PCT Honors will happen on June 3rd at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall. The amazing program identifies and thanks wonderful local people for their service to our community while serving as a fundraiser for our TV station. For more information on tickets and the program, check out our event page.

Here is a spotlight for some of the honorees we will be celebrating this year.

Paul and Amy Kukielka

Paul and Amy Kukielka, owners of both Chit Chat Cafes, are welcoming people, making the cafes great places to relax. Serving breakfast and lunch items, Chit Chat is a great place to meet friends or enjoy a quiet meal. Both locations overlook the water, and whale watching is a popular past time. 

The Chit Chat Manor location offers beer and wine, a choice for some when the bands play over the weekends. Musicians of all genres love the Chit Chat. It’s a great place to catch the local bands and bands that spontaneously form because certain talented people happen to be in the audience.

Both locations are usually open Thanksgiving and Christmas because some customers really enjoy having a comfortable place to go to on a holiday.

The Chit Chat Pier location sits on one of the only open-ocean fishing piers in the state and draws people from all over the Bay Area and visitors from other countries. Chit Chat at the Pier happens to be the cafe where people gather to watch the whales, fish, or walk while enjoying a grilled-to-order burger or hot dog on weekends. 

 The Kukielkas have owned the Chit Chat on Manor Drive since 2003. Two years later they picked up the second Chit Chat at the Pacifica Pier. They volunteer to provide all the refreshments for the annual American Legion event when veterans go fishing at the pier. They provided live entertainment and whatever else was needed to support the now- defunct POPS (Preserve our Pier). They are involved with the Toys for Tots drive every year and fill the café with gifts for children. The many musicians who love to play at the Chit Chat tell their guests to bring toys. They've donated water and snacks for the PARCA bike ride and are avid supporters of most school raffles and the PCT telethon, donating gift certificates for each one. They displayed the quilt to be donated to raise money for the Terra Nova music department and supplies for the Terra Nova wrestling team, as well. In the past, the Kukielkas helped the Pacifica Beach Coalition clean up on Earth Day. They donated to help raise funds to build the Pacifica dog park. Once it was open, they barbequed lunch items at the milestone celebrations. 

Visit the Chit Chat Cafe at  5 W Manor Dr in Pacifica!

Charise McHugh

Charise McHugh has been the leader of the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce for 20 years. When she entered the chamber community, she arrived with a burst of excitement and enthusiasm. That energy level has done nothing but accelerate. She will be found exploring, developing, and promoting many movements for business, government, and community service non-profits.

Before working with the chamber, McHugh headed a marketing promotions company in San Francisco, “Promotions with Pizzazz.” She brought her promotional flair – and a remarkable management skill - when she came to the Chamber of Commerce. The chamber brilliantly does the normal chamber activities - the tourist information, directories, ribbon cuttings and web presence. Separately, McHugh heads up the HMB Hotel Business Improvement District (BID). It is the BID that does the public relations that globally publicizes the HMB Coastside.  

McHugh is always found working and contributing ideas to help make community events successful. Among those are “The Night of Lights,” “Rock the Block,” and “Passeggiata,” the downtown stroll. For a suburban community like this one, which is right next to major cities, is a special event - Farm Day – the day that helps keep the still vibrant rural spirit of the Coastside alive. 

During her two decades with the chamber, McHugh is active in the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE). While she was busy doubling the number of members within the local chamber (and tripling its budget), she has served on the WACE Board of Directors, and been recognized with their prestigious “Hammond Award.”  

The social programs - apart from the chamber - that McHugh helped start that will leave the greatest impact. She helped bring the SamTrans bus shuttle service along the coast. Locals without cars can now easily move around the Coastside for work and shopping and errands. She initiated and helped manage the Coastside Medical Center – for years, delivering health care to insured under-insured, and uninsured. Now, she is instrumental in coordinating the diverse activist groups necessary in designing and driving a nationally recognized local disaster relief plan. McHugh says she works hard for the Coastside because she simply loves working with people and solving problems.

She and her husband, Jack McHugh, settled together in Half Moon Bay in the early 1980s and raised their three children and now have six grandchildren. 

Check out the Half Moon Bay Chamber at HalfMoonBayChamber.Org