LA VERNE LEADERS: Business Updates and other Local Scoops
Sweet Smell of Success: Now you no longer have to go Oak Glen to taste great apples. Sinfully Sweet Apple Co, which specializes in Gourmet Caramel Apples, just opened in La Verne in the Stater Brothers shopping center where Maggie Moos used to be. While Maggie’s was delicious, Sinfully Sweet Apple Co. offers guilt-free desserts. Their carmel apples are “90%” apple. Even the glaze is sugar free. Don’t make the mistake of asking about the different kinds of apples they offer: Pecan Pie, Cherry Chocolate Chip, New York Cheesecake, Cookies n Cream, German Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Almond, Snickers, Turtle, Rocky Road, Apple Pie, Red Crunchy Flakes, Toffee Crunch, Caramel Almond, Almond Roca, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Caramel Peanut, Strawberry Shortcake, Neapolitan, White Chocolate Raspberry and Lemon Pie. “The Lemon Pie Caramel Apple is to die for,” said store manager Maria Neufarth. “It’s a caramel apple dipped in lemon-flavored yellow chocolate rolled in vanilla wafers with a little lemon wedge right on top. It tastes just like a lemon pie. Forget the apple.” The owners are Martha Henderson and Cheryl Cling, who have been taking their apples to farmer’s markets and local county fairs for years before they opened their La Verne storefront. All the apples are designed and dipped in their certified kitchen, so come in for a taste. They even offer an apple-tasting bar, along with other sinful offerings such as gourmet popcorn, cookies, and rice krispie treats. How do you like them apples?
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From Gala Apples to Galas: Margaret and David held their annual fundraising gala at the Avalon Center inside the Fairplex fairgrounds on Oct. 16. Attendees participated in an exciting silent auction, where they were able to bid on dozens of wonderful gifts – from a week stay at a Mammoth Lake condo to a Craftsman-style table – as well as purchase mystery boxes containing precious gemstones donated by Micky’s Jewelry Studio in La Verne. Former La Verne mayor Jon Blickenstaff hosted the grand affair and the keynoter was Jon Beil, CEO of Make the Difference Foundation. Among other notables attending were State Assemblyman Anthony Adams. David and Margaret has been serving children and families in need for a century (1910-2010) and encourages community involvement opportunities. For more info, visit the D&M web site at http://www.dmhome.org/ …
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Margaret Mindful Living: Canice Barbone, co-owner and director of Ultimate Fitness Camps, SCBSA Fitness Center and Club Spinnergy in La Verne and a regular contributor to LaVerneOnline.com on topics of health and fitness, will be one of the featured speakers at the all-day “Art of Mindful Living” seminar on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel in Pomona. Other featured speakers include nutrition and weight management specialist Jerri Evans (The Art of Mindful Eating), inventor and entrepreneur Scott Evans (The Art of Pulling It All Together), marriage and family therapist Judy McGehee (The Art of Guided Meditation), and Michael George Price (The Art of Fearless Thinking). The price of the event is $97, which includes a healthy lunch. However, if you type in Canice’s name on the registration page, you will receive a $50 discount, so total registration will be only $47 for a full day of health and wellness tips that you can start putting to work before the holidays. To learn more about the event, go to http://www.alkapurelifestyle.com/event, or you may call 888.310.1253 to register over the phone…
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Halloween Haunts: With everybody going on Google these days to get their information, it’s a wonder anyone goes to the library anymore. But our local librarians are a creative bunch, so you’ll be pleased to know they again hosting their Annual Haunted House (Library?) on Wednesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 29, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Friday, Oct. 30 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Gift bags and candy will be distributed while supplies last. Library staff will decrease or increase the scare factor upon request. The Haunted House will be held in the La Verne Library’s meeting room. Admission is free. For information regarding this event, please contact Shanda Nelson or Gustavo Trujillo at 909-596-1934…
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Pets, People, Places: Mark Levy, co-owner of Palace Pet Salon, in La Verne, is at it again, offering another anesthesia-free (the cleaning isn’t free, but the service is anesthesia free) teeth cleaning for your pups and pets on Sunday, Oct. 25. Imagine your dog’s canines and wisdom teeth tartar- and plaque- free and polished to perfection. Mark says the cleaning fee is normally $110, “a quarter of the cost charged by a vet,” but dog owners can use Pet Palace’s $10 in-house coupon to further reduce the cost. Customers will also receive another $5 discount on their dog’s next grooming visit. Sounds like a pretty good offer to make both canines and customers walk away smiling. To schedule an appointment, call 593-5714. At the same time, ask about a photographic sitting for your pooch on Nov. 7 for the very low price of $23.95, which includes a choice of one 8×10 or two 5x7s along with four wallet-size photos.
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What’s Shakin’ at the Shack? The Mud Shack in La Verne, owned by Denise Hart and supervised by ceramics hobbyist Sue Henderson, is heating up for the holidays, along with their two 2,000 Fahrenheit degree kilns. The Shack has scores of forms to choose from, such as plates, saucers, cups, mugs, picture frames, gingerbread houses and other bisque ware, that you can paint and decorate to the limits of your imagination. Here you can find kids and rocket scientists working side by side to create some of the coolest ceramics you’ll ever see. The forms are priced from $5 to $40, and there’s a studio fee of $8, which covers the cost of paints, glazes and the energy it takes to fire up the kilns that have to run for a full 24 hours at 2,000 degrees before producing a finished piece. Contemplating a kitchen remodel? How unique would it be to create your own colorful, whimsical tiles for your backsplash? That’s what Henderson did in her kitchen. Also ask about the Mud Shack’s party specials and studio free (no paint charge) days as well. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas plates … handprints done in clay for your child’s first birthday. Play at the Mud Shack to make the holidays extra special.
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The Corner Butcher Shop’s Red Meat Pepsi Challenge: On a Saturday, Oct. 17, when kids were competing on tennis courts, soccer fields and football fields, brothers John and Will Fueling, owners of The Corner Butcher Shop, decided to host a competition of their own.
They purchased New York and rib-eye steaks from Costco and from Stater Brothers and asked the public to compare these super market and big box cuts of beef with their Corner Butcher Shop selections – a sort of Pepsi Challenge that compared meat instead of soda pop.
They grilled all the meats and asked the public to choose the best-tasting ones. They held three separate challenges at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. At the noon taste test, a dozen people took the challenge, and each one selected the New Yorks and rib-eyes sold at The Corner Butcher Shop.
The unanimous outcome really got John’s juices flowing. “Stater Brothers’ Harris Ranch stuff is the same price as my stuff,” John said. “For New Yorks, I’m at “choice” or “upper choice,” and they’re at “choice.” For rib-eyes, I’m at “prime,” and they’re at choice, and we’re both at $14.99 a pound.
“I have a better steak and I’m the same price as Stater Brothers. Somehow, there’s this perception in the marketplace. that they have a good steaks at a cheap price.
“Everybody tells me Costco’s got great meat, so I went over there as well and bought it and grilled it and put it next to ours. Their prime rib-eyes are $11.99 a pound, and ours are $14.99 a pound, and ours are a lot better tasting.
“So that’s what we were out doing, trying to tell our story that we have a good steaks.
For everyone who took the taste challenge, The Corner Butcher Shop sold their quality meats at the club membership price.
The Corner Butcher Shop is also offering two grades of free-range Shelton Turkeys from a Pomona-based supplier. The pre-order cost before Nov. 1 is $2.95 a pound; if you order after Nov. 1, the price is $3.32 a pound. The Corner Butcher Shop also offers organic turkeys, which means the turkeys have been raised on organically grown feed, in addition to being free-range and hormone- and drug-free. These turkeys are offered at $4.25 a pound. There is no pre-order option for the organically fed turkeys. For a $1 more a pound, The Corner Butcher Shop will also oven roast or smoke your turkey for you. LaVerneOnline can only imagine there will be a line out the door gobbling up these great values from The Corner Butcher Shop.
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Dilbeck is on the Move: Dilbeck Premier Properties, a LaVerneOnline advertiser, has moved into new digs in the La Verne Commons Shopping Center. “I love our new location,” said Joan O’Rourke, a long-time La Verne resident and one of the top-producing Realtors in the San Gabriel Valley. “We love the shopping center, and we’re happy to be here. It feels like home.”
Dilbeck Premier Properties Broker Ann Krauter also was excited by the move to La Verne from Claremont: “I love the energy and the vitality of the La Verne Commons. We do a lot of business in La Verne, and the way we’re going to grow that business is to be a good neighbor and to be as involved as we possibly can in the community.”
Stop in and say hello. The new address is 1502 Foothill Blvd., suite 104.
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