The Palisadian-Post presents an homage to Will Rogers’ column, “Will Rogers Says,” with a column by Palisadian Jimmy Dunne—on life in the “greatest town in America.”
‘Palisades Day’
My dog, Louis, had a great idea at about three in the morning last night.
He’s only about a foot long, doesn’t have a terrific vocabulary, but he’s got some fun ideas.
He was standing by the window in our bedroom just howling away—along with a ton of other dogs in the Palisades.
It was the Palisades Tabernacle Choir of dogs.
Louis was kind of saying to his dog pals in town, “We’re all in this together. I’ve got your back.”
When I really listened carefully, their howling sounded a lot like Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
It got me thinking about this coming Friday, January 14.
The 100th anniversary of the very day that Pacific Palisades was founded.
It was a stunning January day.
Clear bright-blue sky.
Where that little island on Haverford is today, right behind the Palisades Theatre.
Picture a grand green and yellow meadow that covers up the ankles of oak trees slightly swaying to the gentle rhythm of the Pacific Ocean winds. Folks driving up the grassed belly of Temescal Canyon in their snappy Fords.
And under those stunning oak trees, with the majesty of the mountains just in front of them, a couple hundred Methodist families said hello for the first time, to their new home and new town.
They all got a map of 257 parcels: the first drawn neighborhoods in town. They drove their cars down barely marked-off dirt roads to choose where they would raise a family—and belong to something bigger than themselves.
To belong to a town.
They joined together to share the promise of their dreams, and their challenges—and their joys with everyone there that day.
And by sunset, under the sage eye of those oak trees …
A town was born.
Pacific Palisades.
Grade schools, churches, men and women’s clubs, country clubs, high schools, synagogues, stores and restaurants all blossomed—all devoted to nurturing a sense of belonging.
And through the Depression, through World War II, through the reimagining of America in the 50s, through the turbulence and experimentation of the 60s and 70s, through the advent of computers and evolution of technology, Palisadians, of all ages found their way.
Prices of homes climbed and climbed and climbed.
And, through all these years, our town has stayed true to a reverence for family. To finding a love of life. To encourage those daring enough to reach for it all. All grown in the bountiful soil between the ocean and the mountains.
Our town has had beloved doors that graciously invited us in: The Hot Dog Show, the Uplifters Club, Mort’s Deli, Palisades Hobby Shop, Village Books, Neeny’s, the old Bay Theatre, the Toy Shack, Wil Wright’s Ice Cream, Palisades Barber Shop.
And on the streets through the year, you might bump into Palisadians Ronald Reagan, Cary Grant, Jennifer Garner, or Jerry Lewis, or Tom Hanks, or Will Rogers, or Billy Crystal, Walter Matthau, or Mel Blanc. But just as importantly, they might get to bump into you.
So here’s my thought.
What if, this Friday, at 6 p.m. on the dot, we all go out on our front lawns, on our balconies, on our porches and …
Bang some pots and pans!
And with every bang, with every sound that echoes back from the neighbors and the next streets over, and that sings from across the town, may we feel the hearts of those before us. May we hear them cheering. And laughing. And just loving that we’re loving our town.
And with every clang of our pots and pans may we feel a rush of the joy of family, of neighbors and of belonging to a special place that is one of the most beautiful words in the world … Hometown.
A place where laughter, and challenges, and love, and inspiration, and hurt, and giving and life are born.
Let’s do it.
Call, and text, and post, and email and tell your friends.
And, as I hope you do too, I’m going to stand on my street and bang my pots and pans so loudly so that you may hear them, so that you may feel them, and that, in some small way, you may know how amazingly blessed I feel to be in this town family.
May our pots and pans make a collective song so beautiful, so rich, so full of heart as no orchestra could ever, ever play.
See and hear you Friday at 6.
Jimmy Dunne is modern-day Renaissance Man; a hit songwriter (28 million hit records), screenwriter/producer of hit television series, award-winning author, an entrepreneur—and a Palisadian “Citizen of the Year.” You can reach him at j@jimmydunne.com.
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