Toluca Lake Magazine

Don’t miss Harmony Holidays, Harmony Toluca Lake’s third annual benefit concert, live on https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyTL Sunday, December 13, at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by Malynda Hale, the event will include performances by Harmony’s singers, along with Trenyce, Jane Monheit, Malcolm Ali Davis, David Hernandez, Aaron Encinas, Brett Bainer, Leah Ashton and David Simmons Jr.

As we make our shopping lists this year, it’s more important than ever to remember those who are homeless, hungry, alone and vulnerable. Whether you donate on your own behalf or in another’s name a great gift choice for those who have no space or desire for any more stuff consider supporting a charity close to your heart! There are a wealth of worthy causes in the world, but we’ve rounded up a list of local nonprofit options in Shop Where the Heart Is at TolucaLake.com.

Support our nonprofit local theater during this difficult time and enjoy wonderful seasonal entertainment with Holidaze Harmony! Filmed on the legendary stage of the Garry Marshall Theatre, this gorgeous, all-new holiday concert movie premieres with a live stream on December 16, then is available on demand December 17-20. Better yet, the Garry Marshall is offering neighbors a special discount ticket price of $25 per household when you use the code TOLUCA at checkout. Don’t miss it!

This season, give those near and dear a piece from the striking new GeGe collection at neighborhood jewelers Generales Jewelers. Designed by co-owner Sylvia Generales, the collection features two pendant necklaces and a ring, each of which can be custom-made for a personalized touch with different metals and stones, like one’s birthstone, for example, co-owner Peter Generales suggests. Learn more and get expert shopping recommendations from other favorite local businesses in our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide at TolucaLake.com.

With a gift card to Sattdown Jamaican Grill in Studio City, you can give loved ones a taste of a Caribbean vacation without having to leave town! Escape the everyday with menu favorites like Chef Tony Hyde’s famous jerk chicken (available in a vegan option, too!), braised oxtails and stuffed salmon plus, don’t miss the flaky, golden, beef-stuffed patties. Find out more about Sattdown and get expert shopping recommendations from our favorite local businesses in our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide at TolucaLake.com.

In his story Dracula Versus Toluca Lake’s Little Wild Bunch at TolucaLake.com, Patrick Curtis (shown here as a young cowpoke in about 1944) recalls his childhood Halloween run-ins with local residents Bob Hope, Don Red Barry, Tex Ritter and, of course, Bela Lugosi. What are your favorite memories of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood?

Even this year’s unprecedented conditions can’t dampen Toluca Lake’s Halloween spirit! Local kids are invited to dress in their spookiest duds and take a bike ride around the neighborhood at 11 a.m. on October 31, followed by a treasure hunt at 1 p.m., plus a costume contest with plenty of prizes. Face masks and physical distancing are required. Local residents are encouraged to come out to their front lawns and cheer on the riders!

We had a great time enjoying seasonal decorations and socially distanced fun while supporting local businesses during Saturday’s Toluca Lake Harvest Festival!

Often portrayed as professional rivals, though other reports say they were actually good friends, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff both broke out as Universal’s top horror actors in 1931 (in Dracula and Frankenstein, respectively) and shared the screen in a number of films throughout the ensuing decade. Both were also neighborhood residents, though not at the same time Karloff had a house on Toluca Lake Avenue from 1931 to 1934, and Lugosi lived in North Hollywood from 1941 to 1952. Find out what it was like to trick-or-treat at Lugosi’s house in Dracula vs. Toluca Lake’s Little Wild Bunch at TolucaLake.com!

The aviation and entertainment industries converged in midcentury Burbank! The 1942 Warner Bros. film Wings for the Eagle, filmed at the Lockheed Aircraft facility, featured Dennis Morgan and Ann Sheridan as aircraft workers involved in a love triangle. The Burbank Airport also appeared in a number of movies, including the 1935 films Bars of Hate and Traveling Saleslady, the Clark Gable starrer Test Pilot in 1938, 1940’s Flight Angel and 1941’s The Bride Came C.O.D., starring James Cagney and Bette Davis. Learn more about local aviation history in Flying High at TolucaLake.com.

Don’t miss the Toluca Lake Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 24, from noon to 7 p.m.! Local businesses will be creatively decorating their storefronts with a fall theme and offering special promotions such as sales and raffles. This is a great way to help support our small businesses during these difficult times and come together as a community while safely social distancing!

Ashley Fultz and Doug McFarland bought a home and moved to Toluca Lake six years ago and have been obsessed with all things TL ever since! (Fun fact: You might recognize them, as they were on the cover of our magazine this summer!) Doug and Ashley are not only really involved neighbors in the community, but they also have their own real estate brokerage and design company called Redesign Properties. They love meeting neighbors and helping with all their real estate needs. They’ve sold three homes in the neighborhood in the last month alone! Email or DM them Redesign Properties with any real estate needs today and find out why their friends and clients call them The Dream Team!

Our small businesses stick together! The crew at local favorite boutique Rose & Sage sent us this photo after stopping by Studio City restaurant Verse LA to show some neighborhood solidarity. During COVID, the Toluca Lake businesses have gotten very close, Phyllis Botti tells us. It is such an amazing community and we have become family, truly! We can all support one another and do it safely.

Looking for a fun and educational way to connect with your neighbors? Join the Toluca Lake Multicultural Virtual Book Club! Through reading inclusively diverse books, this free online group hopes to help bridge divides, lift up Black voices, raise cultural awareness, and promote respectful, insightful conversations. The first meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, focusing on Brit Bennett’s acclaimed The Vanishing Half. Register at https://tinyurl.com/yxdmpfzb and a Zoom invitation will be sent as the meeting date approaches.

After starring in the 1955 blockbuster To Hell and Back, based on his bestselling memoir, famed World War II veteran Audie Murphy moved to the Toluca Lake area with his wife, Pamela Archer Murphy, and their young sons, Terry and Michael. By all appearances, they enjoyed an idyllic life in a charming country-style house overlooking the greens of Lakeside Golf Club. Sadly, it was to be his last home; he was killed in a plane crash in 1971 at the age of 45. Read more about Murphy and his house on Toluca Road in A Hero’s Historic Home at TolucaLake.com.

Looking for some Halloween decorating inspiration or just want to get in the mood for this season’s thrills and chills? Check out our roundup of last year’s neighborhood festivities in Spooktacular Spirits at TolucaLake.com!

Suddenly, the door creaked open. There, wrapped in his black cape, eyes glowing in the mist, stood the Prince of Darkness, bidding us welcome. A scratchy, badly recorded wolf howled in the distance as we, the shaking, the not very brave, entered the large, round entry hall. That was what local kids experienced each Halloween when they dared to visit the North Hollywood home of Bela Lugosi (shown here with his son, Bela Jr.). Read more about what it was like to trick-or-treat here in the 1940s in Dracula vs. Toluca Lake’s Little Wild Bunch at TolucaLake.com!

Navigating the real estate market during these uncertain times can be challenging, especially if you’re not sure how to get started. Luckily, the Artinian Realty Group makes the process a breeze. Whether you’re looking to buy or sell a home, sisters Michelle and Nicole Artinian will work with you every step of the way to ensure that you reach your goals. Visit www.artinianrealtygroup.com to learn more about what this dynamic duo can do for you.