This is the start of a busy time of year for most of us.
Friday is Halloween, and it seems a lot more people are decorating for it this year. There are sure a lot of creepy skeletons poking out of bushes or standing way too tall in a yard or on a porch.
They are all ready for the trick-or-treaters who will travel from house to house for treats as well as to many of the businesses on Birch Street in Brea Downtown, which also have great Halloween decorations this year.
A special treat for all of us is Brea’s very first Restaurant Week, Dine Brea, which will be Nov. 3-9. Brea has so many restaurants and Dine Brea is a great way to dine at one or more you’ve yet to visit.
The first Dine Brea participants are Alicia’s Cookery, Boba Boba Brea, Blue Scoop Creamery, Bruxie, Buca di Beppo, Bushfire Kitchen, Jack-in-the-Box, Jimmy John’s, Kabuki Japanese Restaurant, Our Nest, Pokeworks, Red Lobster, Sushi Club Izakaya, Tempo Geisha and Utatuba Acai. Wow.
Go to CityofBrea.gov/DineBrea to see each restaurant’s Dine Brea deal.
Something just for kids is coming up at the JCPenney in Brea Mall. On Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to noon in the children’s department, kids can make cute turkey door hangers. And it is all for free.
It is part of JCPenney’s Kids Zone monthly craft event, held the second Saturday each month. Kids make a free craft to take home and parents get a coupon for savings in at JCPenney. Sounds like a win-win to me.
Also on Nov. 8 is the county’s anonymous, no ID required, Gun Buyback Day. The drive-up only event will be at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center, 11300 Stanford Ave., Garden Grove, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Firearms must be unloaded and in a bag, box or case and carried in the trunk or rear hatch of your vehicle. An officer will remove the gun from the vehicle.
You can turn in up to three firearms, but no BB, pellet, replica, homemade or inoperable guns. You’ll receive $100 gift card for up to three operable handguns, shotguns, ghost guns and rifles. Turn in a complete and operable assault weapon, as defined by the state of California, and get a $300 gift card. Turn in three, get $900. Turn in two handguns and one assault weapon, get $500. Holiday shopping is coming.
But the very most important Brea November event is the annual Veterans Day event, Nov. 11, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. It will be at the Brea Veterans Memorial at the front of the Civic and Cultural Center.
The annual ceremony, now in its 13th year, will feature keynote speaker Master Sgt. (Retired) Hector Soto, Mayor Blair Stewart’s boyhood Brea chum. Besides Soto, there will be an honor guard and the names of deceased military will be read.
“Pastor Doug Green will perform his annual military hymns and tribute,” added Stewart.
Everyone welcome, but come early because seating is limited.
And for a little trivia … did you know that the Brea Veterans Memorial was originally named the Brea War Memorial when it was first dedicated in 2012? In 2023, the name was changed to Brea Veterans Memorial to better honor all veterans, not just those who served or died in wars.
We thank them all for their service.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at daxoncomm@gmail.com.