Posted on 29 September 2013 by La Habra Journal
I experienced something interesting. I recently ran into someone that went to La Habra High school with me. We were (and are) friends, and we had chatted a few times in college. We also saw each other at one of the class reunions. However, it had been a while since the last time we saw each other. She lives out of the area and was commenting on La Habra. The fact that it has changed so much. I paused, thought about it and finally agreed with her that it has. But she quickly followed up with the fact that it still feels like home. La Habra really has that feel. We sometimes forget or don’t see that. It took me to hear it from someone who hadn’t been in the community for a while. It has changed, but still remains like home. The city itself changes and develops, but that “home-like” feel of the La Habra community is what makes many residents stay for multiple generations. It is a welcoming, supportive and active community. There are examples of this all around. I was lucky enough to attend the ceremony by La Habra Pop Warner where they presented a bench at Estelli Park to memorialize the loss of Joseph Quezeda. He was taken from the community two years ago in an auto accident. The members of the Quezada family were on hand for the memorial and I thought about how active the family has been, and continues to be, in the community. I was touched by the outpouring of the Pop Warner family and so proud of our community to have made this memorial possible, and thought that something like this shows how supportive the community can be, just like home. The first Otoberfest is this weekend. The event is put on by the Chamber of Commerce and is a way to showcase some of the tastes of La Habra and a way to celebrate the community. Events like this, the Citrus Fair, the Corn Festival, the parade, OLG’s La Fiesta are all “extras” that the city and community organizations do for the residents. They don’t have to do it, but they do. They do it for the residents and by doing so, make the community become more welcoming; just like home. Advance! on to College, an organization that for the last 10 years has been working very hard to help those young men and women in our community get a better chance of going to college. Rosie’s Garage, which helps local students do better in school by providing them resources and assistance that they might not have had otherwise. These, among other groups, help our youth find success in academics and help create opportunities for a better future. These are some things that help show that the community is dedicated to our children; another aspect that helps La Habra feel like home. Living in the community and interacting with families like the Quezadas, being active in organizations like Pop Warner and taking part in the many activities, we tend to just take it for granted as that is what is supposed to happen. It sometimes takes input from friends and others from outside the community to remind us how lucky we are to be in such a caring community and call it home.
—The Editor
