Canoga Park/West Hills : The July Network Breakfast will be sponsored by Pratt & Whitney, Rocketdyne. The breakfast will be at 7:30 am on July 17 at the Home Town Buffet on Fallbrook Ave. Please call the chamber to reserve your seat. The 2nd Annual Wine Tasting Mixer will be held with the Studio City Chamber. This event will be on Thursday, July 31 at the Japanese Gardens in Encino. This is an opportunity for East Valley to meet West Valley and to mix business and pleasure. Invite clients, business associates and friends. The wines that will be served come from California and Argentina. Wineries from all around will be pouring and providing information regarding their vineyards. The cost is $35.00 per person. If you would like to host a table, and/or purchase tickets, please contact the chamber at 818-884-4222. “Club Canoga”, the Canoga Park/West Hills Chambers Annual Casino Night and Texas Hold’em competition will be on Friday, August 22 at the Canoga Park Women’s Club at 7401 Jordan Ave, Canoga Park. $35.00 per person includes dinner and gaming chips. Call the Chamber for your reservation 818-884-4222. The Walk of Hearts Foundation announced this year’s five recipients. The 5th Annual Honoree Reception was held at the Clyde Porter West Valley Playhouse. The Class of 2008 is Bob Collins, Mary Ann Farber, Lynne Haile, Marilyn Moody and Jean Rice. The Walk of Hearts honors outstanding educators who have changed a student’s life with their teaching and care. This year’s plaque installation ceremony will be held on Sunday, September 14 at the Madrid Theatre on Sherman Way. Encino : After a three-year absence, An Evening of Wine came back to the list of Encino Chamber activities on June 10. Almost 200 people gathered at the Hilton Woodland Hills to try dozens of different wines. Liquid Wine and Spirits and Wine Shop at Home provided a variety of Napa Valley and international wines. The Encino Chamber would like to thank participating sponsors: Law Office of Liat Cohen, Mark Levinson with Schuchman & Marshall, Ability First, EZ Storage, Parkinson’s Resource Organization, Universal City Nissan, West Valley Medical Partners, West-Val Pharmacy, Alperstein, Simon, Farkas, Gillin & Scott LLP, Continunity Care Home Nurses, Heather Budish & Travis Y. Olsen First American Title, The Gelb Group, and Steinberg Law Offices, The Lessers Re/Max on the Boulevard sponsored the music of Marvin L. Jones and Promotionally Minded Advertising Specialties provided the wine glasses. There was a variety of silent auction items with the highlights being a weekend in San Diego and suites at Los Angeles Sparks basketball games. The live auction offered a week’s vacation to Cancun as well as a helicopter ride with KFWB pilot Jeff Baugh. Master of Cermonies, Roger Rignack with KFWB, and celebrity auctioneers, Arianne Zucker, from Days of Our Lives and John Bwarie, with Councilman Greig Smith’s office provided entertaining commentary to the evening. The Encino Chamber offers special thanks to some of its non-profits members, Ability First, Cal Fam and Parkinson’s Resource Organization. Their involvement made this an event that proves the strength and support of the San Fernando Valley community. Northridge : In today’s economy, getting new customers, and business contacts, is more important than ever. Join the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce (NVRCC) and meet other local business owners who will help you grow your business through referrals. NVRCC offers its members over 20 networking opportunities per month. It offers free mixers twice a month, a monthly networking breakfast held at the Northridge Fashino Center Food Court, and several weekly networking cluster meetings. You may attend two Chamber functions to try them out before joining. A monthly calendar of events is posted on the Chamber website at www.nvrcc.com. For more information, please contact the Chamber office at (818) 349-5676. Santa Clarita : Booth sales are under way for the 24th Annual Home & Business EXPO, hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. EXPO is set to begin Friday, October 10 and continue to Sunday, October 12. The Home & Business EXPO provides business owners the opportunity to showcase themselves and their services to the community in conjunction with a weekend filled with family fun and entertainment. Pricing for booths ranges from $495 to $2,000 depending on location; price includes a table, two chairs, skirting and cover, and electricity. Sponsorships are still available. Businesses are encouraged to reserve their booth space early for maximum exposure. The weekend will begin with “Taste of Expo,” Friday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., sponsored by AT & T;, Inc. and Vino 100. The evening highlights 35 of Santa Clarita’s restaurants and caterers and offers a preview of EXPO exhibits. “Taste of Expo” serves as the Chamber’s Business-After-Hours Mixer for the month of October and is the largest networking event in the Santa Clarita Valley. VINO 100 will be serving premier wines throughout the evening. The Home & Business EXPO will be open to the public Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The 2008 Center Court/Main Tent Sponsors are Lexus of Valencia and Wescom Credit Union. EXPO features 150 Chamber member businesses. This year, the outdoor arena will be available to Santa Clarita non-profit organizations. Those booths are priced at $250. The City of Santa Clarita will be sponsoring the Main Stage, which hosts entertainment throughout the day. In addition, Wescom Credit Union will be sponsoring a Family Movie Night on Saturday, featuring the classic film, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” Sunday will start with a pancake breakfast from the Rotary Club of Santa Clarita and EXPO’s annual Classic Car Show, sponsored by La Quinta Inn & Suites, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.. A free set of “Taste of Expo” tickets is available with a booth purchase, as well as 20 general admission tickets for the weekend. If you are interested in becoming an EXPO Committee member, or would like to purchase a booth and/or sponsorship, please contact Nichole Swanson, SCV Chamber of Commerce, at (661) 702-6977 or at [email protected]. Thousand Oaks : The best of the Conejo Valley were honored at the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Community Foundation’s Sixth Annual Spirit of Community Awards Celebration in June. The evening honored teachers, firefighters, police officers, the armed forces, Volunteer of the Year and Community Organization of the Year. Amgen was the Title Sponsor. Representing the United States Marine Corps, Sgt. Anthony Potts was honored with a standing ovation from the crowd. The award for community Volunteer of the Year was presented to Albert “Bud” Marley, Ed.D. An educator and teacher for more than 40 years, Dr. Marley was feted for his active participation in numerous community organizations that include: Alliance for the Arts, American Heart Association, Boys and Girls Clubs of Conejo and Las Virgenes, Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Wellness Community, to name a few. Community Conscience was selected as the community non-profit Organization of the Year. Community Conscience owns and operates the “Under One Roof” human services center in Thousand Oaks. Because of Community Conscience, 12 other social services agencies are able to operate rent free in their building, saving these agencies more than $250,000 annually and helping to keep these small organizations afloat. Tenants include the Conejo Free Clinic, Hospice of the Conejo Valley, Senior Concerns and Youth Employment Services. Three government social service agencies are also tenants Social Service Administration, probation Youth Services and WIC Nutrition Program. Teachers of the Year were selected from the Chamber’s Teacher of the Month program, which honors area teachers throughout the school year. Representing the Las Virgenes Unified School District was Vickie Prater, from Agoura High School. Prater began her teaching career as an elementary school teacher and later taught math at the middle school level before moving to Agoura High School in 1997. The Conejo Valley Unified School District Teacher of the Year was Allison Ginter, a third grade teacher at Lang Ranch Elementary School. Ginter pioneered KLRN, the school’s on-site television station. She is also involved in GATE, PTA, SSC and Leadership Council. Also honored were representatives from the Thousand Oaks Police Department; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Malibu/Lost Hills Station; Ventura County fire stations; and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. All honorees received gift baskets and certificates noting their achievements. The event was made possible through the generous donations of Amgen, Baxter Healthcare, Sage Publications, State Farm Insurance, Silver Star Automotive Group, University of Phoenix, CR Print, Photography by Marvin Steindler, Ventura County Star, Kelly Paper, Robert Cabral Consulting, Unified Association of Conejo Teachers, and MWS Wire Industries. Winnetka: The Winnetka Chamber of Commerce, an all-volunteer organization, has one big fund-raiser, the Annual Oktoberfest. The 11th Annual Oktoberfest will be held on the weekend of October 17, 18 and 19 at Winnetka Park. The net proceeds are divided equally between the Winnetka Park and the Winnetka Chamber. The Winnetka Chamber donates its entire portion to the Winnetka Community Foundation, which was started by the Chamber. The Winnetka Foundation is now a 401 c (3). Compiled by Ivy Weiss