Ryan Receives Farberow Award

If anyone meets the three criteria for the Mort Farberow Award–community, Chamber and children–it’s Bob Ryan, adjutant at American Legion Post 283. He became the eighth recipient of the honor on Thursday night at the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce installation dinner at Riviera Country Club. Ryan has been a dedicated member of the American Legion ever since being coaxed to join shortly after he first visited Post 283 to ask for donations to the Palisades High baseball program. “I was coaching the [junior varsity] team and we were trying to raise money and they said they would help–if I joined,” Ryan recalled. “I started getting more and more involved and eventually I became Commander.” Ryan’s first love is baseball–a sport he has coached since 1965 at many levels, from youth to Babe Ruth to Pony to high school. In 1992 he met Palisades Coach Russ Howard and an immediate friendship was formed. “I was coaching a Pony team in Malibu at the time when I asked Russ if we could use his batting cage and he asked me to coach with him,” Ryan said. “In fact, I was sitting next to him in the dugout at Dodger Stadium when the boys won the City Invitational Championship in 2003, which turned out to be his last game.” Ryan was Palisades’ JV coach for 12 seasons, stepping down in February of 2004 after leading the Dolphins to 11 Western League titles and one second-place finish. In November 2008 he was honored for his hard work at the high school’s first annual traditions dinner. An example of his willingness to step in when needed came in the summer of 2007, when Ryan offered to coach the American Legion’s ‘B’ team while Palisades’ program searched for a new varsity coach. In the Navy for four and a half years during the Korean conflict, Ryan was a petty officer in navigation on destroyers and served 18 months as skipper on a tugboat in Sasebo, Japan. In 1952, he got a job as an engineer and economist for General Telephone in 1952 and was eventually transferred from Huntington Beach to Santa Monica. He moved to Malibu in 1964 and has lived there ever since. “What I love about the [American Legion] Post here in the Palisades is that you can only serve one year at a time as Commander, whereas at other Posts the terms are a lot longer,” Ryan said. “We’ve had a different Commander every year since 1929, but yet we’ve only had 8 adjutants–that’s exceptional.” As Ryan notes, the American Legion is all about service to the community. Every year, Post 283 gives grants and scholarships to all of the public schools in the Palisades. It has donated money to such projects as the stadium renovation and swimming pool construction at Palisades High and Ryan himself is also Boys State Chairman for the District (sending graduating seniors to the University of Sacramento). Ryan was the District 24 Commander, consisting of 13 Posts, for 2009-10. Ryan is currently the Area 6 Commissioner for baseball, setting the schedules for 72 teams. “American Legion has no rank,” Ryan said. “Anyone can rise to any position if they so choose.” Ryan is quick to share with others the American Legion pillars: use in the community, service to the community, Americanism, rehabilitation for veterans and veterans serving veterans. Tonight, Ryan will join a distinguished group of Mort Farberow Award winners that consists of Bob Benton, Bob Sharka, Roberta Donohue, Cheryel Kanan, Sam Lagana, David Williams and Rich Wilken.