Growing up in the “Crown City” of the San Gabriel Valley, my hometown’s bountiful offerings faded into the scenery of childhood. The gaudy Tournament of Roses Parade: been there. The “Grandaddy of Them All” Bowl Game: done that. Trips to the resplendent Huntington: countless. JPL and Caltech: genius reduced to the prosaic. I wasn’t aware of how blessed I was to have been in the cradle of such phenomenal history until I moved away and took stock of a little town that continues to punch above its weight class.