Cassidy, Littlestone Applauded as Sparkplugs

In a speech packed full of jokes, Pacific Palisades Community Council Chair Richard G. Cohen honored this year’s Golden Sparkplug Award winners at last Thursday’s Citizen of the Year dinner held at the American Legion Hall. To start, Cohen recycled a part of former Council Chair Steve Boyers’ speech from last year’s dinner, adding his own funny twist. ‘Both of you are celebrated individuals who are now an integral part of the history of this community,’ Cohen said to honorees Ilene Cassidy and Dick Littlestone. ‘You will be remembered and respected always ‘ or at least until the end of the ceremony.’ The Council honored Cassidy for co-founding Friends of the Temescal Pool (a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring Temescal Pool in Temescal Gateway Park), and Littlestone for beautifying the median at the intersection of Alma Real and Ocampo. The Council gives the award annually to citizens who have launched projects that strive to improve life in the community. At last Thursday’s event, hosted by the Council and the Palisadian-Post, city and state officials also presented the winners with certificates. In November, Cassidy and resident John Yeh formed Friends of the Temescal Pool to work with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Palisades-Malibu YMCA and other interested parties to reopen the pool, which was closed in February 2008 owing to the need for repairs. The Conservancy and YMCA, which had operated the pool, were unable to reach a new lease agreement. The Conservancy, citing liability concerns, has since filled in the pool and covered it with sod. In January, Friends of the Temescal Pool filed a lawsuit against the Conservancy and its partner, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, asking the court to order the Conservancy to negotiate a pool lease, pay to repair the pool and make the park fully accessible to the disabled. The organization is also developing a viable business plan with potential operators to present to the Conservancy. ‘You printed more sweatshirts, bracelets and signs than the entire Obama campaign and pulled together volunteers to get out the word and help you lead a protest in the park,’ Cohen said to Cassidy. ‘You succeeded in getting over 2,000 Palisades residents as well as the Community Council and other local organizations to support saving the pool ‘ It’s still an ongoing battle, but thanks to you, the community came together to fight for the pool that you and your friends loved so much.’ Cassidy, who swam at the Temescal pool for 26 years, told the audience that ‘once the pool closed, I decided that I had to take some kind of action to try to get it reopened, so virtually overnight I went from a Palisades resident and Y swimmer to a Sparkplug. However, I am really just a representative of the 3,000 people in our community who have signed our petitions and who consider the closure of this Temescal pool a tragedy.’ Cassidy described the pool as a community gathering place, where residents developed friendships and pursued a healthy activity. She stressed that even though Palisades Charter High School is constructing the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center, the community still needs another pool. ‘Unfortunately, there will be very little time for community use [at PaliHi],’ Cassidy said. PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held has told the Palisadian-Post that aquatic user groups can secure time from 5 to 7 a.m. and after 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on the weekends during the school year. The pool will be available to various user groups all day in the summer. Dresser-Held said school officials are committed to setting aside time for public swimming. Cassidy thanked Yeh, Jane Albrecht (president of Friends) and activists Jean Rosenfeld, Kelly Camras, Cabell Smith, Christa Wilk, Dave Olsen, Michelle O’Neill and Grace Ayres. Cohen then presented Littlestone, a former Army colonel, with his award. ‘You bravely went into battle with the city over seven years ago. Your mission was to beautify the weed-infested median at Alma Real and Ocampo ‘ to install a lovely garden that would welcome all those to the Huntington. And when I say weed-infested, I don’t mean that Woody Harrelson was living there,’ Cohen said, to laughter. The project was completed last November and cost $75,000. ‘It has enhanced, beautified and improved our community,’ Cohen noted. When Littlestone stepped to the microphone, he took the opportunity to honor those who helped him. He recognized Mike and Kathleen McCroskey and Darren Dreifort for their vital financial contributions and Arnie Wishnick for his pro bono accounting. He also thanked those who nominated him for the award, including Council member Mary Cole and neighbor Sue Helmy. In addition, Littlestone said, ‘I take this occasion to honor my sweetheart [his wife, Doris] who had no idea what she was getting into as an Army wife, but has stuck with me, raising our family almost single-handedly, while I worked 24/7 much of the time during 32 years in the Army, moving and resettling our household 17 times in strange places around the United States and the world, waiting for me to come home.’ Littlestone and his wife have been married for 60 years.