By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
A full house of chamber members and guests celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce at the Lake Arrowhead Resort on Tuesday, April 22. The chamber was created in 1924, with a goal similar to today’s mission of “promoting the true spirit of cooperation and the best interests of the whole community.”
Suzanne Martin was the evening’s mistress of ceremonies.
The lobby at the Resort was decorated with photos of Lake Arrowhead Village, beginning in the 1920s to current day. One of the special displays in the lobby, near where T.J. Roger was playing the piano, were the parking sticker decals that locals needed to buy if they didn’t want to pay the $1-a-day parking fee for using the village parking lot. They were designed by Frank Burns, who ran the parking concession from the late 1940s through the late 1970s. Most of the current-day merchants were never aware that the village had charged for parking during the post-war days of the original village.
Many of the guests looked at the photos and read some of the early history of the area. Every attendee was given a historic picture post card from those early days, with a choice of a picture of the parking gate at the village entrance or one of the old village cards that were donated by the Rim of the World Historical Society and were over 50 years old. Very few were left behind at the end of the evening.
To enter the dining room, which was referred to as a “speakeasy,” each person was given the secret password to get past the bouncer. Many attendees were dressed in 20s garb, adding to the image of the 1920s evening.
On the program was a copy of the 1924 charter, containing the names of the original chamber officers, which had been on display in the Lake Arrowhead chamber office for years. Obviously, for longevity reasons, none of those original board members could attend this 100th anniversary party.
The chamber played a game in which everyone participated for a “C-Note” ($100). The game, which was called “Heads or Tails,” ended in a tie between Dr. Paul Boccumini and Leah Weis. After they both kept choosing heads – and it came up – they decided to donate the “C-Note” to the Mountains Community Hospital Foundation, which generated a big round of applause.
Mary-Justine Lanyon and Jack Tingley were nominated as the Individual Community Member of the Year. Arali West was the winner. They were presented with certificates from Robin Bull, representing Supervisor Dawn Rowe; Armando Martinez, representing Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh; and Corrinne Mora, representing Rep. Jay Obernolte.
Lori Butler, the interim executive director, gave a brief history of the chamber and some of the challenges they’ve overcome over the century, including a world war, the total destruction of the village by fire in 1979 and its reconstruction.
A special moment in the evening was when Brian Cohen accepted the first annual J. Fraser Barbrick Legacy Award in honor of his late father, Dr. Elwood Cohen. Brian was visibly touched as he spoke about his father and his many contributions to the community. Dr. Barbrick was the first president of the chamber.
After dinner, they honored many individuals and businesses in the community who have helped to make it vibrant and help it to continue to move forward.
In the Individual Community Member category, the nominees were Jack Tingley and Mary-Justine Lanyon, with the winner being Arali West.
Nominated in the Nonprofit category were the Rim of the World Historical Society and Mountain History Museum, Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead, Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club, Soroptimist International of Rim of the World, Mountains Community Hospital Foundation and Mountain Homeless Coalition, with the winner being the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council.
The winner in the Small Business category was Wildflowers at the Lake; the runner-up in the Larger Business Category, In-Home Services, was Sweep’s Luck and the winner in Retail was Rim Forest Lumber and Hardware.
There were 17 nominees from the professional services, public organizations, food and drink and lodging, recreation and retail industries who work in the Lake Arrowhead communities area. The winner in the Executive Services category was Dr. Bueler from Rim Chiropractic, while the winner of the Leadership Circle category was Sunset’s Island Bar and Grill.
On the back of the program were the names of the chamber board members: Chairman Dr. Ken Witte, Past Chair Cecilia Ponce De Leon, Vice Chair Scott Rindenow, Vice President Tricia Du Four, Secretary Jilleen Pattison, Treasurer Derek Bobadilla and board members Corina Colan, Rona Kay, Sandra Koos, Travis Lanthier, Brad Lofland, Paul Medawar and Alexander Vallejos.
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