Pacific Palisades Celebrates the Fourth

By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Contributing Writer

Hours before the skydivers touched down at 2 p.m. on the Fourth of July, Palisadians had already begun celebrating.

American Legion Post 283 did not miss a beat with its annual daylong salute to local and visiting veterans. Held at its La Cruz Drive headquarters, the branch welcomed Brig. General Kelly Fisher and a reserve unit from Bell and Sacramento.

“It’s one of my favorite holidays,” Fisher told the Palisadian-Post, admitting she wasn’t privy to the Palisades’ traditions until last year, and found the community “so warm and inviting” that she returned this year for “a little bit of Americana.”

“This is the backbone of our country,” said local veteran Larry Brown, who was stationed in Frankfurt in the early 1960s. Surveying the 75 people around him at lunch, Brown said, “These are the people who serve our country and I believe we are the peacekeepers.

“They give us their time and sometimes sacrifices for our freedoms and to further the future of our country and the world.”

Newly minted post leader Joe Ramirez, the former CEO of Pacific National Security, said he found it heartening to see the veterans enjoy some good banter and vittles, including hot dogs and hamburgers at lunch time and roasted chicken and tri-tip after the parade.

“It’s an honor and privilege to give to other vets, being a vet myself, I can imagine their transition from military to civilian life,” said Ramirez, who from 1986 to 1994, served in the Marines in North Carolina, Japan and Korea.

Around town, locals opened their doors to fellow Palisadians. Thanks to wife Amy Kate Connolly, David Trotti witnessed his festively decorated home win the annual July 4th Home Decorating Contest.

While it was the first year Trotti and Connolly entered their home in the contest, it wasn’t their first time holiday decorating their house, where they’ve lived since 1996.

“We made sure the flowers and buntings are designed to be very conservation-friendly,” Trotti said, noting the fake grass and flowers plus a few plants that needed very little water.

“I have a brown thumb,” Connolly said, explaining the geraniums she planted. “I never really know how to do it, I followed directions on Facebook.”

(For more on this year’s home decorating contest, sponsored by Joan Sather and Susan Montgomery, see Page 22.)

Fun in the Sun

Earlier that day, following the morning’s 41st Annual Palisades Will Rogers 5 and 10K Run, which Honorary Co-Mayor Billy Crystal took part in, the festivities kicked off early with an epic, block-wide water balloon fight at Monument and Albright.

Neighbors Tom Lavia and Aaron Bendikson hosted the super-soaker and water balloon war for the neighborhood kids.

“It’s the only thing we host all year,” Lavia said of the annual event, now in its 13th year.

Lavia, whose kids Sarah Lulu, 10, Tommy, 9, and Gray, 6, attend Corpus Christi School, explained how over the years, he and wife Kristen have expanded invitations to kids from all of the local elementary schools, from Calvary and Village to Seven Arrows.

“We’re just going to invite everyone in the neighborhood,” he said, to what he called “the world’s biggest balloon fight.”

Wearing his oversized Uncle Sam top hat, Bendikson was out there with his kids, Pierce, 11, and Ainsley, 9, as partygoers enjoyed authentic tacos at the taco cart parked on Lavia’s front yard.

Lavia announced that as of next year, his water balloon fight event will hopefully receive support from Caruso and in 2020, for the event’s 15th anniversary, something extra big and special is being discussed.

From the start of the race to the last firework, the Palisades was a party all day long.