Arcadia Chamber board director and financial advisor Wayne Williams of Professional Advisory Services loves cars so much that he self-produced a movie about some of his favorites more than 20 years ago.
Now, the Chamber’s current Business Person of the Year is bringing eight to ten classics to the Business Showcase at the Taste of Arcadia on Sept. 23, and offering $50 gift certificates to attendees who come closest to guessing the value of each. Four of the vehicles are pictured at right and below, a 1961 red Ford convertible; a “Woody” owned by John Miller; a 1949 Bentley owned by Bob Harkness, and a 1954-55 Cadillac Sedan de Ville owned by Glen Atkins.
Wayne moved to Arcadia in 1982 with his wife and six children, then produced and directed a film called “Romancing the Classics” in 1991-92 that featured 125 classic cars and 12 rock ‘n’ roll songs from the 1950s & 60s. A number of scenes were filmed at Arcadia High School and featured AHS cheerleaders and “Song” group. The movie was sold worldwide and presented at the Louvre in Paris as part of a retrospective of 1950s America.
Taste of Arcadia 2013 and Business Showcase at the Taste will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. The annual event draws about 1,000 guests who enjoy the many different foods and tastes from more than 40 of the most exciting local restaurants, caterers and wine-and-beer vendors.
Tickets can be purchased through Thursday, Sept. 19 for $60. Thereafter tickets will only be available at the gate for $70 (Chamber members get $10 discount).
Note: Chamber office and phones are closed Monday, Sept. 23, when tickets can only be purchased at the gate of the entrance to the L.A. County Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave.

The face of Taste of Arcadia is Talk Radio KABC 790 star Peter “King of Cuisine” Dills, who will walk the red carpet, sign autographs in his booth, and be one of the judges of the annual Culinary Contest along with Chef David Flood of Flooded with Flavor Catering Company, and others.
This year’s Taste of Arcadia and Business Showcase at the Taste features an additional 45 business exhibitors, including car dealers with about a dozen of the newest model cars, plus many new activities:
- The new Hollywood premiere-style Red Carpet Experience created by Printing Control and The Executive Factor will make you feel like a star in front of the paparazzi as you have photo ops with KABC radio star Peter Dills, Mexico movie star Alejandro Alcondez, the exotic Brazilian dancers, and Emmy-winning nature documentarian Adam Ravetch, among other surprise guests. Pictures will be posted on the Chamber’s Facebook and available on the Chamber web site to those who provide e-mail for notification.
- The first-ever T.G. Metzger State Farm Insurance Monday Night Football Lounge will offer live viewing of the game between the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos on a 46-inch HD big-screen that will be raffled off just before 9 p.m.
Other attractions besides the classic car show include:
- The popular Lounge-O-Rama band playing swing, Big Band and Standards early in the evening, and shifting to classic pop rock after dark
- The popular exotic Brazilian dancers
- Highlights of the Emmy-winning and soon-to-be-released “Ice Bear” on a 65-inch Panasonic HD display and Blu-ray player
- MonArc Face Painting — let the popular Taste of Arcadia wine glass/peacock logo live a little longer with a temporary tattoo on your cheek or arm!
- The Arcadia High School drum line serenading attendees as they arrive.
As judges, Dills and Flood will sample food, desserts and drinks from dozens of vendors throughout the entire evening. Winners will need to be present and still serving to guests when judges announce their selections near the end of the event at 9 p.m. in the following categories:
- Best of Show
- Most Innovative Dish
- Best Savory Item
- Best Dessert Item
- Best Presentation
None of it would be possible without the following unprecedented number of sponsors:
- Presenting Gold Sponsor: Westfield Santa Anita (also year-round Community Builder Presenting Sponsor Member)
- Business Showcase at the Taste Sponsor (first-ever) – Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary (also year-round Keystone 365 Connection Sponsor Member of the monthly Networking Breakfasts and first premium sponsor of Chamber’s planned new Digital Display sign board
- Silver Sponsor, Classic Car Show: Professional Advisory Services, Wayne Williams
- Silver Sponsor: Methodist Hospital
- Silver Sponsor: Wells Fargo, Baldwin Avenue
- Silver Sponsor: Breeders’ Cup
- Bronze Sponsor: Merrill Lynch, Arcadia
- Red Carpet Sponsor: Printing Control-Jerry Dominguez and The Executive Factor-Andrew Gregson
- Monday Night Football Lounger Sponsor: State Farm, T.G. Metzger
- Ticket Sponsor: Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority
- Gift Bag Sponsors: Century Rooter Service and Plumbing; Vons
- Live Music Sponsor: City of Arcadia’s Shop Arcadia and Arcadia Transit
- Tram Sponsors: Arcadia Association of Realtors; Southern California Edison
- The Roost Sponsor: Dolphin Event Services
- Media Partners: Beacon Media’s Arcadia Weekly
- Parking Light and Support Services: Jan’s Towing
And the tireless Taste of Arcadia Committee of Volunteers, including:
- Bruce McCallum, CTO (Chief Taste Officer)
- Pete Siberell (Santa Anita Park), Administration & overflow parking
- Gil Stromsoe (Mark Shaefer Associates), Budgetary controls
- Aaron Rose (Avid Learning Resources), Volunteers
- Jerry Pavelec (Nancy Bond Insurance), Businesses Showcase exhibitors, including new car dealers and classic cars, and overall support
- Vicki Knight (Century Rooter Service and Plumbing), Business Showcase exhibitors support, and food/vendor recruiter, overall support
- T.G. Metzger (State Farm Insurance), Ticket sales, Promotion/Publicity/Marketing/Advertising, Monday Night Football Lounge
- Wayne Tay (Town & Country Event Rentals), Overall Facilities, Logistics, Layout
- Errol Simonitsch (Dolphin Rents), Rentals
- Bill Geist (Event Power), Electrical
- Mike Real, Food/Beverage vendors and Culinary Contest
- Don Fandry (Elks Lodge) & Bruce Snell, Security, Parking Control
- and Chamber staff Taste of Arcadia coordinator Jan Shimmin, CEO Scott Hettrick (sponsors, entertainment, publicity, co-marketing/promotion/advertising), and support staff Bonnie Wilbur and Cherry Liu.