Editor:

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 was the night that the people of Brentwood came out to play in their newly renovated downtown. The Downtown Brentwood Business Coalition put on the wonderfully successful Winter Walkabout. As a new business owner and member of the Downtown Brentwood Business Coalition, also known as the DBC, this was my first event.

As I stood in the courtyard of the Vista Verde Plaza on First Street, I realized that this event was a huge success and I was having a wonderful time. I was stunned to see so many families, couples and friends walking the streets going from store to shop to restaurant, laughing, eating, singing with Christmas carolers and riding in the horse-drawn cart.

There were droves of children at Santa’s Village enjoying crafts and sitting in Santa’s lap. The funeral home was doing Tarot card readings and the restaurants were serving samplings of their fares. The shop owners were offering warm drinks and sweets. Our hope was that people would come out and experience the downtown, meet their local business owners and have an evening filled with good food, good drinks, good conversation and laughter.

From what I saw and heard last night, our hopes came true. I had the privilege of meeting some great people and adorable kids and I was a witness to the downtown business owners connecting with the people of their community, and conversely, people chose to come out and play, and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it. I had great conversations, I laughed with people, talked about my business and what I had to offer as well as being able to talk about what people were experiencing at other businesses.

It was great to hear how much they loved the new downtown.

Lori Yap-Chiongco, Brentwood