Marie Steckmest, the friendly, upbeat, indefatigable leader of the campaign to ‘green’ Pacific Palisades, has been named Citizen of the Year for 2008, an award presented by the Palisadian-Post since 1947. ‘Marie’s a powerhouse,’ said Post Publisher Roberta Donohue. ‘Last year, as she did the year before, she campaigned enthusiastically for a ‘greener’ community from January 1 through December 31, and she achieved important successes. We’re pleased to have a chance to honor her commitment and her accomplishments as an enviromental leader and as a role model for other volunteers.’ The Citizen of the Year banquet, also featuring the Golden Sparkplug awards presented by the Community Council, will be held on Thursday evening, April 23, at the American Legion Hall on La Cruz Drive. Ticket information will be provided in next week’s issue. In 2008, as we report on page 4, Steckmest and her nonprofit organization Palisades Cares raised $20,000 through a city grant and matching donations to install 14 recycling bins at various locations in the business district. ‘It was a community effort,’ Steckmest said, but as Michael Espinosa of the city’s Office of Community Beautification noted, ‘Every community needs a Marie Steckmest.’ Meanwhile last year, Steckmest continued to organize students and parents at all of schools in town (public and private alike) to meet and share ideas for greening their schools and, by extension, their homes. In April, Palisades Cares sponsored a Sustainable Eating Eco Evening; in July, the group’s entry in the parade had a recycling theme; in December, Steckmest organized ‘A Day Without a Disposable Bag.’ ‘She has tirelessly worked on making Pacific Palisades a better place to live for all,’ said Haldis Toppel, president of the Marquez Knolls Property Owners Association, in her Citizen nomination letter for Steckmest. ‘Her accomplishments are a list of activities that would stretch the imagination and energy of the best of us.’ Arnie Wishnick, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, noted that Steckmest ‘was able to get the Palisades business committee to go ‘green’ last year,’ and that ‘while our organization has worked with many active residents who are involved in one cause or another, Marie is as dedicated as anyone I have ever met. Perhaps most importantly, she follows through until a project is completed.’ Steckmest won a Sparkplug award for her volunteer efforts in 2005 and, since September 2006, has been contributing a regular column for the Post entitled ‘Save Our Earth.’

Budget constrictions within the U.S. Postal Service have forced us to adjust our weekly editorial and advertising deadlines here at the Palisadian-Post. Previously, in order to ensure Thursday home delivery within Pacific Palisades (90272), we had to deliver that week’s issue to the Postal Service’s processing center on La Cruz Drive by 5 p.m. Wednesday. This deadline has been moved up to 2 p.m. Wednesday. Therefore, in order to have the Post on our press by 10 a.m. Wednesday, here on Via de la Paz, we must move back our various deadlines. * All prospective stories, weddings and cultural event announcements for the Lifestyle section must be received by Senior Editor Libby Motika (lifestyle@palipost.com) by 11 a.m. Thursday, one week before the desired issue. In other words, if you want your Lifestyle article to be considered for the March 5 issue, it must be received by 11 a.m. February 26 (unless you are in contact with Libby beforehand). * All prospective stories and event announcements for the Sports section must be received by Sports Editor Steve Galluzzo (sports@palipost.com) by 11 a.m. Monday, the week of the desired issue’and earlier whenever possible. Ideally, Galluzzo wants to begin editing copy and arranging for photographs by Friday. * All prospective stories and event announcements for the Young Palisadian section must be received by Staff Writer Sue Pascoe (features@palipost.com) by 11 a.m. Friday, one week before the desired publication date. * All prospective news and features stories plus event announcements for the News section must be received by Managing Editor Bill Bruns (editor@palipost) by 11 a.m. Friday, one week before the desired publication date. Weekend news, obituaries, Two Cents calls (and e-mails), and Letters to the Editor and Opinion/Viewpoint pieces must be received by 9 a.m. Tuesday. * The Display advertising deadline will now be 4 p.m. Wednesday. Classified advertising must now be submitted by 11 a.m. Friday.

‘And the award goes to . . . David Russo!’ Okay, so you’re not going to hear that on Sunday night’s Academy Awards telecast. After all, Russo works in television. However, the Pacific Palisades-based TV producer, who moonlights as a fine artist, may be deserving of an award”or at least some recognition”for his latest painting. See, the artwork Russo has created”in collaboration with dozens of foster children”will be the centerpiece of a silent auction at an Oscar-night Beverly Hilton banquet, where the towering five-panel mural will be sold, with the proceeds benefiting a cause close to Russo’s heart: Children Uniting Nations (CUN), an organization assisting at-risk and foster youth via mentor programs. The nonprofit was founded by music executive Daphna Ziman, wife of Arden Realty founder and philanthropist Richard Ziman. The plight of foster children strikes a chord with Russo, who has four children”Anthony, 23, Nick, 21, Taylor, 14, and Logan, 13”with wife Elizabeth Leitz. So a few weeks ago, Russo threw a party at his Sunset Mesa home, where he officially unveiled his completed mural. ‘It was hugely successful,’ Russo told the Palisadian-Post following the unveiling. ‘Despite a torrential downpour, we had about 70 people show up. And there was a huge amount of explosive energy off of that piece. People seemed very moved by it and came up afterwards to talk to me about it.’ Among those in attendance were screenwriter Pen Densham (‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’) and his wife, Wendy; Palisadian and registered nurse Marion Mayer; and Tarzana resident Larry Meyers, author of the book ‘Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow.’ Also present was Russo’s mother, Beverly Russo (who had traveled from New Jersey), and his sister, Hilary Russo. For years now, Russo has been working as an artist concurrently with his day job as a reality-show producer. With Mark Burnett (‘Survivor,’ ‘The Apprentice,’ ‘Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?’), he has co-created such shows as ‘Combat Missions’ and ‘Rouletter.’ Talking to the Post, actor Henry Gibson compared his artistic producer friend to his frequent collaborator, the late movie director Robert Altman, as ‘one of those creative, magical people with vision you’re lucky to meet every once in a while who somehow triggers something in your soul.’ Guests at Russo’s party enjoyed chatting up Gibson, whose eclectic career began with the Jerry Lewis classic ‘The Nutty Professor,’ continued with Altman’s ‘Nashville’ and ‘The Long Goodbye,’ and also includes ‘The ‘Burbs’ (starring Palisadian Tom Hanks) and ‘The Blues Brothers,’ in which Gibson portrayed the leader of those ‘Illinois Nazis’ (as in the oft-quoted line: ‘I hate Illinois Nazis!’). Recently, Gibson had a role in the hit comedy ‘Wedding Crashers.’ A longtime Malibu resident, he said that he originally met Russo years ago in the Palisades at (of all places) the Vons near Sunset and PCH. PR executive Dick Guttman, whose clients include Barbra Streisand and Jay Leno, attended the unveiling with his wife, Gisela. It was Guttman who brought Russo into the CUN fold after viewing Russo’s work at Baltimore’s American Visionary Museum of Art last October. A pull on the drop cloth and down it came, unveiling a spectacular 20 ft.-by-8 ft. mural bouncing with vibrant colors, a bold maze motif, and a graffiti-tinged, child-like energy akin to a Keith Haring piece. ‘It’s a marriage made in heaven’ between artist and organization, Guttman told the people gathered. Later that evening, Guttman also lauded former Palisades Honorary Mayor Steve Guttenberg, who has been involved with CUN’s mission via his Guttenhouse charity. ‘Steve tries to see the kids,’ Guttman said. ‘He also has a social worker check in on them. He sent one girl a birthday card and she didn’t forget it. She told him, I’m 18 and I never got a birthday card before. Can you imagine that?’ ‘The concept was to have your hand in the art,’ Russo said, explaining that the painting officially got under way at last November’s Day of the Child event on the Santa Monica Pier, where 1,300 foster kids and adults took part in covering the mural’s five panels with color. Russo then took the initial work and added his imprimatur, tinkering with the artwork all the way to the February unveiling date. ‘Some artists might lack the confidence, or only pay lip service, to truly incorporating the contributions of others into their work,’ Larry Meyers said. ‘David has woven these kids’ imprints into a truly visionary piece.’ ‘It’s like any good tribal art,’ Gisela Guttman said. ‘But this one has the love of the children’s hands in the work. You can’t get better than that.’ Tickets for the Children Uniting Nations banquet on Sunday, February 22, are $150. Contact: Kimberly Ray at (818) 905-9831; visit www.ChildrenUnitingNations.org.

Talk about cutting it close! ‘We finished remodeling at 4:35 and we opened for the party at 5 p.m.,’ Jaimie Geller told the Palisadian-Post. Yet you’d never know it, looking at the white walls and shiny elegant jewelry tastefully on display, that Jaimie and her husband, Michael, had opened their new Antioch Street business, Jaimie Geller Jewelry, just in time to receive family, friends and longtime business associates on February 5. At the opening, the jewelry boutique’s namesake sparkled in a sequined dress, while her husband, casually dressed, entertained old pals. ‘I’ve been following Jaimie for years. She’s the sweetest. She’s always been a pleasure to work with,’ says Bernadette Robi Leonard, wife of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and daughter of The Platters’ Paul Robi, in-between mingling among the mostly 30-something crowd as they enjoyed some Valentine’s Day-themed gourmet confections from Sweet Somethings of Sherman Oaks. Also in attendance was Jaimie’s father, Shalom Gabay, who chatted with his friend, Israel Baron; Michael’s parents, Laura and Mark Geller, who operated Laura M. Jewelry at the same Antioch location as Jaimie Geller for two decades; and Alexandra Mendez, the boutique’s gemologist. Cantor Chaim Frenkel of Kehillat Israel, who performed at the owners’ wedding, dropped by to partake, as did Jaimie’s sister-in-law, Lili, with her daughter Delilah, and Palisadian Marissa Wolf, Jaimie’s longtime friend, who is pregnant with her first child. The Gellers themselves have a two-year-old boy, Mason. Antioch clothing-store entrepreneur Elyse Walker made the reception, looking fashionably dressed with her husband, David, and her current store manager, Cameron Cohen. For nine years, Jaimie Geller had managed Walker’s store on the same block and, in fact, Jaimie was the first person whom Elyse Walker ever hired. ‘I hired her two months before I opened,’ Walker told the Post. ‘I’m so happy for Jaimie. She would be successful no matter what she did.’ In turn, Jaimie had hired Lindsay Garland (also at the opening) at Elyse Walker clothing. Garland herself has since branched out and opened a clothing store of her own, Westerly, in Corona del Mar. Michael Geller grew up in Pacific Palisades, while Jaimie was raised in Cheviot Hills. Today, they reside in the Palisades. And while they enjoyed a soft opening of their store in December, the Gellers had been remodeling the store in the months leading up to the reception.