53rd Annual Armed Forces Day Parade in Torrance – Dignitaries and Prologue

These photos were taken Saturday at the 53rd Annual Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade. Torrance is one of the few cities in the United States that has an Armed Forces Day Parade and they have been doing it longer and better than anyone. I read somewhere that this is the largest Armed Forces Day Parade west of the Mississippi River. Since it is the biggest, that means I got a ton of photos; so many that it would be difficult to navigate through all of them if you are looking for something specific. As a result, I am going to …

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American Craft Beer Week: Spotlighting local brews

Day five of American Craft Beer Week found us at three local brewers; Monkish Brewing, El Segundo Brewing Company and Strand Brewing Company. Monkish and Strand are both located in Torrance; I will let you guess what city El Segundo Brewing is in. While we have tried some of the craft brews from each of the brewers, it was at Select Beer Store during their South Bay Tap Takeover; so we had only tried one or two of their brews. We were impressed with all three enough that it was not a problem making a special visit. Monkish Brewing specializes …

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Photos from the Toyota Automobile Museum in Torrance

As I mentioned yesterday, we recently attended a Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce mixer at the Toyota Automobile Museum. They have an extensive collection of Toyota automobiles; with everything from a 1936 Toyota “Classic” Model AA (okay, it is a replica, but very nice) to Formula 1 and Indy style racers, to concept cars. If you are a car fan, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It is the only Toyota Museum outside of Japan. The museum is located at 19600 Van Ness Avenue and tours are available by appointment only. For more information I would suggest …

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TACC Regional Mixer at the Toyota Automobile Museum

These photos were taken at the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC) After Hours Regional Mixer which was held Thursday evening at the Toyota Automobile Museum. Chamber mixers give members of various local Chambers the opportunity to network with other Chamber members that they might not meet under normal circumstances. The theme for this particular mixer was to feature “Green” products and services offered by local businesses. This included products and services such as recycling and energy conservation, to the new Miyako Hybrid Hotel. In addition to the networking, we were given the opportunity to walk around the Toyota Automotive …

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American Craft Beer Week: 1321 Taproom and Hudson House

Day three of the 7th Annual American Craft Beer Week found us at 1321 Downtown Taproom in Torrance and Hudson House in Redondo Beach. It has been a year since my first visit to 1321 Taproom and my first visit to Hudson House. Actually, I never heard of Hudson House prior to yesterday, so this search for different craft beers is definitely introducing me to new places in the South Bay. We started off at 1321 Downtown Taproom because they serve flights and we were not planning on dining. It turns out that was a good plan since they apparently …

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Counseling4Kids first annual Bowl4Kids at Palos Verdes Bowl

Monday evening, Counseling4Kids.org held their first annual bowl-a-thon at the Palos Verdes Bowl in Torrance, CA to help kick off National Foster Care Awareness Month. Bowl4Kids is a fundraiser that brought together local businesses and service organizations for a little friendly competition while helping Couseling4Kids to provide mental health services to children in Los Angeles Countys foster care system. The event was sponsored by Whole Foods Market in Torrance, California Credit Union and Kaiser Permanente and included trophies for Top Bowling Team and Top Bowler; as well as prizes for Top Fundraiser and Top Fundraising Group. Additional fund raising was …

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BNI Noon Networkers at South End Racquet Club

Last week at a Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce event, I was approached about coming to a meeting of the BNI Noon Networkers at the South End Racquet and Tennis Club, which was held today. BNI stands for Business Networking International, an global business networking organization that has been around for 25 years. The premise is that each chapter limits membership to one business per category. For example, at the networking event I attended today, there was a realtor, dentist, graphic artist, auto mechanics, computer repair person and several other occupations represented. I was invited since they wanted a photographer …

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China Tea House Torrance

I enjoy being introduced to restaurants I have never tried and I really like Chinese food, so when we were invited to join some friends at the China Tea House in Torrance I was quite eager to try it out. Besides, free dinner is always good. I was told that the place always had Chinese people dining there, so it had to be authentic. When we arrived there were not many people there and the only Asian that was not an employee or in our group was getting something to go. It was early, so I was not going to …

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Photos from the Budris & Van Haren ribbon cutting

These photos are from the ribbon cutting ceremony for Budris & Van Haren, Attorneys at Law. There was an impressive turnout of Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce members; as well as The Mayor and about five city council members. The law firm of Budris & Van Haren specializes in both Criminal and Family Law. If you have a friend that needs help, don’t get involved. I am donating the watermark to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, to bring awareness to this organization which is the only one helping those with Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD, otherwise known as Rheumatoid Arthritis/RA); and as …

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April Networking at Noon at The Crest

Tuesday was the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce’s April Networking at Noon; this time being held at The Crest on Cabrillo in downtown Torrance. The monthly Networking at Noon is a great way for Chamber members to meet informally over a [usually] nice lunch, exchange business cards and give a 30 second introduction to remind people what service their business provides. It is also an opportunity for the host restaurant to showcase their establishment. Unfortunately, I think The Crest proved to be a pretty poor place to try and conduct a meeting. Sharing an area with regular bar customers was …

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