Divine Grace Home Health, Inc. (818)956-5872 www.divinegracehomehealth.org HEALTH INSURANCE Anthem Blue Cross (866)242-0311 www.aplanjust4u.com HEALTH PLANS Health & Dental Plan Alternatives (818)349-3562 everyonebenefits.com/ esilverman SCAN (818)426-3089 scanhealthplan.com HEALTH/FITNESS/ WELLNESS 24 Hour Fitness Northridge (747)224-2000 www.24hourfit.com Kellen Resources (818)886-2531 www.kellenresources.com Lanza Fitness Personal Training (818)718-1937 Lanzafitness.com North Valley Family YMCA (818)368-3231 ymcala.org/nv Pharmavite, LLC (818)221-6200 naturemade.com Total Woman/Gym & Day Spa (818)772-8900 HEARING AIDS Hearing Aid Specialists, Inc. (818)701-5484 hearpro.com HOME CARE SERVICES Homewatch CareGivers (818)356-2396 www.homewatchcaregivers. com/thevalley HOME IMPROVEMENT So Cal Dynamics (818)705-4060 HOSPICE ProCare Hospice (818)895-8000 procarenet.com Roze Room Hospice of The Valley (818)783-1002 rozeroomhospice.org St. Jacob Hospice (818)368-9995 www.stjacobhospice.com HOSPITALS Northridge Hospital Medical Ctr. (818)885-5339 NorthridgeHospital.org Providence Holy Cross Medical Center (818)365-8051 providence.org/losangeles HOTELS & MOTELS Guesthouse Inn of San Fernando Valley (818)891-1771 guesthousesanfernando valley.com Howard Johnson Inn & Suites (818)344-0324 HUMAN RESOURCES Sound HR Solutions (818)428-4637 soundhr.com HYPNOTHERAPY Janet Montgomery Hypnotherapy (818)458-8564 janetmontgomeryhypno therapy.com IMPORTERS/ IMPORTERS/ EXPORTERS EXPORTERS Jerome Russell (818)716-4716 Musson Int’l Freight Fwdrs-LA, LLC (818)366-3542 mussonfreight.com P & K Supplies Corp. (818)830-1992 INSURANCE SERVICES AFLAC – Kellie Cook (510)418-6713 [email protected] AFLAC – Bill Mandel 818)203-1101 [email protected]. com Cal Commercial Insurance Agency (818)924-2054 www.calcommercial insurance.com Mutual of Omaha (818)469-7313 Northridge Insurance Agency (818)349-5200 niains.com Financial West Group (818)280-0280 Globe Air (818)701-1627 youngchampionsusa.com National Planning Corp. (818)591-0005 San Fernando Valley Counseling (818)341-1111 sfccc.org JEWELERS/JEWELRY MORTGAGE SERVICES Jewelry Factory (818)781-9486 jewelryfactory.com Bank of America (818)366-6210 http://rmlo.bankofamerica. com/jaybolton LANDSCAPE SERVICES Four Seasons Wholesale Nursery (818)700-0092 LAUNDRY Granada Laundry (818)715-0965 granadalaundry.com LEGALSERVICES SERVICES& LEGAL &SUPPLIES SUPPLIES Creative Bail Bonds (818)921-5197 MAILING & SHIPPING SERVICES MMP Direct (818)891-8282 [email protected] US Mail Etc. (818)349-4600 usmailetc.com MANUFACTURERS MANUFACTURERS Toni Speyer / Northwestern Mutual Financial Network (818)426-6340 www.nmfn.com Fresh Jive Manufacturing, Inc. (213)748-0129 www.freshjive.com Paul Davis & Alberta Bellisario Insurance (818)888-0880 pdinsure.com Thermometrics Corp. (818)886-3755 www.thermometricscorp. com Syndicated Insurance Agency, LLC (818)332-1566 syndicatedins.com Viking Risk & Insurance Services, Inc. (818)357-2377 www.vikingrisk.com INTERIOR DECORATORS & DESIGNERS Advanced Floor & Window Coverings (818)703-7710 www.advancedfloorand window.com Interiors By Julie (818)470-0509 www.ibj.vpweb.com INTERNET RELATED SERVICES Time Warner Cable (818)407-4469 accesstimewarner.com INVESTIGATORS M.A. Investigations (818)363-1311 www.mainvestigate.com INVESTMENT SERVICES Edward Jones Investments (818)886-4670 edwardjones.com Hochman & Associates Scientology & Dianetics Group (818)831-6645 Sandlot Mortgage (818)523-1117 www.sandlotmtg.com The Hall Group (818)206-4461 hallgroup.net MORTUARY Bastian & Perrott, Oswald Mortuary (818)886-8600 Utter McKinley S.F. Mission Mortuary (818)361-4751 www.uttermckinley.com MOVING/HAULING& MOVING/HAULING &STORAGE STORAGE Golden State Self Storage (818)885-1611 goldenstatestorage.com North Valley Storage (818)365-9877 www.northvalleystorage. com SoCal Self Storage (818)882-2500 socalselfstorage.com MUSIC Adel Music (818)343-8125 www.adelmusic.com MASSAGE THERAPY Skin Care & Massage by Frani (818)366-6643 frantasticskincare.com MEDICAL BEDS RDI Systems (818)366-7779 www.RDI-Systems.com MEDICAL GROUPS Facey Medical Foundation (818)837-5755 facey.com Regal Medical Group (818)654-3400 www.regalmed.com MEDICAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES OXY Respiratory & Home Medical Equipment (818)642-6523 Wishing U Well Medical, Inc. (818)832-4177 www.camobility.com MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES Craig Halpern LCSW (818)621-3012 www.craighalpern.com NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS Northridge East Neighborhood Council (800)772-9132 www.nenc-la.org NETWORKING GROUPS West Valley BNI (818)370-6633 www.sfvbni.com NUTRITION Max Muscle (818)832-5446 www.maxmuscle.com OFFICE SUPPLIES Datanet Consultants (818)886-0009 datanetconsultants.com OPTOMETRIST Dr. Marshall Field (818)344-4012 www.eyedoc4you.com OUTDOOR LIGHTING Bieber Lighting Consultants (818)701-1548 bieberlc.com PAGE 18 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS MAY 2010 Retail & Professional Services Directory PAINTERS Master’s Touch Painting (818)427-6166 www.masterstouch4u.com PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION Topeka Drive PTA (818)886-2266 www.topekadrive.com PAYROLL SERVICES Employers Business Solutions (818)515-3716 bs4payroll.com Time Plus Payroll Services (661)294-2300 PEST CONTROL SERVICES Ecola Termite & Pest (818)920-7301 ecolatermite.com PERSONAL ERRAND SERVICES Busy Bodies Personal Assistant (805)341-2151 www.busybodies.weebly. com PHARMACIES Knollwood Pharmacy (818)363-8107 North Valley Pharmacy & Medical Supplies (818) 365-5300 Reliable Pharmacy (818)885-7722 PHOTOGRAPHY Cesar’s Photography (818)885-1985 cesarsphotography.com PHYSICAL THERAPY North Valley Physical Therapy (818)217-4868 www.northvalleypt.com Progressive Physical Therapy (818)832-8383 PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS Terence Thompson MD (818)341-0670 PLUMBING SERVICES PLUMBING SERVICES DMA Plumbing and Rooter (818)470-7709 www.dmaplumbing.com PODIATRIST Arthur Fass DPM (818)701-5088 northridgepodiatry.com PRINTING Minuteman Press of Northridge (818)341-1003 minutemanpressnorthridge.com PROMOTIONAL ITEMS PROMOTIONAL ITEMS Ashnault Specialties (818)998-1435 golfpromotions.net Promotionally Minded (818)705-4265 promotionallyminded.com REAL REALESTATE ESTATE— COMMERCIAL –COMMERCIAL ASCENT (818)992-7788 REAL ESTATE ESTATE — – REAL ESCROW St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (818)772-1074 St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church (818)891-1759 RESTAURANTS Abe's Deli and Family Restaurant (818)701-5563 www.abesdeli.com Acapulco (818)349-4584 ROOFING A-Quality Roofing (818)701-5037 aqualityroofing.com SCHOOLS/EDUCATION/ SCHOOLS/EDUCATION/ LEARNING CENTERS Pacifica Senior Living Northridge (818)886-5181 www.pacificanorthridge. com Chatsworth Hills Academy (818)998-4037 www.chaschool.org Smile on Seniors of Northridge (818)324-5828 www.smileonseniorsnorth ridge.com Mike’s Roofing Services (818)780-8820 Amelia's Place (818)717-8782 www.ameliasplace.net CSUN Alumni Association (818)677-2137 csunalumni.com Black Angus Restaurant Northridge (818)701-1600 blackangus.com CSUN Athletic Department (818)677-3208 gomatadors.com Micat Enterprises (877)783-8379 x 111 homebuyingcouple.com Bob's Big Boy (818)772-2627 CSUN College of Business & Economics (818)677-2455 REAL ESTATE ESTATE — – REAL SALES Brent’s Deli (818)886-5679 brentsdeli.com Center Valley Escrow (818)280-1580 CenterValleyEscrow.com REAL ESTATE ESTATE — – REAL INVESTMENT Century 21 All Moves (818)491-0121 sfvhomes.com Coldwell Banker – Velma Bell (818)395-4204 www.velmabell.com Park Regency Real Estate (818)675-3129 www.richardhersel.com Pinnacle Estate Properties, The Team Connection (818)481-4209 Realty Executives Valley Properties (818)407-1664 www.realtyexecutives valleyproperties.com TMG Properties (818)709-2525 tmgrealestate.com REAL ESTATE SERVICES Pacific Coast Title Kristen Kalski (818)253-5422 www.time4title.com Buon Gusto Ristorante (818)893-9985 CSUN University Club (818)677-2076 Carrow’s Family Restaurants (818)368-2911 Chi’s Chinese Cuisine (818)886-6928 Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant (661)253-4386 mountasiafuncenter.com Fresh Korean BBQ (818)758-9545 Jersey Mike's Subs (818)886-5800 Marie Callender’s (818)993-0704 www.mcpies.com Odyssey Restaurant (818)366-6444 Outback Steakhouse (818)366-2341 outback.com RECORDING STUDIOS Panera Bread (818)407-9400 panerabread.com Big City Recording Studios (818)366-0995 www.bigcityrecording.com Rosie's BBQ and Grillery (818)349-3055 www.rosiesbbq.com RECREATIONAL SPORTS North Valley Aikikai (818)652-5025 www.northvalleyaikiai.org RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS Granada Hills Church of Religious Science (818)363-8136 granadahillscrs.org Knollwood United Methodist Church (818)360-8111 www.knollwoodchurch.com Shepherd of the Hills (818)831-9333 theshepherd.org Shakey's Pizza Parlor (818)360-2151 http://www.shakeys.com/ The Great Wall Restaurant (818)996-8900 The Outdoor Grill (818)363-6500 www.theoutdoorgrill.com The Station Restaurant (818)349-8500 www.thestationrestaurant.net Village Tandoor (818)366-2820 villagetandorcuisine.com Weiler's Deli Northridge (818)892-8663 www.weilersdeli.com Magnolia Gardens Convalescent Hospital (818)360-1860 Independent Sales Representative CSUN Oviatt Library (818)677-2271 library.csun.edu Edge on English, Inc. (818)717-7347 edgeonenglish.com Everest College (818)774-0550 www.everest.edu Miller Career and Transition Center (818)256-2878 http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/l ausd/offices/spec_ed/_dots/ North Valley Charter Academy (818)368-1557 www.northvalleycharteracademy.org North Valley Occupation Center-Aviation Center (818)365-9645 www.nvoc.org Northridge Academy High School (818)700-2210 www.lausd.net/northridge_ academy_hs SENIOR HOME CARE Helping Hands for Seniors (818)886-8088 helpinghandsforseniors.com Novelty Personal Care Services (818)451-0424 www.noveltypersonalcare. com Senior Helpers (818)368-6313 www.seniorhelpers.com SENIOR SERVICES SERVICES & & SENIOR FACILITIES FACILITIES Aegis Living (818)363-3373 www.AegisofGranadaHills. com Casa Marina (818)341-8396 Lifeline Companion Services (818)980-8818 lifelinecompanionservices.com Sunrise Brighton Gardens of Northridge (818)886-1616 www.sunriseseniorliving. com The Village at Northridge (818)812-4600 www.seniorresourcegroup. com SIGNS AND BANNERS Hightech Signs & Banners (818) 341-3227 hightechsignsandbanners. com SKIN CARE Erbaviva (818)998-7773 erbaviva.com SPECIALTY PRODUCTS Ashnault Specialties (818)998-1435 golfpromotions.net The Trophy Emporium (818)708-9205 STORAGE FACILITIES Ace Storage Containers (818)620-1553 www.storagecontainer rentals.biz Nova Storage (818)365-9877 www.novastorage.com SoCal Self Storage (818)882-2500 www.socalselfstorage.com TAX PREPARATION H&R Block (805)587-5326 www.hrblock.com TUTORING SERVICES Mathnasium Learning Center (818)719-8646 www.mathnasium.com Vince Burns – Academic Tutoring (818)893-7666 www.professionaltutors. com RELATES VIDEO RELATED SERVICES Video Service Unlimited (818)727-7746 videoyou.com WATER COMPANIESCOMPANIES WATER —BOTTLED BOTTLES Culligan Water (800)559-5783 culligan.com WEBSITE RELATED SERVICES Balance in Motion, Inc. (818)421-8201 www.bmizone.com CogniText (818)886-4281 cognitext.com Tap Solutions (818)281-7628 www.tapsolutions.net Websperations (818)885-1564 websperations.com WINDOW COVERINGS Advanced Floor & Window Coverings (818)703-7710 www.advancedfloorand window.com Allbright Window Coverings (818)786-2271 www.allbrightwc.com Elayne’s Ellusions (818)881-6140 elaynesellusions.com WINDOWS & DOORS Affordable Sliding Door Repair (818)266-1839 www.affordableslidingdoor. com TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS Aladdin Glass and Mirror in Northridge (818)885-0500 www.aladdinglass.net Business Technology Services & Management (818)530-1880 btsmllc.com Bel-Air Exteriors & Texcote (818)787-3200 belairexteriors.com TILE AND STONE Westside Tile and Stone (818)704-9222 westsidetile.com TRAVEL Northridge Travel Service (818)886-2000 TierraBellaTravel.com (818)421-2011 www.tierrabellatravel.com TREE TRIMMING TRIMMING TREE R & C Tree Co. (818)775-1918 WRITING AND EDITING R. Kellogg Associates (818)993-5468 yourwritingresource.com TO HAVE YOUR BUSINESS LISTED IN THE MONTHLY RETAIL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DIRECTORY CALL (818) 349-5676 APRIL 2010 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS PAGE 19 BUSINESS Business is Communication By Robin Kellogg When I worked in the corporate world, I can’t tell you how many times I heard executives say that there was no direct correlation between their bottom line and their business communications. I would think to myself, “that’s crazy”. Business is communication! Everything you do to communicate to prospective clients, employees and the community about your service or product has a direct impact on your profit. That’s why it is so important to understand how to communicate with your audience and how often that communication must go out. The form of the communication: email, newsletter, sales letter, press release, etc. doesn’t matter as much as the way the information is communicated. Here are a few basic rules to follow: • Determine your target audience • Be concise • Be understandable (no techno lingo) • Ask questions • Don’t assume you know what your customer or prospective customer wants or needs • Contact them more than once, more than twice…studies show people need at least seven to eight touches before they make a purchase. • Take advantage of print and online forms of communication. The more people you reach the better. • Be sincere. Remember, any communication you send out is a direct reflec- New Vision for Northridge (Continued from page 11) ing visual blights such as graffiti has been funded by Northridge East and West Neighborhood Councils and the city of Los Angeles through the efforts of Councilman Greig Smith, with support and assistance from neighboring Councilman Dennis Zine. The NE/W Vision Committee, which is composed of the aforementioned partners will oversee the process. Steve Patel, Chair of the NE/W Committee and President of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council stressed that this project is “by the community and for the community”. “We are constantly striving to make Northridge a better place to live, work, play and learn. Community participation and feedback is at the core of this mission. We want to know how stakeholders see our community emerging in the years to come.” NE/W Vision Committee ViceChair, Peter McCarty, sees this as “a first step toward updating our community plan as well as the general plan for Northridge.” Go to www.northridgevision. org for more information and share your vision. tion of your business and ultimately your bottom line. R o b i n Kellogg, owner of R. Kellogg Associates provides companies of Robin Kellog all sizes with text for their websites, brochures, sales letters, and other marketing materials. She can be reached at 818-993-5468. ADVERTORIAL May 2010 Chamber of Commerce Business Calendar Business Consulting Services Business consulting services are provided by the Small Business Development Center every Monday from 1pm -4pm at the Chamber office, 9401 Reseda Blvd, Northridge. Consulting services are available to existing businesses and those contemplating starting a business. This service is also available to non-chamber members. To schedule an appointment, call Kelle Warren at 661-294-9375 Senior Services Business Council Noon. Marie Callender’s 19310 Business Center Dr., Northridge May 4 May 11 May 18 May 25 Health and Wellness Associates 8:15 am. Marie Callender’s 19310 Business Center Dr., Northridge May 5 May 12 May 19 May 26 Home Improvement Associates 7 am. Marie Callender’s 19310 Business Center Dr., Northridge May 7 May 14 May 21 May 28 Technology Cluster 9 am.- 11am, Marie Callender’s 19310 Business Center Dr., Northridge May 8 May 22 This cluster meets on Saturdays Networking Mixer The Outdoor Grill May 12 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm 18697 Devonshire St. Northridge Networking Breakfast Sponsored by VEDC May 25 7:00 am – 9:00 am Porter Valley Country Club 19216 Singing Hills Dr., Northridge RSVP Only $15 – Members $20 – Non Members Call 818-349-5676 The Chamber of Commerce invites guests to attend any of our functions. Please call 818-349-5676 to RSVP. [email protected] www.nvrcc.com PAGE 20 NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY NEWS Rosie’s BBQ & Grillery (Continued from page 9) how to create a popular restaurant. At one time they were partnered with their cousins and within the extended family they had Wood Ranch BBQ, Rattlers and Stonefire. Rosie’s itself has been around 30 years. Wood Ranch was sold off to a corporation and the others bought and sold among the cousins. But they all seem to know the secret to a successful barbecue. Rosie’s has a special bent – value. Especially at lunch time when the salad bar with drink runs only $9.99 Monday through Sunday. Choice of selected sandwiches and entrees with choice of side and drink are only $7.99 Monday through Friday. And choice of any of Rosie’s 1/4 pound burgers with fries and a drink cost $6.99. It’s hard to beat that at a fast food restaurant. It’s no wonder Rosie’s does a huge lunch business. But with those prices and that quantity, it’s only natural to question the quality of the food. But amazingly, Rosie’s makes every- MAY 2010 thing themselves – salad dressings, specialty salads, seasoning, desserts, side dishes, rolls – and they even slow roast their own meat. One taste of the baby back ribs or even the extremely moist and tender chicken breasts and there’s no doubt, it’s good barbecue. There’s no alcohol served at Rosie’s – so don’t come expecting a cold beer. But they will offer refillable drinks in mason jars including several flavors of homemade lemonade, and their special Nancy Lopez – a cranberry juice iced tea mixture. But whatever you choose at Rosie’s – go in hungry. Rosie’s BBQ and Grillery is located at 9012 Tampa Ave in Northridge. Their phone number is 818-349-3055 and they can be found online at www.rosiesbbq.com Busy Bodies Personal Assistant Overwhelmed by everything you need to get done? Short on time? Shorthanded? Overworked? We can help! *Errands/Courier *Mobile Notary *Shopping *Assistant/Secretarial *Organizing/Vacation Services *Elderly and Family Services Visit our website at www.busybodiespersasst.com to discover our full range of our services that will make your life a lot easier, or call us at (805) 341-2151. Choosefrom from Dream Dream Dinners monthly menu, then then assemble Choose Dinnersdelicious delicious monthly menu, assemble your dinners once a month to serve to your family in the weeks ahead.ahead. your dinners once a month to serve to your family in the weeks DREAM DINNERS 11852-3/4 Balboa Blvd. Granada Hills, CA 91344 Phone: (818) 368-8106 [email protected] SAVE 10% YOUR FIRST PURCHASE For first-time guests. Place an order anytime during our April or May menu to redeem online, enter the promo code DDNC102010. Valid online 5/01/10 thru 6/30/10 on order of 36 servings or more. Ask About Our...Diabetes Friendly Dinners Dietitian Designed, Physician Approved Meals. Start eating healthier and managing your diabetes today! Membership PAYS at MCCU DON’T MISS OUR $250 CASH GIVEAWAY! Apply for and open any one (or more) qualifying services by 5/31/10 and be entered to WIN $250!4 BOYS & GIRLS AGES 4 thru 18 YEARS OLD AYSO Region 795 • CHATSWORTH/PORTER RANCH Registration Events - Fall Season 2010 Saturday, May 22, 2010 Saturday, June 12, 2010 Qualifying Services I I I I I I I Free Checking Account Free ATM Check Card Free Bill Payer2 Any MCCU loan3 Direct Deposit Free Online Banking E-Statements 10:00 am - 2:00 pm 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm Lawrence Middle School Gym Lawrence Middle School Gym Registration Fees Registration $140 1st Child 1 April 1st - June 30th $120 2nd Child* $100 3rd Child* Late Registration After June 30th $155 per Child (no sibling discount) Players will be wait-listed For Spring Season Participants $126 1st Child $108 2nd Child* $90 3rd Child* *Same household discount Child must be 4 years old on or before July 31, 2010 to play. Proof of age is required for players new to Region 795 Registration Process 1. Go to www.eayso.org and create a user name and password. 2. Pre-register your child in Region 795. Print out 3 copies. Sign and date forms. 3. Pre-register parents as volunteers (most parents will volunteer in some capacity during the season!) Print out 3 copies. Sign and date forms. 4. Bring all forms with you to one of our registration events. Call or visit us online today for more details! Please pass this info on to a friend! Sorry, no “carpool” requests for U10 - U19 divisions. Registration Fees Includes 1 Your better alternative to a bank since 1963 L.A. DAILY NEWS WINNER: Best Bank/Credit Union 2008 & 2009 www.matadors.org | (818) 993-6328 Chatsworth | Northridge On approved credit. Membership required. 2 Monthly transactions in excess of 25 are $0.35 each. Must be activated and used within 30 days to avoid a $5 monthly inactivity fee. 3 Loan must be approved and funded to be eligible for prize. 4 No purchase necessary. One winner only. One entry per product or service. Winner will be notified. Federally Insured by NCUA. Uniforms • Pictures Trophy • Yearbook Everyone Plays!! Self Esteem • Balanced Teams Team Work • Sportsmanship Sign up to be a coach, referee, or region volunteer at our registration event! For More Information AYSO Message Center: (818) 885-1639 Website: www.ayso795.org Email: [email protected] This activity is neither sponsored by nor affiliated with the Los Angeles Unified School District.