All the public schools in Pacific Palisades improved their Academic Performance Index (API) scores this year except Palisades Charter Elementary, according to results released by the California Department of Education last Thursday. Palisades Elementary dropped by 11 points to a score of 904, but still exceeded the state standard of 800. ‘Of course, every school is disappointed when its score goes down a little bit,’ said principal Joan Ingle. ‘We are going to focus more on the kids that need extra help. Being in the 900 club is good, but of course we want to keep growing.’ The staff plans to target students who require individual attention and provide more one-on-one and small group instruction. Ingle attributed the API decline partially to the changes in leadership this spring, when principal Tami Weiser unexpectedly resigned. ‘Now, we have a solid, stable leadership,’ Ingle said. She added that she is impressed with the high API scores of all Palisades schools, and said it’s a testament to dedicated parents. API measures every public schools progress from year to year and is based on test results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR) and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE). API scores range from 200 to 1,000 with the goal that all schools statewide reach 800. All the Palisades schools made No Child Left Behind’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), which measures whether students are scoring at the proficient level or above. CANYON ELEMENTARY Canyon Elementary School posted the highest API score of the schools with 938, nine points higher than last year. Principal Carol Henderson attributes the improvement to her teachers who consistently challenge themselves to improve their craft. ‘It’s a lot of hard work on behalf of the staff,’ Henderson said. ‘We really work hard together to reflect on our practice and collaborate to find new and improved ways to meet the needs of our students. For every decision we make, we ask ourselves ‘How will this benefit the children?’ We are very fortunate to also have the support of our parents and community in our endeavors to raise the bar.’ MARQUEZ ELEMENTARY Marquez Charter Elementary School improved its API score by nine points to 879. ‘All in all, last year was an exceptional year, being named California Distinguished School,’ said principal Phillip Hollis, who came aboard two years ago. ‘I am very proud of the gains we have made.’ Striving for more improvement, Hollis plans to expand the CATCH (Caring Adults Teaching Children How) program to include third- through fifth-grade students. Last year in the program’s first year, the school did not include the fourth grade. CATCH volunteers work with at-risk students one-on-one. ‘Marquez looks at each and every child individually,’ Hollis said. ‘If a child is judged to be at-risk, scoring basic, below basic or far below basic, he or she is immediately recognized and brought to an individual teacher’s attention.’ Two other schools in the Palisades Charter Complex also had good results. Kentor Canyon Elementary improved by six points to 924 and Topanga Charter Elementary by four points to 904. PAUL REVERE MIDDLE Paul Revere Charter Middle School realized the most significant improvement, increasing its API performance by 20 points to 837. ‘When I look at scores like this, it points to wonderful teachers, supportive parents and students who take testing seriously,’ said principal Fern Somoza, who succeeds Art Copper. Since coming aboard this summer, Somoza has found that teachers work together as a team on curriculum, and parents help with hiring staff, the budget, fundraising and more. All the Revere subgroups (which are minority, economically disadvantaged and special-education students) improved except for English learners, whose scores dropped by five points to 721. ‘We hope to help the students who are in the subgroups catch up,’ Somoza said. ‘Although they improved, there is still that achievement gap that we need to close.’ The middle school’s white and Asian students outperformed other ethnic populations. Revere had higher scores than John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica, Emerson Middle School in Westwood and Palms Middle School in Los Angeles but fell below Santa Monica’s Lincoln Middle School, which scored 880. PALISADES HIGH Palisades Charter High School improved its API score by 16 points to 797, just shy of the statewide goal. ‘I’m very excited about the progress we made, and we have a relentless commitment to keep pushing and continuing that growth,’ said Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held. Granada Hills Charter High School, which is larger than PaliHi but has similar demographics, posted a higher score of 813. Nearby Venice High School, University High and Santa Monica High (all with diverse populations) posted lower scores than PaliHi. Dresser-Held thinks test scores improved at her school because students are required to take placement tests to ensure they are in the appropriate classes. Teachers who instruct the same subject matter also participate in professional learning communities, where they collaborate and learn from each other, which means they’re continually improving their skills. The students with disabilities population also made significant gains from 546 to 589 this year. Mary Bush, director of special education, attributes that success to dedicated special-education teachers and a summer reading program that helps prepare students for more rigorous classes during the school year. In addition, special-ed teachers work with general-education teachers in the classroom to offer additional support. ‘It’s the teamwork at Pali that has made us successful,’ Bush said. Hispanic students increased their score by 36 points to 734 and the economically disadvantaged students improved by 34 points to 748. However, African Americans slipped by two points to 684. Faculty and parents attended a training session this summer for Village Nation at UCLA, which may help boost African-American achievement, Dresser-Held said. ‘It’s modeled after the African proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ and focuses on encouraging students to make better choices, redefining success for kids and providing them with motivational speakers, assemblies and field trips,’ she said. PaliHi staff is also attempting to diversify its honors and advanced placement (AP) classes. Among the many ways staff will recruit for AP classes, one will be to look at how students performed on the PSAT. The school started offering introductory courses to AP classes this fall. ‘Sometimes these kids who are not making it need to be challenged more and have access to more rigor,’ Dresser-Held said.
Building a ‘Couture’ Home in the Palisades
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
By BROOKES NOHLGREN Special to the Palisadian-Post If you happen to drop by 609 Las Lomas Avenue over the next couple of weeks, you’ll likely find a flurry of activity, with some 30 craftsmen giving the home its finishing touches before being available for purchase. What you won’t find is the typical burly contractor-type guy at the project’s helm. In fact, you will find quite the opposite. Pacific Palisades resident Cathleen Gallagher is anything but your stereotypical homebuilder. She was only a teenager when ‘discovered’ by the Elite Modeling Agency and over the next decade she worked with some of the world’s most notable fashion icons (including Yves Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Prada, John Galliano, Valentino and Karl Lagerfeld) and appeared on more than 20 Vogue covers around the world. As her modeling career wound down (though she still takes on occasional jobs in the fashion industry), Cathleen looked into other areas that she was passionate about and discovered architectural home design. Back in 1970s, when home building was a truly male-dominated industry, Cathleen’s mother, Rita, was making a name for herself as a developer in New Jersey. She started out as the assistant of a builder and not long after, people were asking her opinion on projects. She quickly became a full-fledged developer within the firm. Cathleen often visited the home sites her mother was working on and learned from her, as she says, ‘by osmosis.’ She credits learning much of what she knows about the business side of the industry from her mom, ‘and how things are done as they relate to function: how design ideas work or don’t work. But it was through fashion that the aesthetic was created and inspired in me.’ Cathleen, unlike her mother, who developed townhomes and condominiums, builds individual, custom homes’couture homes, if you will. This means both a uniqueness that stems from a singular idea as well as a total dedication to every detail. ‘Karl Lagerfeld,’ she explains, ‘will design one dress for Chanel. The reason it’s so expensive is that it’s unique, one of a kind, created with one idea, one inspiration in mind for that particular dress. All the tiny details make up the whole.’ Cathleen learned the process firsthand, modeling in couture shows for icons who built the dress for her. She sees building a home as much the same process. Her inspiration is the people who will live there. ‘If you have a concept in your mind,’ she says, ‘and you can execute it from the function that you know it is going to serve, then you can literally build your dream.’ For Cathleen, ‘building her dream’ truly began only after discovering the Palisades in 1995. Originally from the East Coast (Long Island and New Jersey), Cathleen admits that it was a fortuitous tip from a cousin in real estate that brought her to the place she now happily calls home with her husband (television director James Lima) and their two daughters. ‘My cousin was sending us to Santa Monica,’ Cathleen recalls, ‘but I found it ‘cold,’ unlike a New England town with a heartbeat in the center. Then he mentioned a rental on Toyopa and when we visited, we realized that the Palisades was exactly where we wanted to live.’ Cathleen loved the town’s small village style and the friendly, personal way of living. ‘The quaint charm reminded me of the East Coast, but with the added benefit of so much sun,’ she says. ‘In the Palisades, we could walk to so many places. And I could actually get to know my neighbors, a connection that was really important. We are very involved in our church (Corpus Christi), where the people are very community minded. The Palisades is a caring community of people who are actually rooting for you and care about you. That’s the number one reason why I’m here. It’s everything I hoped California could be.’ Cathleen’s fondness for the Palisades and its people is a primary inspiration for the homes she is building here (starting with her family’s own home). ‘When people walk into a home I’ve built, I want them to instantly say that it just feels right, to get that sense of ‘This is where I’m going to live.’ ‘ It’s also important to Cathleen that the homes fit into the fabric of the Palisades.’ The first thing I do when I look at a property is to see how the home is going to be part of the land. ‘Does this work with the light? Does this work with the street? Does it work with the neighborhood? Is it part of the fabric that is the Palisades?’ There is a delicate balance between function and style. Getting this balance right creates a home that people feel comfortable.’ She continued, ‘When the Las Lomas property came along [south of Sunset], it was so special and beautifully unique. Because it’s on a promontory, I stood at the point and just looked back at it and all I could think of was ‘This reminds me of the hilly coast of Carmel or the Hamptons. I envisioned the home completed and how it anchored this beautiful place,” while offering a full ocean view from the roof deck and unrestricted mountain views from the back of the house. ‘It has been a goal of mine to do a traditional-style home that incorporated green features,’ Cathleen says, ‘so I made an environmentally conscious home of the Las Lomas property, built in the California Craftsman style. I wanted to show home buyers that a green house doesn’t have to be limited to a modern home with a flat roof for the solar panels to work and still be aesthetically pleasing.’ At Las Lomas, Cathleen has created a ‘green’ home, complete with a filtration pit, plants that are indigenous to the environment, a satellite drip system that saves water, and solar panels that power everything. ‘These small steps aren’t hard to do,’ she says, ‘and the more people do them, collectively we will begin to make a difference.’ At almost 7,000 square feet, the 7-bedroom, 7-‘-bath home is being marketed by co-listing brokers Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates and Dan Urbach of Prudential California Realty. It will officially go on the market at the beginning of October. (Brookes Nohlgren is a freelance writer and editor in Calabasas)
Aristide ‘Silvio’ Gola, 90, Avid Tennis Player
Aristide ‘Silvio’ Gola, a resident of Pacific Palisades for more than 40 years, passed away on September 7. He was 90. Born in Palazzolo Sull’Oglio, Italy, on April 11, 1918, Gola was sent to Peiping (Beijing) in 1937 to help set up communications between Italy and China. He remained in China during World War II. Once Japan occupied China, he was placed under house arrest until the end of the war. In 1947, Gola married the daughter of the Italian consul in Tiensin. Two years later, Gola, his wife Bianca, and their baby boy, Adrian, started a new life together in San Francisco, eventually relocating to Los Angeles where Gola worked for Systems Development Corporation and The Rand Corporation. Gola was an avid tennis player and was well known at on the courts at the Palisades Recreation Center, where he played competitively into his 80s. He spent the last years of his life at Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Santa Monica, where he was visited regularly by friends and priests from Corpus Christi Parish. He was pre-deceased by his wife Bianca in April 2004 and is survived by his son, Adrian. Mass will be celebrated in his memory at Corpus Christi Church on Saturday, September 20 at 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, September 11 – Thursday, September 18
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, 7 p.m., Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real. Public invited. Nancy Mehagian discusses and signs her memoir ?Siren?s Feast: An Edible Odyssey,? 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 The new Theatre Palisades season is underway with ?Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar and Grille,? a dark comedy written by Bruce Graham, playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., through October 12. Tickets: (310) 454-1970 or visit www.theatrepalisades.org. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 First Annual Financial Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Antioch Street, between Swarthmore and Via de la Paz. Free admission. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Palisadian Dr. Howard Liebman will discuss odontoglossum at the Malibu Orchid Society meeting, 7 p.m., at the Woman?s Club, 901 Haverford. Public invited. A free talk entitled ?Mark Twain: Jet Setter? will be given at 7:30 p.m. in Woodland Hall as part of the Chautauqua series in Temescal Gateway Park. (See story, page 20.) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Palisadian Wayne Glass, a Visiting Scholar in the School of International Relations at USC, will speak on ?Current U.S.-Russian Relations,? 7:30 a.m. at the Palisades Rotary Club meeting, Gladstone?s restaurant on PCH at Sunset. Former Palisadian Tanyo Ravicz (PaliHi, class of 1979) discusses and signs his latest collection of tales set in our 49th state, ?Alaskans,? 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. (See story, page 12.) The West Coast premiere of the restored Konrad Wolf film ?Goya? (1971) will be screened at 8 p.m. at Villa Aurora on Paseo Miramar. To reserve a ticket, e-mail infola@villa-aurora.org or call (310) 573-3603. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 ?Calendar Girls? screens at 1 p.m. in the Palisades Branch Library community room, 860 Alma Real. This 2003 film shows how a women?s institute chapter in England becomes a media sensation after the members fundraise for a local hospital by posing nude for a calendar. Free admission. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Las Doradas will hold its annual fundraiser benefiting the Las Doradas Children?s Center at the Palisades Presbyterian Church. The event will feature a gourmet lunch, silent auction, sale of ?elegant junque,? and a homemade-items bakery sale. Tickets are still available. Hawaiian dress is optional. For information, call Marti Gottfried at (310) 459-5594 or Sylvia Boyd at (310) 459-9556.
Aldersgate Celebrates 80th Year on Sept. 20
Since 1928, Aldersgate Retreat and Cultural Center has built fellowship and fostered inner peace here in Pacific Palisades. On Saturday, September 20, a daylong series of events will honor the Center’s 80th anniversary and bring the community together. At a dedication ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon, Aldersgate will host the Ministerial Association of the Palisades faith community. In the Chautauqua tradition, there will be a tolling of the Buerge Chapel bell and noted Palisadians will share their thoughts about how to create inner peace and peace at home and abroad. During the morning festivities, local clergy and honored guests will dedicate a peace pole in the meditation garden.’The pole features 12 languages, including Chumash, stating ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth.’ A public reception will take place at noon in the main house at 925 Haverford. Over the summer, the children of the entire faith community were invited to enter Aldersgate’s first ‘Noble Awards.’ A display of the entrants’ art and essay contributions will enrich the anniversary event, addressing how they would create peace in our hearts, homes, communities and world.’Special entries will be recognized. On the garden level in the main house, the Palisades Historical Society will offer a retrospective of the community’s unique local heritage, designed by historian Randy Young. A DVD of Aldersgate’s story, ‘The House That Fellowship Built,’ will be shown during house tours from 2 to 4 p.m. In the evening, Rev. Cedrick Bridgeforth will lead a vespers service in Buerge Chapel, with special music by the choral group, Voices of Shalom, and concluding with prayers for a world in strife. The prayer service will be from 7-8:30 p.m. The daylong celebration is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.’Those needing special seating arrangements for wheelchairs or elderly guests should call the Center and notify Site Director Chris Erickson.’ Parking will be available at the lower parking lot along Temescal Canyon Road (below Aldersgate) and a free shuttle will operate from the Community United Methodist Church at 801 Via de la Paz. Parking passes will be refunded or covered by the Retreat Center.’Drivers may drop off their guests at Aldersgate’s entrance on Haverford, behind Gelson’s and next to the Woman’s Club. Aldersgate is part of the California Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Its doors are open to all for group retreats, banquets, weddings, memorial services and special events. For reservations and information, call (310) 454-6699 or visit rsvp@aldersgateretreat.org.
Palisades Chabad Honors Holocaust Survivors
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
‘Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive.’ That was the theme of Tuesday night’s Riviera Country Club event, hosted by Chabad of Pacific Palisades and honoring Palisadians who survived the Holocaust. Leon Leyson, a Polish Jew saved by Oskar Schindler, served as the evening’s compelling keynote speaker. Neither excessively jubilant or morose, the event struck just the right tone with light mingling preceding Leyson’s talk, the atmosphere partly mitigated by the fact that Chabad could not serve food or stage a banquet at the Riviera due to a lack of kosher kitchen facilities. But such fanfare was not missed once the articulate Leyson, 78, described his World War II experiences to the audience of 200 with much candor and humor. A retired teacher and longtime Angeleno, Leyson spoke eloquently with no discernable accent lingering from his Polish childhood, when dark clouds passed through a relatively peaceful existence in Narewka, population 2,000, outside of Warsaw. Leyson addressed an audience that included a dozen honorees from Pacific Palisades: Jack Aslan, Beba Leventhal, Alice Grant, Lucy Weinberg, Edith Kalmar, Henryk Leman, Yerachmiel and Rachel Loebel, Rachmil Hakman, Judith Springer, and Anna Sorotzkin and Rachel Schwartz of the Highlands (profiled by the Palisadian-Post on August 28). He recounted how, by the time he turned 12, the Nazis had invaded Poland and imposed de facto segregation on the country’s Jews. The Leyson family was relocated to a Krakow walled ghetto, where the Nazis shoehorned four families to a small apartment and controlled their food supply, essentially starving them. The occupying Germans had brutalized Leyson’s factory-worker father. However, the elder Leyson’s luck changed when Schindler came to town to run a local enamelware factory, and he was hired by the industrialist to work at his factory. Soon after, he convinced Schindler to hire other family members, including Leyson’s older brother and mother, and Leyson himself, who learned to operate a lathe. Throughout World War II, Schindler was protective of his 1,100 Jewish laborers, even as Nazis transported Jews to ‘murder camps,’ as Leyson called them, and exterminated them. Schindler was one of those rare German citizens who, in the midst of the Holocaust, played a duplicitous game with the Nazis and risked his own life to save Jews. Leyson continually stressed Schindler’s daring feat: ‘He was in danger all the time,’ getting out of predicaments with the Nazi command via some ‘fast-talking or with bribes.’ There were numerous dramatic moments during those years, when Schindler literally saved the lives of Leyson and his family. Schindler also showed a tremendous amount of generosity toward his prepubescent employee, doubling the young Leyson’s food rations and yanking him off the night shift to the envy of other factory workers. Leyson said that Schindler often spent time talking to and learning about his employees, and, per his request, Schindler was buried in Jerusalem ‘among his people’ upon his death in 1974. ‘He who saves one life saves an entire world’ goes a Hebrew saying. Schindler saved 1,100 worlds, whose descendants now number 7,000. A week before the war ended, German soldiers on the run abandoned numerous warehouses, and Schindler went on a looting spree, nabbing hundreds of balls of baby blue cloth and bottles of vodka, all of which he distributed to his work force upon their freedom as good-bye presents. Post-war, Leyson spent three years in a displacement camp before joining relatives in America, where he served in the U.S. military during the Korean War and taught in the LAUSD system for 39 years. ‘Coming to this country was the best thing that ever happened to me,’ Leyson said. But there was a fleeting moment just after his liberation when he returned to Poland and, in a symbolic gesture to commemorate a new chapter in his life, sought a tailor. ‘My first pair of pants were baby blue,’ Leyson said, smiling.
Hope Brightens for Rustic’s Beseiged Eucalyptus Grove
In the 1970s, drought weakened many of the specimen trees in the eucalyptus grove in Rustic Canyon Park. In the 1980s, a mysterious infestation besieged the historic trees. In the 1990s, the trees remained in obvious distress, suffering from a lack of water, leaving their fate to chance. And just last month, an extensive report on the health of the trees put it succinctly: ‘The grove has come under significant stress, leading to a loss of trees and a general decline in the health of the remaining trees.’ The 11-page document, provided by Jan C. Scow Consulting Arborists, offers a disease and pest diagnosis, hazard evaluation, restorative pruning advice and a value assessment. The report spells out two dominant stress factors’insufficient water and severe soil compaction’and suggests emergency remedies that include loosening the soil, adding amendments and, most important, installing a permanent irrigation system. Despite decades of redundant analyses and repeated inaction on the part of the City of Los Angeles, grove stakeholders are finally holding out hope for a permanent solution. A revivified Park Advisory Board (PAB) has created a eucalyptus grove subcommittee, which includes PAB chairman Norman Cowie, Elizabeth Zaillian, and Betty Lou and Randy Young. In a presentation before the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association Tuesday night, Randy Young outlined the findings of the Scow report and requested that the SMCCA, as a bonafied 501.c3, provide leadership on the project. ‘I would like to work on getting a $10,000 city beautification matching grant to get the project underway,’ Young said. In addition, he reiterated that the irrigation system was a line item in the original Prop. K funding as far back as 2001. As early as 1999, the Department of Recreation and Parks Assistant General Manager Kevin Regan promised a watering system and tree planting. The three-acre grove, located on Latimer Road between Hillside Lane and the Rustic Park exit, was originally part of the nation’s first experimental Forestry Station established in 1887. The purpose of the plantation was to study the planting stock for scientific and conservation purposes. In 1922, the Uplifters bought the property, which they held onto until 1945. Eight years later, a nine-acre park was established, thanks to a $200,000 gift from Mabelle Machris.
CLASSIFIED ADS FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2008
HOMES FOR SALE 1
HAWAII EXISTS IN LA! NEW INVENTORY. 11 HOMES AVAIL. Terrific Opportunity! PCH/Sunset. Up to 1,600 Sq. Ft. $179,000-1.1 million. Some completely remodeled, many upgrades. Ocean views, wood floors, new kitchens, sun deck, rec center w/ pool/spa/gym. Steps from the sand. Condo alternative. Agent, Michelle Bolotin, (310) 230-2438
SPECTACULAR MEDITERRANEAN SANDCASTLE beachfront. 5 bd, 4.5 ba. Channel Islands 1 hr North. $2.995M. Great investment & home. Call (808) 346-4644
UNFURNISHED HOMES 2a
EL MEDIO BLUFFS 3 bdrm, 2 ba, Cape Cod. Corner lot, charming. 1/2 blk walk to bluffs. $6,000/mo. Call Elizabeth, (310) 293-8999
2 BD, 1 BA, LARGE den, breakfast nook, dining room, hardwood and tile floors. 2 fpls, AC. Paid gardener. Available 9/20. Beautiful garden. $3,900/mo. (310) 454-9840
ONE LEVEL SINGLE family home, Palisades Highlands. Remodeled 3 bdrm, 2 bath. Nice private backyard, large community pool, tennis courts, etc. Call Judy, (310) 994-9289, (310) 454-0696
AMAZING WHITEWATER VIEW HOME. Steps to beach. 4 BR, 2½ BA, 3,000 sq ft. Lg LR, DR, family room, frplc, panoramic windows, 2 lg balconies, 2 car garage, 5 min to Santa Monica. $6,900/mo. www.MalibuCoastline.com • (310) 230-4200
PARADISE! QUEEN’S NECKLACE ocean view. 4 bd, 3 bath+family room+den, 2 fireplaces, high beams, hardwood fl, new carpeting, granite, new appliances, lg spa, balcony, quiet cul-de-sac, avail 10/1. $6,500/mo. Adam, (310) 624-3443
2 BR, 1 BA, DEN, breakfast nook and dining room, hardwood floors, fireplace. Walk to stores, no dogs. Gardener included. $3,800/mo. (310) 455-3111
AWESOME VILLAGE CONDO. 2 bdrm, 2 ba. New kitchen w/ all appliances, granite counters, W/D, high ceilings, spacious, open, quiet, private. Avail. Nov. 1. $3,400/mo. Call Pat, agent, (310) 454-1851
UNFURNISHED APARTMENTS 2c
PALISADES 1 BDRM apt, refrigerator, clean, gas stove, near village, one year lease, covered parking with storage, laundry. No pets. Non-smoker. $1,285/mo. (310) 477-6767
A RARE FIND: THIS IS A TRUE JEWEL IN PRIME SANTA MONICA LOCATION. This unique property has only four units, each one distinctively beautiful. This charming one bedroom has the feel of an East Coast Hamptons cottage. Perfect for those who love their gardens and desire privacy. There are two large fenced and gated patios. The front with its own intercom, the rear patio has French doors that open from the dining room as well as a retractable awning. The interior is just as special as the exterior. Peg and grooved hardwood floors, gas fireplace, beam ceilings, French doors and windows and shutters throughout. Washer, dryer, enclosed garage, no pets. $2,250/mo. (310) 826-7960
HOLYOKE BLUFFS: Newly redone large studio. Top-of-line full kitchen w/ granite & stainless appls. Full bath. Design décor. Charming patio, separate entrance. Tranquil location. Laundry facilities, utilities, HD cable included. Unique setting for right person. Refs. 6 mo. Lease. $1,890/mo. w/ dep. (310) 454-3806
CONDOS, TOWNHOMES FOR RENT 2d
GEM IN THE PALISADES, 2 bdrm, 2½ ba, townhouse, hdwd, tile, carpet. Large roof deck, own laundry room, W/D, dishwasher. Additional storage. Parking. $3,500/mo. (310) 392-1757
CONDO, LUXURY FURNISHED, 1,700 sq ft, 2+2, family, dining, living rooms. Three fireplaces, security, spa, on Sunset next to Gelson’s. (310) 871-4699
ROOMS FOR RENT 3
SUITE IN HOUSE. Separate entrance. Peaceful Highlands setting. Microwave, refrigerator, bathroom, shower. Student preferred. Refs. (310) 459-5046
WANTED TO RENT 3b
LOCAL EMPLOYED male seeks guesthouse. Quiet, local references. Non-smoker, no pets. Call Palisadian-Post, (310) 454-1321
WANTED: GARAGE TO RENT. (480) 323-0496
OFFICE/STORE RENTALS 3c
MEDICAL SPACE AVAILABLE in Pacific Palisades. Great location, Palisades Village. 1,200 sq ft. Newly renovated boutique building w/ pharmacy. 910 Via de la Paz. Avail Sept. 1st. Call Vicki, (310) 475-6400
PROFESSIONAL BUILDING in Pacific Palisades village for lease. Lovely and spacious suite available, newly painted, brand new pergo floors, 1,050 square feet conveniently located in the village. Please call (310) 230-6712 x105 for more details.
PRIME OFFICE SPACE IN THE PALISADES VILLAGE. Last available space in newly renovated building in the Palisades. Attractive 3,200 sq. ft. space is move-in ready and includes eight offices, conference room, kitchen and reception area which is located on the 3rd floor of the Atrium Building. Monthly rent is $12,940/mo. For more information please contact Mandy at (310) 459-8556
LARGE FURNISHED OFFICE in heart of Village. Share entrance with writer. $600/mo. (310) 459-2757
LOST & FOUND 6a
FOUND: EARRING. Sunset at Carey. E-mail: larss90066@yahoo.com
BOOKKEEPING/ACCOUNTING 7b
BOOKKEEPER BY THE HOUR • Need help with getting your books in order? Help is near! Call Joanie, (310) 486-1055
COMPUTER SERVICES 7c
MARIE’S MAC & PC OUTCALL • I CAN HELP YOU IN YOUR HOME OR OFFICE WITH: • Consultation on best hard/software for your needs • Setting up & configuring your system & applications • Teaching you how to use your Mac or PC • Upgrades: Mac OS & Windows • Internet: DSL, Wireless, E-mail, Remote Access • Key Applications: MS Office, Filemaker, Quicken • Contact Managers, Networking, File Sharing, Data backup • Palm, Visor, Digital Camera, Scanner, CD Burning • FRIENDLY & PROFESSIONAL — BEST RATES • (310) 262-5652
YOUR OWN TECH GURU * SET-UP, TUTORING, REPAIR, INTERNET. Problem-Free Computing, Guaranteed. Satisfying Clients Since 1992. If I Can’t Help, NO CHARGE! COMPUTER WORKS! Alan Perla (310) 455-2000
THE DETECHTIVES™. PROFESSIONAL ON-SITE MAC SPECIALISTS. PATIENT, FRIENDLY AND AFFORDABLE • WE COVER ALL THINGS MAC • Consulting • Installation • Training and Repair for Beginners to Advanced Users • Data recovery • Networks • Wireless Internet & more • (310) 838-2254 • William Moorefield • www.thedetechtives.com
WEB SITES AND GRAPHIC DESIGN. Development for business. Photo editing, holiday cards. Contact Maggie, (310) 985-0959 or Maggie@maggiesweb.com
GARAGE, ESTATE SALE SERVICES 7f
PLANNING A GARAGE SALE? an estate sale? a moving sale? a yard sale? Call it what you like. But call us to do it for you. We do the work. Start to finish. • BARBARA DAWSON • Garage Sale Specialist • (310) 454-0359 • bmdawson@verizon.net • www.bmdawson.com • Furniture • Antiques • Collectibles • Junque • Reliable professionals • Local References
SOLAR/WIND ENERGY 7l
ALTERNATIVE ENGINEERING SOLAR • GO SOLAR • TAX INCENTIVES! Design & engineering solar/wind systems • Huge rebates • Financing available • Local Palisades contractor • Lic. #912279 • Call for free consultation: (877) 898-1948
DAYCARE CENTERS 8
PALISADES LEARN AND PLAY. Creative & nurturing Pre-K program. Crafts, music & educational curriculum. Openings for fall, F/T or P/T. (310) 459-0920
NANNIES/BABYSITTERS 8a
NANNY/BABYSITTER reliable, experienced, loves kids. Own transportation. 12 years experience. Call Alma, (310) 670-2209
MY WONDERFUL SPECIAL NANNY looking for F/T job M-F. 23 years experience with newborns. Legal, drives, speaks English. Excellent Palisades ref’s. Call Rosa, (818) 620-7507
EUROPEAN NANNY AVAILABLE MORNINGS. Palisades Mom looking to share wonderful European nanny. Fluent English, driving, college educated, very interactive. Available mornings M-F. Call Ann Marie (nanny), (818) 943-4364 or Daria (for reference), (310) 230-3125
CONNEE: HOUSEKEEPER/BABYSITTER, M-F, full time. Car owner. Very good local references. Good English. (323) 898-7056
DOMESTIC AGENCIES 9
VIP NANNY AGENCY • “Providing very important people with the very best nanny.” • Baby Nurses • Birthing Coaches • Housekeepers. (818) 907-1017, (310) 614-3646
LOCAL FEMALE BANKER in village seeks room in exchange for light domestic duties, cooking, errands. For seniors and children. Excellent local references. Call Tiffany, (310) 454-1287
HOUSEKEEPERS 9a
“PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.” We make your home our business. Star sparkling cleaning services. In the community over 15 years. The best in housekeeping for the best price. Good references. Call Bertha, (323) 754-6873 & cell (213) 393-1419
HOUSEKEEPER, CERTIFIED ORGANIZER. Will clean your home sparkling clean and organized. Pet friendly. Will cook, do errands. Excellent refs. (310) 866-0940
HOUSEKEEPER/BABYSITTER/ELDER CARE, day or night, available Monday-Sunday. Own transportation, excellent ref’s. Call Maria, (310) 948-9637
HOUSECLEANING. Alicia available Thursday or Monday. Cleaning supplies furnished. Call (310) 367-3214
HOUSEKEEPER/BABYSITTER AVAILABLE Monday thru Friday. Honest and reliable. Own car. Please call Olga at (323) 495-2355
HOUSECLEANING AVAILABLE Monday and Thursday, every other week. Very good references. Let me make your home sparkle. Call Blanca, (323) 463-1330, or leave a message.
HOUSEKEEPING HOME/APTS. Professional service. Washing, cleaning, no ironing. Pets not a problem. Service 7 days, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Call Lorena & Luz, (213) 568-2349, (323) 331-5150, (323) 272-8745
HOUSEKEEPER/HOUSESITTING/BABYSITTING, Mon. thru Sunday. 25 years experience. Excellent refs. Reliable. Call Elizabeth, (323) 463-7889
ELDER CARE/COMPANIONS 10a
GOOD COMPANY Senior Care. A premiere private duty home care agency Provides in-home care and companionship to help people remain independent and happy at home. If you are a caring individual who would like to join our team, please call (323) 932-8700. joni@goodcoseniorcare.com
GARDENING, LANDSCAPING 11
PALISADES GARDENING • Full Gardening Service • Sprinkler Install • Tree Trim • Sodding/Seeding • Sprays, non-toxic • FREE 10” Flats, Pansies, Snap, Impatiens. (310) 568-0989
WATERFALLS & POND CONSTRUCTION: Water gardening. Japanese Koi fish. Filtration pond service, repair & maintenance. Free estimates. (310) 435-3843, cell (310) 390-1276. www.TheKingKoi.com
JEFF MAYER LANDSCAPE DESIGN. Custom residential landscaping, irrigation, lighting, maintenance. C-27#853041. Certified Arborist #WE-5991A. Phone (951) 236-9891
MOVING & HAULING 11b
ALEXANDER DEMOLITION AND HAULING. Haul debris, concrete, dirt, trash. Apts, yard, garage. Residential and commercial. Lic. #911117. Free estimates. (310) 538-4774
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 12c
NEIGHBORHOOD THERAPIST: Caring, patient & local Palisades Psychotherapist available for help and insight into issues relating to your personal and interpersonal life. To make an appointment with Dr. Aunene Finger, Board Certified MFT, please call (310) 454-0855. www.neighborhoodtherapist.com. Lic. #37780
WINDOW WASHING 13h
EXPERT WINDOW CLEANER • Experienced 21 yrs on Westside. Clean & detailed. Can also clean screens, mirrors, skylights & scrape paint off glass. Free estimates. Brian, (310) 289-5279
THE WINDOWS OF OZ. Got view? Extremely detailed interior/exterior glass and screen cleaning. Specializing in high ladder work. 10% new customer discount & next day service available. Owner operated. Free estimates. (310) 926-7626
PERSONAL SERVICES 14f
DRIVER/ASSISTANT. 18 years experience. Appointments, school, errands, marketing, doctor appointments. Computers, organizing, bills, pets, children. $20/hr. Resume/references avail. (310) 230-6877
GREAT ORGANIZER! Declutter your home, office, closet, etc. Errands, bill paying, etc. No project too large or too small. Local references! Please call “T”, (310) 488-9575
GIRL FRIDAY—HOME ORGANIZATION! Errands, driving, light housekeeping, cooking, babysitting. Local refs. upon request. $15/hr. Call Michelle, (310) 453-5577
PET SERVICES/PET SITTING 14g
HAPPY PET • Dog Walking • Park Outings • Socialization • Insured. Connie, (310) 230-3829
PERSONAL TOUCH. DOG WALKING/sitting service. Cats included. Pali resident over 25 yrs. Very reliable. Refs available. If you want special care for your pet, please call me. Jacqui, (310) 454-0104, cell (310) 691-9893
EXPERIENCED DOG WALKER in the Highlands only. I’m a student at Pali and I love dogs! Call Sydney, (310) 573-0223
FITNESS INSTRUCTION 15a
HAVE FUN! GET FIT! NORDIC WALKING CLASSES. Certified Advanced Nordic walking instructor, Palisades resident teaches private/group classes in the Palisades. Weekends. (310) 266-4651
TUTORS 15e
Start School With The Right Backup. In-home private tutoring K-12. 30+ years teaching/ tutoring exper. Math, reading, grammar, essay writing & study skills. Former special ed teacher. Call Gail, (310) 313-2530
SCIENCE & MATH TUTOR. All levels (elementary to college) Ph.D., MIT graduate, 30 years experience. Ed Kanegsberg, (310) 459-3614
MS. SCIENCE TUTOR. Ph.D., Experienced, Palisades resident. Tutor All Ages In Your Home. Marie, (310) 888-7145
PROFESSIONAL TUTOR. Stanford graduate (BA and MA, Class of 2000). Available for all subjects and test prep (SAT & ISEE). In-home tutoring at great rates. Call Jonathan, (310) 560-9134
CLEARLY MATH & MORE! Specializing in math & now offering chemistry & physics! Elementary thru college level. Test prep, algebra, trig, geom, calculus. Fun, caring, creative, individualized tutoring. Math anxiety. Call Jamie, (310) 459-4722
EXPERIENCED SPANISH TUTOR • All grade levels • Grammar • Conversational • SAT/AP • Children, adults • Great references. Noelle, (310) 273-3593, (310) 980-6071
HSPT/ISEE PREP CLASSES. Central Palisades Location. Small class size. 12 Classes, September start. (310) 459-3239
CREDENTIALED WORKING TEACHER, 30 years experience, Harvard education, master’s degree. Tutor in your home. Reading, writing, English, history. K-12. Reasonable rates. Call Robert, (310) 573-4163
EXCEPTIONAL TEACHER/CONSULTANT. Change performance. Increase skills. Improve grades K-8. Call Alexis, (818) 383-5404
PERSONALIZED SPANISH TUTORING! South American teacher with university degree. All ages & levels. Learn, improve, get confident for studies & traveling. Experienced w/ children. (310) 741-8422
MUSIC LESSONS & INSTRUCTION 15h
PIANO LESSONS IN YOUR HOME! Children • Adults. Patient, experienced teacher. California Teaching Credential. UCLA Graduate. Call (310) 453-1064
CARPENTRY 16a
FINE WOODWORKING. Carpentry of any kind: decks, gates, doors, bathrooms, kitchen, cabinets. CSL #822541. No project too small. References available. Call Ed at (310) 213-3101
CONCRETE, MASONRY, POOLS 16c
MASONRY, CONCRETE & POOL CONTRACTOR. 36 YEARS IN PACIFIC PALISADES. Custom masonry & concrete, stamped, driveways, pools, decks, patios, foundations, fireplace, drainage control, custom stone, block & brick, tile. Excellent local references. Lic. #309844. Bonded/insured/workmen’s comp. Family owned & operated. MIKE HORUSICKY CONSTRUCTION, INC. (310) 454-4385 • www.horusicky.com
CONSTRUCTION 16d
ALAN PINE, GENERAL CONTRACTOR • New homes • Remodeling • Additions • Kitchen & bath planning/architectural services • Insured • Local refs. Lic. #469435. (800) 800-0744 or (818) 203-8881
DOORS 16f
“DOOR WORKS” • Residential and commercial, door repairs, replacements. Handicap services, weatherstripping. Free est. Premium service. Lic. #917844. (310) 598-0467, (818) 346-7900
ELECTRICAL 16h
PALISADES ELECTRIC. ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. All phases of electrical, new construction to service work. (310) 454-6994. Lic. #468437 Insured Professional Service
ELECTRICIAN HANDYMAN. Local service only. Lic. #775688. Please call (310) 454-6849 or (818) 317-8286
ELECTRICAL WORK. Call Dennis! 26 yrs experience, 24 hours, 7 day service. Lic. #728200. (310) 821-4248
FENCES, DECKS 16j
THE FENCE MAN • 14 years quality workmanship • Wood fences • Decks • Gates • Chainlink & overhang • Lic. #663238, bonded. (818) 706-1996
INDEPENDENT SERVICE CARLOS FENCE: Wood & Picket Fences • Chain Link • Iron & Gates • Deck & Patio Covers. Ask for Carlos, (310) 677-2737 or fax (310) 677-8650. Non-lic.
DECK REPAIR, SEALING & STAINING. Local resident, local clientele. 1 day service. Marty, (310) 459-2692
FLOOR CARE 16m
GREG GARBER’S HARDWOOD FLOORS SINCE 1979. Install, refinish. Fully insured. Local references (310) 230-4597 Lic. #455608
CENTURY HARDWOOD FLOOR • Refinishing, Installation, Repairs. Lic. #813778. www.centurycustomhardwoodfloorinc.com • centuryfloor@sbcglobal.net • (800) 608-6007 • (310) 276-6407
GOLDEN HARDWOOD FLOORS. Professional Installation and refinishing. National Wood Flooring Association member. License #732286. Plenty of local references. (877) 622-2200 • www.goldenhardwoodfloors.com
JEFF HRONEK, 39 YRS. RESIDENT • HARDWOOD FLOORS INC. • Sanding & Refinishing • Installations • Pre-finished • Unfinished • Lic. #608606. Bonded, Insured, Workers Comp. www.hronekhardwoodfloors.com (310) 475-1414
HANDYMAN 16o
HANDYMAN • HOOSHMAN • Most known name in the Palisades. Since 1975. Member Chamber of Commerce. Lic. #560299. Call for your free est. Local refs available. Hooshman, (310) 459-8009, 24 Hr.
LABOR OF LOVE carpentry, plumbing, tile, plaster, doors, windows, fencing & those special challenges. Work guaranteed. License #B767950. Ken at (310) 487-6464
LOCAL RESIDENT, LOCAL CLIENTELE. Make a list, call me. I specialize in repairing, replacing all those little nuisances. Not licensed; fully insured; always on time. 1 Call, 1 Guy: Marty, (310) 459-2692
GREENHOUSE Handyman & Home Maintenance. Major & Minor Home Repairs/Installations. Green Home Improvements & Retrofits. Termite/Moisture Damage Specialist. (800) 804-8810
HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING 16p
SANTA MONICA HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING. INSTALLATION: New and old service and repairs. Lic. #324942 (310) 393-5686
PAINTING, PAPERHANGING 16r
PAUL HORST • Interior & Exterior PAINTING • 54 YEARS OF SERVICE • Our reputation is your safeguard. License No. 186825 • (310) 454-4630 • Bonded & Insured
TILO MARTIN PAINTING. For A Professional Job Call (310) 230-0202. Refs. Lic. #715099
SQUIRE PAINTING CO. Interior and Exterior. License #405049. 25 years. Local Service. (310) 454-8266. www.squirepainting.com
ZARKO PRTINA PAINTING. Interior/Exterior. 35 years in service. License #637882. Call (310) 454-6604
A PACIFIC PAINTING. Residential, commercial, industrial. Interior/exterior. Drywall, plaster, stucco repair, pressure washing. Free estimates. Bonded & insured. Lic. #908913. “Since 1979.” (310) 954-7170
REMODELING 16v
KANAN CONSTRUCTION • References. BONDED • INSURED • St. Lic. #554451 • DANIEL J. KANAN, CONTRACTOR, (310) 451-3540 / (800) 585-4-DAN
LABOR OF LOVE HOME REPAIR & REMODEL. Kitchens, bathrooms, cabinetry, tile, doors, windows, decks, etc. Work guar. Ken Bass, General Contractor. Lic. #B767950. (310) 487-6464
COMPLETE CUSTOM CONSTRUCTION • New/Spec Homes • Kit+bath remodeling • Additions • Quality work at reasonable rates guaranteed. Large & small projects welcomed. Lic. #751137. Michael Hoff Construction today, (424) 202-8619
HELP WANTED 17
DRIVERS: TEAMS EARN TOP DOLLAR plus great benefits. Solo drivers also needed for Western Regional. Werner Enterprises, (800) 346-2818 x123
ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITY. Create a realistic 5 figure income/mo. Opportunity and products with no rival. (800) 439-1193
NANNY TO WORK full days Sat./Sun. or Sun./Mon. in a long-term position with a loving family, must speak English, drive and have experience and references, please leave message. (310) 994-7155
MAINTENANCE TEAM WANTED. Salary and living quarters. Please call (310) 454-2515 or (310) 633-0461 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
AREA REPS NEEDED for NEW Home Party Co., featuring entertaining, kitchen and décor products. Call for interview, (866) 878-1444
WEEKEND HOUSEKEEPER, also for holidays. References required. (310) 459-8211
P/T AFTER-SCHOOL CARE/homework manager, looking for individual to pick up two boys from school M-F, supervise homework with confidence. Proficiency in English a must. Clean driving record and references essential. Very good pay. (310) 779-0633 • traceallone@hotmail.com
AUTOS 18b
1999 FORD F250 Super Duty V10 Supercab Longbed, black w/ lumber rack & Weatherguard tool box. Great work truck! $6,500 OBO. (310) 576-0622
1999 BMW 323i. Black, sunroof, 4-door. Original owners, low mileage. Excellent condition. $8,800. Contact Diana, (310) 454-7415
FURNITURE 18c
QUEEN MATTRESS SET, $195. Dinette set, $195, sofa sleeper $395, large screen TV stand, $185. Items never used! Recliner, $275 OBO. (310) 393-2338
GARAGE, ESTATE SALES 18d
ESTATE SALE: Pac Pal. 1101 Las Lomas, Fri.-Sat.-Sun., 9/12-14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This sale is filled with vintage collectibles, clocks, radios, lunch boxes, records, small cameras, books, designer briefcases, sewing machine, armoire, baker’s rack, wicker, end tables, bench, accessories, etc. PACIFIC ESTATE SALES
RE-DECORAT. SALE! Beaut furn/furnishgs/great TVs/wash/dry/fridge/hsehold, kitch goods/books/ tools/toys. Clothes/Hi-end & costume jewelry. FRI.-SAT., Sept. 12-13; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 717 Via de la Paz. Photos/details: www.bmdawson.com
MOVING SALE. Sat. 413 Swarthmore Ave. Beginning 9 a.m. Household furnishings, glassware, appliances, TVs, bookshelves, computer, armoire, stove, Queen mattress set, rugs.
PETS, LIVESTOCK 18e
ADORABLE YORKSHIRE TERRIORS for adoption. They are both AKC registered. They are raised in a beautiful environment. They have full blood line. They are current on their shots and vaccinations and their health condition is perfect. Email kenbruce02@yahoo.com if interested.
MISCELLANEOUS 18g
25 CUBIC FOOT REFRIGERATOR, white Amana side-by-side with dispenser, $350. White GE 30” stove, $125. Oak desk, $175. (310) 459-0765
WANTED TO BUY 19
WANTED: Old tube guitar amplifiers, working or not. ‘50s, ‘60s, etc. Tommy, (310) 895-5057 • profeti2001@yahoo.com
Dolphins Lay It All on the Line
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Change is in the air at Stadium by the Sea. It may share the same name and wear the same colors, but the Palisades High team that takes the field for tomorrow night’s season opener against Hollywood is not the varsity squad that went 1-9 last fall. “We’re better in all facets of the game,” second-year Head Coach Kelly Loftus said. “The collective intelligence of this team is high and what I like best is that we haven’t had one behavioral issue yet. This is a really dedicated group of young men.” Loftus boldly lobbied to put Palisades in the upper division playoffs of the City Section playoffs’partly to motivate his players and partly because he truly believes the Dolphins can compete at the higher level. “Given where we were last year I’d be satisfied with 5-5 but I think we should be able to win six games and play someone tough in the playoffs,” he said. “I’ll be disappointed if we don’t do that.” Along with that dedication is a roster full of potential’players on both sides of the ball who are eager to prove themselves. Of course, a team can go only as far as its quarterback takes it and the Dolphins figure to go far under sophomore signal-caller Conner Preston, who impressed both his coaches and college scouts at summer camps with his accuracy and poise in the pocket. Preston also demonstrated the ability to grasp a new offense quickly after offensive coordinator Larry Wein resigned for good last week. In fact, he and his receivers got a 20-minute “chalk talk” session in the locker room prior to the Dolphins’ scrimmage against Washington last Thursday. “I thought we did great under the circumstances,” Preston said. “Give us one more week of work and we’re going to be clicking.” Backing up Preston at quarterback is junior Preon Morgan, who will double as a wide receiver and cornerback. “Preon’s a very capable back-up who gives us a little bit of a different look,” Loftus said. “He runs the ball more like a running back.” Not only has Preston been sharp in practice, so too have his receivers’particularly his primary targets, Joe Hyman, Trevon Jimenez, Loren Artis and Tanqueray Towns. Towns, a 5′ 7,’ 140-pound senior, said he and his teammates enjoyed playing at home on Thursday and look forward to giving their fans plenty to cheer about again Friday night. “The intensity Thursday night was higher than at any time last year,” Towns said. “I have a lot of faith in this team. It’s important for us to prove the Palisades of this year is different than the Palisades of last year.” In fact, Towns has even higher expectations than his coach. “We have all the potential in the world,” he said. “There’s not a team on our schedule we can’t beat. I’d be satisfied with 8-2 or 7-3 at the worst.” Towns also praised Palisades’ offensive line, which will be anchored by tackles Bryce Williams and David Arzumanov, guards Juan Climaco and Chris Chukwuocha and center Joe Brandon. Standing 6’2′ and weighing 310 pounds, Williams has improved his conditioning week in and week out. He will give Preston ample time to throw and he’ll open plenty of holes for Palisades’ stable of running backs, led by Khalid Stevens, Bobby Powell and Tyquion Ballard. Wein’s departure so close to the start of the season advanced the players’ learning curve, but Loftus said that could prove beneficial in the long run: “We haven’t abandoned what Larry taught them. Some of what he used we’ll keep. Right now, I think we’ll start with a 60 to 40 run-pass ratio but my goal is to get be about 50-50 by the team league rolls around.” Palisades should score more points than it did last fall, but the real strength of this year’s team could be the defense. Employing a 50 front and using a lot of Cover 3 zone, the Dolphins expect to force a lot of turnovers like they did against Washington when they recovered three fumbles. “The biggest thing I took from that scrimmage is the way our defense flew to the ball and the kids’ overall hunger,” said Loftus, who credited Dominic Hampton with providing stability as defensive coordinator after the resignation of Donnell Williams three weeks ago. “The kids have really responded to him,” Loftus said of Hampton. “Our defense won’t have a lot of wrinkles. We need to work on our tackling but I like the fact that our guys were at least in position to make the tackle.” Palisades was not allowed to work on special teams during last Thursday’s scrimmage, so Loftus devoted much of Friday’s practice to kick coverage. Artis will handle the punting while sophomore Alex Anastacio will most likely handle the placekicking duties. “Alex has been making 35-yard field goals consistently in practice but he needs to be quicker on his approach to the ball,” Loftus said. “He’s also been kicking 45 to 50 percent of his kickoffs into the end zone.” The Dolphins were confident of a turnaround season before they played Washington, but their efforts in that 30-play-per-side scrimmage boosted team morale even more. Though the Generals had an advantage in yards gained and outscored the Dolphins 3-2 (one of their touchdowns was called back on a penalty), Palisades forced more turnovers and was more effective in the red zone, scoring on a 10-yard strike from Preston to Hyman. “That team was rated 15th in the pre-season and we were 23rd out of 23 teams in the playoffs,” Loftus said. “So I’m pleased that we were able to hold our own against them. That team is better than a lot of the teams on our schedule.” Several of Palisades’ future opponents played last Friday night and Loftus and his coaches kept close attention. Western League champion Venice lost at home to San Fernando while Granada Hills’Palisades’ Week 4 opponent’trounced Monroe. “Right now, our focus is on Hollywood,” Bryce Williams insisted. “That’s our first game and I don’t want to look ahead.” Starting with Friday night’s game, the Dolphins open the season with six straight at Stadium by the Sea–in direct contrast to last season when the Dolphins played only one home game. The toughest games figure to be against intersectional opponents Santa Monica and Peninsula, the annual “Charter Bowl” against Granada Hills and their Western League showdown against Venice. Palisades beat Hollywood, 22-2, in last year’s opener’a victory that was later forfeited when it was discovered the Dolphins had used an ineligible player. Frosh/Soph Palisades and Washington each scored two touchdowns during last Thursday’s scrimmage and although “official” statistics were not kept, the Dolphins dictated play for most of the afternoon. Head Coach Rocky Montz and assistants Scott Plested, Al Heath, Chris Hawkes and Ray Mardsen, are working with a talented group of underclassmen, headed by speedy tailback back Solomon Israel.
Festas Make Marks in France
Palisadian Tony Festa is quick to point out he doesn’t speak French. When it comes to competitive sailing, however, he is fluent in winning and knows the “language of the sea.” That was proven last month when he competed against many of the world’s top sailors. Festa and his crew, consisting of his 14-year-old son Tony and his friend, 16-year-old Greg Dair from the California Yacht Club, were invited to race in St. Malo, France, for the European Championship by Phileas, manufacturer of the Open 570 boat that they race. Phileas helped the American trio, which won the Pacific Coast championship of the USA Open 570 fleet, get a boat to race in the mid-August event and off they went. “After spending a couple of days sightseeing in Paris we rented a car and drove 400 kilometers to St. Malo, where the race took place,” Rich recalled. “On the fourth day we rigged the boat and went out for a practice sail. Thank God we did a test sail because the boat had some major rigging issues which we fixed back at the dock.” St. Malo, a small town rebuilt after the bombings in World War II, is located about 100 kilometers south of Normandy Beach on the west coast of France. Finally, on the fifth day of the trip, Team Festa got to do what it had come to do. The first buoy race started in a calm 8-knot breeze and the first boats around the mark took advantage of the better wind. That group included the Festas, who by day’s end found themselves tied for fifth place out of 28 boats in the international field. “In the first race we got a good, clear start and decided to stay on the right side of the course, which turned out to be the favored side,” Rich recalled. “The wind got light on the downwind leg and we made some good tactical decisions and finished fifth, just a half of a boat length behind the winner. “In the second race of the day, we got a fantastic start and tacked to port immediately where we found plenty of room to maneuver which allowed us to sail fast and beat all but one boat to the windward mark,” Rich continued. “Unfortunately, the current at the mark was extremely strong and we had to make many uncalled for tacks to avoid hitting the mark. The local boats, meanwhile, sailed high and wide of the mark, playing the current perfectly as they passed us. We caught the fleet on the downwind leg and finished a respectable 10th.” The second day of competition was a painful one for Rich and a frustrating one on the waves. The first of four races was going according to plan until a mishap occurred after rounding the first mark. “Tony and Greg set the spinnaker and I jibed immediately only to get hit in the nose accidentally by Greg’s elbow while he was pulling in the spinnaker sheets in the 20-knot winds,” Rich recalled. “With a broken nose and stars spinning around my head I tried to hold it together, but 15 boats passed us.” Team Festa found itself poorly positioned in the second race and finished towards the rear of the fleet. In races 3 and 4 the trio was mid-fleet or better, but too many spots had been lost in the first two races. On the final day of racing, the language barrier proved to be the biggest obstacle for Team Festa. Unbeknownst to Rich, the race committee decided to push up the starting time of the first race because of 30-foot tides. “We realized that the race was starting sooner than we expected and I was quite upset since we were only about three minutes from the starting line,” Rich said. “Tony and Greg calmed me down as we sucked it up and raced, but of course we finished last.” In the eighth and final race, not knowing the lingo once again proved costly for America’s team. “This was a long distance race, not a buoy race, and we had no idea where we were going since the directions were in French,” Rich explained. “We followed the fleet and finished 12th, not bad considering we had no idea where the marks were or where the finish line was!” Two more days of sightseeing followed before Rich and his young crewmates headed back to California. Tony and Greg were the youngest participants in the race. “The French were very friendly and watching their reaction when they saw the USA sail number on our boat was quite amusing,” said Rich, who has vowed to learn French before next year’s race. “That way I can make it to the starting line on time!” (Editor’s note: Rich Festa has been a State Farm agent in the Palisades for over 23 years and is married to former Miss Palisades and lifelong resident Jeanne Elfant Festa.)
