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Laguna’s businesses are offering creative ways to gather together.
By Sharon Stello
From story time at a cafe to song circles at a yoga studio, vintage markets and clothing swaps at a refill shop and a revived downtown theater with art-making sessions, kids events and more, local businesses are going above and beyond their main mission to bring the community together in new ways.
And there appears to be demand for these types of gatherings as some have been craving ways to get together in person after emerging from the pandemic’s isolation. Many are also seeking face-to-face interactions as the antidote to endless scrolling on so-called “social” media that can often leave us feeling alone. Of course, Laguna Beach is also a very community-oriented town, so some of these gatherings just evolve naturally, but seem to be on the uptick.
Steve and Embry Munsey, who opened Jedidiah Coffee’s new cafe earlier this year in north Laguna, waited for a long time to find the perfect spot to create a community space. Meanwhile, the couple maintained their coffee-roasting studio in Laguna Canyon, catered events and hosted pop-up coffee bars in town.
“Community is why we really held out to have a brick-and-mortar [cafe],” Embry Munsey says. “… We held out for over a decade to finally find a place to have that coffeehouse where people gather and read the newspaper. It’s just happened so naturally. … Sometimes people are here by themselves, but there are a lot of people here meeting other people. Locals meeting locals they’ve never met. We’ve already seen a lot of community happening and that’s the dream come true.”
A Welcoming Space
Situated on North Coast Highway at Jasmine Street, the homey atmosphere at Jedidiah Coffee includes an extensive patio and a cozy interior with coloring books, a wooden tic-tac-toe set and a kid’s nook featuring a toy coffee bar that local children adore. And the Munseys are taking full advantage of the space, hosting a monthly Corner Market featuring artists from the area, local organizations and other vendors that may not have their own storefront. Passersby can peruse items like jewelry, recycled denim clothing, homemade cookies, flower bouquets and more while sipping a latte, cappuccino or cold brew. The next market is Sunday, Aug. 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The patio has also served as a meeting spot for the Laguna Beach Parents Club and, recently, a community and coffee chat for Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley. The cafe, which opened in February, has taken part in First Thursdays Art Walk and, a few months ago, students at Thurston Middle School displayed some of their photos on the patio. A block party and open mic night is set for Friday, Aug. 23, from 5-8 p.m.
Back in April, the cafe hosted a story time for kids in connection with Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which is currently closed to the public due to construction at its Laguna Canyon site. Kids gathered around to hear author Kim Ann read her book “10 Little Sandpipers”; PMMC also set up a table to sell its gift shop items and provide educational information. “We definitely want to do more of that,” Embry Munsey says.
“… There are already so many organizations that are already doing stuff, so [we’re trying to think about] how can we just help or host or collaborate with what you’re already doing to make it easier or more accessible to people,” she continues. “… We knew this spot and this corner would help us do that more easily. It’s easy to get to and it’s right by the park here.”
In July, the cafe launched a beach cleanup event, meeting at the coffeehouse and then walking down to the sand to pick up trash. Rich German of Project O also spoke to participants about his nonprofit’s efforts to preserve and restore the ocean and marine life. The next beach cleanup will be Saturday, Aug. 31. The Munseys have volunteered and provided coffee at KelpFest and a lot of the cleanups in town over the last few years, but wanted to organize one of their own—especially because the cafe is just a block from Heisler Park, Steve surfs at local beaches and one of their kids takes part in the Junior Lifeguards program.
“The idea is to try to do it on a monthly basis and not just like a big annual one,” Steve Munsey says. “We want to encourage people to come here on a Saturday morning … [pick up] some bags and some grabbers and [help clean up the beach].”
Finding Your Tribe
Another north Laguna business, The Ritual Refill, which sells soaps, shampoo, laundry detergent and other household products by the ounce—inviting customers to bring their own containers to fill as a way to reduce plastic waste—hosts events that bring like-minded people together.
“From the beginning, it’s been important to us to provide an inclusive space for everyone to feel welcome and make a difference,” says Shannon Hall, co-owner of The Ritual Refill.
“… We host a diverse range of events about once a month, from fun activities like clothing swaps or markets to educational experiences such as our recent herb walk with [Jaskrit Bhalla of Inner Garden] … and our Earth Day beach cleanup and ocean conservatory chat with [writer and photographer Avery Schuyler Nunn]. … We love offering something for everyone.”
Other events at The Ritual Refill have included book swaps, sound baths, tarot readings and tea ceremonies.
“One of the most fulfilling parts of our shop is bringing the community together,” Hall says. “We’re passionate about spreading our mission to live low-waste lives, which involves reducing waste, supporting local businesses and shopping secondhand clothing, among many other ways.”
Hall says she and co-owner Danielle Holland are grateful for the community’s support for their business and for embracing these events.
“Many of our regulars, who we are so appreciative of, consistently join us but we are definitely still growing,” Hall says. “We love seeing new faces at our events. Seeing everyone smile and laugh while cleaning up the beach together makes it all feel so rewarding. … Nowadays, we do everything online, from communicating with each other to shopping. Social media makes it so easy to stay connected with each other but nothing will ever beat in-person connection.”
Joining the Circle
Another business, Laguna Beach Yoga & Fair Trade, which opened downtown in September, has been offering community circles and even just a place to relax or work at the patio tables outside the studio.
“We’ve always seen the space as a community gathering place that offers a variety of different things,” says studio co-owner Katie Bond Gallen. “So we don’t see ourselves as solely a fair trade boutique or solely a yoga studio. We see it as a place where people can come and tap into community, come to our events, come and take a meditation class or a sound bath or gentle yoga or come and just shop for a really meaningful, purposeful gift.”
The goal, she says, is “just getting the community involved in something bigger than themselves where they feel like they are part of this local Laguna vibe that’s always been here, but I think is actually growing stronger—this feeling of connectedness in Laguna. It’s really beautiful.”
In addition to its variety of yoga, meditation and reiki classes, the studio offers a monthly community circle, which is often free or donation-based, followed by a potluck, which came about organically when participants were hungry after one of these gatherings and ran across the street to buy some food, bringing it back to share while sitting around and talking.
“Some circles will be where we sit and do a meditation and drink cacao that’s been handmade by ladies in Peru,” Bond Gallen explains. “So we’ll learn about cacao and we’ll sit and drink this beautiful, rich chocolate drink. Then we’ll create a nature mandala and then go around and let everyone just kind of share something in their life, just being really authentic and present in the space. Other circles, we’ll do more song singing and I think it just depends on the event. Every one is a little different.”
Depending on the type of session, sometimes circle leaders and participants bring drums, guitars or Native American flutes. There are also monthly sound baths with a journaling prompt or paired with breathwork. “Each circle is a different vibe,” Bond Gallen says. “Some are receiving, some are participating, some are being very active in song and movement and so it just depends on which one you attend.”
Bond Gallen says she and her husband, James Gallen, have been “blown away and blessed and we feel so grateful” for the community’s response to what they’re offering.
“It’s been better than we expected,” Bond Gallen says. “But we’re not trying, we’re just here. … We just want to organically be here, be a place for people to stop in on their lunch break or before they go to work or if they’re not working during the day and just need a breath or mindfulness or say hi to their neighbor. It’s just that simple. We want to keep it really simple.”
In September, when the summer winds down and there are fewer crowds, they plan to take the community connection out of the studio to Fisherman’s Cove. “We’re going to do a silent disco that we’ll just offer complimentary for people to come and hang out, put on some headphones and dance and do a potluck again and just … [celebrate] that we have a little bit more Zen back in our town.”
The yoga studio and its students have also been banding together to protect monarch butterflies that frequent the plants outside the building. They noticed monarch caterpillars and worried they would be eaten by the birds or lizards. When the caterpillars appear ready to create a cocoon, one of the volunteers takes them home to a terrarium to keep them safe until they turn into a butterfly and then release them at the butterfly garden at Heisler Park, for example.
“We’re very intentional about the symbolism we see, this transformation happening, and we want the studio to feel symbolic of that,” Bond Gallen says. “As people are coming and taking care of themselves and tapping into their breath, we’re not doing anything. We’re just creating a space for people to come and relax. And as they relax and learn to breathe and just become more present, their own life naturally goes through a beautiful transformation. …
“We want it to carry through and feel symbolic, actually, of the whole space like how our lives are always in transformation. Sometimes we go through seasons of resting and cocooning and growing inward and change and rebirth and sometimes we bloom and find our wings and we’re in motion and taking flight.”
Neighborhood Hot Spot
A theater is, by nature, a gathering place, and the reinvented South Coast Theater has become a community center of sorts, offering plenty of activities for all ages.
South Coast Theater, a newly revived beacon for community activity, opened just in time for the holidays last year following an extensive renovation of the historic building by electric vehicle company Rivian. In addition to serving as a showroom for Rivian, the 11,000-square-foot theater screens films, including some curated through a partnership with the Coast Film & Music Festival, and hosts other social events such as Toddler Time on Wednesday mornings.
Recent toddler events have included activities with Laguna Ocean Foundation: story time and modified yoga poses that mimic ocean creatures, followed by light snacks and a craft activity. Another toddler session featured a visit by the Orange County Bird of Prey Center, which rehabilitates injured raptors then releases them back to the wild.
Another event, on the day after the Olympic Games opening ceremony, was called Gold Medal Experiments, teaching scientific principles through Summer Games-themed activities for ages 3 and up. The theater also presented the Summer Games Opening Ceremony for locals to watch on the big screen July 26, with cold brew coffee from Equator Coffees and corn hole tournaments. A concert by Laguna band The Great North Special was showcased on a different day. And a session called Five Senses Clay Play, with artist Jo Situ Allen, involved a silent, meditative walk to gather natural objects to imprint in clay.
Back in June, nonalcoholic beverage brand Grüvi debuted at the theater as part of Adventure With Pride, a mini film festival and panel discussion dedicated to uplifting LGBTQIA2S+ voices. Guests were treated to a Rivian “frunk,” or front trunk, filled with the brand’s beers and wines. And a Save The Waves Film Festival took place at the theater Aug. 1, featuring exclusive surf, environmental, adventure and documentary films as a fundraiser for the Save The Waves Coalition and World Surfing Reserves, with proceeds supporting that organization’s work to conserve and protect surf ecosystems.
Indeed, the South Coast Highway spot, right across from Main Beach, provides a central place for the community to gather for many different causes—or to take in a movie, which is in itself a communal activity much like gathering to watch a play or concert, everyone reacting to the same performance as it unfolds, laughing, gasping or applauding in real time without clicking a thumbs up icon and scrolling to the next video.
Next up is a screening of “Moonrise Kingdom” at 7 p.m. Aug. 3. The film, set in 1965 on an island off the coast of New England, follows the search for a pair of 12-year-olds who fall in love and decide to run away as a storm looms.
