For the holiday weekend, I excerpt reader comments on recent travel columns involving the Madonna of the Trail statue that I saw in Illinois (with some history of Upland’s) as well as thoughts about New York City and Portland. Those are in my Sunday column. Look for one or two similar columns soon.
A group of friends, all British expatriates or Anglophiles, gathered Sunday to toast Queen Elizabeth on 70 years on the throne. I joined them for food and conversation. Some remember her coronation. I write about the party in my Wednesday column.
An obituary this week for one Eleanor Meek noted that she read the Daily Bulletin and that her favorite newspaper writer was, well, yours truly. I had never met her or heard of her, and here I am in her obituary, a rare honor. I talk to her son and daughter-in-law about her for my Friday column.
The former councilman from Upland was among the first people I met in this job. The avid cyclist was struck and killed on the road last week. I write about him in Friday’s column.
I write about Gus Grebe, whom I knew slightly, and who died last month. His death was news in Kansas, where longtime college sports fans still revere him. That and a few more items make up Wednesday’s column.
Bob Scudder will lead the Upland Christmas Parade this Saturday as its grand marshal. He’s 101, lives independently, manages properties and drives. In the parade he’ll concentrate on waving. I interview the surprisingly with-it Scudder for my Wednesday column.
Hokey smoke! Bullwinkle’s is near to reopening its amusement park in Upland under the original owners. I preview the plans in my Wednesday column. Don’t let it fall into enemy hands!
For my Christmas Day column, I write one of our Holiday Heroes stories about a local do-gooder. In this case, it’s Linda Trawnik, a force in downtown Upland who is largely responsible for the holiday decorations and music there, and whose food deliveries this year have helped many. (She also willingly suffers the headache of running a community Facebook page.)
The saga of downtown Upland’s Big U sign, a column topic in May, is revisited with more, y’know, facts and dates and such, including a couple of startling photos, in my Dec. 6 column.
In the middle of a pandemic, Lucky’s Coffee Roasters in downtown Upland tries its luck at a former Starbucks location in Claremont (665 E. Foothill Blvd.) that closed in March. The popular shop has done well in Upland despite coronavirus. I wrote about the Starbucks, now I write about Lucky’s in Friday’s column.