MORAGA COMMUNITY FAIRE SMASHING SUCCESS

Co-chairs Ellen Beans and Grant Stubblefield report 2,500 people came – and they stayed. There were artists, their jewelry, and something new: one painted beautiful scarves to match your outfit. Food from healthy mucho wraps, chicken curry and of course good hot dogs did a rush of business as did the five Moraga wine growers and winemakers represented. Met the Captains, who have the largest vineyard – they’ll be bringing out a new wine in a couple of years. Dave Parker, of Parkmon (combination of his and his wife’s names) is introducing a number of new wines tomorrow (Saturday, May 16) – two of them using the Captain’s grapes. Great music from the bandstand, staring local bands including a group of eight girls from Moraga’s middle school – fine singers. Moragans do know how to move.

Harriet Ainswroth
Columnist Contra Costa Sun
Friday, May 15, 2009

 

Asia Palace

I went to the Asia Palace http://www.yelp.com/biz/asia-palace-restaurant-moraga last night and the place was packed. Not a seat to be found, and people were in line for take out. My husband and I shared asparagus chicken with brown rice, and as always, it was delicious. Alan, the owner often gives his dining guests a little something extra. Last night it was fresh organic vegetables, a couple of fresh artichokes and an apple to take home. Sometimes it is candy or maybe a little extra wine with dinner. Alan remodeled a few years ago and the place looks great. The service is good, and Alan always makes you feel welcome.

 

Vietnamese Food In Moraga

After squaring and plotting the Moraga Community Faire off tonight we went to The Hearty Little Noodle. We came in about 15 minutes after they had closed, and they could see on our tired faces that we were hungry,  They let us order some dinner. We ordered some egg rolls with noodles and a light salad (#B3). It was very reasonably priced at $7.25. The egg rolls were crunchy and were savory in flavor. For one of our first Vietnamese experiences, it was a pleasant one. We had heard mixed things about the restaurant but mostly about it’s exterior experience. As most of us know, some of the best restaurants are the dives that you never think would hold potential. Moraga has it’s share of them, Hearty Little Noodle, SiSi Cafe, and Mondello’s just to name a few. From us, two native Moragans, we love it. We sat out on the grass island near the entrance of the center and imagined warm nights where people were out in the center enjoying a night snack, dinner or some ice cream. Anything is possible, we think the Faire is the start of it.

Grant Stubblefield (Community Marketing Group) and Chelsea Doctors (All By Friday)

 

SCORE offers a New E-Commerce Workshop

SCORE is a national volunteer organization. Our own Larry Tessler is a SCORE counselor offering free counseling for small business people. He counsels face-to-face (Call 934-2007 for an appointment).

Larry tells us that SCORE is now offering a low cost workshop covering the fundamentals of starting and promoting your website. The presenter is a professional in the field. She will cover the different strategies and services available on the Internet, both free and for a fee, to bring traffic to your site. If you already have a website or are simply contemplating establishing one, either as an informational site or to do business, this workshop is for you!

Log onto East Bay Score and click on “Business Workshops” and then on “eCommerce” to see the details. Sign up for this low cost ($25) two-hour presentation. The date is Thursday, May 14. Hurry to get your reservation in!

 

A New Chief of Police for Moraga

JM auditorium was packed. There were three important items on the Moraga Town Council agenda. The first item, however, brought the largest crowd of friends, family, fellow officers, Moraga town staff and representatives. All had come to witness the swearing in of Robert Priebe as Moraga Chief of Police. Bob has been with the Moraga Police department for 29 years. Chief Priebe thanked many people, with a special thank you to his wife Tracy for always supporting him. This special evening was also Bob and Tracy’s 31st wedding anniversary. He gave Tracy a beautiful bouquet of a dozen yellow roses to mark the day they said “I do”. When Bob gave the roses to Tracy, he mentioned with a twinkle in his eye, that he had Shopped Morga First. Their son Ron was there to help his Mom pin Bob’s chief’s badge on his uniform. Ron is 29 years old and was 11 days old the day Chief Priebe joined the Moraga Police Department. Ron is a canine officer with the Pleasant Hill police department. Bob and Tracy have two other children, who live out of the area.

His comments about a former Moraga Chief of Police, Brad Kerns, were especially poignant. Brad was Chief in 2004. Chief Priebe said, “Chief Kerns was the most important mentor of my life. He opened up a new way of being for me. I used to be very adversarial. Brad taught me that I could be a successful police officer by being kind and respectful. I could still be tough and straight, but being kind would get me much further with the people with whom I lived and worked. This was a turning point in my life.”

Moraga is lucky to have Chief Priebe at the helm of the Moraga Police Department. Welcome, and may you serve Moraga for many years to come.

Edy Schwartz
President Moraga Chamber of Commerce

 

Moraga Chamber Successful Networking Day

It was a beautiful Sunday on April 19th at the LaMorInda Earth Day Festival. Local businesses, chambers of commerce and sustainable vendors setup to showcase what green products and services they have to offer. The Moraga Chamber gave away directories and promoted our original Shop Moraga First campaign. In addition, many flyers were distributed to people to promote the 3rd annual Moraga Community Faire on May 9th. As each family walked by, they were briefly told about our upcoming faire and everything it has to offer for their whole family. Other Moraga vendors at the festival included Moraga Hardware and Lumber showcasing their green cleaning products, planting soils, and fertilizers that are not only environmentally safe, they are incredibly effective. Moraga Hardware and Lumber actually carries more green products than any other store in the LamorInda area. We also had our very own Terzetto Cuisine selling pastries and iced coffees. Overall, it was a great event for our chamber and our Moraga participants because we had yet another chance to communicate directly with the LamorInda community about shopping and acting locally.

Grant Stubblefield
Community Marketing Group

 

Saint Mary’s Florist Is In Business

We want to thank the LaMorInda community for supporting our flower store through our on line website, http://www.stmarysflorist.net. As always, we are available through the phone at 925-376-5558. We make beautiful bouquets for special occasions, and have wonderful flower arrangements for your specific design needs. Free delivery to LaMorInda (minimum order $45). Same day delivery for orders before noon. Do keep us in mind, and let us serve you with your floral needs. See our designs in the upcoming Lafayette Kitchen tour on May 16, 2009.

Sandra Melily Owner

 

Constant Contact Helps During Challenging Economic Times

Roos Pal, the owner of Terzettos, sent me a Constant Contact email regarding Easter Brunch. I simply hit reply and made a reservation for two. Roos has found that gathering her customers’ email addresses is easy, and the response from them has made a significant difference during these challenging economic times.Easter Brunch at Terzetto Cuisine was bustling. The sumptuous buffet was a colorful collage of eggs benedict, crispy french toast, a confetti of various omelets , fresh fruit, green salads, and luscious desserts. Proud grandparents beamed at their grandchildren, and couples old and young leisurely enjoyed Easter Brunch. The sun shone on a perfect morning. The brunch was priced at only $13.95 for adults and $5.95 for kids under 10. As my husband and I left Terzettos, we were stuffed and palletes satiated.

 

New Management at the Ranch House Cafe

If you haven’t been to the Ranch House Cafe near Safeway in Moraga in the past few months or years you will be happy to know that it has been taken over by new management. I was there last night for dinner with my family and the food and service was fantastic. In addition to breakfast and lunch, the restaurant is now offering dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The building itself is undergoing minor construction inside and out which will make the place a lot nicer. Also, there is a new menu, and new kitchen staff has been hired. The menu selection has a little something for your entire family to enjoy.

If you don’t want to drive down the hill for a meal, give The Ranch House a try.

Gardening: Both Moraga Hardware and Lumber aka Ace and Osh have great sales on gardening tools and other items we all will be purchasing for the care of our lawn and plants. Check advertisements for sales and or tax free special days.

Got Summer camps?
Yes, and Moraga has a big selection this year, so you don’t have to drive out of town to find great camps for you kids this summer. Read Lamorinda Weekly (April 2) to see a list of the camps coming up this summer.

Please remember to Shop Moraga First and we will all benefit from your tax dollars staying in our town.

Ana R.
Moraga Resident

 

Longs (CVS) To Sell Saint Mary’s Merchandise

Mike Lawrence, the Long’s (CVS) manager, informed the Moraga Chamber of Commerce board members today that they will now sell Saint Mary’s College merchandise. To start, they will sell sweatshirts and t-shirts.

This is a great representation of an interconnectedness beginning between Saint Mary’s College and the Moraga business community.