The Mentone Chamber of Commerce celebrated Mentone’s 138th birthday on Sunday, June 29, 2025, at the Portuguese-American Club (“PCA”), from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
“We made money this year,” stated Angie DeLaRosa, the Chamber’s acting chair since its chairwoman’s passing earlier in June. “We had several sponsors,” she added. According to the banner out front they included the Cherry Valley Nursery, Johnny’s Tacos, Mentone Beach Liquor, Hovey Tile Art, San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, Arthur’s Restaurant, Farmer Boys in Redlands, Stater Bros, Cuca’s Restaurant, Wilbur’s Power Equipment, Tractor Supply in Highland, Cota’s Tire Service, Corky’s Restaurant in Highland, A Noteworthy Realty and the Mill Creek Cattle Company, which also set up a tent with a buffet line.
Many other vendors were set up on the walkway and the lawn; some sold coffee mugs decorated with original photography, some sold Tupperware and Avon products, and there were decorated boxes and different kinds of food. Bands played outside most of the afternoon: “Skeeter Man” from 12:00-1:00; “Heather in Blum” by The DUO from 1:00-3:00; and “Random Play” Band from 3:00-4:00. MACA President J.P. Gutierrez and his family manned the History of Mentone tent.
In the air-conditioned building alcoholic drinks, sodas and water were available and artist Ron Caraway’s work was exhibited, all afternoon. From about 4:15 or 4:30 several Aztec dancers, the majority being women, demonstrated their worship dances and other dances, accompanied by a couple of large drums. At least 8 dancers participated in each dance, the dancers often switching to the drums while other drummers danced. At least two Aztec demonstrators also blew conch shells as they danced; all had bells on their legs, which rang as they walked and danced. All also had large feather headdresses, with the men’s headdresses including an animal skull. They shook rattles as they danced. The dancers invited the audience to join them; several audience members accepted the invitation.
Other special features included a Mentone Days podcast with two interviewers from 12:30 until they had an hour of interviews with Angie DeLaRosa, Artist Ron Caraway, Joyce Caraway, Jan Forrester and Marie Reynolds providing information about Mentone or Caraway’s art. “We will cut it down to half an hour,” said Ralph, one of the interviewers. Another inside feature was a fun photo booth with funny props from 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Caraway provided approximately 35 pieces of his work on the exhibition wall; his art ranged from pencil drawings to oils and acrylics. The art utilized styles from the 1600s to the present, in the form of landscapes, still lifes and surrealistic figural pieces, which ranged in size from 10″x12″ to 40″x50.” Some of his paintings were homages to, or parodies of, Saturday Evening Post’s illustrator Norman Rockwell’s work, where Caraway, an African-American, painted Black people in place of the White people Rockwell had painted, “in order to show inclusion,” he explained. Other of his artwork showed famous people of years ago and nowadays, all demonstrating Caraway’s quirky sense of humor. “The art display was fantastic. It was very impressive. I felt like we were at a museum,” stated Angie DeLaRosa. “This is about one-quarter of my existing work,” Caraway informed attendees, and added “My art is also on Instagram.” Prints of several of his pencil drawings were available for purchase.
Mentonites are reminded that the next Chamber event is the Casino Night on September 18, and after that is the Mentone Film Festival on November 8 and 9.
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