Around Town: Proper boosts community feeling

Another Monday night at the Proper. I was hanging out with Skippy, the bartender, sipping a non-alcoholic better-than-Shirley-Temple concoction with muddled berries, sprigs of mint and other stuff.

Skippy continued to make his argument. On Monday nights, the Flintridge Proper Bar is the modern-day equivalent of the pre-Prohibition, Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar.

Huh? I asked.

Skippy pulled a tattered book out of his back pocket. It was the 1935 edition of the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book. He threw it down on the bar and pointed to page 152. The Bar was not regarded as a place of ill-repute'...the Waldorf-Astoria bar was Wall Street moved bodily uptown for an adjourned session of the Stock Exchange, with men betting on how stocks would perform the next day.

Skippy had a point. Like the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar, the Proper is the stomping grounds for professionals (and others) at the end of the work day, to discuss their investments and otherwise reconnoiter. Even retired La Caadans are welcome, if they have time from kitchen remodels and gardening activities.

Skippy wiped down the counter and continued. Historically, La Caada Flintridge has always had similar hangouts. Late evenings on the patio at Conrad's. Early mornings the La Caada Coffee Roaster. Coffee klatches at Higleys.

I had to agree. I still miss the La Caada Coffee Roaster.

Fast forward to 2014 and there's Monday nights at the Proper Bar, with repasts both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with and without gluten, plus deviled-eggs with the chicken on the side.

Skippy continued. What's important is that we create a sense of community.

Suddenly it was clear. We live in an increasingly war-driven, urban, disassociated world. La Caada used to be a small semi-rural town. No one was anonymous. Today, we are at a crossroads. We are a suburb. We are suburban. What will happen to our sense of community? Where do we gather?

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Around Town: Proper boosts community feeling