I like to disparage Manhattan Beach for being "precious" because its easy to see a lot of ostentatious displays of tacky wealth around (a la McMansions and BMW's etc). Manhattan Beach is no Bel Air or anything, but with being on the beach plus the out of control housing prices in LA, there are some wealthy folks who live here. I saw an odd but heartening display of it this week at the gym. I had walked past the Christmas Tree that went up earlier several times without really paying much attention to it. This week, the hall was filled with presents, including rows upon rows of bikes. Wow. Once I looked closely, I realized the decorations had kids names with gift wishes on them (I also noticed that most of the requests were for Playstations and XBOXes etc - holy cow). That day was the day to turn in the gifts. I'll admit it made me feel good to see that kind of display, even though I could take no credit in participating.
ps - reminder - Manhattan Beach Christmas Fireworks on Sunday!!