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.”
Miracles
I was thinking about one of my favorite animals.
The wood frog. Most live in Alaska, Canada, the Arctic Circle.
They make hibernating bears look like nappers. When it gets too cold for the wood frogs in the winter months, they don’t cuddle up in a cozy cave—they lay down right on the ice and freeze. On purpose. Completely freeze. Like a frogsicle kind-of freeze.
Their hearts stop, their brains flat-line; they’re deader than a doorknob in every possible way by any other animal’s definition.
Five months later, temperatures warm up—and somehow, someway, they come back to life. They create nature’s “anti-freeze.” It defies everything scientists understand about how brains and hearts work. Cells don’t destruct—and for all intents and purposes—the wood frogs haven’t aged a day.
It’s a miracle.
Thinking about wood frogs, I was thinking about some miracles right here in our own backyard of Pacific Palisades.
Miracles that have been a part of the secret sauce of making our town so unique.
Here are a few of my absolute favs.
“Mama G” Gilbert
A daughter of Polish immigrants, Rose “Mama G” miraculously picked our town and taught English at Pali High since our wonderful school opened in 1961. At 94, she was the oldest teacher in the country. (A ton of her students would say the best!)
If that wasn’t enough, before she died, she wrote a check to the school for $3 million—and told ’em to build a fantastic swimming pool. And to fill it up every day with everybody in the school and everybody in the town. Fill it up with happy.
Drive by any day, and that’s what you’ll see. “Mama G’s” dreams—and our town dreams—came true.
Thomas Hathaway
Three distance runners in the ’70s (Brian Shea, Bill Klein and Chris Carlson) gathered their “Ridgerunners” group of 24 Palisades runners—and innocently started a running event on the morning of the Fourth of July in 1978.
A miracle happened.
Every year, more and more and more Palisadians and families of every size and shape showed up.
Cut to 2023. 3,000-plus runners, add thousands of cheering Palisadians lining the streets. Throw in 500-plus little squirts in a spectacular kids’ race.
Everything that’s beautiful about the Palisades—it’s right there at that starting line. So much joy. So much promise for tomorrow.
A town hero? Thomas Hathaway. Puts in looney hours all year long for this one day. Runs it, top to bottom. Defines selflessness. Manages, along with Jimmy Klein and Mike Solum, hundreds of the greatest Palisadian volunteers.
Cindy Simon
A used milk jug. That’s Cindy Simon’s canvas.
You probably know her. Everybody knows and loves Cindy.
But this isn’t about that she’s on a bunch of town committees. Or has Simon Meadow named after her and her hubby (I couldn’t love him more). Or have supported so many things in the Palisades for decades.
This is about the miracle of her milk jugs. Neighbors drop off their old jugs at her house, and she paints ’em. And you know what they look like? Us. Folks in town.
She paints milk jugs, sticks, balloons, dolls, creates collages—and they all tell the story of town. Of happy. Of belonging. Of wonder. Of family. Of community.
And she puts ’em on her trees. In the Village Green. Displays them at the parade on a float. All over the place.
If the Palisades had a dictionary—next to beautiful, it would have Cindy’s picture. What a difference she makes every single day.
Bill McGregor
His day-job is as one of LA’s most prominent and celebrated developers and architects, spearheading landmark LA projects.
But a miracle happened. For the past eight years, he’s donated well over a thousand hours to reimagine Veterans Gardens from a dirt pile to the five “gardens in the park” and three world-class bocce courts. And he’s got new architectural plans up his sleeve.
900-plus Palisadians of every age imaginable playing in the bocce leagues over the past two and a half years. Families enjoying the “gardens in the park” every day. Seniors loving life and creating relationships.
That’s Bill’s prize. Lucky, lucky us.
Summing It Up
In two weeks, I’ve got some more miracles in town to share with you.
There’s no way I could fit ’em all in one story.
Truth is, the thing that makes the Palisades such a miracle, that makes it so unique—is one thing.
One thing—that so many Palisadians share.
You see it in the folks running the booths at the St. Matthew’s Fair every year. In the assistant coaches at baseball and soccer matches. In moms helping their kids sell girl scout cookies. You see it everywhere, every single day in our town.
A giving heart.
That’s our town’s secret sauce.
Imagine how wondrous it would be to watch a wood frog’s heart unfreeze and start up again.
We’re all navigating tough times out there.
When our hearts may need just a little pump—remember where we are so lucky to live. And all the wondrous people right in our own backyard.
Jimmy Dunne is a 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 or jimmydunne.substack.com.
