100 years is a long time, and when a person, place or thing reaches that landmark, it’s generally cause for celebration. So on Sunday, October 16, the Miracle Mile and Carthay Circle neighborhoods, both founded in 1922, recognized their joint centennials with a happy hour gala organized by the Miracle Mile Residential Association and the Carthay Circle Neighborhood Association at local landmark Tom Bergin’s pub and restaurant.
According to MMRA President Greg Goldin, the revelers (who were encouraged to attend in period-appropriate dress) focused on fun, eating “lots of really enjoyable food from Bergin’s,” drinking beer and cocktails (including two – the Carthay Revival and the Miracle Mile Spritz – created specially for the event), listening to swing-era music from the Big Butter Jazz Band, and participating in a prize raffle.
“We kept speeches to a bare minimum,” Goldin told the Buzz, “basically retelling the early history of the MMRA — its founding in 1983 when the Wilshire Courtyard building was first proposed, which led the neighborhood to organize itself, gaining several key concessions: the park which runs two city blocks from Curson to Masselin, the Wilshire Boulevard Building set-back, and the wide interior street running between the two buildings, making the whole complex feel a bit lighter. Other than that, we mentioned our upcoming Operation Sparkle, for Saturday, November 12, a neighborhood clean-up (bring your own gloves, rakes, dust pans, brooms!).”
Garcia added that “It was a great turn out (more than 200 people) and we had a wonderful time. People were so happy to be out celebrating with their neighbors!” In fact, she said, everyone had such a good time, the neighbors will “definitely be doing this annually.”
Both neighborhoods also received commemorative certificates from City Council District 5 and the 50th California State Assembly District.
For more information on the history of the two neighborhoods, see the MMRA’s Miracle Mile History page, and the Carthay Circle neighborhood history page. Here are some photos of the big soiree, courtesy of revelers Amy Steinberg, Kari Garcia, and Keith Nakata:
About Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and is the co-owner/publisher of the Buzz.
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