Reigning Miss America Katie Stam, a beauty queen from Seymour Indiana, will ride as grand marshal in this year’s Fourth of July parade, presented by the Palisades Americanism Parade Association (PAPA).   ’We came up with the idea to invite Miss America as a way to add a new, exciting element to the parade, and it worked,’ said PAPA President Rob Weber.   Palisades Patrol, sponsor of Miss America’s appearance, is offering local youngsters the opportunity to ride with Miss America on her parade float. Two seats will be auctioned via a blind bidding process, as an additional fundraiser for PAPA.   On July 4, the winning riders will be seated at Miss America’s table during the pre-parade VIP luncheon. After a one-on-one photo opportunity with Miss America, the riders will join her on their waiting float and begin an exciting journey along the parade route. Each auction package also includes four reception tickets and four seats on the reviewing stand for the use of family or friends of the rider.   Bidding is subject to the following limitations: (1) Rider must be between the age of 5 and 16; (2) Rider or the bidding adult must be a resident of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, West Los Angeles or Santa Monica; (3) Parents/Guardians may not accompany riders on the float (security will be provided by Palisades Patrol); (4) No refunds will be given if the rider is unable to attend.   E-mail bids or questions to palisadesparade@yahoo.com, including name, address and telephone number. Winners will be the two highest bids received by May 22 at 5 p.m. Minimum bid is $500. Winners will be notified immediately, and payment via check or PayPal is required within 72 hours. Payments may be treated as donations to PAPA, a nonprofit Section 501(c)(3) organization.

Actor Dom DeLuise, a former honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, died peacefully in his sleep on May 4, with his family by his side. He was 75. A jovial man of great girth and gusto with a joie de vivre and a hearty, hoarse laugh, DeLuise was best known as a comic actor and the co-star of many a Mel Brooks comedy, including ‘Blazing Saddles,’ ‘Silent Movie,’ ‘History of the World, Part I,’ ‘Spaceballs’ and ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights.’ He also co-starred in numerous comedies with best friend Burt Reynolds, among them ‘Smokey and the Bandit II,’ ‘The End,’ ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ and the ‘Cannonball Run’ series. ‘It was always great fun to work with Burt because you could ad lib,’ DeLuise told the Palisadian-Post in 2006. ‘I feel like Burt is my brother because we have so much fun together.’ ‘I met Dom several times,’ said actor Steve Guttenberg, also a former Palisades honorary mayor, in an e-mail to the Post. ‘He was so kind and generous. He was a true artist, always creating something: comedy, food, a routine with his birds.’ Born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 1, 1933, Dominick DeLuise grew up with two siblings in an Italian immigrant family. ‘My father used to yell and scream a lot,’ DeLuise told the Post. ‘When he would leave the room, we would all be trembling and I’d make some sort of joke about him scaring us. This is when I first realized I could in fact make people laugh.’ After graduating from Manhattan’s High School of the Performing Arts, DeLuise spent his summers at the Cleveland Playhouse. In 1961, he debuted in the off-Broadway hit, ‘Little Mary Sunshine.’ He met his wife, actress Carol Arthur, while appearing in a summer production of ‘Summer & Smirk’ in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He also starred in the 1968 Broadway production of Neil Simon’s ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers.’ His first television appearance, as ‘Dominick the Great’ on ‘The Garry Moore Show,’ led to a variety of television credits, including a regular role on ‘The Entertainers’ with Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart. For 12 years, he appeared on ‘The Dean Martin Show.’ He also made myriad memorable appearances as a guest or guest host on ‘The Tonight Show.’ After moving to Los Angeles, DeLuise broke into the movie business appearing in Sydney Lumet’s 1964 drama ‘Failsafe’ and the 1966 Frank Tashlin comedy, ‘The Glass Bottom Boat.’ He was cast in Brooks’ first feature, ‘The Twelve Chairs,’ at the urging of Brooks’ wife, actress Anne Bancroft. He received $15,000 to play in (Continued on Page 3) the 1967 low-budget but still-appreciated comedy. DeLuise also memorably played the heavy in a pair of comedies written and directed by Gene Wilder: ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother’ and ‘World’s Greatest Lover.’ ‘I was able to watch my dad work with Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner,’ David DeLuise, star of Disney Channel’s ‘Wizard of Waverly Place,’ told the Post last December. ‘We got to go on the set of ‘Cannonball Run’ and we got to meet Jackie Chan. It was pretty amazing.’ Years after Bancroft had helped DeLuise, the rotund actor returned the favor by starring in her 1980 directorial debut, ‘Fatso,’ a bittersweet drama. DeLuise enjoyed a healthy side career by lending his distinctive voice to animated features, among them Disney’s ‘Oliver & Company,’ ‘All Dogs Go to Heaven’ and several ‘An American Tail’ movies. DROP CAP Married in 1965, DeLuise and his wife Carol raised their sons Peter, Michael and David, in Pacific Palisades, and they all have become actors. Their ranch house was always filled with an assortment of tropical fish and pet birds (including Dom’s beloved Charlie, an Amazon parrot, and Pavarotti, a cockatiel. See the Postcard photo, page 2.) DeLuise served as grand marshal of the town’s Fourth of July parade in 1983, and, from 1984 through 1986, he was honorary mayor. Current honorary mayor Gavin MacLeod told the Post this week, ‘Every time I knew I was going to see Dom, I got excited because he was really a ray of sunshine in this dark world. From the first time I ever saw him on TV, he was a person who made you heal because he made you laugh. Laughter is healing because of the endorphins it releases. Dom was a healer.’ ‘He was so funny,’ MacLeod continued. ‘I was over at his house once and I asked him, ‘How’s your diet going?’ He said, ‘It’s going great. But then, at 3 a.m., I hear the pork chops in the refrigerator calling out, ‘Come eat me, come eat me!” At the 1986 Chamber of Commerce installation dinner, held at the Bel-Air Bay Club, executive director Arnie Wishnick recalled, ‘The community was saying good-bye to Dom DeLuise and welcoming incoming honorary mayor Chevy Chase. The room was packed. One guest was unable to find a babysitter and brought the baby. Instead of a reverential, respectful installation, the well-behaved infant sent Dom and Chevy into a hilarious routine of baby jokes.’ In May 2006, Friends of Film honored DeLuise with a lifetime achievement award at the third annual Palisades Film Festival. He received the honor at Chefmakers Cooking Academy on Via de la Paz, and Friends of Film executive director Bob Sharka joked, ‘We’re very proud to be honoring Dom’I can’t think of a better place to hold this event, as Dom is a local guy who, like me, is no stranger to the kitchen.’ In fact, DeLuise authored three best-selling cookbooks containing his favorite Italian recipes (‘Eat This: It’ll Make You Feel Better,’ ‘Eat This Too’ and ‘Eat This Again’), hosted a cooking segment on radio, and even had his own Web site where he sent out monthly recipes and cooking tips. He also wrote seven children’s books, including ‘Charlie the Caterpillar’ and ‘The Pouch Potato.’ ‘A lady once pinched my cheeks in an elevator and said, ‘I’d like to make soup for you,” DeLuise once told the Post, confirming how he projected an image as everyone’s favorite uncle. ‘They wouldn’t do that to Burt Reynolds or Spencer Tracy,’ he added with a laugh. Last December 19, DeLuise revealed on ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ with son David nearby, that he had recently overcome prostate cancer. David DeLuise said of his oft-recognized father: ‘Getting a great table at a restaurant because Dad is famous is nice, but then you gotta deal with the fans coming up to your father during dinner.’ He added, ‘I’ve never ever been on a set where someone hasn’t walked up to me and told me a story about their experience working with my dad, which makes me comfortable.’ ‘He was supremely talented,’ Guttenberg said. ‘Who could forget ‘The End,’ ‘The Twelve Chairs,’ ‘Failsafe,’ and his hilarious role as the director in ‘Blazing Saddles?” ‘Dom’s exuberance for life was awesome,’ MacLeod added. ‘With his departure, there is a vacancy that I don’t know who could fill.’ In 2006, the Post asked DeLuise how he hoped to be remembered. He responded: ‘They’re going to remember that I was round, that I was friendly, that I didn’t put anybody down when I did my jokes, and there was the smell of garlic in my home at all times.’

The Palisades Charter Schools Foundation has announced six winners of the Lori Petrick Excellence in Education Award, which is given annually to educators within the Palisades Charter Complex. The winning educators, who also receive a $2,000 grant, include Lisa Timmerman (Marquez’first grade); Julie Paiva (Kenter’first grade); Karyn Newbill (science), Steve Engelmann (science) and Bella McGowan (counseling) at Palisades Charter High School; and Lara Jacques, Vanessa Ling Dokku and Yosuke Miyoshi in Paul Revere Middle School’s music department. Educators were asked to submit either a 10-minute videotape or a 2,000-word essay describing their teaching goals, style and innovative methods. Judges Merle Price (professor of education at Cal State Northridge, formerly a Palisades High principal and Los Angeles School District Deputy Superinten-dent) and Michelle Bennett (former principal at West-wood Elementary and a retired district administrator) made classroom visits to observe the applicants. ‘We spent two inspirational days visiting the educators and came away knowing that many positive and important things happen every day in classrooms throughout the Complex,’ the judges wrote. ‘We are particularly pleased that the awards touch the elementary, middle and high school this year.’ The awards, presented since 2003, pay homage to the late Lori Petrick, who was a popular third- and fourth-grade teacher at Marquez and Palisades schools, respectively. Price and Bennett singled out three teachers in the Revere Music Department because of their inspiring interaction with and the large number of students (600) they reach. ‘We were impressed with the focus and the total engagement in the classes,’ the judges wrote. ‘Students were playing and singing in one voice. The classes were fun, disciplined and skilled.’ McGowan’s office at PaliHi has a sofa and a dog, Murphy. Her availability to any student at any time is inspirational. ‘She meets with teachers, parents and students and works closely with the nurse,’ Price and Bennett wrote. ‘Kids in need are referred to her and she’s there for them.’ The judges noted that environmental science teacher Engelmann ‘provides a respectful, supportive learning environment. His project-based classroom was run as if it were a seminar. He had gentle, but clear, expectations.’ Writing about Newbill, a marine-biology instructor, the judges observed that ‘she had kids in the palm of her hand. She had microscope work and sushi eating’at the same time.’ After visiting Kenter Elementary, the judges praised Paiva’s lovely, relaxed demeanor: ‘She easily transitioned students from a math lesson to a writing lesson through yoga. The students were totally focused.’ Timmerman provides a creative learning environment with a colorful and inviting classroom, the judges commented. ‘She was organized and interdisciplinary, using small-groups and literature to teach writing to her first-grade students.’ The Petrick Awards reception will be held on Sunday, May 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Oak Room, on Swarthmore Avenue. The Palisadian-Post will profile the winning teachers in future issues.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials fielded questions about the school board’s recent decision to lay off teachers and support personnel during an informational meeting at Paul Revere Middle School on April 30. LAUSD faces a $596 million budget shortfall this fall and about 80 percent of the district’s budget is allocated to employees’ salaries and benefits. In March, some of the teachers and classified staff in the Palisades Charter Complex (Paul Revere Middle, Palisades, Canyon, Topanga, Marquez and Kentor elementary schools) received notification letters that they could be laid off. Vivian Ekchian, LAUSD’s interim chief of human resources, explained to an audience of 350 community members that the district will not know the exact number of teachers and classified staff that will be laid off until after the district learns how many employees will retire. The deadline for notification is May 15. The California Education Code mandates that employees who are subject to layoff must be released by seniority order. Therefore, senior employees retain the right to a position over employees with less seniority. For example, the district has decided to cut math and reading coaches, and many of them have seniority. Those coaches now have the right to replace a teacher with less teaching experience, Ekchian said. As a result, interns will be laid off first, followed by teachers who have taught for less than two years. Those who are laid off will be able to return to the district any time an opening becomes available, and they will be brought back in order of seniority, Ekchian said. In the meantime, they can substitute teach. ‘We will try hard to get them back to the school site they left,’ Ekchian said, adding that district officials recognize it’s important to have stability at school sites. Individual schools with openings will have the opportunity to interview senior employees who were displaced because their positions were eliminated. They can select candidates who best fit their schools, Ekchian said. ‘We will honor the hiring process at the schools. It’s really a community-based decision,’ said Michelle King, Local District 3 superintendent. One audience member asked why the district was not using all of the federal stimulus money this year to keep teachers and class sizes the same. School board member Marlene Canter responded, ‘I am of the opinion that it would be a short-term gain for a long-term loss ‘ I have to do what I think is best for the district, not just for today, but over the long haul.’ Canter, representing District 4 until July 1, said the federal government gave the district the one-time money with the intention that it be used over a three-year period. ‘The superintendent is open to using it all if there are financial solutions on the back end,’ said Matt Hill, assistant to Superintendent Ramon Cortines. District officials are talking with teacher and classified bargaining units about the possibility of furlough days and freezing salaries, which would mean less teachers would have to be laid off, Hill said. ‘If our partners [the unions] are willing to concede, there will be more money for [this fall],’ Canter said. Hill added that depending on the outcome of the May 19 special election, the district could be faced with even more cuts for 2009-10. This month, the state government will also revise the budget, which means there could be additional cuts to the 2008-09 school year. By the time that happens, ‘it will be too late to make cuts, so it will be added to the deficit for [the 2009-10 school year],’ LAUSD spokeswoman Lydia Ramos told the Palisadian-Post. Hill encouraged the crowd to advocate legislators in Sacramento for more education funding. Canter added: ‘It’s time for us to come together and not pull apart.’