With the Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center set for completion in April, Palisades Charter High School has raised roughly $3.2 million of the $4.6 million needed, according to PaliHi’s Chief Business Officer Greg Wood. The board of directors postponed making a decision on whether to take out a loan to finance the remainder of the project at a November 17 meeting. School leaders hope to raise all of the necessary funding for the 12-lane competitive pool and adjacent two-lane teaching pool at the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin Street.   On November 4, the school raised $7,500 from a phone-a-thon. Jeanne Goldsmith, a fundraising consultant hired by the school, said she is continuing to contact foundations and individuals to request money. More neighborhood parties are planned in 2010.   Frank Ryan, who was hired by PaliHi’s Booster Club (a separate entity from the school) to raise funds for the pool, is focusing his efforts on foundations. He is applying to 62 foundations and should have all the material delivered to them by the end of the month.   ’I am sending out a number of requests as fast as I can,’ said Ryan, brother-in-law of Dorothianne Henne, Booster Club treasurer.   Thus far, English teacher Rose Gilbert has donated more than $2 million toward construction costs, and the aquatic center will be named after her late daughter, Maggie. The Palisades Booster Club is the second-largest contributor, thus far, with $150,000.   Other major donors include the American Legion, giving more than $50,000; Palisadians Don and Debbie Mink, $50,000; Palisadians Sari and Matthew Ross, $25,000; and the Kelton Fund, $25,000. Paul and Dorothianne Henne (parents of swim coach Maggie Nance) personally gave and have raised more than $30,000. Dorothianne Henne is also the office manager for the pool contractor, Sarlan Builders in Beverly Hills. Donors who have given between $10,000 and $15,000 include: the Optimist Club, Gillian Fuller Foundation, Ralph L. Smith Foundation, Jin Kwok (owner of the Shell Station at Sunset and Via de la Paz), Palisadians Tom and Terry Hacker, Bill and Cindy Simon and Michael and Claire Van Konynenburg.   Those who have given $5,000 or more are: Jessie Barker McKellar Foundation, Riviera Lodge 780, Junior Women’s Club, Cal National Bank, Susan Zolla Foundation, Paradyme Trust, Palisadians Paul and Alicia Silka, Chris and Mary Ellen Kanoff, Everett and Nancy Maguire, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Bo and Candace Hirsch, Joanne and Wade Bourne, John and Suzanne Ball, and Mike Skinner.   ’We have had hundreds of other people donate, some two or three times, ranging from small donations to thousands of dollars each time, from business owners and homeowners in the area to PaliHi alumni,’ Goldsmith said, noting that the community needs to help bridge the $1.4-million shortfall.   Until the end of 2009, the school is selling wall tiles (which will be displayed inside the aquatic center complex) for $400, with room for 15 words or two lines of text. The tile can be a gift to honor a swimmer, a graduate of PaliHi or an entire family. To purchase a tile, visit www.palihigh.org or call Goldsmith at (310) 454-9033.
Barbara Kohn Honored for Her Activism
Starting in the late 1960s, Occidental Petroleum began pursuing a plan to construct an oil derrick along Pacific Coast Highway, just east of Temescal Canyon ‘ a proposal that Pacific Palisades resident Barbara Kohn could not bear to see happen.   ’We moved to Pacific Palisades in 1965, and it was such a beautiful area,’ Kohn said during a recent interview at her home near the Getty Villa. ‘I did not want to drive by an industrial project every single day. It didn’t seem compatible.’   In 1974, Kohn joined No Oil, a Palisades-driven organization opposing the project. As the chief financial officer, she handled all the banking. She also participated in fundraisers and gathered signatures to get a citywide initiative on the ballot to ban oil drilling 1,000 yards from the mean high-tide line. After years of heated public hearings and court battles, No Oil received ultimate victory in 1988 when Los Angeles voters approved the initiative, Proposition O.   ’It was remarkable; there were volunteers from all over the city. It was really critical to everyone,’ said Kohn, who relinquished her duties as chief financial officer this year. The organization still exists in case there is ever a threat of oil drilling again.   For her efforts and for her 35 years of volunteer service through other community organizations, the Pacific Palisades Community Council is giving Kohn a Community Service Award tonight at the Council’s potluck meeting at Temescal Gateway Park.   ’Barbara has generously given her time and expertise to the community and has been a tenacious defender of the Palisades,’ Council Chair Richard G. Cohen said.   The same year that Kohn joined No Oil, she became a member of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association (PPRA). She has served as president since 2002.   ’Once I got involved, it was interesting, so I stayed involved,’ Kohn said, noting that many PPRA members were also a part of No Oil.   With PPRA, she helped preserve land in the Santa Monica Mountains as state parkland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the late ’80s, PPRA negotiated a settlement with the City of L.A. and the developer that limited the development of the Palisades Highlands by establishing an urban limit line that guarantees open space.   Kohn’s proudest accomplishment with the organization is getting a covenant on the four-acre parcel at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road, which the Palisades-Malibu YMCA purchased in fall 2007, so there could never be drilling of any kind on that property.   ’That was a big effort and required a lot of perseverance,’ Kohn said. In addition to being active with No Oil and PPRA, she has served on the Pacific View Estates Homeowners Association since the 1970s and as president from 1993 to 2001. She has also been on the Pacific Palisades Community Council since 2000.   In 2005, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, representing District 11, appointed Kohn to the Regional Volunteer Neighborhood Oversight Committee. As part of that group, she visits city parks with other volunteers to determine which facilities are in most need of Proposition K money.   Proposition K, passed in 1996, creates a citywide assessment district that generates $25 million each year for 30 years to improve and maintain city parks and recreation facilities as well as to acquire land for open space.   Since 2006, Kohn has been on the Getty Villa Community Relations Committee, which meets once a month to discuss neighborhood issues regarding the operation of the Villa.   Over the years, Kohn has juggled volunteering with work and family. With the help of her husband Ben (a doctor), she raised two sons, Russell of Agoura Hills and Ken of Encino. She has two grandchildren, Michael, 10, and David, 7.   Kohn, who graduated from Los Angeles High and earned her bachelor’s degree in business from UCLA, operated an antique and collectables store on Fifth and Wilshire in Santa Monica for 24 years. After the 1994 earthquake, she moved to the Santa Monica Antique Market on Lincoln Boulevard for 12 years and then she relocated to the Culver City Antique Center on Sepulveda Boulevard until February. She designed and made her own jewelry.   Right now, Kohn is busy advocating for the city to pass a new comprehensive ordinance that would regulate cell-tower installations in the City of Los Angeles. She and fellow PPRA member Chris Spitz are speaking to neighborhood councils, encouraging them to send letters to the city to prevent the proliferation of cell towers in public right of ways.   ’From the early days of fighting against oil drilling through her work on preserving open space, and more recently her work on cell towers and limiting development, Barbara has been a remarkable advocate for the preservation of the Palisades we all love,’ Cohen said.
Doyle and Newcomb Are the New Owners of Mogan’s Cafe
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
David Williams, the founder of Mogan’s Caf’, sold his Highlands restaurant to house manager Jon Doyle and general manager Ryan Newcomb on December 1. ‘We made an offer six months ago,’ Doyle said in an interview. ‘We had been thinking about it for a while because David has so many other opportunities that take him away from the restaurant.’ Williams, a former Chamber of Commerce president, serves as the personal training-camp chef for heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine, and over the past few years has been on the road as many as 21 weeks out of the year. The new owners were surprised and pleased when Williams agreed to sell. ‘He said he thought it was the best thing for Mogan’s,’ Newcomb said. The men praised Williams for how he developed the cafe that started as a breakfast and lunch spot in the Highlands Plaza (just north of Sunset) in 2003. ‘He did an amazing job of building the restaurant,’ Newcomb said. ‘We only plan on doing fine-tuning.’ One of the minor changes thus far is to offer a luncheon special that changes daily: Monday’s offering was the Championship salad and BBQ chicken quesadillas. They also have started varying the soups adding French onion and butternut squash soup to the menu rotation. ‘We’re asking our regulars what they would like to see on the menu,’ Newcomb said. ‘Dave is keeping it [the restaurant] in the family by selling to us, so we don’t want to rock the boat too much,’ Doyle said. ‘He has been wonderful and has helped us with the transition.’ Seven months ago, Newcomb implemented Kids Eat Free Tuesdays, which allows children 10 and under to eat for free from 5-9 p.m., when an accompanying adult orders a dinner. He also began hanging works by local artists at the cafe, which not only helps artists, but also provides a pleasant ambiance. The two also have a Wine Discovery Monday, with all of their bottles of wine at half price, and Bucket of Beer, which gives patrons five beers for the price of four on Mondays. Mogan’s Happy Hour, from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, offers two drinks for the price of one. Specialty drinks include bloody marys, margaritas, pi’a coladas, mimosas and bellinis, plus 10 imported and domestic beers. Dinner specials routinely include a risotto, salmon, halibut and filet mignon, but with different sauces on different nig on different nights have different sauces.   Newcomb and Doyle gained experience in different restaurants before coming to Mogan’s.   Newcomb, who grew up in Centralia, Illinois, moved to Los Angeles 13 years ago. ‘Mostly to get out of Illinois,’ he jokes. He worked at the Coffee House on the Sunset Strip for four years as a server, then took on managerial duties. When the restaurant closed, he spent three years traveling to ‘find’ himself, living in Hawaii, San Francisco, San Diego and Austin before moving back to L.A. in 2005. Doyle’s sister Amy Vasco, a former co-worker from the Coffee House, asked him if he needed a job, which led him to Mogan’s.   He started as a server, but when Vasco quit a year later he assumed some of her duties as manager. When Karen Williams (Dave’s mom) retired in 2007, Newcomb took over office duties, too. Although he loves to travel, Newcomb admits that his entire concentration is now on the restaurant, which is open six days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Doyle was raised in Anaheim and attended Loyola Marymount University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. After college, his focus was writing, screenplays and fiction, so he took work that allowed flexible hours. He worked as a server at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel’s cafe, before moving to Rusty’s on the Santa Monica Pier, where he was a bartender. When a screenplay deal fell through in 2005, Doyle moved to New York City for a year. ‘I needed to get away,’ he said. He worked at the New York bar OW, while continuing to write. His two passions are books (he loves fiction) and the Lakers. He returned to L.A. in 2006 and began working at Mogan’s. Doyle and Newcomb, who plan to get more involved in the community, helped sponsor the free parking that residents enjoyed in the business district last Saturday.
Ed Lindop, 84; Influential Teacher, Author
By JOE JARES Special to the Palisadian-Post Edmund Lindop, longtime teacher at Palms Junior High and then University High, and author of more than 40 books, died Thursday, December 3. He was 84. His wife, Esther, also a teacher and writer, was at his bedside when he died after battling Parkinson’s disease, low blood sugar and difficulty in swallowing. A 37-year resident of Pacific Palisades, Lindop inspired generations of students with his passion for history, politics and good writing. Prominent among those he mentored is his daughter Laurie, an author who teaches English and creative writing at Boston College. He was also passionate about the Dodgers and Trojan football. He graduated summa cum laude from USC, where his fraternity brother and best friend was Carl Gebhart, later to become the Palisadian-Post’s ace rain-measurer. Lindop managed to convert his UCLA-graduate wife and his Occidental-graduate daughter to the SC cause. “If USC lost, utter devastation,” said Laurie. “If they won, Dad would whoop around the house like a maniac. I truly thought all families behaved this way.” Despite having a full load of classes to teach and student papers to read, Lindop managed to be prolific at the typewriter ‘ he never became friendly with computers. It started with a nicely illustrated children’s book, “Jumbo, King of Elephants,” in 1960 and continued with other true stories about animals and textbooks (the first of these was “Understanding Latin America,” also in 1960). In the 1970s came “An Album of the Fifties,” “The First Book of Elections” and more. In the 1980s came “All About Republicans,” “The Bill of Rights and Landmark Cases” and more. On and on he produced volumes mostly for young adults, right up to “America in the 1930s,” copyrighted next year. I had the good fortune to take a number of classes from Ed at Palms Junior High in the early 1950s. He took an awkward, uncertain 13-year-old and imbued me with the conviction that I had what it took to be a writer. He did this with many kids. Not only was he brilliant in the classroom, he was kind and generous outside it. My dad was a professional wrestler who frequently campaigned far from home. Ed spent private time going over my stories and taking me to sporting events ‘ in the days before Pauley Pavilion,we loved watching UCLA play basketball in the old men’s gym, nicknamed the BO Barn because of its overheating. Before each college football season, Ed would buy a stack of preview magazines. We would sit in his study perusing them, as if who would start at left tackle for Auburn was of earth-shaking importance. When I was just out of college, Ed came up with the idea for a book on the sports of the Presidents. It required a huge amount of library research, so he enlisted my help ‘ if I would do half the digging, I could write half the book. “White House Sportsmen” was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1964. I went on to write seven more books. Ed Lindop went on to write more than 30. Despite all his books and all his grateful students, Ed wasn’t pompous or self-important; he could laugh at himself. For instance, he came up with the idea for a class in sports history at University. “The unruly boys would bring all kinds of balls to class and then toss them across the class to each other,” he recalled. “So every day when they came into my room I stood at the door with two large boxes into which I deposited their baseballs, footballs, soccer balls and volleyballs. “I wasn’t able to invite guest speakers because the students’ behavior was so bad it would have been embarrassing if outsiders had seen them in action. “When the semester finally ended, I felt a sense of blissful relief. And then I did something I learned from the Watergate conspirators. I shredded all of my material on sports history, so that I’d never be able to teach that course again!” Much better was his creative writing class at Palms. I remember when Frank Shiell’s father, a dentist, convinced a patient, famous author William Saroyan, to come and speak to us. Shiell is now living in New York, and is an expert on travel in Mexico. He remembers Ed as “a major, precious element in my life.” When he heard the news of Lindop’s death, author, publisher and former U.S. diplomat Jeff Harris spoke for many of Ed’s former students: “One of the pillars of everything I think about and do is gone. I will continue to think about him often ‘ and most of all from the one particular angle. He really did want to make the world a better place through us.” There will be a memorial service for Lindop on Saturday, December 19, 11 a.m., at Westwood Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd. A reception will be held afterward in the church.
Rod Van Hook, 61; Radio Sportscaster
Rod Van Hook, a local radio sportscaster and Pacific Palisades resident, passed away on November 7 in Santa Monica Hospital of heart failure. He was 61, and had battled several serious illnesses in the last three years, including pancreatic cancer, kidney failure and heart disease. Born in South Dakota on July 31, 1948, Rod arrived in California at the age of 3. He attended Corpus Christi School in Pacific Palisades and St. Monica’s High School, then studied at UCLA, where he graduated in 1970. Rod’s one passion was sports, which he played as a youth and which then became his profession as a radio sportscaster. He began his career 40 years ago at KMPC radio, where he worked from 1972-1978. He then moved to KFWB to become a sports anchor from 1979 to 2000. After KFWB, he worked at ESPN radio until 2006. During his time at these stations he won three Golden Mike awards and was honored many times by the Los Angeles Press Club and Associated Press. His final job was at Sports USA radio until early this year, when he could no longer work. Rod was considered the ultimate professional, with a great sense of humor, and even though he loved the Bruins you would never know it from his reporting. He covered the Olympics, Super Bowls, Rose Bowls, the World Series, the L.A. Open, pro and college games and many other sporting events. His knowledge of sports history was tremendous; even after he became so seriously ill, it never failed him. He is survived by his daughter, Kelsey Van Hook, a junior at George Washington University; his 9-year-old son, Chance Van Hook of Burbank; his brother, Perry Van Hook; his former wife, Chris Van Hook of Pacific Palisades; and many friends and colleagues. Services will be held on Saturday, January 2, at 11 a.m. at the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, 15821 Sunset Blvd. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Rod’s memory may be made to the Yosemite Association (P.O. Box 230, El Porto, CA 95318).
The First Bull Run
Before The Golden Bull, There Was Eddie’s Chili Verde
On a warm afternoon in August this year, Don Cranford spotted a married couple standing outside his restaurant, The Golden Bull in Santa Monica Canyon. The husband was taking photos of the Bull’s sign and exterior, so Cranford went out to say hello. Having owned the Bull since 1984, he has seen all kinds of people enter the establishment, best known for its steak and cocktails. But he quickly realized that his visitors were not ordinary tourists. Bill Kane, with his wife, Sylvia, had traveled all the way from their home in Tempe, Arizona to see Cranford. They arrived harboring a bombshell of information, backed up by vintage photographs from the late 1930s and early 1940s. Back then, The Golden Bull was a restaurant called Eddie’s Chili Verde, opened by Kane’s uncle, Eddie Kane. ‘I didn’t know the restaurant existed until I found the menu and pictures,’ Kane, 79, told the Palisadian-Post from his Tempe home three months after his L.A. visit. ‘I found the pictures first and it didn’t say where it was.’ Kane had discovered the Eddie’s ephemera in 2000. Originally belonging to his father, William Kane, Sr., it had been boxed away at Kane’s brother’s house in their native Marlbrough, Massachusetts. ‘My father died in 1981, but Eddie’s material stayed in his house in Marlbrough until my mother died in November 1987,’ Kane said. ‘I only got a cursory look at the material at that time and it went to my brother’s house. ‘I didn’t get interested in genealogy until about 2000, when I wrote a book on the family history. It was then that I remembered the material that was at my brother’s.’ Kane recalled his initial conversation with Cranford. ‘This guy came out and said, ‘Can I help you?’ I said, ‘My uncle used to own this place.’ He said, ‘Your uncle?’ So I told him the story, and he said, ‘I never heard that!’ I brought in the photos. We sat down and we talked a while. He said, ‘You know what? I remember getting my liquor license and it was in the name of Eddie and Jean Kane.” Cranford pored over Kane’s photos; images he had never seen before. ‘I knew it was called Eddie’s Chili Verde because that was on the liquor permit,’ Cranford continued, ‘but I never heard anything about the restaurant. And I couldn’t figure out when Eddie’s was here. I was amazed because I had never seen pictures of the restaurant’s inside. And back then, it was just one building.’ One point of confusion remained. The Bull’s current owner had sensed that an Italian eatery once existed in the building. ‘When I first came here,’ Cranford said, ‘we still had all these Chianti bottles all along the ledge of the fireplace.’ As local historian Randy Young would discover, there was an explanation for this as well. Until recently, the only restaurant known to occupy 170 W. Channel Rd. was the original Ted’s Grill, owned and operated by Ted and Mabel Pemberton, before it relocated to 146 Entrada. (A section of the now-defunct second location, dormant but still standing, remains the Canyon’s oldest structure.) Copies of Kane’s materials regarding Eddie’s Chili Verde were given to Young, a founding member of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. He then looked through old phone directories, newspapers, and records at Building and Safety downtown to solidify his knowledge of the history of the original edifice at 170 W. Channel. ‘The big revelation,’ Young said, ‘is that it’s been a restaurant for a very long time.’ The building began life as Palisades and Canyon Property, the branch office of Santa Monica real estate agent Frank E. Bundy (yes, that Bundy’). Bundy obtained a building permit in 1923 and, in 1924, construction was completed. The next tenant, from 1933 through 1938, was Ted’s Grill, followed by Eddie Kane’s restaurant. ‘What I believe happened,’ Young said, ‘is that Ted Pemberton gave up the building after the 1938 flood, and that Eddie’s went in there, in late 1938. The liquor permit was granted in early 1939.’ When the flood swept through Santa Monica Canyon in 1938, it hit hard. ‘On Short Street, a barn came down,’ Young said. ‘It jammed the road like a dam and all the debris went on top of this barn. They had to rebuild the road [West Channel] and build a bridge over that chasm so the businesses could survive. The street used to be a channel (hence the street’s name), but it got clogged up and buried in six feet of mud.’ In the aftermath of the flood, the business district was re-developed: trees were planted and the streets were paved. At 170 W. Channel Rd., an eatery called the Pizza Kitchen (which may explain the Chianti bottles Cranford had discovered), later existed in 1947 and 1948, followed by The Golden Bull, which opened in 1950. An extension to the original building, which today houses the bar room, was built a year later. When Eddie Kane opened his restaurant in the Canyon, the menu promised chili and spaghetti as well as hamburger, fried onions, Italian meatballs and spaghetti sandwiches. Customers could order Sunfreeze ice cream for dessert. By all accounts, Eddie Kane was a colorful character. ‘He was my exotic uncle in California,’ recalled Kane, who grew up in Marlbrough. ‘He was kind of my hero, a cousin that I knew, but I didn’t know. I always looked forward to when he came. He always told me stories, and he was a great chef. He always cooked meals for the extended family.’ Kane traced the history of his Uncle Eddie’s career as a restaurateur. ‘In the ’20s,’ he said, ‘he went to New York and opened a diner in New Rochelle,’ Kane said. ‘The Pullman diners were very popular. But he lost [the diner] in 1930 after the stock market crash in the Great Depression. He told me that he rode the rails west because he didn’t have any money. He stopped in Texas, he didn’t like that. He stopped in Tombstone. He spent a month or so there and decided, ‘No, I’m going to keep going west.’ And he ended up in Santa Monica. That was in 1931. He opened his first restaurant in May 1932,’ on Ashland Avenue near the beach. Eddie sent photos of the restaurant to his New England relatives. But they never knew about the second restaurant, in Santa Monica Canyon Some of the photos Kane discovered featured members of the Tommy Tucker Band, who apparently frequented Eddie’s after gigs. ‘Eddie was a very fun-loving person,’ Kane said, ‘and he and Jean seemed to have a close connection with musicians. Some of them stayed at their apartment building.’ Eddie and Jean moved to Palm Springs in 1946 because of Jean’s asthma. She died in November 1968. Eddie died on July 5, 1974 of complications from a brain aneurysm. ‘He was hospitalized, and he died within two weeks,’ Kane said. ‘I went out and handled all of the funeral arrangements and closed up his house. That’s when I found all the materials.’ Kane relocated to Arizona in 1971, where he worked for 15 years as the director of economic planning and development for the state. He worked another 15 years as the director of education for Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona, retiring at the end of 1997. Upon visiting The Golden Bull last summer, Kane had this initial impression: ‘It’s so much older now. From the pictures, it looked like a desert location.’ The building that houses the Bull has survived not only flooding, but the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and it thrives today on the appeal of its old school, Sinatra-era flavor. For Cranford, the Kanes’ visit this year was more proof that even after his nearly half-century association with the Bull, the surprises keep coming. ‘It continues to amaze me,’ Cranford said.
Thursday, December 10 – Thursday, December 17
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10
Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, 7 p.m. in the historic cafeteria in Temescal Gateway Park. Parking is free. The public is invited. Palisades Charter High School Theatre presents ‘The Diviners: A Play in Two Acts and Elegies,’ tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., with a Saturday matinee at 3 p.m. Tickets at the door are $12 for adults, $10 for students. (See review, page 12.)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11
Theatre Palisades presents ‘Things We Do For Love,’ a comedy by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, 8 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., through December 13. For tickets, call (310) 454-1970.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
The SPIRAL Foundation holds its annual eco-friendly holiday bazaar benefiting artisans and humanitarian projects in Nepal and Vietnam, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Sunday, December 13, at 211 Vance St. in Pacific Palisades. Contact: (310) 459-6671 and www.spiralfoundation.org.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
The Chabad of Pacific Palisades hosts its annual Chanukah Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monument Street (between Sunset and Bashford). The public is invited. The Temescal Canyon Association will host a special evening hike to see the Christmas lights and boat parade along the Venice canals with an optional dinner afterwards at one of the many nearby restaurants. Note: For this hike only, meet for carpooling at 5 p.m. in the parking lot in Temescal Gateway Park. The public is invited. For more information, call (310) 459-5931.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14
Sunrise Senior Living hosts a free Alzheimer’s support group on the second Monday and fourth Wednesday of each month, 6:30 p.m. at 15441 Sunset. RSVP: Bruce Edziak at (310) 573-9545. Moonday, a monthly poetry reading, will feature Doraine Poretz and Kathleen Tyler, 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15
Culture in the Canyon at the Chautauqua Series features an illustrated talk about the winter solstice, 7:30 p.m. in Woodland Hall at Temescal Gateway Park. The public is invited. The program and parking are free for the evening. Monthly meeting of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association board, 7:30 p.m. at Rustic Canyon Recreation Center. The public is invited. Stage actor Bryan Torfeh appears with Chamber Music Palisades to narrate Igor Stravinsky’s ‘L’Histoire du Soldat’ (‘The Soldier’s Tale’), 8 p.m. at St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Ave. Tickets ($25, students free) at the door. (See story, page 13.)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17
The Palisades Branch Library presents a talk by Kwei Quartey, author of the Ghana-based mystery novel ‘Wife of the Gods,’ 6:30 p.m., in the community room, 861 Alma Real. Free admission.
Colts Gallop to Beach Invitational Title
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Trailing Carson by 16 points at halftime last Friday night in the championship game of the Palisades Beach Invitational, it was gut check time for the Palisades High girls’ basketball team. Coach Torino Johnson’s squad responded the way he hoped it would, narrowing its deficit to two points with under three minutes remaining, but the visiting Colts made their foul shots down the stretch and hung on for a 49-42 victory. “That was really the difference,” Johnson said, referring to the second quarter, in which Palisades was outscored 14-2. “We stopped attacking, started watching and the game got out of hand. Once the girls got it together we started chipping away at their lead.” Three Dolphins made the All-Tournament squad: guard Ashlie Bruner, forward Nicole Flyer and center Donae Moguel. Bruner had 15 points in Palisades’ 61-54 semifinal win over Calabasas and added 10 points, six rebounds, six steals and three assists in the final. “I’m just reading the floor and giving my teammates a lot of open looks,” Bruner said. “If we can cut down on the turnovers and improve our rebounding and defense we’ll be really good.” Moguel has big shoes to fill, trying to replace the graduated Dominique Scott, one of the best post players in the City last year. So far, Johnson likes what he sees from Moguel, who had 11 points and seven rebounds against Carson and a game-high 22 points in the Dolphins’ 59-34 runaway victory over Camarillo in the quarterfinals. Flyer led the Dolphins’ second-half resurgence against Carson, finishing with 11 points, three assists and eight blocks. “We didn’t stay consistent throughout the game, but if we play them again I think we can win,” Flyer said. “The more we practice, the more we’re getting used to each other and everyone is finding their specific role. We’re all friends and we have a close team so we’re looking forward to a great season.” Wednesday’s semifinal between Carson and LACES came right down to the wire (the Colts won 55-51), but the next night’s second semifinal pitting Palisades against Calabasas was perhaps the most thrilling game of the tournament. Palisades built a 13-point lead after three quarters, but the Coyotes closed to within 56-53 with 1:05 left. Guard Skai Thompson stole an inbounds pass and was fouled, Bruner added two clutch free throws, and the Dolphins escaped. “I called a timeout after they had cut the lead to three and the girls came back to our bench and the first thing they did was laugh,” Johnson said. “They weren’t freaking out, they had the attitude like ‘we are going to win this game.’ So I tapped into that aggression.” Palisades opened the tournament last Tuesday with a 47-18 blowout over Manual Arts–a game in which all but two players scored at least a basket–and that momentum carried it all the way to the finals for the first time in the six years it has hosted the Beach Invitational. When teams dropped out last year, the Dolphins ended up sharing the title with Marymount and Notre Dame Academy. This year’s tournament ran much smoother and, more importantly, a toy drive donated about $1,500 worth of holiday presents to the California Children’s Hospital. “I’m thrilled to death the way things turned out,” Johnson said. “This was by far the best this tournament’s ever been and I’m proud that we got to the finals.” The Dolphins travel to Arizona next Friday for the Nike Tournament of Champions.
Dolphins Win Holiday Soccer Showcase
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Redemption was the goal of the home team before the opening game of last weekend’s Palisades Holiday Soccer Showcase. Many of the Dolphins’ players still felt the sting from a loss to Cleveland in the playoffs two years ago, so just call Friday night’s win payback. “I was really focused for that game because they knocked us out my freshman year,” Palisades co-captain Kathryn Gaskin said. “Last year we tied them so this time we had to beat them.” Palisades played well in its own tournament last year but had only three draws to show for its efforts. This time, the Dolphins won every game, starting with a 3-0 victory over the Cavaliers in which Gaskin, Lily McGuire and Jacklyn Bamberger scored. On Saturday afternoon Gaskin booted home the only goal off of a cross from McGuire for a 1-0 victory over Stockdale of Bakersfield. Gaskin then assisted on Yasmine Tabatabai’s first-half goal in a 1-0 victory over Sylmar. Palisades goalkeeper Kiki Bailey did not allow a ball to get by her the entire tournament. “I didn’t have to make too many saves,” Bailey said. “The closest a team came to scoring was with about four minutes left in the Sylmar game when a ball bounced high and I had to tip it over the crossbar.” The Dolphins have rebounded nicely from nonleague defeats to West Valley League opponents Granada Hills and Taft. Palisades began defense of its Western League crown Wednesday against Venice and travels to Fairfax for a 2:30 kickoff Friday. Boys’ Soccer Palisades got goals from Shane Centkowski, Nathan Cutler and Alex Anastasi to beat San Pedro, 3-0, in its season opener. The Dolphins began Western League play at Venice on Wednesday and host Fairfax at Stadium by the Sea this Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Nevels Named All-Tournament
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Led by senior captain Garrett Nevels, the Palisades High boys’ basketball team took fifth place with three wins and one loss at the Pacific Shores Tournament in Redondo Beach last week. Nevels had 29 points, including seven three-pointers, in the Dolphins’ 85-67 first-round win over Cathedral, had 11 points in a 61-49 loss to eventual-champion Long Beach Poly, scored 16 points in a 68-60 win over Santa Monica and closed the tournament with another 29 points (including six threes) in a 73-65 victory over Harvard-Westlake. Coach James Paleno said forwards Kenneth Towner (19 points against Santa Monica) and Rico Matheney were key contributors throughout the tournament. “We’re a very young team but we play hard,” he said. “Our focus is to cut down on our mistakes and to get better as the season goes on.” Palisades plays a nonleague game at Cleveland on Friday at 7 p.m., then has a week off before opening the San Fernando Valley Invitational against Verdugo Hills on December 18.
