My lunch with Norma, part II

Picking up where we left off Sunday: As Mayor Norma Torres drove me to the raspado place, heading east on Mission Boulevard, we approached AMA Donuts, which I pointed out was one of the earliest McDonald's, a fact she knew, of course. At Holt and Towne, we commented on the gleaming glass storefront of Santa Fe Outlets. She asked if I knew what it had been originally. "Tate Cadillac," I replied.

She had been telling me about Huntington Hardware, where she has bought glass doorknobs and other home-improvement items. When I pled ignorance on the place, she made a detour west on Holt to take me there. It's at Holt and Park avenues, an "HH" on the long storefront. I'd noticed those letters many times but had no idea what was inside.

Well! It's like Pomona's version of Restoration Hardware, full of antique-looking windows, doors, knockers, lamps and the like, all brand new. "They sell new things that look old," the mayor explained.

The general manager came over to help. "We've been in Pomona for 55 years," Daniel Herrera said. "Fifty years in this location. We started on Huntington Boulevard." That's a few blocks west, for you out-of-towners. Herrera continued: "We have another store in Huntington Beach. It's called Pomona Hardware. Just kidding. That's as good as the jokes get."

I laughed, so I'm not complaining. Wish I'd known about Huntington Hardware when I was writing my "Pomona A to Z" series -- it would've made a handy H.

Pleased to have introduced yours truly to Huntington Hardware, Torres said, referring to her husband: "Luis said there wouldn't be anything new I could show you." I'm flattered my knowledge of Pomona is considered so wide-ranging by those within the mayoral manse, but it always seems to me whatever I know is the proverbial mile wide and an inch deep.

That's enough for now. Let's pause here and come back Tuesday for those icy raspados. Gosh, talk about a cliffhanger!!