Rhonda Palmeri is trailing the big dogs wearing Christmas jammies to the spot where they’ll pose for a portrait with — who else? —Santa Paws. She coos at Hollister, a scruffy pooch perched politely on a bar stool, then greets Harry, the four-legged guest bartender, who seems eager to distribute beer cans to thirsty humans.
Broadcasting live from Cook’s Corner on her phone, Palmeri ventures into the bustle outside, past the woman in the “Ride or Die” T-shirt. “Did you get your book?” Palmeri asks a toddler dangling from his mama’s arms. “It’s a Dog’s Life,” the book’s title says — the tale of a dog named Annie who was abandoned when her owners bought a new house, and how Modjeska Ranch Rescue swept in to help and she became a symbol for its senior rescue program.
Palmeri, Boss Lady at the famous biker bar for nearly a quarter century, was doing her thing as booster-in-chief a few weeks ago, talking up the local organizations and bands and events of the day on Facebook Live, inviting the whole community to crash the party. Moms, dads, kids, bikers, dogs, whatever — all are always welcome at the beloved dive that’s also the nerve center of the canyon.
Dogs are one of Palmeri’s passions. She has seven of them and runs a little nonprofit, Coco Cares, which helps pay for vet care and spay and neuter surgeries for folks who need help. She champions the Modjeska Ranch Rescue, which finds homes for abandoned animals.
She has helped host and organize rides and fundraisers and memorials for 9/11, for breast cancer care, for the Iron Workers Annual Motorcycle Toy Run, which started in the City of Industry and ended at Cook’s Corner last month (the price of admission was an unwrapped toy for needy kids).
She rode with Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was campaigning for governor. She hosted scores of exhausted firefighters battling backcountry blazes, feeding them, letting them sleep on the picnic tables. She smiled as the priest from…
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