Bruns, Hurley Receive Community Award

Hurley: Alert to Seniors’ Needs By LIBBY MOTIKA, Senior Editor Carol Hurley, the indomitable advocate for seniors in the Palisades, is being honored by the Community Council with its Community Service Award on Thursday, December 9. ” ”A resident of Pacific Palisades for 35 years, Hurley has quietly been working on behalf of seniors for decades, but in her favorite light, which is behind the scenes. She spearheaded the founding of the Palisades chapter of AARP and promises affordable transportation and a senior center sooner than later. ”’I think my belief in volunteering especially with older folks came from my family and the church,’ Hurley told the Palisadian-Post. ‘My brother and I were brought up to volunteer. I also spent a lot of time in the Methodist Youth Fellowship and learned so much from Pastor ‘Pop’ Orley, who was liberal and worked directly with the us kids. He took us to the old folks’ home in Danbury, where I still remember one lady in her 90s, who always remembered me.’ ”Hurley’s ‘Swedish’ grandmother lived with her family, in Glenbrook, a suburb of Stamford, Connecticut, and her New England grandmother lived two doors down the street, so Carol spent a lot of time with each and learned at an early age the exigencies of getting older. ”As a longtime member of the Palisades Methodist Church, Hurley has participated in the church’s social fellowship, which has spawned much of her work with seniors. It was there that she met the late Dr. Margaret Jones, a renowned specialist in cerebral palsy and founder of the Jones-Kanaar Foundation, which supports people with cerebral palsy and gives scholarships for high school seniors who excel in volunteerism. ”Hurley helped Jones, on the occasion of her 90th birthday, honor other 90-year-olds in the Palisades. This celebration has become an annual event hosted by the Junior Women’s Club in June. ”Perhaps it’s Hurley’s problem-solving expertise, efficiency and positive attitude that sets her apart. A typical 24-hour period best describes what she does. ”’First thing this morning, I got a call from a woman who was looking for transportation for a senior over 90,’ Hurley said. ‘So I called her back and gave her the name of a gentleman who is a reliable driver. Then I went to the home of another senior, who is in the hospital, to check up on her cat. Another lady wanted to know how she could cancel a newspaper that she hadn’t wanted in the first place. ”’When the phone rings, I answer it. I talked to a doctor and made an appointment with another to go over one woman’s medications. Meals on Wheels called and wanted me to help find volunteers who would be more of a friendly visitor than just a meal deliverer. So I will call on this senior and then try to recruit more companions.’ ”Hurley, who works mostly pro bono, is the go-to person, often referred by the Chamber of Commerce or the Palisadian-Post, although she got an email from her niece in the same 24-hour period asking her how to get seniors to quit driving, when they become a danger. ”Her answer”tact/respect, facts and tough love”could be applied to many challenges in dealing with older people, who are often set in their ways and frightened, but always worthy of respect. ”’In a town of 23,000, there are more than 5,000 seniors 65 and over,’ Hurley said. ‘That’s more than the number of Palisades kids in school.’ In the aftermath of the 1994 earthquake Hurley sent a survey to all 9,500 Palisades households to figure out what kinds of amenities seniors needed and wanted. ”More than anything, the survey results indicated that the seniors wanted social and cultural activities and transportation alternatives. Hurley’s first effort was getting the AARP chapter started. In 1997, she held a meeting to discuss ideas on transportation. ‘We investigated a number of alternatives, including a van service, volunteer and or low-cost drivers, and while we should have solved this by now, we are still working. Dial-A-Ride in Malibu has approached me for the second time, and the transportation committee will meet with the people from the Beverly Foundation, which specializes in community transportation and has set up a system in Pasadena.’ ” ”A senior herself, Hurley was born a little over 70 years ago in Connecticut. Her parents, with whom she says she never had issues, worked hard’her father was a salesman with a paper company, and her mom worked in a small electronics factory during the war. Hurley commuted to Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York, and worked in business in Chicago until marrying her late husband Ed and moving to Pacific Palisades in 1969. ”She worked in many areas’law, insurance’and finally with Intercole, a housing manufacturer and speciality paint firm with an office in the Palisades. After Ed became ill, Carol ‘retired,’ but was already building a consulting firm which primarily helps people (mainly seniors) ‘take the hassle out of life.’ ”Still living in her home on Monument, she values the importance of neighborhood cohesion by being available when necessary for her neighbors, and counting on her neighbors to do the same. ‘I am in the process of putting together a list, running up and down the street to update names, names of dogs, car license numbers, so we all know who is our neighbor and can contact them if necessary.’ ”Communication is the key, she says, especially as the town grows and people come and go with more frequency. ‘Milt Weiner, chairman of Senior Transportation Action Group would like to divide the Palisades into sectors, so we could be more alert to the seniors and what they may need.’ ”Alert to the seniors and what they need is what Hurley is all about. Bruns: 25 Years in Youth Sports ”’Bill Bruns and Carol Hurley will be honored with the Community Service Award at the Community Council Christmas party December 9 at 7 p.m. at Stewart Hall in Temescal Canyon. ”Council chairman Norman Kulla said Bruns, managing editor of the Palisadian-Post since 1993, was chosen ‘for his 25 years as an active Palisadian devoted to local youth sports programs.’ ”Bruns served as an AYSO coach and yearbook editor for his own childrens’ teams and reported game highlights to the Post, his future employer. Bruns joined the Palisades Baseball Association (PPBA) in 1980 and coached teams at all three levels’the Reds, Expos and Cardinals’in addition to serving as Commissioner in 1983. ”’That was the year the city hired a lowest-bid contractor to install new irrigation for the playing fields,’ Bruns remembers. ‘They ripped up the fields in the fall and promised that we’d be playing on nice new grass in the spring. Construction was still going on in the spring, so we were forced to play our games on the soccer/softball fields at Paul Revere. But we felt it was important to keep the league going and not let kids drift off to West L.A. and Santa Monica.’ ”Meanwhile, Bruns’ daughter, Allison, wanted to play softball in the Palisades Rec Center league when she was in fourth grade, but nobody wanted to organize teams for the upcoming season. Bruns volunteered to keep the league going, and Allison played for four years; she loved the sport so much that she went on to play all four years at Palisades High. ”After the PPBA, Bruns’ son, Alan, became an All-Western League pitcher for Russ Howard’s baseball team at Palisades High and received a partial scholarship to the University of Washington, where he pitched for three years. Alan is a middle school history teacher in the Seattle area and this past summer became head baseball coach at Shorecrest High. ”Allison is a social worker in the South Bay area and will marry Long Island native Mike Minisky in April. ”While Bruns was involved in youth sports, his wife, Pam, was an active leader in Palisades public schools. She and Bill started a school newspaper at Palisades Elementary and she later served as advisor for The Tideline at PaliHi. Pam currently teaches a class entitled ‘Documentary Film and Social Justice’ at Mt. St. Mary’s College. ”Bill and Pam both grew up in Southern California, married in 1968, and have lived in the Palisades since 1972.