By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
Pacific Palisades Community Council announced its 2025 awards honorees on Sunday evening, November 2, including Citizen of the Year, Golden Sparkplugs, Pride of the Palisades and, new for this year, Awesome Advocates.
Jim Cragg has been named Citizen of the Year for his “visionary leadership” in founding the “Palisades Long Term Recovery Group,” as well as providing assistance with emergency relief to provide “critical post-Palisades fire support to vulnerable Palisadians.”
The Palisades LTRG officially launched on August 8 in direct response to ongoing challenges following the Palisades fire. The group, formed by Palisades community members, is dedicated to identifying and connecting local survivors to a network of associated donor relief organizations.
“These major relief organizations have turned to our group to help identify and vet over 10,000 Palisades families in need of money, manpower, materials and information to get their lives back,” Cragg said at the time. “Palisadians are relying on us.”
Pali LTRG’s mission is to provide comprehensive recovery services to individuals and households impacted by the fire, ensuring that every resident—regardless of circumstance—has continued and equitable access to the resources and support needed to rebuild.
Cragg was also selected for “extensive voluntary service” that benefited the community through his work with American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283, both before and after the fire.
“The Citizen of the Year Award honors long-term, steady, reliable and continuing outstanding volunteer service, as well as a recent extraordinary accomplishment by an individual that resulted in a substantial benefit to the Palisades community at large,” according to information from PPCC.
There are two Golden Sparkplug awardees this year: Jessica Rogers and Maryam Zar.
Rogers is receiving the Golden Sparkplug award for her “laser-focus on ensuring critical community security,” which includes “taking action to arrange for installation of Flock license plate reader cameras” at “key entry and exit points” of the Palisades.
Zar is being honored for founding Palisades Recovery Coalition, which hosts programming such as neighborhood “visioning charrettes,” to “share information and build consensus to rebuild a stronger and safer community.”
Golden Sparkplug awards are designed to honor citizens who launch “original ideas and projects into community action that benefit Palisadians throughout the community.”
Each year, PPCC solicits nominations from the community for Citizen of the Year and Golden Sparkplugs. In some years, PPCC also awards the Pride of the Palisades, a distinction that is discretionary and bestowed from “time to time only in exceptional circumstances,” which is determined by the Awards Selection Committee.
Pride of the Palisades will be given to two honorees “worthy of recognition in this extraordinary year.”
Chuck Hart has been named Pride of the Palisades for “exceptional heroism during the Palisades fire and in its aftermath, through his dedication and tireless work to save properties and help the community, and to secure safety by clearing streets and countless public and private areas.”
The second Pride of the Palisades is Team Palisades, which is a team of neighbors who voluntarily came together across the community to organize the “remarkable” Block Captain System. The group is also being awarded for “consistently providing key information, assistance and collaboration opportunities, as Palisadians embark on rebuilding.”
Team Palisades hosted The Longest Table event along Pampas Ricas Boulevard in the Huntington on October 5, with around 650 people registering to attend.
New this year from PPCC are the Awesome Advocates awards, which will be given to Sue Pascoe and Spencer Pratt.
Pascoe is being honored for “relentlessly pursuing important stories, asking hard questions and informing readers about issues that matter most to the Palisades community, pre- and post-fire.”
Pratt is being honored for “using new media after the Palisades fire to bring nationwide attention to its unimaginable community impact, and for persistence in seeking answers and assistance for disaster recovery.”
Additional details about the award winners and their accomplishments will be announced during the November 13 PPCC meeting.
The awards will be presented to the honorees on Thursday, December 11, at PPCC’s Awards Gala, which will take place at Spruzzo Restaurant & Bar. Tickets, which will be open to the public, were anticipated to be available in mid-November.
In addition to the annual awards, PPCC will give Special Commendations for “notable community contributions” in Youth and News categories during its November 13 meeting.
In the Youth category, William Chapin, as well as Julia and Leo Wolfberg, will be honored.
Chapin is being recognized “for his actions the day after the fire to save homes that were still burning; for obtaining jackets for fellow Eagle Scouts who had lost theirs in the fire, and discount codes from outfitters so that Scouts could replace backpacking and camping gear; and for creating four outdoor chess tables now temporarily used at the Westchester YMCA—to be moved to Simon Meadow when the Lowe Family YMCA is open, for children and the community to learn and play chess,” according to PPCC.
Julia and Leo Wolfberg are being honored for their initiative, “Cards for Kids,” which involved coordinating donations from local residents and a sports card shop to distribute gift bags with sports memorabilia and Pokémon cards to “scores of Palisades children who had lost homes and all their belongings in the fire.”
“Sarah Shmerling, editor-in-chief, Palisadian Post [will be acknowledged] for many years of consistent, reliable and thorough coverage of PPCC meetings and actions; for efforts to ensure that the Pacific Palisades community was and continues to be informed of all local news; and for ongoing support and devotion to the community in the aftermath of the fire,” PPCC wrote.
This year’s Awards Selection Committee includes Chair Daphne Gronich, Chris Spitz and Cindi Young (past Citizens of the Year), as well as Richard Blumenberg and Karen Ridgley. The Awards Event Committee includes Chair Lorie Cudzil, Kimberly Bloom, Beth Holden-Garland and Lee Anne Sanderson.
“PPCC recognizes and expresses our heartfelt thanks for the countless Palisadians who, during this inconceivably difficult and unprecedented year, have worked to save lives and property, assisted neighbors and businesses, raised funds, disseminated information, formed support groups, organized events, and continue to take important actions to serve, support, renew, uplift, restore and rebuild our beloved Palisades community,” PPCC concluded.
For more information, including updates about tickets for the upcoming gala, visit pacpalicc.org.
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