Getting Out of the Frying Pan

Last weekend's 100 degree dog days reminded me of what we have to look forward to come July. I never moved here because I liked the heat.

Of course the coolest place in the summer is inside an air conditioned house. From what I can tell, the most popular person in town is the local air conditioning guy: Greg of Greg's Refrigeration, a Pomona native. I'm sure you have seen his trucks around town. He has saved many a weary soul from melting, including myself. When we first moved here several Junes ago, we had neither heat or air in our two story house. My husband had the daring idea of waiting to install air in case we didn't really need it. Well let me tell you, that air conditioning system was being installed in desperation within our first month here. My husband accuses me of responding to one degree temperature shifts as if the seasons are changing. I don't think I'm that bad, but I also know I could not survive without air in the home and the car out here.

Greg figures into local Pomona lore as well. Legend has it that Greg and his friends are responsible for Lincoln Park not being a perfect circle as it once was. Seems the City reshaped the roadway around the park in an attempt to slow them down. I don't know if it worked, since Greg can still be seen rushing around Pomona as he fulfills his higher calling of cooling off our fellow citizens. I've yet to see him popping wheelies around Lincoln Park, however, so maybe the new shape did the trick. I wonder if the City's street maintenance department has been made aware there's a Greg Jr. coming up the ranks?

Once Upon a Time in the Inland Valley

If you have never taken your kids to the Pomona Public Library storytime, you are really missing out. Miss Lois, the children's librarian for Pomona, is the bomb: she sings in Spanish and English, she dances, she plays guitar, she reads, she does puppets, she does felt boards and get this.....she raps. A self-admitted owner of 8 cats (at last count), Miss Lois' one flaw may be that she is partial to feline tales over dinosaur books. She does a killer rendition of the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. And my sometimes-picky-eater son started demanding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after hearing her song/dance of the same name. You see, Miss Lois has heart and the children sense this and eat it up. oh, and in case you couldn't tell, parents dig her too. The children's storytime is held at the Pomona Library every Tuesday at 10:15 a.m., corner of Garey and Mission in downtown. After storytime, parents and kids mill about in the library, eventually moving outside to the park for snacks and running around. Word is that if it gets crowded enough, Miss Lois will add a second day of storytime.

Claremont Library's Storytime is located at 208 N. Harvard in the Village on Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. Claremont has other branches, most of which probably have their own storytimes. Would love to hear your own experiences at the Claremont storytime

The new and rather glitzy downtown Ontario Public Library is home to a number of different storytimes. There's one for tots under 20 months held on Wednesday, another for toddlers held every weekday morning but Wednesday, and lastly one specifically for preschoolers held Thursday or Friday mornings. One must pre-register in person or by phone for all these storytimes, so they must be something special. To reserve space call (909) 395-2207.

I am told that the Upland Public Library also has a great children's department. Their Tuesday morning storytime, however, conflicts with Pomona's, so my loyalty to Miss Lois prevents us from checking it out.

Our new Barnes and Noble Bookstore at the Montclair Mall, which boasts a topnotch children's section, also has storytimes.