‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.’ If emcee Sam Lagana wanted to sound scholarly by quoting Shakespeare while paying tribute to Palisades High English teacher Rose Gilbert at the Citizen of the Year dinner last Thursday evening, it’s understandable. Gilbert, 91, has raised the bar high during her 54 years in the classroom. And over the past four years she has donated $2.1 million to help build the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center on the campus at PaliHi, in memory of her late daughter, Maggie, who died in 2004.   In recognition of Gilbert’s extraordinary career and a vision (backed by her generosity) that will soon result in a 12-lane swimming pool available to the entire community, the Palisadian-Post presented her with the 2009 Citizen of the Year award in the banquet hall at American Legion Post 283. ‘We have sponsored this award for 62 years,’ said Post Publisher Roberta Donohue. ‘It’s the most prestigious honor that can be bestowed on a resident, and is given to a person (or persons) who has made an outstanding contribution to our community and to the welfare of its people.’ ‘I’m wordless, which is so rare for me,’ Gilbert said upon accepting her award, but she nevertheless went to deliver thoughtful, heartfelt remarks as a sold-out audience of 180 looked on.   Attendees included her identical twin sister Lily Kompaniz, son Michael Gilbert with wife Karen, grandson Cezanne Farris-Gilbert and wife Sarah, and granddaughters Fabienne Shknevsky, Savannah Farris-Gilbert and Sheila Gilbert.   The evening began during the cocktail hour at the Legion when the Post caught up with Gloria Stout Nedell (Citizen of 1978), who was walking in with her husband, Jack Nedell. They had driven up from Coronado. ‘It’s always nice to see old friends like Dotty Larson and Dr. [Mike] Martini,’ said Nedell, who owned a camera store on Swarthmore with her first husband, Jim Stout, when they won ‘Citizen’ honors in 1978. ‘John Prough was the emcee,’ she remembered of her big night. ‘He successfully roasted us. That was quite a funny bit.’ Community Council member Haldis Toppel arrived with her husband, Kurt (Citizen 1998), and recalled how four years ago they had helped bring the Citizen dinner back to it’s inaugural 1948 setting, after years at the Riviera Country Club and other venues. ‘We negotiated a very affordable cost at the Legion the year there was no ‘Citizen’ to honor,’ Haldis said. The following year (2007), the nominating committee named a popular honoree (Emil Wroblicky), and the event has remained at the Legion.   ’We brought everything back to the heart of the Palisades, back to the community,’ Haldis noted.   The Post also spoke to local historian Randy Young, a native of Pacific Palisades and the only person to win the Citizen award twice (in 1991 and 2000).   ’This is the hoi polloi of the Palisades,’ said Young, gazing around the room.   Lagana opened the program by asking for a moment of silence on behalf of two Citizen dinner stalwarts who had passed away this past year: Babs Lebowsky (who for many years choreographed the traditional Citizen roast following dinner) and actor Peter Graves, who often provided amusing on-stage cameo appearances.   State Senator Fran Pavley, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Flora Gil Krisiloff, senior field deputy for County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, introduced and honored the three Golden Sparkplug Award winners (Eric Bollens, Marge Gold and Linda Jackson Vitale) with their certificates.   While emceeing the Sparkplug ceremony on behalf of the Community Council, which has presented the award since 1974, vice chair Janet Turner praised the behind-the-scenes work by volunteers from the Council and the Palisadian-Post who had organized the festivities. ‘I’d like to note that Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers and the Titanic was built by professionals,’ she quipped.   Moving on to the Citizen award, Lagana read a pair of letters that Rose Gilbert had received praising her efforts. One was signed by Congressman Henry Waxman. The other was from ‘Dewey and Dolly, a pair of dolphins now residing in Sea World,’ in reference to PaliHi’s school nickname and the evening’s watery theme.   After dinner, the show kicked into high gear with a musical revue written by Post Publisher Roberta Donohue and dubbed ‘Mrs. Gilbert’s Lovely Hearts Club Band,’ with choreography by Emily Kay (the show’s producer) and Jeanette Mills of Fancy Feet Dance Studio and accompaniment by pianist Dr. James E. Smith.   Singer Paige Kamin played Rose Gilbert and joined the ‘Just Off Via’ chorus line’comprising Donohue and Ed Lowe of the Post, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Arnie Wishnick, SRF Lake Shrine’s Brad Lusk, longtime activist Bob Locker, Sparkplug winner Gold, and historian Young”to present an amusing show parodying the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper epoch.   The 15-minute Beatles medley/dance number began when Young comically emerged in a purple ‘Sgt. Pepper’-style vest. ‘She’s on fire alright! She’s the original Energizer bunny,’ quipped Gilbert’s former student, and the colorfully outfitted group sang about building the pool ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’ Wishnick wore a bright yellow sweater and wielded a guitar, while Lusk and Locker wore tie-dye shirts lifted from a Grateful Dead concert. And to the tune of ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ the group sang how tough it was ‘to raise the money to build a pool.’ Donohue, in a flower tiara, led a cover of the solo Paul McCartney rocker, ‘Band on the Run.’   So why did the Beatles playbook magically and mysteriously detour into ‘You Are My Sunshine’ when the Beatles had not one but two famous ‘sun’ songs (‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Good Day Sunshine’)? As Donohue explained later, ”You Are My Sunshine” and a ‘South Pacific’ tune (‘Bali Ha’i morphed into ‘Pali High’) were meant to entertain Rose’s generation.’   Before a room packed with 16 previous Citizens (including 95-year-old Phyllis Genovese from 1952, Dr. Martini ’67, Joan Graves ’87, Flo Elfant and Kit Festa ’89, Bobbie Farberow ’95, Hal Maninger ’96, Carol Leacock ’99, Mitzi Blahd ’01, Stuart Miller ’04 and Marie Steckmest ’08) Donohue brought the evening to a close when she called Gilbert to the dais.   She described the longtime resident as ‘a very special angel,’ whose ‘unique kindness’ and ‘inspired vision’ came from her heart and yielded ‘a state-of-the-art aquatic center on the Palisades High campus that will benefit both community and school.’   Gilbert, no stranger to awards during her long and productive career, stepped up to the podium.   ’That’s a tough act to follow,’ she said, referring to Donohue’s introduction and the revue. ‘Those are the kids I taught [Randy Young]. I always performed for them, and now, they’re performing for me!’   She paid tribute to her late husband Sam, who died in 1987, and spoke of her late daughter, who loved swimming.   ’As I stand here before you,’ she said, ‘I feel like a magician, for I remember when the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center was just an embryo and now it will open and fully operate by mid-June, 2010!’   ’I’m so proud to be a member of this community,’ Gilbert said in closing, recalling that when her husband developed Pacific View Estates in 1962 (where she continues to live, above the Getty Villa), ‘He told me, ‘Bubs, Pacific Palisades is God’s country.’ Well Sam was right’this is truly God’s country.’

Palisades Charter High School’s board has begun the search for an interim executive director to replace Amy Dresser-Held, who leaves June 30. After a lengthy discussion at the April 20 meeting, the board charged Dresser-Held, interim Principal Marcia Haskin, Chief Business Officer Greg Wood, and Human Resources Director Jennifer Avant Eustice (who is out on maternity leave) to review applications and bring a short list of candidates to the board for consideration. Board chair Karen Perkins told Dresser-Held, ‘It would be important to have someone to start soon to work with you, so you can do some explaining, and it’s seamless when you go.’ Dresser-Held has accepted a position at a start-up charter school, and she told the Palisadian-Post on Monday that she will announce the name of the school soon.   To provide continuity in leadership, Haskin (who came out of retirement to fill the position) will stay through the 2010-11 school year.   The board will continue to search for a permanent principal and/or executive director with the assistance of consultants from the UCLA School Management Program. Perkins stressed at the April 20 board meeting that the hiring of an interim executive director would not circumvent that process.   At a March 9 meeting, the board agreed to hire the consultants for $5,000. The faculty had asked for an objective third party to facilitate the selection process.   ’It’s so we can do some soul-searching and reflection, and it’s to help us learn how we can select what we need and want,’ Haskin said at a board meeting.   The consultants will help decide how upper management should be structured at the school. Should the executive director supervise the principal or the board oversee both positions? Would the school function optimally with both a principal and an executive director or should those roles be consolidated? Right now, the principal reports to the executive director.   The consultants met with the parents on April 7 and worked with the faculty (approximately 120 teachers) this Tuesday and on two other occasions. They will confer with the classified staff and student senate this Friday and the board on May 11.   Dresser-Held and Haskin will be available to the teachers on May 5 and 6 to answer questions about their roles and responsibilities as administrators.   Haskin explained that the consultants are working with the teachers more than the other campus groups because ‘the teachers are going to be evaluated by the leaders and will deal with them on a daily basis. It’s important to have as much of a consensus as we can garner from that stakeholder group.’   Stakeholders are asked to analyze what attributes they want in a leader and what kind of structure they want for upper management. They are also asked to share their vision for the hiring process and to consider what obstacles have prevented PaliHi from securing permanent leadership. In the past two years, the school has had turnover of its principal, director of instruction, operations manager and human resources director for reasons other than retirement.   ’Once all this input is garnered, we will have a terrific snapshot,’ Haskin said.   Haskin plans to present a full report of the compiled information to the board at the May 18 meeting or the first meeting in June. Then, she imagines that a selection committee will be formed and trained. She envisions the interviewing process taking at least two days.   ’As my legacy, I want to leave knowing the school is in good hands,’ Haskin said.   As for the immediate search for an interim executive director, Dresser-Held said that those interested in nominating someone should contact her or Haskin at (310) 230-6623.

Rather than giving an acceptance speech, Linda Jackson Vitale captivated the crowd with her own rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Caro Nome’ from ‘Rigoletto’ during last Thursday’s Citizen of the Year dinner.   Vitale changed the lyrics to show her appreciation to the Pacific Palisades Community Council for selecting her as one its annual Golden Sparkplug Award winners. She sang, ‘In a lovely, sleepy town called Pacific Palisades, there’s a wondrous Community Council, a group deserving praise.’   The Council honored Vitale for co-founding and voluntarily operating the Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera in the Palisades, so that residents could experience live opera locally. Vitale, a soprano, has staged performances of ‘La Boheme,’ ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ this past year.   In addition to Vitale, the Council recognized Eric Bollens for his efforts to promote safe driving among teens and Marge Gold for mobilizing Palisades Charter High School students and others volunteer to help maintain the Village Green, a park on Sunset Boulevard between Swarthmore Avenue and Antioch Street.   ’Each year [since 1974], the Council presents the distinguished Golden Sparkplug Award to deserving members of the community whose volunteer efforts were above and beyond the call of duty,’ said Council vice chair Janet Turner. ‘As many of you know, it’s called the Sparkplug Award because like the sparkplugs in a car, these people ignited ideas, provided energy that revved up others, and zoomed forward with projects that helped beautify, protect and preserve our wonderful town.’   L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, California Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, State Senator Fran Pavley and Flora Krisiloff, representing L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, presented the three winners with certificates.   ’Linda, Marge and Eric, thank you for your service to this community, your service to the greater good,’ Brownley said.   Master of ceremonies Sam Lagana also read a letter from U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman congratulating the honorees.   Turner praised Gold, president of Palisades Village Green Board, for working with PaliHi to start a program that allows the students to earn community-service credit for volunteering.   ’It has turned into a win-win for everyone,’ Turner said. ‘The kids have a fun way to get credit, and you have fresh recruits each year.’   In Gold’s acceptance speech, she thanked her board and paid a special tribute to board member Joan Graves for her mentoring and vice chair Fred Zolan for his creativity and enthusiasm. The community purchased the Village Green property in 1972 with a vision of converting it into a public park.   ’I want to thank most importantly, my husband Bob,’ Gold said. ‘I couldn’t do this job without the help and support he gives me.’   She also expressed her gratitude for the PaliHi students who volunteer. Teen volunteers Noah Martin and Marcella Ablaza attended the dinner.   Turner commended Bollens for his efforts with Safe Westside, which formed to discourage reckless driving after Palisades Charter High School senior Nick Rosser died on January 31, 2009 in an automobile accident on Palisades Drive in the Highlands.   Bollens, now a junior at UCLA, designed the group’s Web site and has spoken at high schools about driving safely. He also volunteers with a group of community members using radar speed guns to identify speeders. The group’s findings are reported to the Los Angeles West Traffic Division, which sends out warning letters to the registered owners.   ’You’ve become a major advocate for teenage safe driving, and your appearances at the high school have inspired hundreds of PaliHi students to take the pledge: slow down and drive safer,’ Turner said.   After Bollens accepted his plaque, he said ‘It’s all in memory of my friend and others who’ve died on the road; I want to dedicate this to Nick and all those other people.’