In these difficult economic times, the word “greedy” often pops up in media accounts of the troubles on Wall Street and in the corporate world, and it could also apply to the sports world.
For instance, the Dodgers are offering Manny Ramirez $45 million over two years but his agent is likely to reject it. It's not enough.
So, sometimes it is comforting to hear a story of someone’s generosity. An Arcadia businesswoman, Sonia Rose (pictured at left), has such a story, and it involves a person with direct ties to sports.
That person is Sandra Beltre, the wife of former Dodger third baseman Adrian Beltre, who signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2005. The Beltres’ off-season residence is Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, but they have maintained a home in Arcadia, where they lived during Beltre’s time with the Dodgers.

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American Beauty: An Arcadia Rose
by Larry Stewart
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The other day, just before leaving to go back to the Dominican with her husband, Sandra Beltra called Sonia at Studio Tan and Spa, located on South Baldwin Avenue, to make an appointment for a beauty treatment.
Sonia is a huge Dodger fan, but since Mrs. Beltre introduced herself on the phone as simply Sandra, she had no idea who she was until she came into the spa and signed in.
“You must be Adrian Beltre’s wife,” Sonia said to Mrs. Beltre, who acknowledged that she was. An immediate friendship developed.
“She was such a nice person,” Sonia said later. “We just clicked.”
As they were talking, Mrs. Beltre noticed a lot of canned goods and other food items on the floor and asked Sonia about them. Sonia, who owns Studio Tan and Spa, said she was organizing a food drive to help out a friend, a mail carrier whose son has cancer.
Sonia, a vivacious person with a heart of gold, also told Mrs. Beltre about another project -- raising money for a waiter friend who works at Eden Garden Bar & Grill in Old Pasadena (formerly Holly Street Bar & Grill).
This friend, a single father with no medical insurance, has cancer.
After her beauty treatment, Mrs. Beltre surprised Sonia by handing her a check.
“She told me, ‘This is for your fund-raiser,’ ” Sonia said. “I don’t want to say how much it was for, but it was very generous.”
Later, while recalling what had happened, Sonia said, “Sometimes your faith in the kindness of human beings is restored, and that’s what happened to me today.”

About Sonia Rose: She has owned Studio Tan and Spa for the past five years, after having formerly owned a similar spa, Hands and Tans, in Temple City. Sonia, who is single, is a graduate of San Gabriel High and USC. She majored in fine arts at USC. She also has degrees from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.
For those interested in donating to either Sonia Rose’s food drive or her fund-raiser, she can be reached at (626) 445-5154, or you can just stop by Studio Tan and Spa at 1439 South Baldwin in Arcadia.