A Los Alamitos City Council member has urged the residents in her city and beyond to put on their patriotic outfits and join the ongoing celebrations of America’s 250th Anniversary.
“This year marks our 250th year as a country,” said Council member Emily Hibbard, who directed everyday citizens to visit America250.org, a website organizing events for this summer’s anniversary celebrations.
“The reason I am mentioning it here tonight is that the site is featuring American stories. And many of you know that I am very patriotic. I was on D Day for the 80th anniversary. I first heard about this organization from the Daughters of the American Revolution. I am a daughter of the American Revolution,” she said.
“What does that mean? It means that I’m the direct descendant of a Pennsylvania farmer who fought in the American Revolution,” Hibard said.
“So, for me, America’s 250 isn’t just a series of events celebrating the greatest country on Earth this year, but it’s personal for me, since I am the descendant of someone who helped establish this country,” Hibard said.
“These are American stories,” said Hibard, “and I’d love to help get some Los Alamitos stories shared.”
Mayor Tanya Doby celebrated Rabi Haddad, the owner of Mediterranean restaurants in Los Alamitos and Long Beach in the city’s Mayor’s Business Spotlight program, a free program in which the mayor pays tribute to a local vendor to thank them for operating in the city.
Doby praised the restaurant’s garlic sauce, noting it “smelled so strong” and “tasted so good”, but by the time she got home, “my husband couldn’t tell.”
“This is a dream come true,” said Haddad, noting they opened their first location in Long Beach eight years ago before more recently establishing a restaurant in Los Alamitos.
“We feel very grateful for the support we get from the neighbors and the local community here. We want to give back,” he said.
“I think this program is amazing. Very few cities do this, and it really matters. It’s really helping small businesses,” Haddad told Doby.
Haddad said they serve Greek, Spanish, but predominantly Middle Eastern and Mediterranean. “Our food is very much coming from the area of Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. These are the countries that inspired it,” Doby said.
Doby also accepted a financial contribution from Marilyn Bates, the widow of the late Council member and Mayor Ron Bates, who served multiple terms as Mayor.
“On behalf of both my husband and myself, I’d like to tell you a little bit about him for a minute. Ron passed away four years ago, and he was a councilman for, I think, something like 16 years, and I was on the school board, and some of those years we were there at the same time,” she said.
“There were some people who were worried about that and ended up not needing to be worried about. All was good,” she said.
“The other opportunity that we’ve had over the years is to show our recognition to all of the great work that’s being done for which we can donate money, and that is really a pleasure to do,” she said, presenting an unspecified check to Doby.