Taylor Pecsok (right) battles a Saugus defender for the ball watched by Pali Rox! teammate Izzy Rosenstein in the finals of the Simi Valley New Year’s Tournament. Photo: Merrie Mac Seaman
New Year’s resolutions rarely last beyond January but at least one local AYSO All-Star team is determined to make good on its vow to have fun all year long. Nothing is more fun for Pali Rox! than winning tournaments, which Phil Pecsok’s girls soccer squad grew quite accustomed to last winter. Pali Rox! began 2009 the same way it began 2008–by capturing the U12 title at the Simi Valley New Year’s Tournament last weekend. The defending champions blanked Thousand Oaks (7-0), Saugus B (4-0) and Moorpark (4-0) in pool play. Those three shutouts were a result of stellar defense by Alex Jackson, Tara Nikkhoo, Izzy Rosenstein and Emma Seaman. In the semifinals, Elizabeth Seaman scored on a breakaway, then Taylor Pecsok curled a long-range shot into the upper corner of the net for the winning goal in a 2-1 triumph over Camarillo. The championship game pitted Pali Rox! against Saugus’ A squad in a matchup of undefeated teams. Led by forwards Cassie Jernigan and Hannah De Silva and midfielders Gillian Ondaatje, Brooke Reese, Caitlin Bremner and Carmen Flood, Pali Rox! won, 4-0, to repeat as division winners, outscoring their opposition 24-1 along the way. Pali Rox! won the same division as a U11 team last year, defeating an older Burbank team 6-0 in the final, and went on to take first in the U12 division of the Cactus Classic in Mesa, Arizona.
Stanford’s Ali Riley led New Zealand’s women’s soccer team to its first-ever Olympics in Beijing, China. Photo: David Gonzales/Stanford Athletics
Ali Riley continues to make her marks in the world’s most popular sport, taking her game to new heights on both the collegiate and international levels. First she was invited to play wing for New Zealand’s women’s soccer team at the Beijing Olympics, where she tallied two assists in a 2-2 draw with Japan. She showed her versatility a month later when she moved from forward to defense and led Stanford to a 22-2-1 record and a trip to the NCAA Final Four. Ali wasn’t the only Palisadian making headlines on the pitch in 2008. So was her “little sister” Amanda Lisberger, who became Brentwood School’s all-time scoring leader and led her Eagles’ club squad to its second state title in a row. She was also named MVP of the Soccer Coaches Association Senior All-Star game in March. The Pali Blues treated local fans to top-notch soccer this summer and no players exemplified the Blues’ skill and determination more than team captain Kendall Fletcher and defender Amy LePeilbet, who netted the decisive goal in the W-League finals against FC Indiana. Then there’s Lizzy Danhakl, who led Williams College to a 19-1-1 record and a berth in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III tournament. And we can’t forget Maddie Lenard, who led Harvard-Westlake High to a Mission League title then played for Real SoCal against Mexico’s U17 national team. At the youth level, no team advanced further in 2008 than the Ninjas, a U14 girls AYSO team, led by Sahar Bardi, Katie van Daalen Wetters and Jamie Greenberg. The Ninjas advanced to the finals of the State Cup in April. For years the Palisades Tennis Center been the training ground for many of the top junior players in the nation but in 2008 the talent on the public courts off Alma Real was off the charts. It’s no surprise that four of the PTC’s rising stars are sons of its owner and founder. Yes, the Bellamy brothers–Robbie, Roscoe, Lucas and Lincoln–all climbed the rankings in their respective age divisions by winning multiple tournaments. The oldest, Robbie, won the 14s singles title of the PTC Junior Open, then partnered with fellow Palisadian Alex Giannini to win the 14s and 16s doubles divisions. Roscoe, meanwhile, won the 8s singles crown in Palm Springs in February while Lucas made the Dudley Cup finals and six-year-old Lincoln won the 8s Novice Division at the Santa Monica Open. That was just the tip of the iceberg, however, when it came to PTC players excelling in local and national events. For instance, Ben Goldberg reached the finals of the Matador Tournament in September; Brandon Michaels didn’t drop a set on his way to the 12s title at the PTC Junior Open; Jake and R.J. Sands both won back-to-back singles titles in August; and Cristobal Rivera winning the PTC Junior Open 16s crown. Walker Kehrer, one of the top 18-and-unders in the country, signed to play at Stanford after leading Brentwood School to the CIF title in May and younger sibling Will won his first singles title in Ventura County in March. Caroline Vincent, a third-grader at Calvary Christian, took home four first-place trophies and one second-place trophy in a three-month span. Tennis, however, is not only for the young. Barbara Leonard captained Riviera to the A-1 Division title in the Westside Ladies League, then paired with her husband John to win the bronze ball in the combined 140 age division at the Hardcourt Husband and Wife Championships in August. And in another racquet sport, ageless wonder Lee Calvert continues to dominate senior international competitions in badminton. Palisades High got a new track at Stadium by the Sea and local runners took to it immediately. Among the Dolphins who benefited the most was Carlos Bustamante, who finished third in the 1600 meters at the City track finals in May and placed sixth in the cross country finals in November, qualifying for the state meet on both occasions. Tuekeha Huntley medaled in three events at the City track finals, winning the girls’ varsity high jump, placing fifth in the 300 hurdles and anchoring the 4 x 400 relay. Stanford senior Alexa Merz competed in her first triathlon and finished 18th in the women’s undergraduate division. On the baseball diamond, no one was more dominant in 2008 than flame-thrower Kevin Carswell, who pitched and slugged Pali Blue to a perfect record on its way to the PPBA Pony Division title. Nick Rivera’s walk-off home run was the defining moment of the Bronco Dodgers’ championship season. Vince DeSantis clouted several decisive homers in both the PPBA and All-Star seasons. Palisades High won another Western League title, this time under new coach Mike Voelkel, led by All-City first-team pitcher Jonathan Moscot and second-team catcher Garrett Champion. Moscot’s brother Jed and fellow pitcher Sam Cohen (who hit four home runs) led West L.A.’s 11-year-old Little League All-Stars to the District title. Cami Chapus was a mighty mite at the plate and in the field and Jackie Carr was a strikeout machine in the pitchers’ circle for St. Matthew’s, which won its fifth Basin League softball championship in May. When it comes to volleyball, few communities in Southern California can boast of as many standout prep players as Pacific Palisades and 2008 was no exception. On the boys’ side, Scott Vegas earned City MVP and Post Cup honors after leading Palisades High to its first section championship in 10 years. Then there’s Loyola’s standout Brian Scilacci and the “Super Six” from Oaks Christian–Shaun Powers, Blake Fol, Paul Peterson, Dalton Gerlach, Oliver MacPherson and Charlie Caldwell–who powered the Lions to their fourth Southern Section title in a row. Not to be outdone were a gaggle of talented spiker girls like Marymount’s Jenna Scilacci and Harvard-Westlake’s Meg Norton, who had stellar seasons. Captain Laura Goldsmith led Palisades High to a repeat of the City championship while Drew Hargrave spiked Brentwood to a Southern Section title. On the collegiate level, Penn sophomore Madison Wojciechowski made the All-Ivy League second team and Princeton freshman Cathryn Quinn made honorable mention. Don’t be surprised to see several Palisadians in the NFL within a few years. Already on the brink is former Post Cup winner Geoff Schwartz, who was a three-sport star at Palisades High before going on to play offensive tackle at Oregon. Now he’s on the Carolina Panthers’ practice team, one phone call away from his first pro football start. Younger brother Mitchell, a lineman at California, was just named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team. Few NCAA placekickers were more accurate in 2008 than UCLA sophomore Kai Forbath, who made 19 of 22 field goals and 21 out of 22 extra points for the Bruins. Palisades High rebounded from a dismal 1-9 season the previous fall to win five games in 2008, thanks to Western League MVP Khalid Stevens, who rushed for over 1,000 yards, and sophomore quarterback Conner Preston, who threw for over 2,000 yards in his first full season as a starter. Another kid who knows what to do with the pigskin is John Lemoine, who captained the Santa Monica Rugby Club’s U14 squad to the Southern California Youth Championship in May. The upset of the year might be the Cowboys edging the Rams on the final play to capture the Palisades Recreation Center’s Bantam Division flag football championship, thanks to the heroics of quarterback Shane Skelly, running back Drew Daniele and receiver Kevin Mardirossian. Not surprisingly, water sports are among the most popular here in Pacific Palisades, which has its share of standout performers. Palisades High won its third straight City girls’ swimming title, thanks to the talents of Kristin Fuji, Haley Lemoine, Hayley Hacker and Jasmine Punch. The local YMCA produced numerous Junior Olympics medalists like Jennifer Tartavull, Allison Merz, Mardell Ramirez, Jimmy deMayo and Hunter Loncar. Nick Edel won the 100 individual medley and scored in three events for St. Matthew’s at the Junior Delphic League Championships in November. Jay Connolly, goalie and captain of the Harvard men’s water polo team, was named the Crimson’s MVP in December. Will Rogers Junior Lifeguards Tristan and Tiana Marsh and sisters Mara and Ana Silka excelled at the Taplin Relays. Highlands rower Anna Rasmussen helped Marina Aquatic Center to the Varsity Women’s 8 gold medal at the California Cup Challenge in March, then earned a silver medal in the quadruple sculls at the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships in June. The father-son sailing duo of Rich and Tony Festa had a magical year on the high seas, winning the Midwinter Regatta in February and the Pacific Coast Championship in July before jibbing 12th at the European Championships in September. On the basketball court, Palisades High center Dominique Scott was unstoppable in the Invitational girls’ playoffs. Senior Aaron-Hawk Harris was the scoring leader for the boys–one of Coach James Paleno’s best teams in years. At age 14, Jonathan Goldstein was the youngest player ever to start on America’s 16-and-under national team at the Pan American Maccabi Games, held in January in Buenos Aires. Baxter Humby continued his domination in kickboxing, defending his Muay Thai super welterweight title by unanimous decision in June, finishing first in his age group in the Palisades-Will Rogers 5K one week later, and defending his Muay Thai middleweight crown by knockout in November. Cyclist Tom Hill endured the 109-mile Mulholland Challenge in April and this time he had company in 17-year-old Palisades High student Sam Dubin, who was the youngest racer in the field. Hill pedaled to a seventh-place finish in the 45-50 age group and 25th overall in seven hours, 57 minutes. Just call Colette Rosenberg Riviera Country Club’s “Queen of the Links” after she shot a two-over-par in the final round to win the ladies’ club title in June by an astonishing 13 strokes. Her final round included three birdies and an eagle. In the summer she competed in the Women’s U.S. Amateur Championships. Eric Rosen and Riley Gitlin led the Palisades High boys’ lacrosse team while Sierra Centokowski, Molly Meek and Emma Carter paced the girls’ squad. In 2008, Paul Revere seventh-grader Jenny Schumacher attained the top ranking in Southern California for her age group in rock climbing. Competing for her Rock Warriors team, she qualified for the American Bouldering Series’ national competition in Colorado. In figure skating, sprites Grace Cohen and Wally Wennerberg continued to progress up the junior ladder while budding young gymnasts Taylor and Shelby Slutzker, Hayley McCormack, Jacqueline Vogel and Natasha Rothenberger did their part to put Broadway Gymnastics atop the Southern California standings. Brendan Ward also shined on the ice, though with a stick in his hand. The 10-year-old led the Junior Kings’ Squirt 97 team to the California Hockey Association championship in April. Fencer Caroline Merz, a sophomore at Princeton, excelled in the sabre bouts while Marymount High junior Madeline Amos won the gold medal in Women’s U19 epee at the U.S. Fencing Association’s Pacific Coast Championships on Mother’s Day.
It’s hard to imagine a first-year coach, in any sport and at any level, having a more successful season than the one Charlie Naimo enjoyed as pilot of the Pali Blues Soccer Club. That’s why he’s the winner of this year’s Palisadian-Post Coach of the Year Award. From the moment he arrived in Pacific Palisades, Naimo took charge of every aspect of the team’s development, from public relations to recruitment to scheduling to team practice and, most importantly, to coaching on game day. Naimo pieced together a talented group of players, yes, but he also molded his squad into a cohesive unit capable of matching any opponents’ style. A prime example of Naimo’s innate ability to know what buttons to push and when was evident in his substitution patterns during the latter stages of the W-League championship game. The Blues trailed FC Indiana, 1-0, with less than 10 minutes left but rallied for two late goals to cap a perfect season. “We really struggled to make anything happen at the start of the second half, so I switched from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3 formation to try and get some energy up top,” Naimo said later. “Our depth was a huge reason why we won the game. Our bench gave us the energy we needed.” Fresh off leading the Blues to the W-League title in August, Naimo was named General Manager of the Los Angeles franchise in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league. The team begins play in the league’s inaugural season in April. Naimo will continue to coach the Blues even as he oversees soccer operations for the new pro team. “The two teams will absolutely be connected,” he said, referring to the link between the pro club and W-League side. “Our goal for the Pali Blues is to repeat as W-League champions, and we will continue to develop a strong presence in our local soccer community.”
Pali Storm, a local AYSO girls’ U12 All-Star team, shined through the mud and cold on fields throughout Los Angeles and Beverly Hills last weekend, dominating its competition to win the Beverly Hills Sportsmanship Cup with 22 goals for and four against in four games. “I’m most impressed by how well the girls played together even though the team was created only days before the tournament,” Coach Scot Vorse said. “Many of the girls had never been on the field together before our first game yet they showed amazing teamwork and trust in each other as they skillfully passed and played solid team defense.” Pali Storm, also coached by Don Parcell, shut out both San Pedro and Long Beach on Saturday by 5-0 scores. Sunday morning, the Storm dominated South L.A. 7-0, showing their balance as every girl on the team either scored or assisted on a goal. In the finals, Pali Storm faced a strong Beverly Hills side that had been playing together for some time with a talented roster of both AYSO and club players. Palisades’ girls showcased their speed and skill to build a 3-0 halftime lead. Beverly Hills came back to tie the game early in the second half. Not to be discouraged, Pali Storm went back on the attack, scoring twice to take a 5-3 lead with 10 minutes left. Beverly Hills pulled to within one goal as the clock wound down but couldn’t net the equalizer. With the 5-4 victory Pali Storm improved to 4-0. Each girl played a key role in winning the championship: Jayne Baumgarten, Hannah Bowlin, Caity Buerge, Kelly Costa, Caroline Gluck, Brianna Kupfer, Tara Nikkhoo, Kaitlyn Nyman, Kaitlyn Parcell, Georgia Raber, Brooke Reese, Charlie Robinson and Alexis Wright. After a short break for the New Year’s holiday Pali Storm resumes its schedule at the Santa Ynez Valley Winter Classic.
Dr. Marcus Eriksen traveled from Long Beach to Hawaii on this boat, named the Junk, which is made entirely of recycled materials. Photo: Courtesy the Algalita Foundation
Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation sailed from Long Beach to Hawaii this summer on ‘Junk,’ an aptly-named craft built from 15,000 plastic bottles, a deck from salvaged sailboat masts and a cabin made from the fuselage of a Cessna airplane. The purpose of his 88-day trip was to draw attention to the damaging impact of plastic in our oceans. In November, Eriksen spoke to Palisades Elementary students about his trip and the detrimental effect that plastic waste has on living creatures and the environment. During his presentation, Eriksen held up the cover of a 1955 Life Magazine with the title ‘Throwaway Living,’ which referred to new plastic products that were to become prevalent in America in the next 50 years. He explained that when plastics became an acceptable part of everyday living, there wasn’t much thought given to the long-term effects of a material that is not biodegradable, but rather designed to last forever. ‘When someone says, ‘Just throw it away,’ what does that mean?’ Erikson asked the elementary students. ‘What you consume goes somewhere, but where is somewhere?’ Due to ocean currents, plastic released into the Pacific Ocean from Pacific Palisades could reach Hawaii in a year, and 10 years later could circle back to the site it was released. ‘The ocean is like your toilet bowl, but it never flushes,’ Erickson told the students. ‘The ocean is becoming a plastic soup.’ Plastic is broken down through photo degradation, meaning that sunlight causes it to break into smaller and smaller pieces, all of which are still plastic polymers. Estimates are that it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper and 450 years for a plastic bottle to completely breakdown, which means the more plastic we produce, use and throw away, the more we have to cope with its damaging effects. Even as plastic breaks down, it traps, accumulates and concentrates organic chemicals and pollutants, which are then further broken down once ingested by fish and then humans. Many of those trapped chemicals function as endocrine disruptors. The endocrine system produces hormones in humans and animals. A disruption of that system in some fish can cause males to become females or result in a failure of males to produce sperm. It is unclear about the direct effects in humans, but researchers with the Algalita Foundation plan to investigate the bioaccumulation of the toxins and the implications that it has for the entire food chain. Plastics are even more of a problem for oceans than in landfills because the water cools the plastic pieces, making it more difficult to break down the plastic polymers. Still, as Eriksen emphasized, while half of today’s plastic waste goes to landfills, only 5 percent is actually recycled. ‘We have a huge environmental problem with plastic trash,’ he said. Anna Cummings, who grew up in Rustic Canyon and now works as an education liaison for Long Beach-based Algalita, also spoke to students. ‘Samples taken from the ocean this year indicates that plastic has doubled in the Pacific in the last 10 years,’ Cummings said. She explained how the two men sailing on Junk caught and then dissected several fish, including a rainbow runner that contained 17 fragments of ingested plastic. Through fish, ‘plastic is getting into the food we eat,’ Cummings explained. ‘If plastics are getting into the fish, are they getting in to us?’ The students were quick to answer, ‘Yes!’ Cummings and Eriksen discussed and corrected misconceptions about plastic, including the myth that plastic products placed in the recycling bin will get recycled, or the idea that plastics are made from petroleum refinery waste, when nearly all plastic comes from virgin petroleum and natural gas. When one student asked if it was okay to refill his plastic water bottle as a way to solve the recycling problem, Eriksen responded: ‘You can, but the unbonded monomers [molecules are bonded to other identical molecules] in the bottle break down and you end up ingesting them, which is probably not good for your health.’ Eriksen emphasized that the primary area that students can make a difference is by reducing their use of plastics. After the Algalita presentation, students learned that parents at Palisades Elementary had solicited and received donated Brita water filters for each classroom. Students are urged to bring their own containers and fill them, rather than bringing plastic water bottles. Visit: www.algalita.org or www.junkraft.com.
Alex Lehrhoff and his grandmother Calliope Babu-Khan display the Barack Obama banner that Babu-Khan created for the President-elect. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
For one month, as if possessed, Palisades resident Calliope Caloyera Babu-Khan worked feverishly on her Barack Obama mural, a colorful depiction of the President-elect’s path to the White House. ‘I couldn’t wait to get up and start working,’ says the Greek-American. ‘I never cared for politics but this time he convinced me. I like how he has reached out to all people. I admired him so much for his speeches and the way he conducted himself.’ This is not the first biographical mural Babu-Khan has painted. Several of her colorful, exuberant tributes were included in a solo exhibition at the West L. A. City Hall several years ago. Each pays homage to individuals who have inspired her. Babu-Khan earned a fine arts degree from UCLA and throughout her career she has explored different techniques using oils, acrylics, drawings, printmaking and collage. In 1980, she established the India Arts Council at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, and served as president through 1987. She has been vice president of Women Painters-West from 1989-1992. The Obama mural includes 48 6-in. by 5-in. squares that follow his life from his birth in 1961 up to his inauguration day in 2009. Along the way, there are milestones’his boyhood wish to become president of the United States as early as first grade, his childhood and early education in Hawaii, his trip to Indonesia to visit his mother’along with telling personal details, such as that his grandmother, who raised him, preferred to be called Toot, the Hawaiian name for grandmother. Babu-Khan’s imagination and art have converted what could have been simply a prosaic biography into a beautiful tapestry. She has incorporated the patterning of Indonesian textiles under the title ‘President-Elect Barack Obama.’ ‘He’s American, he’s from Jakarta, so I have also put Indian patterns because of his respect for Hindu gods,’ she says. Babu-Khan’s own biography reflects a similar multicultural breadth. She was born in Greece but her husband, Shafi, is a native of India, whom she depicted in one of her biographical murals with big eyes, a Nehru jacket and a seven-strand necklace that represents his home state of Hyderabad. Babu-Khan completed the Obama banner in a month, getting up early to work on the project. She read all the books she could and painted and assembled the piece on a long, glass table at home. Her grandson, Alex Lehrhoff, assisted by photographing the piece to fabricate a poster. Her dream is to send the artwork to President Obama along with a note expressing her admiration. In looking forward to the transfer of power and future challenges, Babu-Khan understands that change is never easy, but ‘as Obama says, ‘All things are possible.”
Eighth grader Joseph Elder holds a basket of homemade holiday cards that were sent to soldiers in December.
Joseph Elder, son of Palisadians Diane and Hank Elder, spearheaded an effort at his school and at his father’s workplace to gather Christmas and holiday cards for active-duty and wounded soldiers. Elder, an eighth grader at Berkeley Hall School on Mulholland Drive, heard about the ‘Holiday Mail for Heroes’ program at a monthly meeting of the Sons of the American Legion, Palisades Post 283, where he is an active member. The program, a partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes, aims to deliver one million holiday cards to American service members, veterans and military families in the United States and around the world. Berkeley math teacher Dianne Barrows and history teacher Pamela Tartaglia organized the making of numerous handcrafted cards. Using brightly colored paper, students were given artistic freedom to make cards of their design, which included some that were done with decoupage and others in 3-D. Among the Palisadian students who participated in the card making were eighth graders Erik Konner, Mosie Trewhitt and Julia Johnston, and seventh grader Ian Driscoll. Typical was the message: ‘Dear Soldier, I’m so grateful that I can sit at home safe and sound because you are helping protect us. Thank you so much! I hope your holiday is as happy and wonderful as can be expected when you are so far away and in danger and I hope that you can come back home as soon as possible. Please be careful and have a very Merry Christmas.’ ‘The cards were beautiful,’ Elder said. ‘Each one was like a little work of art and it felt good to do something special for those who have sacrificed so much.’ At Hank Elder’s downtown workplace, Grubb & Ellis, employees sent in more than 100 store-bought cards. Elder’s son gathered them and sent them to the Red Cross. Diane Elder brought this story to the Palisadian-Post’s attention in hopes that others in the community will join the efforts next year. Visit: www.redcross.org/email/saf.
Wanda A. McElroy, a former longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, died peacefully on December 2 in San Diego of heart failure. She was 94. Wanda was born July 23, 1914 in Montreal, Canada. Her family moved to Detroit, Michigan a year later, where she ultimately became a U.S. citizen. She graduated from Hamtramck High School in Detroit, and completed a college course of study in medicine as a technologist at the Alexander Blain Hospital under the aegis of Wayne State University in 1938. She met her future husband, Lewis W. McElroy, at Wayne State, and they married in 1942. Lewis completed his education as an attorney at Wayne State and entered into private practice. The McElroys moved to California in 1951, seeking better opportunities and more benevolent weather, along with exposure to the rich cultural and artistic environment in Los Angeles that was burgeoning at the time. They purchased a home on Baylor Street when only a few houses existed on the street, and they often spoke fondly of the fine view of the hills to the north that later became Marquez Knolls. Wanda worked as a medical technologist for a doctor in private practice for many years, and served patients in the Westwood, Brentwood, and Bel-Air areas, including many notable celebrities. She later worked at UCLA in the same capacity until her retirement in the late 1970s. Wanda and Lewis enjoyed several overseas trips, where they indulged their appreciation for art and architecture, and were longtime supporters of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pacific Palisades Library Association, Theatre Palisades-Pierson Playhouse, and the Palisades Symphony Orchestra. After Lewis died in 1992, Wanda continued to pursue her wide-ranging interests, taking many trips to local museums, gardens and architectural exhibitions, and enjoyed long conversations with friends and neighbors about philosophy, art and current events. Each summer, she carried on a tradition she and Lewis had established by closely following the Wimbledon tennis championships. Wanda will be long remembered by her friends and family as an intelligent, thoughtful and inquisitive woman, whose eyes would light up in delight with any encounter that engaged her mind. In October 2001, Wanda sold her home of 50 years and moved to Ocean House, a senior residence in Santa Monica. This past July, her health declining, she moved to a facility that offered more thorough medical care in La Mesa, near her niece Carole Hair. Other survivors include her niece Margaret Hamilton of Royal Oak, Michigan; nephews Michael and Mark Kress, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and her many friends and former neighbors here in the Palisades. Memorial services are pending. Donations in Wanda’s memory can be made to the American Heart Association.
By the second week of November, Lake Shrine volunteers put up a tree in the lobby decorated with “wishes” from foster children. Photo: Mary Jo Reutter
Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Church concluded its 10th annual Holiday Gift Program for Foster Youth delivering about 400 gifts, with a total value of nearly $40,000, to foster children. The program began modestly in 1997 with 200 foster children receiving $22,000 worth of gifts. Planning begins in early October when social workers are asked to make out a wish list for the neediest and deserving foster kids on their caseloads. Every child gets the gift of his/her choice (within reason–there is a general cap of $100 per gift). By the second week of November, volunteers put up a tree in the lobby. Each Sunday, the minister makes an announcement. Volunteers give out the tags, and keep track of all incoming gifts. Even the ministers (despite vows of poverty similar to Catholic priests) purchase gifts. As the gifts come in, more volunteers have gift-wrapping “parties.” More than 30 parishioners volunteer each year. By late November, SRF begins to deliver truckloads of gifts to the Department of Children and Family Services, West L.A. office, straight to the social workers in plenty of time for holiday delivery to the children. In addition to the high level of organization, other highlights of the program include the consistently good quality of the gifts and the focus on older children/teens in the foster care system who often go completely overlooked at this time of year. For Newman, a 15-year old who was recovering from knee surgery, the gift of exercise equipment meant that his rehabilitation/recovery was considerably accelerated. For Dennis and Charles, 14- and 12-year old brothers, the dream of their very first bicycle was realized and their joy upon seeing the gifts was palpable. For Trevon, age 12, the Nintendo DS was the only gift he had received. During the holidays, he was moved from one foster home to another, until just before Christmas, when he landed in a home where he felt safe comfortable. But throughout this most challenging time, the video game system was his one distraction. Said his social worker, “Trevon loves his Nintendo. It’s like his security blanket.” One social worker wrote a thank-you note that included the following: “There was a 14- year old on my caseload who lives in a foster home. She had a very strong connection to her birth mother, and was devastated when her mother moved out of state last summer to follow a man. This was the first year that this girl has not been able to see her mother for the holiday. Her mother told her several times that she had mailed her a gift for Christmas. The girl checked the mail every day looking for the gift, which never came. “The girl had her eye on a very specific stereo. She had carefully selected the stereo because it had all the features she wanted and it would fit perfectly on the headboard of her bed. I submitted the details of the stereo to your organization, not really thinking that she would get the exact stereo she had been longing for. She showed me all the different features and even had me try out the remote control. Her excitement and appreciation was so very evident. It was as if the gift to her had “saved Christmas” for this child.”
Cynnthia Johnson’s Abstract Art and Tom Hofer’s Photographs Share Equal Billing at New Library Exhibit
Cynnthia Johnson and Tom Hofer at the Palisades Branch Library, where the artists will be the focus of an art exhibit January 3 through 30.
Tom Hofer likes to work in the second dimension, Cynnthia Johnson enjoys the third. The fruit of these disparate local artists will be on display, side-by-side, at the Pacific Palisades Art Association (PPAA)’s upcoming exhibit at the Palisades Branch Library on Alma Real Drive beginning this Saturday. The art show runs through January 30, inside the library’s community room. An artists’ reception is set for 2 to 4 p.m. on January 10. PPAA gallery chair Terri Bromberg paired the artists for the show, but she stops short of calling herself curator. ‘I facilitated it,’ Bromberg says, adding, ‘I don’t choose the works that go into the show; that’s up to the individual artists.’ She did not couple the artists based on their work but, more practically, on availability. Both artists, who are PPAA members, had a batch of new art ready to exhibit. However, Bromberg notes, ‘I think it’s nice to have a real mixture in a show; it makes it interesting for the viewers.’
Cynnthia Johnson’s Brush with Inspiration
‘Five years ago, I came back home,’ says painter and ceramicist Cynnthia Johnson. ‘That’s when I really decided I’d give it a shot.’ Born in Santa Monica, Johnson grew up in Pacific Palisades. She attended Marquez Elementary, Paul Revere Middle School, and Palisades High School. Then she crossed the country to major in business in Upper Iowa University and that’s where she lost touch with her creative muse. Johnson ran a pet-sitting service in Gilbertville, a small farming community just outside of Waterloo, the Midwestern state’s third biggest city. Both of her husbands came from Gilbertville. Unfortunately, her first husband died in a car accident. Five years after her second marriage dissolved, Johnson returned to Pacific Palisades. Returning here after her Gilbertville, Iowa years was an easy decision. ‘I grew up in California and my mother and father were here,’ she says. ‘I didn’t have any attachments to Iowa.’ It was here in the Palisades that her long-dormant art was awakened. ‘I would kind of dabble in crafts back in Iowa,’ she says. ‘But it was really when I came back to California to start over that I pursued it. While I was figuring out where and what I was going to do, I went down to Rustic Canyon and signed up for the work shops and I’ve been there for the last three years.’ She credits her mentor, the class instructor, for opening her up. ‘When I was doing work with Diane Hajnal, she had a very interesting way of teaching. We’d start out with a meditation and clear our minds and see where it would take us.’ With the paintings, Johnson says, ‘I would use different utensils and styles. I use a light drip of turpentine over the vellum to see if anything comes through, any figure or form, and if comes through, I elaborate on that.’ Most of her paintings, such as ‘Changing Sunset’ and ‘Blue Jeans and Green Shirt,’ are vertical images measuring 11′ x 17,’ making a visual correlation with her ceramics. For Johnson, who is involved in real estate development, this past year became the decisive time to take her art seriously. ‘In 2008, I started putting things up for sale,’ she says, as she began to emerge from her ‘discombobulated’ phase, worrying about ‘starting all over again.’ Expressing herself via ceramics and painting proved therapeutic, cathartic. ‘It was a wonderful way to not think,’ she says of indulging her muse. But she feels that she still has a long way to go. ‘I’m just sorry I don’t have a lot more to offer right now.’ In the coming year, Johnson wants to become ‘more aggressive’ in making a side-career out of her art. ‘It’s small steps,’ she says. ‘This is my beginning.’ Visit www.cynnfulart.com
Tom Hofer is Ready For His Close-up
Call it his New Year’s ‘resolution…’ A new medium and new direction in 2009 for Tom Hofer, who is debuting his off-kilter photography. When last we checked in with him in 2007 (see ‘Collection Ignites Creativity,’ October 18, in the PalisadesPost.com archives), Hofer, 45, was expressing himself via a series of kitschy large-scale reproductions of retro restaurant and casino matchbooks. In fact, over the summer, Hofer sold a good portion of the colorful, nostalgic works on display at one of his favorite eateries, Baby Blues BBQ in Venice. No sooner will 2009 arrive, and the artist has switched his focus, if you will, to art created with his digital camera. From out of the Hofer atelier emerge bold and uncluttered images of subjects which, like his matchbooks, are found objects, this time courtesy of nature, not manmade. Hofer comes from a family in which the fine and performing arts are revered. By day, he works with his brother, Manfred, as a graphic artist in the production department of the Palisadian-Post, where Tom primarily does the weekly newspaper’s layouts while Manfred tackles jobs for the commercial arm, Post Printing. Until last year, Manfred was graphic designer for Theatre Palisades, where he also occasionally appeared onstage. Both Hofer brothers are seasoned rock musicians, having been founding members of the group The Leaving Trains and playing in L.A.-based bands since 1980. Their mother, Sigrid, is very involved with Theatre Palisades, Palisades Symphony, and the Brentwood-Palisades Chorale. Their father, Arnold, also has a creative bent, creating the behind-the-scenes machinations for Theatre Palisades productions and, for many years, he sketched and painted on a regular basis. A few years back, Hofer caught the photography bug from a professional shutterbug, David Winogrond, a friend of two decades who, in the early ’90s, paid the bills as the Palisadian-Post’s staff photographer. In fact, Hofer bought his single-lens reflex camera from Winogrond. For the Library exhibit, Hofer will unveil about a dozen large prints that demonstrate his range. Take the image that he has short-handed the ‘air guitar’ piece. Some people play air guitar in the mirror to Hendrix and Van Halen. Not Hofer, who drew an electric guitar in thin air with ‘a light, which changes color constantly, that came with a pumpkin-carving kit.’ Hofer shot the gesture at a 15-second shutter speed. The result is a photo of a cartoon-y ‘air drawing’ that looks so cool, one doubts that Jimi Hendrix would have set this guitar on fire back in the Sixties. Another subject capturing Hofer’s fancy occurred while on his first trip to England in May 2005. Out his London hotel window, he spied a serene cityscape. ‘It was my first night, a Friday night, and it was so quiet, I could hear a mockingbird half a mile away singing.’ Also included in Hofer’s section: a tree stump with colorful foliage snapped in October 2007 in Emeryville; a close-up of a bee taken in the backyard of Hofer’s parents; and some of Hofer’s extreme close-ups, such as one of a standing flamingo, or a tree root that blurs the line between the tangible world and the abstract realm. Hofer knows what he likes. He enjoys photographing ‘close-ups of little things and animals,’ and he jokes that his photographic destiny might culminate with ‘pet portraiture.’ Hofer will continue with his matchbook collages. He does not know where his photography will go, but he sure knows where his camera will go. ‘Nowadays, I just take my camera with me everywhere,’ he says. Visit www.TomHofer.org
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