What Makes A City Feel Like Home During The Holidays

I sat down with Donna Choi, MJ Finstrom, and Diana Bacero as they share the story of the Downtown Arcadia Holiday Fair and why it evokes such a special, hometown feel:  a curated mix of makers and local shops, Macy’s on-site with Shiseido facials, hand-thrown ceramics, vintage hand-glittered ornaments, jewelry, charcuterie boards, and specialty foods. Food and drink fuel the stroll with Goki Cafe’s beloved Mexican hot chocolate, Mount Lowe’s seasonal brew and cider, D’Accino wines, and nearby restaurants like All India Cafe and Matt Denny’s ready before or after your shopping run. A live DJ keeps the energy high with surprise giveaways while families bounce between the kids’ zone, face painting, Santa photos, and story time with Mrs. Claus.

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Transcript

Warm Welcome And Sponsor Shoutouts

Christine Zito 0:04

Hello and welcome again to Arcadia FYI. I am Christine Zito, your very festive host. Um, this show is focused on community, things that we do in the community, outside the community. I cannot thank you enough, like I say every show, for your uh emails. They really make my day when you come when you send me emails that you like it, and even the criticism. I can take that too. I may not answer it, but that's okay. And those that Facebook me, uh Facebook messaged me on Facebook. I love it. Thank you so much. All right, I'd like to thank our sponsors that make it all happen here for Arcadia FYI, Longo, Toyota, and Lexus. They're in El Monte, you know I'm gonna say it. Uh-huh. You gotta check it out. Go buy. They're on this huge acreage of land, and they do more than just sell cars. Star Seven Financial with Francine Chu, the Santa Anita Park. Have you seen Enchant? Have you been? It's like remarkable. It's all these lights and mazes and slides and ice skating rink. You can take pictures with Santa. There is so much to do. As I had so much fun at Enchant, you've gotta go. And the Le Méridien Hotel right here in Arcadia across the street from the Santa Anita Park and Pasadena. Alright. Now that we have eaten and that we are full, did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I sure hope you do. You did. And I'm pretty sure you're on a diet now because we've eaten so much. Okay, at least that's what we say. Or we're gonna wait until New Year's and do the whole New Year's resolution. But whatever you do, I hope you had a great time. Are you thinking of Christmas? Are you ready for Christmas? Yeah, neither am I. But I know where you can get ready for everyone that is on your list all in one day. Alright, in studio we have again, I don't know if we should call this the Arcadia FYI, the Downtown Arcadia Podcast. But Downtown Arcadia is back in studio to talk about the holiday fair that's coming up in just a couple of weeks. We have, of course, MJ Finstrom with Hut Dogs. Okay. She's legendary, she's wonderful, okay? And the always happy and laughing Donna Choi, and an a member of the of the board of downtown Arcadia, which we rarely have, you know, but she's here. Diana Bar. I mean Barcero. Barcero! No? Bar Bar, go ahead. Barcera Bassera. Barcero! Woo! Man! Welcome to Arcadia FYI! Okay. Okay. Before we get started, we know MJ. Yep.

MJ Finstrom 2:54

Hello, everybody.

Favorite Holiday Gifts And Birthday Banter

Christine Zito 2:55

Okay. We know Donna. Hello, Arcadia FYI podcast. Woo! But we don't know Diana. Yeah, okay, so I'm gonna ask the questions I always ask all my guests. Okay, so were you born here in California, outside of California, anywhere on the planet?

Diana Bacero 3:15

I was born on the planet. Okay. So yes, I was born uh in Granada Hills, California. So I'm from the San Fernando Valley.

Christine Zito 3:22

Okay, great. Are you are you actually living here in Arcadia now?

Diana Bacero 3:24

Yes, I moved to Arcadia about 14 years ago.

Christine Zito 3:27

Oh, okay, so you're a true Arcadian. Okay. And what do you do for a living?

Diana Bacero 3:33

So I am on hiatus right now, but actually I am working in customer success. Um, you know, overseeing anywhere in uh B2B SaaS software, ensuring customers are happy and that our teams are delivering the best possible experience.

Christine Zito 3:51

That is great. And so and then then you also volunteer your time with downtown Arcadia.

Diana Bacero 3:55

Yeah, so in addition to downtown Arcadia, I also volunteer for Holly Avenue. PTA I'm on their board, as well as Arcadia Council PTA. Um I chair their county health food drive with Foothill Unity, and all that started the year I met MJ at Holly, and then I got pulled into downtown Arcadia.

Christine Zito 4:15

No, I that that always seems to happen like that, getting sucked in. Yes. I mean, I get sucked in downtown Arcadia. I'm not in downtown Arcadia. What am I talking about? My whole business is here. Okay. I'm gonna ask all you guys this, but I'm gonna ask uh guys, I should say I should be politically correct. I'm gonna ask all you ladies the same question. Okay. Uh, what is your favorite or your most memorable gift that you have received at Christmas time?

Diana Bacero 4:46

Um I think for me was a a cabbage patch doll. Her name was Beula. And I remember I really wanted that, and Santa brought it to me actually. So that was my most memorable gift.

Why The Holiday Fair Exists And How It Grew

Donna Choi 5:02

Donna, my most memorable holiday gift actually came from my husband, and you'll see why I married him before we were married. He presented me with a huge artwork that his brother painted of me. And I thought, oh, I'm always gonna look the same. That's cool. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad to have that memorialized when I was 25 years old. So that was really a special gift. And my brother-in-law is a really excellent artist, Michael Choi of Open Mind Design.

Christine Zito 5:34

Oh, wow. I would like to see that portrait of yourself one day. Okay, all right.

MJ Finstrom 5:40

MJ, what is your most one for me? You know, I was born on Christmas Eve, and my dad was born on Christmas. So memorable gifts for me were like when people remembered my birthday. You were really born on Christmas Eve?

Donna Choi 5:56

Yes. Oh my gosh! I didn't know that.

MJ Finstrom 5:59

I would say my mom's most memorable gift on Christmas Eve. Yeah, yeah, I was, yeah. And my dad's birthday is Christmas, and so we always kind of had this running joke, you know, about having to share our birthdays with Christmas. But it's always been a magical time.

Christine Zito 6:21

We gotta get you a human-sized stocking. Oh my gosh, I didn't know that, MJ. That's what you I learned. The things I learned on Arcadia FYI.

What To Expect: Booths, Music, And Santa

MJ Finstrom 6:29

Well, you were born on Halloween. I was born on holiday. So yeah, people dress up and we are holiday kids. We're holiday kids, and I know another person who's born on Thanksgiving, so there you go. I have one. Well, I'm born on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, January 15th.

Donna Choi 6:45

Oh my god! But we share the same actual day. Oh goodness.

Christine Zito 6:51

And that I love Martin Luther King Jr. Oh, yeah. He is my hero. Oh, I have a dream! I love it. I grew up. Yeah, peaceful protest, man. Oh my gosh, I I so love that.

Diana Bacero 7:02

So were you born anywhere holiday-ish? No, unfortunately. I I assume I was a Valentine's Day baby. We'll take it. We'll take Valentine's.

Christine Zito 7:12

Okay, we'll take Valentine's.

Diana Bacero 7:13

Yeah, so you are November. I am November 16th, so.

MJ Finstrom 7:16

It's a holiday. You have your own holiday and we all celebrate that.

Diana Bacero 7:22

Thank you.

Christine Zito 7:24

Alright, so we're gonna be talking about Christmas. Let me turn on my I my my if you're on watching on YouTube, my shirt does light up. Oh, I love that. I got that that's not I don't need wine right now. I just put on my shirt. And I have my little I don't know you know what these are called. What are these called then? She's wearing baby bands. I don't know, I just saw like little, yeah. Little headband. Oh my thank you. And look at MJ's little hat. Look at her. She's a baby cat. She has like a hat. She has like a little baby hat. It's great for her. So, okay. So how did the holiday fair even come into existence? And I know you have all these different events, downtown Arcadia, and this is the last one of the year.

Donna Choi 8:08

Yes, that's correct.

Christine Zito 8:09

Okay, so how did it all I mean who thought of it?

Food, Drinks, And That Hot Chocolate

Donna Choi 8:12

Well, you know, years ago, downtown Arcadia has a board of directors, and that's how it operates. Um so it's a group of people, and everyone was like, wait, why aren't we doing something for holiday? Holiday is so important to everyone. It's a and our whole mission is we're a community benefit district. So what benefit do we want to bring to the community? But convening at holiday time. So it started and it was sweet and it was kind of small and cute, and now I would say it's more beautiful and gorgeous and large. Uh we have about 8,500 people who attend. And it's wait, how much how many? 8,500 plus. Oh my goodness. So it's just grown because everybody wanted this. They wanted to be together.

Christine Zito 8:58

So when was the first year? Do you remember? 16 2016, right?

MJ Finstrom 9:05

Yeah. Because I remember it was 16. And prior to us, I think Scott Hedrick did a couple of um holiday fairs too.

Christine Zito 9:14

Now, Scott, if people who don't know, was the former CEO of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce.

Event Details: Time, Parade, And Big Prizes

MJ Finstrom 9:20

Yeah, yeah. So he kind of started that, and then when downtown Arcadia was formed, then it sort of kind of merged together. There was a farmer's market back then as well, and then we decided that oh, we should do a a formal holiday fair, and that's when that was kind of born, yeah.

Christine Zito 9:36

Oh, okay. So, what kind of booths are gonna be there?

Donna Choi 9:41

Oh we're gonna have so much fun. So, well, I just heard from and I'm very excited about this, Macy's will be there doing facials with Shichado and all kinds of fantastic stuff. How did you get Macy's? Oh my gosh, because they want to be where you are. They know that Christine's needle will be pouring wine in the beginning. And they're like, well, wait a minute, if she's there, that's the place to be. You know, it's really great. Over the years, um, the word has gotten out that this is where you can really be with your community and and and share in you know the beautiful landscape that is downtown Arcadia. So we have a lot of great people. Our friends at Mount Lowe will be there pouring beer. So come and get a special brew. Um, our DJ is Philip Kim, who I don't know if you guys have seen him, but he's amazing. And he always gives out prizes from his nonprofit Love Set Match, which is a tennis group. Um, I I mean I could really take up the rest of the podcast by telling you all of the 90 plus booths that will be there.

Christine Zito 10:48

But it'll be a parethula of different arts and crafts. Absolutely.

Enchant At Santa Anita: Lights And Magic

Donna Choi 10:53

Oh, David Lamb will be there with he designed all this furniture I found out last time. Yeah. I love this beautiful furniture, and he has all the charcuterie boards. He will be there. We have Mrs. Claus. She's going to do story time for the children. She was gonna come, but she's up north helping Santa. Yeah, I think she's baking cookies. She's baking cookies. I think so. Oh, okay. Um, and Santa Claus will be there, of course. So we've got, and yes, the greatest gifts. I mean, I'm so excited that there's going to be a ceramicist and there's going to be vintage um ornaments that are hand glittered and jewelry and my favorite nut butters from Sue's Butters and Baskets. So it's gonna be really good. Come do your shopping, shop local.

Christine Zito 11:39

All right. So here's a question: if if you're in downtown Arcadia, can downtown Arcadia businesses have a booth?

Diana Bacero 11:46

Diana. Yes, yes, downtown Arcadia businesses are welcome to have a booth with us at Holiday Fair, which is such a great time for them to, you know, promote their businesses, be out there, get that foot traffic going through, and you know, seeing what they have to offer.

Christine Zito 12:01

And how much they have to pay for the for their booth.

How To Enter And Win The Raffle

Donna Choi 12:04

And so the downtown Arcadia booths that are within the downtown Arcadia footprint, get a booth for free. That is one of the reasons to be a downtown Arcadia business, seriously. You know, and and our footprint is um a finite, so it's on um Huntington Drive from Santa Anita to 2nd on First Avenue from California to St. Joseph. So if you're listening and your business is within those boundaries, call me. Let's get you a free booth. And if you're not, you can still get a booth.

Christine Zito 12:36

Yeah, I was just gonna ask. So if you're not in downtown Arcadia, you you can get it, you can purchase a booth.

Donna Choi 12:42

Yes, indeed. And that helps us to provide the event that we do for everyone. Because unfortunately, these things do take money to make.

Christine Zito 12:52

Wait, wait, wait, wait. You don't get it for free?

Donna Choi 12:54

Well, you know, when you start doing road closures and restrooms and booths and all kinds of stuff, and we have some amazing prizes as well. But yes, point is you can purchase a booth at Downtown Arcadia, and our price is very, very affordable.

Christine Zito 13:10

And with the with the other, oh, I'll get to that question here in just a second. What food booths vendors are gonna be there?

Free Tote Bags, DJ Giveaways, And Booth Swag

Donna Choi 13:19

Well, first off, let's talk about some of the restaurants we have in downtown, right? So we're gonna have Fresh Delicious, is there?

MJ Finstrom 13:27

Oh, all the different restaurants downtown. We've got um you can dine afterwards or before, like All India Cafe. White Springs, I think, will be on the footprint. Yes, yes, they will be on there. Donnie, you probably know all the things.

Donna Choi 13:39

Oh, Matt Denny's, Outback Steakhouse, Denny's, Claro's, all of those restaurants are within our district and they'll be open. Now, coming to the event, we have White Springs, we have Goki Cafe, we have so many great food trucks. Dolce Europa for shaved ice, magic hibachi for Japanese. We have a bunch of food trucks. So you need to come and see it.

Christine Zito 14:02

Okay, so the question I was gonna ask that is has to be famous at any holiday fair, especially at my house, which is a holiday every day, is there gonna be hot chocolate and and marshmallows?

Donna Choi 14:13

Oh, absolutely. And guess where? From Goki Cafe, who does their own Mexican hot chocolate, and it is so good.

Diana Bacero 14:21

It's so good. It's my favorite.

Christine Zito 14:22

I just have to say, if I can almost my mouth is watering over that hot chocolate that Goki Cafe serves. Oh, they're amazing. It is delicious.

Donna Choi 14:30

And also, Mount Low Brewing Company often comes with a cider for the children.

Christine Zito 14:37

They do, and every year they do they they do do a Christmas type brew. Yeah, I don't know the name of it. I'm not where's the wine gonna be, by the way?

Donna Choi 14:46

Oh, Dachino wine, our favorite. And they're uh they're also an Arcadia business, and their Italian blend of wonderful. I mean, we have Pinot Grigia, we have Cabernet, they're so red blend, they do have a red blend.

Christine Zito 15:01

Yeah, it's a really good, it's good. I'm Italian, so I love a good deep red blend.

Donna Choi 15:05

So she probably likes Barolo, but we're not pouring that.

Christine Zito 15:07

Yeah. What? So I'll be pouring out wine. What time does the fair start?

Diana Bacero 15:13

It starts at 11 a.m. We start and we close at 4 p.m.

Christine Zito 15:18

At 4 p.m. Is there gonna be a parade?

Diana Bacero 15:20

Yes, so we do have a promenade starting at 11:30, I believe. Yes. Yes, and we'll have that.

Christine Zito 15:26

Alright, I'm gonna get to the big happy stuff that goes on. What are you guys giving away? Oh I want to know what you're giving away.

MJ Finstrom 15:34

Well, in addition to the parade, we um also have a magician.

unknown 15:38

Oh no, yes.

Pets, Donations, And Toy Drives

MJ Finstrom 15:39

It's true. We have a magician, we've seen them their work and they're pretty fun.

Speaker 4 15:43

Yes.

MJ Finstrom 15:44

Um, but our big giveaway, downtown Arcadia, is known for its big giveaway. We always give great prizes. You could win an REI bike. Woo! Woo! You could win a complimentary one-night stay to the new Arcadia Hilton, which is opening up on December 1st. And you could win a family four-pack of tickets to Enchant. Oh, just fabulous. We've all been there and checked it out. It's just stunning. It's gorgeous. What a great event.

Christine Zito 16:14

What a great addition to Arcadia. Enchant. I I just want to talk about Enchant for a second. It was just, I don't even know how to even talk about it. How do you explain the lights?

Behind The Scenes: Volunteers And Logistics

Donna Choi 16:23

Yeah, it was magical. That's beautiful. It was really beautiful. And I've been to, I've been, this is done. I've been to quite a few of these light shows. I really love lights. And this was the most I've seen in one place. You couldn't even tell where you were. You just felt you were within a light. It was beautiful. They have a light maze, they have, you know, the Ferris wheel and the slide, and there's so many fun things to do. And they have shops.

Diana Bacero 16:48

Yeah, we went there and we, you know, we got hotco, went on the Ferris wheel. I actually got so lost in the light and the maze that I didn't realize, like, oh, it's all the way here onto Huntington Drive. And I can see the palm trees, and it was just it was awesome, and a lot of shops to stop at too as well. Yeah, it was great.

Donna Choi 17:05

Yeah, yeah, that was good. So the so the prizes are off the hook for the holiday fair. Come on, Dem. Oh, and by the way, you get a uh raffle ticket for free. You just have to be there when we call your name at 3 p.m.

Christine Zito 17:19

At 3 p.m. So if you want to win these, there's tons of prizes though. I mean you just named a few, right?

MJ Finstrom 17:25

Yeah, we we might have a couple more, but we have like a couple bikes and we have big prizes. Yeah, we don't we don't like to do tons and tons of prizes because otherwise we keep people there too long. So we we focus on really good big prizes.

Christine Zito 17:40

Yeah, you guys sound a little organized.

Final Reminders, Caroling, And How To Donate

MJ Finstrom 17:41

That's not you know, it's not our first rodeo, and we've learned some lessons along the way. One year we had way too many prizes, and people were like snoozing in and like, okay, enough with these prizes already. So we like to make it spectacular. But the other great thing about this is the Rose Queen and the Rose Court will be there to help us pick the winners. No way. So we have two, um, the Rose Queen is our of course from Arcadia, and another um person on the court is from Arcadia. So it's a really good one.

Christine Zito 18:12

No, that's the Rose Queen is the one that's gonna be at the Rose Parade. Serena Wall. Yes, Serena. And um she's gonna be featured as the Queen of the Rose Parade, correct? Is that correct? And then doesn't the Rose Queen also go to the Rose Bowl football game, the college? I am her okay, so we already know that. I'm not sure. I don't know the answer to the right. Maybe we'll edit that part out so we don't look.

MJ Finstrom 18:37

She's not knowing what we're saying. But I know the big presents at the Rose Parade, so I'm almost sure she.

Donna Choi 18:43

We don't know the Queen's complete schedule, but we do know where she will be on December 13th at 3 p.m. The holiday fair. Yes.

Christine Zito 18:51

And that I want to make sure. Holiday Fair is gonna be Saturday, December 13th, starting at 11 a.m. Yes. Come for the great prizes. Okay, so from 11, Donna's saying four, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. So if you're there at 4.01 p.m., we're gonna kick you off the streets. The wine stops, the beer stops.

Closing Thanks And Sponsor Mentions

Donna Choi 19:11

The wine stops here. Well, one other thing I will let you know is you're saying so you have a ton of prizes. Those are the prizes we use for our big giveaway. We do have our DJ giving out prizes throughout the day. And the Arcadia Women's Club always donates four $25 gift certificates to restaurants in downtown Arcadia that the DJ will give away throughout the day. So come check out our DJ at the Bonita stage. He'll have prizes for you for sure.

MJ Finstrom 19:41

And also if you're into more prizes, a lot of the booths give away prizes. So longo Toyota, or as you would say, Toyota. I forget how you say Toyota. Longo Toyota. It's a southern Toyota will be, I think they give away yetis. Yeah, they give it a butcher chocolate.

Christine Zito 20:06

People always that is totally fine. Are you from the south? You know, my family's from the south. Oh. I mean, and so when and so I just was talking to a couple of my cousins in this in Georgia. And all of a sudden you're walking down the street and you're just like you have tomato tomata, so Toyota Toyota.

MJ Finstrom 20:28

I've been watching land man and man. It's getting my country accent back there, too.

Christine Zito 20:34

Yeah, the country. You know, yeah. So uh, but yeah, you're right. A lot of the booths will be giving away. They're all right.

MJ Finstrom 20:40

Oh yeah, Longo Toyota, they have a great giveaway. I think they give away Yetis, but go there and register. Now, the other thing about our big giveaway, make sure to enter to win online at arcadiad.com. ArcadiaDT.com, go online, and then you'll put in your information, and then you have to check in by 2.30 at the downtown Arcadia Enter to Win booth, and you'll see a lot of Holly Avenue PT former PT classes manning that booth. Um but you'll get your official ticket for the giveaway, and then be at the DJ booth at 3 o'clock, and that's when we will announce our winners.

Christine Zito 21:16

Alright, so you gotta be there by you gotta have your you gotta be signed up by 2 30. And if you miss and if you don't know exactly where it's at, you'll see the line. Um then at three at 3 p.m. be right there at the corner of first in Bonita. That's okay.

Donna Choi 21:32

And you know, uh one other thing, we're talking about the different prizes that the booths will have. Downtown Arcadia will have this fantastic tote bag. I was just gonna talk about it. So please come on down, check in with Diana. She'll make sure you get a bag.

Christine Zito 21:47

Yeah, I like this bag. Thank you.

Donna Choi 21:49

So she's not waiting.

Christine Zito 21:53

Just take it. Just take it right now. So I'm trying to go through everything that I that I know about the event because I think I've been there every year. I think so too. I can I I'm almost thinking about that. I think I've been to every event. She's an elf. I yeah, I am an elf, but I think this year I might be I might dress up as a as a reindeer. I got a little reindeer. Oh I love that. I love it. I got it, I want it.

MJ Finstrom 22:17

It is great. The other thing is we have a lot of free fun for the kids. Um we have a carnival zone. We have Santa will be there, we have Mrs. Claus reading to them, so it's just a lot of nice oh face painting, thank you. Um, just a lot of free fun for the kids to you know what's cool is to close down a street in such a big city area for our kids. It's just so great to be able to give them that like a small kind of hometown feeling where the street closes, people come out, they're having a good time.

Christine Zito 22:52

So downtown an home type feeling when you do something like that. Yeah, okay, so you've had fireworks, you have drone, you had a drone fireworks, okay. You have the uh lunar festival or lunar, yeah. Is it the lunar near the lunar new year? You have you have that, and you come out, uh you have the down, you have the Halloween haunting, which you get give out thousands, talking thousands of candy. When are you gonna have a petting zoo at the holiday fair?

Donna Choi 23:23

Oh, we've done that in the past. Um we're we're going to um you know love our animals and let them stay off the asphalt and enjoy their holiday. Um, you know, the other thing we do have is the neighborhood music school concert.

Christine Zito 23:40

Okay, so no petting's due. But at least the who's who who's gonna who's gonna be there to to have talk about pets?

Donna Choi 23:50

Well, we have the Pasadena Humane Society, we'll be there for sure. Michelle McGraw does such a great job over there, and they're going to come out and they'll be collecting toys and food for pets in the house.

Christine Zito 24:01

Are they gonna bring some of their uh adoption dogs or something?

Donna Choi 24:04

They're gonna bring information for you to go and adopt at the site. They are doing a really great job, and they have a lot of pets that really need our help, right?

Christine Zito 24:13

So they just have pictures of pets and we just pet the picture. Yeah, you can pet the picture.

Donna Choi 24:17

Okay. So at least I think that's a new activity. I oh we gotta put that on the file.

MJ Finstrom 24:22

So make sure you bring uh pets toys and pets, food, and also a new unwrapped gift toy for Foothill Unity Center.

Christine Zito 24:34

Oh, yeah, yeah.

MJ Finstrom 24:34

Because they're gonna be doing a toy drive too.

Christine Zito 24:36

Now, uh uh are there is there gonna be a food drive also? Because we got pets, we got food. We have no, we're collecting toys.

Donna Choi 24:44

If you bring food, the Foothill Unit Center Foothill Unity Center, absolutely, we'll take it and distribute it to people in need. But the focus is toys. Toys. Toys for kids unwrapped.

Christine Zito 24:55

Unwrapped new, okay. Not used, new, yeah. So if it's wrapped, we're gonna open it. That's for sure. They don't know what's in it. All right, that is so very true. So it has to be wanna give the right toy to the right kid. All right, okay. So I ask this every time you guys are on with every event. How in the heck do you guys put on an event like this? I mean, this is huge. With 8,000, over 8,000 people that show up, and and and what's the email list? How big is the email list? 15,000. 15,000 people. Woohoo! 15,000. So all right.

Donna Choi 25:28

Who does this? Who puts you who uh well it's a group effort for sure. Um, but we do have a great um staff and great volunteers that help load in all of the people that we get because we have over 80 booths, so it's it's very organized. We have people who come in and make sure everyone knows where to go, and we have it all mapped out, and it runs very smoothly. We get people in there in a couple of hours and set up, and all the the restrooms and the bathroom, the bathroom stuff, the trash containers, the stages, everything gets loaded in that morning, and um it's really it's all about just kind of thinking of everything that could go wrong ahead of time and figuring out that solution. And then inevitably, day up, right?

Diana Bacero 26:20

We're firemen, fire women, fire people, but it is cool to see the transformation when you're looking down you know first Avenue the day prior, and then you see the next day how it's just this beautiful setup. And I always like to like when I describe the holiday fair to my friends who are not in the area and they want to come down, it reminds you of a Hallmark, a little Hallmark movie, a little Hallmark town. How we trans, you know, we just completely transform First Avenue to this little holiday area that looks like a Hallmark movie.

Donna Choi 26:45

Oh, that's so cute! That's true, Diana. It is like that.

Christine Zito 26:50

Yeah, do you handle all the volunteers?

Diana Bacero 26:52

Yes, so I've been handling the volunteers for uh the past few years, started as a volunteer in two in 2021, now leading the volunteers, and it's just awesome to work with different people from the high school or adults who find out about you know our events and they want to volunteer and spend their time with us to help this make a magical like day for us.

Donna Choi 27:12

And and Diane is a really excellent manager of volunteers because she meets them that day, sets them up, and then figures out like, oh, you two like to hang out together, so I need you to carry these signs together. Oh, you are too shy to do that job, so you'd prefer to do this stuffing the bags or what have you. But she really can and determine what people are comfortable doing and what will make their experience the best. So you're very lucky we have her.

Christine Zito 27:42

You're a good people reader, you know, psycho. But I'm not psychic.

Donna Choi 27:46

She's not psycho.

Diana Bacero 27:47

I might be psycho. I might be psycho.

MJ Finstrom 27:52

She knows how to read the room. Know how to read the room. Yeah, okay. Sorry.

Christine Zito 27:56

I mean, I'm pretty sure you guys feel a little bit psych psychotic in all of this. I mean, to to put on an event like this and for you guys to keep your sanity, yeah, okay. I I I think it's um remarkable. So um, so what do you think of me? Can you read me? Can you read me? Can you read me?

Diana Bacero 28:16

That's uh yeah. Wine pour wine, right.

Christine Zito 28:20

Wine, yeah. She knows. You you will you will find me at the wine booth for the first two hours, and then after that I'll be a reindeer. A reindeer, yeah. And partaking. And partaking. Partaking. Yeah.

Diana Bacero 28:31

She's our tester. She wants to make sure everything tastes well.

Christine Zito 28:35

Yes. That's that's all done. So, all right. Okay, so we we talked about it's the holiday fair, Saturday, December 13th, starting at 4 p.m. There's the flyer. 4 p.m. I mean starting at 11 a.m. Starting at 11 a.m. and it goes until 4 p.m. Yes. Okay. And if you want to sign up for the um raffle, you have to do it before 2 30. Okay. After that, I don't know. But be at 3 p.m., be at the corner at first and bonita, where we will announce all the we'll do the raffle. Yeah.

Diana Bacero 29:14

Yeah, and you want to get that raffle ticket because sometimes I've had people do come up and they're like, I registered, and they didn't get their ticket in time. So they registered before 2 30, but they didn't go get the actual raffle ticket. So it's important. Register, look for that big giveaway tent, which is right across the street from the long line? Yes, the long line and across from the downtown Arcadia booth usually. Yes. And uh get your raffle ticket. You want to make sure you have that ticket in hand so when we call it out, you get your prize. All right.

MJ Finstrom 29:38

So even though you register, you have to have your official ticket. Yes. And what you pick up at the fair for that giveaway. That's right.

Donna Choi 29:45

Correct.

Christine Zito 29:45

And then we'll, of course, have the Rose Queen in court helping us give away the prizes. There you go. And just in case you didn't hear it, make sure you get the raffle ticket. Yes. Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah, make sure you get your raffle ticket. All right. We're coming to the end, and I want I want all of you to sing a Christmas song. Oh my god. Yes, come on.

MJ Finstrom 30:05

You need to sing a Christmas song because you gotta one, two, three.

Donna Choi 30:11

We're dashing through the snow. One more soap and sleigh. Or the fields we go.

Christine Zito 30:19

Laughing all the way. And that's it. That's it, we're good. That's it, yeah. Alright, you guys are great. I love having downtown Arcadia here on Arcadia FYI. You guys just make this show come to life. And that's what you guys are all about. I mean, you guys put on a huge event, and I really don't think people appreciate the work that goes into it, the volunteers that go into it. I mean, I know I know I designed the website. I don't know how many changes I have to make when Donna emails me, you got that, make changes, okay? I I get it, you know. I just do a very small part of it.

Donna Choi 30:56

Oh, you do a beautiful job. Yes.

Christine Zito 30:59

But you guys do, I mean, I I don't even know what to say. You guys do a great job.

Donna Choi 31:04

You know, we we really appreciate you saying that because so many people think this is put on by the city of Arcadia. And we love the city, yes, and the event is on the city street, and many city departments participate, and we love that, but it is put on by Downtown Arcadia, which is a non-profit organization of volunteers.

Christine Zito 31:25

Yes, and you know what? I've always wanted to ask if anybody wanted to donate, how do they do that? Easy enough, email me and I'll send you a link on Square.

Donna Choi 31:35

You got it. Thank you, Donna at downtownarcadia.org.

Christine Zito 31:38

Donna at downtownarcadia.org. So don't forget that. Alright, it's time to come. The Christmas story now comes to an end. And I would like to thank our sponsors. Longo.

Diana Bacero 31:54

I'm waiting to hear.

Christine Zito 31:54

Here we go. Longo, Lexus, Toyota. You got it. Okay. I hope I made you proud, Brooke, Brooke, and Mike. In El Monte. Okay, I told you to go check it out. They're on a huge lot. They they do more than just sell cars. Star 7 Financial with Francine Chu. Santa Anita Park, check out Enchant. It goes until December 28th. Correct? Yeah, December 28th, so you can check out all the lights. It's just beautiful, just beautiful. And the Le Méridien Hotel in Arcadia in Pasadena. Until next time on Arcadia FYI, be blessed and make it a great day.