I kept thinking ‘there is a great story here’ while I researched the various gourmet fast food trucks and watched all the cool people. There were several hundred locals, out-of-towners and food truck followers milling in and out of the tangled and congested walkway alongside the food trucks. Pedestrians tripped over broken concrete, nearly got hit by confused and increasingly heavy Foothill Boulevard traffic and rerouted food trucks swerved in and out of spaces (their parking slots were blocked by protesters' vehicles).
The lineup of food trucks was marred by protest vehicles parked where food trucks were supposed to be. Tomi Lyn Bowling reportedly was warned that protestors in the form of ‘brick and mortar store’ owners would disrupt the night this way so she showed up to prevent it at 2:00 pm but several still evaded her and parked in the food truck slots.
Chamber of Commerce President Sonia Tatulian called LAPD Sergeant Eggers who was unable to persuade former CofC President Kathy Anthony’s son to move his truck and flatbed. It seemed to be a showdown between present and former CofC ruling parties. Sonia looked like the “angry birds” game as she expressed her displeasure. Then the Advertising Director of Voice of the Village (the “Good News” newspaper) angrily added her parked car to the mix and jammed her truck’s front bumper up against the flatbed so neither could be moved; everyone used them to lean against while eating their food. Ah, ingenuity. What fun!
I met The Fish Lady, Barbara Johnson for crepes. We were going to have lobster but that truck was a no show. Bummer. I shared fries with Abby Diamond, avoided eye contact with Kim Oglegee, discussed history with Cecile Vargo, discussed Sunland Tujunga’s castles with Tara Greer, shared vendor info with Dazey Carnes, befriended Mary Louise Burdi, saw Tomi, Sonia, Jan, Doc, Ron of Marcus Lane, and many others. I heard Doc DeMulle was blocking a parking space but when I went to check it out at the end of the row he was interviewing Tomi and his vehicle was no where near them.
For the uninitiated, Food Truck Night was orchestrated by Chamber Champions: Tomi Lyn Bowling, Sonia Tatulian, and Jan Wunderlich. It’s a huge success… at what cost remains to be seen, but there is no denying it brings paying customers in droves and we mostly have Tomi Lyn to thank for it all.
Food Truck Night invites 2-3 dozen out-of-town gourmet food trucks to the twin targets of Sunland and Tujunga every Wednesday night for great food, camaraderie, mischief, great food, mayhem, gossip, great food, mingling, favoritism and um, well yes… great food…
Oh yeah and it doesn’t hurt that these are mostly voters and the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council elections are in two months and Tomi Lyn Bowling wants to be president. Opps, well hell I said the thing no one dares to say… Tomi Lyn will yelp like someone bit her and holler “I do so much for the community!” which no one denies. It will also get her elected. Heck, she has the vote: whether throwing a party, or campaigning for one: Tomi Lyn Bowling is very good at what she does.
1 comment:
"only a fool kicks a beehive and thinks it unfair when (s)he gets stung"
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