Chamber’s Expo Is a Sunday Hit

So there stood Gricelda Gamboa, in the clutches of a giant lizard writhing all over her body. No, this wasn’t the penultimate chapter of a Republic serial, but the scene midday on Antioch Street at Sunday’s Community Expo, where Gamboa, Village School’s director of auxiliary programs, was showing off Yoshi. The people-friendly monitor lizard, along with a giant tortoise and a 9-foot albino boa constrictor, are among the exotic animals that will be part of Animal Safari, one of 50 classes being offered at the school’s day camp this summer. ‘We not only teach them,’ Gamboa said with a cockatoo perched on her shoulder, ‘the class is also hands-on.’ Indeed, as animal handler Jennifer Portillo (who teaches Animal Safari) kept a watchful eye, kids pet and caressed the lizard, the boa, and the Sulcata tortoise, which lives up to 80 years. Village School joined more than 52 businesses, institutions and entrepreneurs with booths promoting health, the environment, education, financial services, camps, home and garden, religion, travel and technology at this year’s Expo. Hosted by the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, the Expo stretched along Antioch between Art on the Village Green and a car show featuring 43 classic cars parked along Via de la Paz. Not all of the exotic animals were real. On Via, dentist Phil Trask of Pacific Palisades Pediatric Dentistry, with daughter Laura by his side, worked the street fair with an orange kangaroo puppet. He had a grand time handing out samples of toothpaste and mouthwash to the passing kids. Around the corner, Lewis Finocchio, a business consultant and car enthusiast, stood by his 1929 roadster with daughter Amy. The display car was a true automotive Frankenstein, consisting of a Ford cowl section, a Mustang radiator and steering box, Camaro transistors and tilt steering column, and a Studebaker Avanti step pad. ‘I fabricated everything to make it fit,’ Finocchio said. ‘This engine’s built for a 3,600-pound car. This car weighs 1,400 pounds.’ He added, ‘I let the kids sit in it. It’s not a museum piece. That’s how I got started [being interested in cars] as a little kid.’ Car aficionados found many impressive automobiles to gawk at on Via, from the orange, two-door 1955 Thunderbird and the 1965 Chevy Corvette to the graphite 1967 Jaguar XKE and the aquamarine 1951 Ford Country Squire woody. ‘I’m having a great time,’ said Jon Stokes of Stokes Tire Pros in Santa Monica, who underwrote the Expo’s car show. He helped kids ease into his lime green-and-white LMP3 French Norma M20F formula racing car. Silver sponsor Wells Fargo Bank, recently relocated to 15240 Sunset Boulevard, employed a steady stream of young representatives to greet the public. At the OneWest Bank (formerly First Federal) booth, branch manager Jean Porter (whose dad was a former owner of the town’s longest-running business, Norris Hardware) was handing out reusable grocery bags and other paraphernalia bearing the OneWest logo. This was only fitting since the adjacent table was You Logo Girl, a company devoted to branding merchandise. On the Village Green, the Pacific Palisades Art Association (PPAA) displayed an array of artwork that ranged from Degas-esque portraits to framed photo landscapes and collages. ‘People are just really excited to see how much is available,’ said PPAA’s leader, Annette Alexakis, who had a dozen artists in attendance. Barbara Leibovic, director of the Chabad Palisades’ Little Maccabees program, was guiding youngsters at an arts-and-crafts table, aimed at children ages 2’10, to create forms out of Playfoam and make their own spin-art with paint and glitter. ‘It’s been going great out here today,’ she said. ‘The kids are attracted to every color and texture.’ Geri Amster and Scott Davis of Altour Palisades on 15309 Antioch”an Expo gold sponsor”shared the history of their agency. Formerly Travelmore, which opened its doors in 1967, ‘we joined Altour International in 2005, and it’s been a wonderful company to work for,’ Amster said. Davis added that this was an amazing time to travel, with trips to Australia going for $999 and good deals available on such destinations as New Zealand, Tahiti (via Crystal Cruise) and a two-for-one package to Europe. On a stage at the corner of Antioch and Via, music instructor Patrick Hildebrand provided the Expo’s soundtrack with his Amazing Music band. At one point, he led a collection of students of all ages who have learned to play at his 867 Swarthmore studio, and they jammed on such recognizable hits as ‘Tequila’ and some Beach Boys tunes. Michael Cladis, a one-man-band (joined by one accompanist), entertained the kids with his music at the other end of Antioch. The Chamber, represented by executive director Arnie Wishnick and his associate, Marilyn Crawford, expressed thanks to the Expo’s volunteer committee, co-chaired by Joyce Brunelle of Suntricity, Inc. and Roberta Donohue, publisher of the Palisadian-Post. Expo merchants and participants said that this year’s festival was a successful improvement over last year’s inaugural event. ‘It’s been good for us,’ said OneWest’s Porter. ‘It’s a little better this year’it’s more relaxed,’ noted car buff Finocchio. And Stokes agreed: ‘There are more people this year.’ At press time, it was premature to speculate whether next year’s Expo would include live silverback gorillas and Bengal tigers.