In honor of Toluca Lake’s 100th anniversary this year, Robyn Allyn of the Greater Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council and Toluca Lake Beautification Partners, Shannon Hartman of the Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce and Ruby Lascano-Bowen of the Toluca Lake Homeowners Association spearheaded a banner campaign that fostered a strong sense of unity and pride around the neighborhood.
“In all the years I have volunteered, I have never seen more enthusiasm than for these banners,” Allyn says. “We started with the four blocks that ran through the Village to see if we could get the businesses to sponsor a banner. As we did, many families wanted one, too, so we added more blocks to the east and west. Legacy families also couldn’t wait to add their name to the list. Even Micky Dolenz from The Monkees, who lived in the Bing Crosby estate as a child, bought a banner for his family. We ended up selling 147 banners that stretched two and a half miles through two cities and were printed and installed by April 2023.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on May 19 to thank the sponsors and contributors who helped make the campaign such a success. The event was hosted by honorary mayor Fritz Coleman, attended by former Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian and proudly sponsored by Red Maple restaurant owners Brian Veskosky and Jim Orozco, who provided food and drinks for attendees.
“The event was necessary to put an exclamation point on our endeavor,” Hartman says. “The best part was celebrating with our whole banner community!”
