City’s Action Preserves the Eucalyptus Grove in Rustic Canyon and Aldersgate Lodge for Future Generations
Aldersgate Lodge and Retreat Center is located between the Woman’s Club and the Buerge Chapel on Haverford Avenue. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Two reminders of the early history of Pacific Palisades, the Aldersgate/We Boys’J.O.C. Lodge on Haverford Avenue, and the Santa Monica Forestry Station Eucalyptus Grove in Rustic Canyon Park, were granted Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument status in a unanimous vote by the City Council on October 28. Built in 1892 and located in the Palisades since 1928, Aldersgate Retreat and Cultural Center features a Craftsman-style interior and Mission Revival exterior. It was once a private home used by the First Methodist Church of Los Angeles for the We Boys organization and its companion group, Jesus Our Companion (J.O.C.), both of which mentored young men to manhood, giving them spiritual and moral foundation and, in many cases, lifelong friendships. These groups met for banquets, debates and dances. The home was donated to the California Annual Conference of the Methodist church, and today serves as a conference and retreat center. In 1887, the first forestry station in the United States was formed in Rustic Canyon. The station tested exotic trees for planting in California, established plantations for management studies, and produced planting stock for scientific and conservation purposes. The station was operated by the Board of Forestry until 1893 and by the University of California until 1923. Located adjacent to Rustic Canyon Park, the grove was named a California Registered Historical Landmark in 1981. The story of the grove and the importance of the surviving giant trees and their progeny to the character of today’s Rustic Canyon is chronicled in Betty Lou Young’s book, ‘Rustic Canyon and the Story of the Uplifters.’ Historic-Cultural Monument status recognizes the building, structure site, or plant life as important to the history of the city. In addition, it requires the Cultural Heritage Commission to review any proposed exterior and interior alterations and protects the monument from demolition for up to a year.
Beautiful Images Taken by Shutterbugs in the Community
Paige Howenstein twirls around a parking meter in front of Baskin-Robbins, taken on November 12 by Jared Rosen, a sophomore at Palisades High. “The picture of the girl in Crocs just caught my interest because she was having so much fun while she was eating her ice cream,” says Rosen, an intern at the Post, who bought his first camera at the age of 10: “I really like digital photography because you have no restraints as to how many pictures you can take and no turn-around time between taking the photos and seeing them. I am not really into the artsy side of photography; I like sports photography and other action photos. I always have a camera in my pocket, just in case.”
At the Palisadian-Post, we take pride in the excellent imagery provided by our staff photographer, Rich Schmitt. But even the ubiquitous Schmitt cannot be at all places when something happens in Pacific Palisades. Fortunately, in the course of the week, we receive pictures from amateur photographers around the community that often help us illustrate the issue. Other times, we just don’t have room for these submissions. So here’s a parallax view of Pacific Palisades, courtesy of these photographers: some unpublished images that caught our eye this fall, along with a photo from our own shutterbug Schmitt.
This black-and-white image can be found in the “Hollywood Beach” section of the Gowlands’ exhibition at g169. Photo courtesy of Alice and Peter Gowland
Vintage photos by Alice and Peter Gowland of the Santa Monica beach scene during the war years are on display at g169 gallery, 169 West Channel Rd., Santa Monica Canyon. The artists’ opening reception is Saturday, December 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. Longtime Rustic Canyon residents, the Gowlands have been photographing beautiful women for more than 60 years. They have written 25 books related to portrait and glamour and have published 13 posing guides. The Gowlands have sold images for at least 1,000 magazine covers and they have photographed 10 Playboy centerfolds and several Playboy covers. Peter’s interest in photography developed as an outgrowth of being raised in Los Angeles by actor parents. The entertainment industry, the beautiful women it attracts, and the city’s Pacific Ocean backdrop combined to inspire his technique. Despite all of that, Peter insists that the prevalence of breathtaking models influenced his photography the most. At first, Alice frowned on Peter’s hobby of photographing women. ‘I did resent it,’ she recalled in a Palisadian-Post interview in 2000. ‘But then I sent some photographs to a couple of magazines and received $200 for each shot. That was a staggering amount of money in those days.’ During World War II, Peter worked as an engineering cinematographer for North American Aviation. He and Alice spent evenings and weekends taking portraits and shooting speculative advertising photographs. Pin-ups became popular with the armed forces, so Alice sold some of their beach pin-ups as magazine covers while Peter was in the service. The gallery exhibition includes about 80 photographs capturing the culture of California girls, Hollywood’s beach and the war years. Contact: 310-459-4481.
Will Rogers State Historic Park is hosting ‘A Very Vintage Holiday’ on Friday, December 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the park, 1501 Will Rogers State Park Rd. The evening will feature Dutch Newman and the Musical Melodians with Mikal Sandoval, plus actor Will Roberts offering his tribute to Will. In addition, guests will be able to tour the historic ranch house, drink eggnog and sample desserts. For tickets ($15 for adults; $7.50 for children), call 310-454-8212, ext. 201. Guests should dress warmly, as the event will be outside. Contact: www.WillRogersRanchFoundation.org.
If you hear that Palisadian Gavin Jones has been approached by ‘Police,’ don’t be alarmed! It’s not what you think. Besides, in Jones’s case, that would be a good thing. An aspiring writer who wants a career in TV writing and producing, Jones has been hard at work as a production assistant on the television pilot ‘Police,’ which wrapped up a seven-week shoot in downtown Los Angeles in October. ‘”Police” may get picked up,’ he tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘It’s a John Wells pilot, loosely based on the LAPD. He did ‘West Wing’ and ‘ER’ so we’re hopeful it’ll get picked up.’ Jones grew up in Westlake Village until the age of 11, when his family moved to Pacific Palisades, where ‘my dad grew up and my grandpa lived here, too.’ In 2005, Jones graduated from Palisades High School, where he was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, captain of the four-times city champion swim team, and a member of the student council. At Syracuse, Jones majored in television, radio, and film and graduated in three years from the university’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. During that time, he spent a year abroad in London. Today, Jones, who at 18 pitched a reality show to producer Woody Fraser (‘World’s Funniest Commercials’), is not surprised by the current lack of scripted television in a market where game shows and talent competitions dominate. ‘I also think a lot of scripted shows haven’t appealed to viewers,’ Jones says. ‘I really see ‘Police’ affecting people. On this show, the cops go into serious issues that do happen in Los Angeles.’ While attending Syracuse, Jones completed various internships during his breaks from school. He worked on a NOVA documentary called “Saved by the Sun” about the global warming crisis. During the winter of 2006, Jones interned at Laura Ziskin Productions. The company had just wrapped up work on ‘Spider-Man 3’ when Jones came aboard to help preparation for the Academy Awards. ‘We made film-clip packages for the screenwriter montage,’ Jones recalls. ‘One intern and I did it together. It was to honor screenwriters and Ben Affleck introduced it.’ Shortly before graduating this summer, Jones was named one of the best writers at Syracuse, where he won the Intertext 2008 competition. ‘Eight students were chosen to be put in this magazine,’ Jones says. ‘Mine was a travel story about traveling to Greece”a spoof of ‘The Odyssey” Jones, who leans toward historical dramas (he wrote such a screenplay while at Syracuse). He credits Ron Cummings, his AP European History teacher at PaliHi, for whetting his appetite for the genre. He watches shows such as ‘The Tudors’ and ‘a lot of Showtime shows where there’s not a lot of marketing. I like when the stories are genuine and real and it’s not about the actors and marketing.’ Jones also enjoyed features such as ‘Blood Diamond.’ ‘It was very current and exposed you to a different part in the world,’ he says. Jones is eager to write for television. ‘I’d like to do teen drama, stuff like that,’ he says. ‘There’s so much that needs to be talked about, especially in the world today that isn’t talked about because of ratings.’ The determined writer is confident that by working on such shows as ‘Police’ in any capacity, he’ll be exposed to the creative side and eventually become a staff writer. Parlaying his swimming success and his previous lifeguard training in 2005. ‘I still am in Venice and Santa Monica part time [working as a lifeguard],’ Jones says. ‘You never know with writers’ strikes. I’m able to do it on the weekends. It’s been a great job. A lot of people haven’t been able to get a job. I write on the side to keep my creativity flowing.’
Palisadians Julien Heart and Alan Siegel’s home in Castellammare, designed by Hap Gilman in 1947, emphasizes windows and white walls for the couple’s art collection. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
For Alan Siegel, home is where he can work on his film projects, surround himself with his art collection, cook and share his enthusiasms with his wife and daughter. For Julien Heart, home is where she returns after a 10-hour day, changes into her jammies, and passes the evening talking to her husband or daughter. Their home is the very same house that the couple fell in love with by happenstance and bought in 1986. While looking at another house in Castellammare, the couple noticed a house on Tramonto, dramatically placed on a plateau overlooking the sea. ’This is the only house I’ve ever lived in,’ says Alan, admitting to an atypical California pattern. Originally from Baltimore, he moved to California in the early 1978 and lived in an apartment in Venice before marrying Julien. Living in the hillside neighborhood that was intended to evoke an Italian fishing town was a stunning idyll for Julien, whose childhood home was on a dairy farm in Rupert, Idaho. The house was designed in 1947 by Hap Gilman, who built the historic Santa Ynez Inn (now the Waldorf School) and a number of homes in Sullivan and Mandeville canyons. Smitten with the 180-degree panorama, Siegel and Heart were nevertheless eager to add more room and to lighten up the 2,200-sq.-ft. board-and-batten-structure with pigment and windows. ‘We wanted white walls to show off the art, and glass everywhere else,’ Alan says. He collects mostly figurative art, reflecting his own studies in fine arts at Carnegie Mellon. Lucky to have found the original plans, Alan and Julien hired Palisadian architect Quentin Parker, whose wife at the time was Gilman’s stepdaughter. In adding the second story, Parker reproduced all the custom wooden banisters and window frames matching Gilman’s original designs. Alan, who is a treasure box of house lore, tells of the time in the late 1960s when blues musician Robert Walker, Jr. was renting the house. Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn, who was out in L.A. recording ‘The Ballad of Easy Rider’ album in 1969, used to hang out with Peter Fonda. The album liner notes describe these musicians sitting on the roof jamming while looking out towards Malibu. And this was the house!’ Alan and Julien are the third owners of the house, modifying it only to accommodate their aesthetic and emotional needs. With nostalgia for the East Coast, Alan planted over 60 trees on the property, including a dozen redwoods as a bow to his new coast, but the rest are strictly deciduous’birch and liquid amber. Julien’s needs’the low, comfy furniture, clean geometry and monochromatic pallet’grew from her sympathy and attraction to the Japanese aesthetic. Over the years, the house grew into a family home, with the addition of daughter Madisen (in 1990), a pair of English cocker spaniels and a very comfortable black cat. Now as the family is looking once again to contracting’Madisen, a senior at Archer, will be off to college in the fall’Alan and Julien are looking at their ’empty nest’ once again to fulfill their different needs. Long before they met, Julien had ‘traded dairy cows and horses for Yohji Yamamoto and Georgio Armani,’ as Alan likes to say. Indeed, at 16, Julien knew what she wanted her life to look like and laid plans. ‘My mother was a farmer’s wife, made me everything I wore, right through high school,’ Julien recalls, with pride. ‘We’d go into a fabric store and I’d pick out the fabric. My grandmother, too, was an incredible seamstress, she sewed for eight kids. She could hold up a newspaper and cut a pattern right there on the spot.’ While the sensibility for design matched her DNA, Julien saw no future on the farm and focused on leaving her small town. ‘I went to the school principal at 16 and told him that I wanted to graduate early. I knew what I wanted to do’I wanted to open a clothing store.’ And she did. Her path led to Los Angeles in 1978, where through a remote acquaintance she landed an interview with Jerry Magnin, who in the early 1980s was the king of men’s retail in Beverly Hills, having opened his Rodeo Drive store and later the Polo/Ralph Lauren Shop. Julien made a meteorite rise from part-time sales person to top-seller, to buyer for Polo sportswear to senior vice president of the Magnin company. Working 80 hours a week was standard, with buying trips to Japan and Europe sprinkled throughout the year. While Julien attributes her success to Jerry Magnin, ‘who gave me the opportunity to excel in the love career of my life,’ her self-confidence, drive, ambition and passion are vital. ‘I could sell anything’real estate, cars, ice to an Eskimo. I am honest and a no-BS person. People know that.’ Alan, an artist feeling creatively restless, came out to California in the late 1970s and found work at Larry Deusch Design in Hollywood, making specialty and corporate films. In the late ’80s he launched his own commercial film company, which he named November Films, for the month Madisen was born. Julien’s thoughts of staying home with Madisen for just a couple of months melted into 18 years’as motherhood proved to her liking. But Julien’s mind was never far from the world of fashion. ‘To this day, Madisen is a legend among the Circle of Children preschool parents,’ Alan says. ‘For the first four years of her life, she wore only black and white clothing [Julien’s handiwork]. At 5, though, Madisen said ‘color’ and Julien went with the flow.’ Families have a flow, too, and the Siegel-Heart nest is once again opening. Julien, anticipating Madisen’s departure, decided to get back ‘to what I love.’ She had satisfied her creative urge for 16 years working in interior design, but her heart was always in the fast-paced, trend-driven, entrepreneurial fashion world. Last summer, she decided to get back in the game, and serendipity and good timing arrived. For almost 35 years, a fashion-forward women’s store, Weathervane, stood out on the Westside. Started in Pacific Palisades by Jean McDonald, the store moved to Montana Avenue in the 1970s, operated by Jean’s daughter, Jan Brilliot. Weathervane was just the kind of store Julien wanted, but there was no room for another, she figured, logically. But as luck would have it, Jan had been thinking of winding down her involvement with an eye towards retirement. Over a year ago, the two women met, talked, hit if off and began to work together. Julien learned the merchandise and got to know the customers. The two looked into new lines and bought with an eye to the future. They went to Europe together and put together a transitional line that would segue the ownership and identity to Julien. Finally, in August, Jan and Julien completed the transfer and the new Weathervane was born. Julien acknowledges her 18-year hiatus from the business. ‘It’s much harder to make money, the competition is greater,’ she says. ‘The business is faster and more frenzied; you have to be in the store to know what sells. You have to know what’s good and bad about what you bought.’ But all this is music to the seasoned entrepreneur. And there is no getting around the dismal economic climate for contemplating a profitable business. Julien is relying on Jerry Magnin’s advice echoing in her head. ‘If you have the strength to go into business when everybody else is scared, you’ll come out on top.’ Julien will certainly repeat that mantra, and knows the one thing for certain is that at the end of the day, every day, she can retreat to her home on the hill, her jammies and good conversation with her biggest fans.
Three members of the Palisades High newspaper, Fiona Hannigan (left), Katy Pool and James Bourne, won excellent and superior awards at a national journalism convention in St. Louis. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Three staff members on the Palisades Charter High School newspaper’James Bourne, Katy Pool and Fiona Hannigan’won top ratings at a national journalism convention in St. Louis on November 13-16. More than 5,000 students attended the event, including 12 from PaliHi who were accompanied by their advisor, Mary Capelli. As one of the current Tideline editors-in-chief, Bourne won a superior award and was the highest-ranked individual in copyediting, outpacing several hundred competitors. In order to win that distinction, Bourne took a 50-question multiple-choice AP-style test, wrote three captions for three different photos, and wrote headlines for three unrelated stories. Although dictionaries, journalism stylebooks and electronic spellcheckers were permitted under contest rules and used by competitors, Bourne, who is a senior and has been on the Tideline staff for three years, didn’t use them. After graduation, he plans to eventually gain a master’s in journalism, with an ultimate goal of becoming a foreign correspondent. For the news, editorial and feature-writing contests, students attended a mock ‘press-conference’ on a given topic, took notes, and then had just one hour to write an article. Tideline entertainment editor Pool, a junior who began journalism this year, received a superior for her review on the City Museum in St. Louis. Tideline news editor Hannigan, a senior, won an excellent in feature writing for her story on an organization called the Backstoppers that works with spouses and children of fireman, police and other officers killed in the line of duty. Capelli was pleased that three of her students were honored, noting that ‘It’s competitive and they didn’t give a lot of awards at the conference.’ In addition to competing, students listened to keynote speakers and attended seminars on topics ranging from interview techniques and editorial policies to photography and layout. ‘The convention was a rewarding experience, and it was amazing to see all the different publications and student journalists from all over the country,’ said Hannigan, who plans to pursue journalism in college. ‘I think it is important to get a perspective on journalism and the different views on it, especially through expert opinions. Regardless of how many awards we win, if any, these conventions are always worthwhile.’ Earlier this fall, the Tideline received a Gold Medalist Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for the 2007-2008 school year. The annual competition, which began at Columbia University in 1925, evaluates student-edited newspapers and magazines in order to recognize excellence in student media. Judged by out-of-state high school journalism teachers from award-winning programs as well as college journalism professors, the Tideline received 936 out of a possible 1,000 points and scored 224 points higher than the previous year, when it received a bronze medal. ‘This competition features the elite high schools in the nation,’ said Capelli, who is in her fourth year as advisor. ‘The members of the Tideline worked hard to boost their previous ranking and analyzed other student newspapers in order to find ways to improve.’ Judging was based on four categories: Tideline writers received 290 points out of a possible 300 for coverage and 366 points out of 400 in writing and editing. The staff earned 183 out of 200 in graphic presentation and 97 out of 100 in business operations. In addition to praising the newspaper, CSPA judges also offered several areas for improvement including decreasing editorializing in news coverage, making layout styles more consistent and identifying all people in photos. The Tideline, which published 20 times a year, also won a Crown award, given only to papers that are economically sustainable. ‘We receive $2,500 from the booster club and come up with the other $7,000 through advertising,’ said Capelli, who noted that the students who were in charge of the paper’s advertising/business last year are now in business school at USC. The 2007-2008 editors-in-chief, Megan Greene and Ross Lipschultz, are attending Northwestern. ‘We scour the halls for the best talent,’ Capelli said.
Haldis Toppel with her dog, Sandy, a wirehair dachshund. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff PhotographerMary Cole will receive a Community Service Award from the Pacific Palisades Community Council on December 11. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
With a community activist as a husband, Pacific Palisades resident Haldis Toppel said she couldn’t help but become involved. Her husband, Kurt, joined the Community Council in 1990 and served as its president from 2005-06. He was also president of the Marquez Knolls Property Owners Association (MKPOA) at various times over a 10-year period and Citizen of the Year in 1998 for his leadership in securing a new gym at the Palisades Recreation Center. Toppel attended meetings with him, and they discussed the issues around the dinner table. Soon, community leaders were asking for her help. ‘If I see a need, I try to do something about it,’ Toppel, 66, said. ‘Some people will see a car accident and drive by; I am more compelled to stop if I think I can be of assistance in some way.’ In recognition of her years of volunteerism, the Council is honoring her with the Community Service Award on December 11 during a potluck dinner meeting in Temescal Gateway Park’s historic dining hall. ‘Haldis has been tremendously productive in her service to the Council,’ said chair Richard G. Cohen. ‘Often working behind the scenes, she has organized our Citizen of the Year events, worked tirelessly with the by-laws committee and produced our area representative map. ‘She has facilitated the day-to-day functioning of the Council by handling the e-mails and other administrative functions in a dedicated and selfless way,’ Cohen continued. ‘She has devoted endless hours for the betterment of our community and is truly a community treasure.’ Toppel, who worked for the city of Los Angeles as an information system manager for 20 years, has also assumed Kurt’s former role as MKPOA president. Council representative Janet Turner, who lives in Marquez, encouraged her to take the position a couple years ago. ‘In a weak moment, I said ‘yes,” Toppel said, chuckling. The MKPOA was in the middle of an expensive lawsuit at the time. ‘The organization may have folded at that point, and I knew it was important and served a great purpose,’ Toppel said. ‘My goal was to put it back on its feet, and it’s now considered a strong organization.’ Indeed, it’s the largest homeowners group in the Palisades with more than 1,200 homes and a membership rate of about 30 percent. Through MKPOA, Toppel has worked to alleviate traffic problems in Marquez and created a mediation process for homeowners to discuss concerns such as view obstruction. She is hoping to convert the DWP’s property into a parking lot for Marquez School. Right now, many of the school’s staff park in the neighborhood. ‘She’s like the Energizer Bunny,’ Turner said. ‘She keeps on going and going and her boundless energy is infectious. It encourages others to do more for the community as well.’ In 2005, Toppel and Palisades resident Steve Lantz fought to keep the Commuter Express Line 430 bus in service. The bus is the only express line available between Pacific Palisades and downtown, so when the city was considering cutting the route because not enough people were riding, Toppel knew she had to take action. ‘I negotiated with Loyola High School and the L.A. Department of Transportation to re-route the bus to stop at Loyola High School [and thus, increase ridership],’ she said. ‘That bus is now filled to capacity, and I understand there’s often standing room only.’ The Toppel’s adult son, Curt, 28, attended Loyola, so she knew transportation was also an issue for the school. Curt is now a professional volleyball player with a degree from Stanford. Toppel initially moved to Pacific Palisades to live with Kurt, who she met through mutual friends in 1973. They married in 1976 at the Aachen Cathedral in France, where Charlemagne was crowned and later buried.   Haldis grew up in Germany, but came to Los Angeles in 1961, so that she could be with her mother, who was working here as a physical therapist. She attended L.A. City College, majoring in math and engineering, then worked as a stewardess for Continental Airlines for seven years (during that time she learned to fly). In the 1970s, she switched careers, earning a degree in information systems management from the University of San Francisco. Toppel said she never considered moving back to Germany after finding Americans friendly and hospitable. She is glad to live in the Palisades, which is a wonderful place ‘because so many people care.’
Mary Cole is one of the town’s unsung heroes, the kind who cheerfully volunteers for numerous organizations but is seldom acknowledged. That oversight was corrected last week when she was one of three activists chosen to receive a Community Service Award from the Pacific Palisades Community Council. Cole, a 43-year resident, will be honored at the Council’s potluck dinner meeting on December 11 in Temescal Gateway Park. Ironically, she will also be setting up tables, putting out food and cleaning up afterwards, as she has done for the past six years. Cole, who in 1973 was one of the first members of the Community Council, also served for five years as the Chamber of Commerce alternate representative and is now the AARP representative. ‘I give a lot of time to AARP because the members enjoy the group so much,’ said Cole, who serves as vice president and is currently planning the AARP holiday lunch. ‘I wish more people would pitch in, but they can’t or won’t.’ AARP meets once a month with a varied program of speakers and entertainment. She is also a driver for Santa Monica-based ITN (Independent Transportation Network), which provides a transportation alternative for the elderly who either no longer want to drive or have given up their licenses. ‘I also drive other seniors around, friends, neighbors,’ said Cole who in addition has been a volunteer on the Chamber Music Palisades board since its inception in 1996, and a member of the hospitality committee at Theatre Palisades. Just for good measure, Cole also works in the Santa Monica Unitarian Church office when needed, and recently joined the Palisades Historical Society. ‘I’m always doing something,’ she said, laughing. Her latest volunteer project involves assembling a scrapbook on the history of the Chamber of Commerce. In two weeks she will serve free hot chocolate from The Pantry at the Chamber’s Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! event on Swarthmore. ‘I’ve met so many great people,’ Cole said. ‘That’s the best thing about volunteering in so many different organizations.’ During her interview with the Palisadian-Post at Starbucks, numerous people stopped to chat with the bubbly and friendly woman. She laughed when I asked her if she knows everyone in town. Cole said that she heard friends say, ‘Don’t walk in town with Mary, you never get anywhere, it takes too long.’ Cole, who grew up in a small town in Ohio, moved to California in 1966 with her husband and their three boys. After looking for a home in the Valley, Cole said she didn’t want to live there and instead they found an ocean-view home in Sunset Mesa. ‘It was important to me to be in a place that has community spirit,’ Cole said. She moved briefly to Santa Monica after her divorce in 1980, but the Palisades, with its small-town feel, drew her back to her current address on Radcliffe. Her history of volunteering goes back to when her boys, David, now 53, Chris, 50, and Kevin, 47, were young. In the late 1960s, she joined a group of Palisadian women who pressed for fair housing in West Los Angeles, and after Martin Luther King’s death in 1968, Cole was part of the Join Hands movement that created the symbolic bumper sticker featuring intertwined white, brown and black hands. That core group of women still meets for lunch monthly, calling themselves ‘The Drunk for Lunch Bunch’ (the name was coined after one long-ago lunch that involved too many margaritas). ‘We’ve gone through bad and good times, and ups and downs,’ said Cole, who earned her BA in psychology from Cal State Dominguez Hills when she was 45 and has worked in numerous jobs, including as a teacher’s aide at Paul Revere Middle School and as a mental health worker. She has four grandchildren.
The Temescal Canyon pool, where children learned to swim, the disabled benefited from physical therapy and senior citizens exercised daily for more than 50 years, may soon be filled in with dirt. On Tuesday night, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board voted unanimously to move forward with pursuing a coastal development permit waiver from the California Coastal Commission to fill in the vacated pool and to pursue a long-term master planning process for Temescal Gateway Park. By a vote of 6-4, the board also rejected an open bid solicitation for a five-year lease agreement for the Temescal pool, which Conservancy Executive Director Joe Edmiston had proposed on November 14. The board made its decisions at midnight after listening to testimonials for and against retaining the pool from about 30 community members in a packed Stewart Hall in Temescal. More than 200 Pacific Palisades residents attended the meeting, and many sat on benches outside next to the open windows because the room was unable to accommodate everyone. Palisades-Malibu YMCA Executive Director Carol Pfannkuche was the first to step to the microphone to encourage the board to allow the Y to re-open the pool, which had to be closed in February because of a recirculation leak. The Y had hoped to repair the pool, which includes replacing the 50-year-old pipes, for a cost of about $400,000. The Y has been unable to reach a new lease agreement with the Conservancy. ‘Generally, the YMCA is prepared to meet the terms outlined in the bid request and invitation,’ Pfannkuche said. However, the Y would need the lease extended to a minimum of 10 years. ‘In order to raise the substantial funds from the local community to repair and renovate the facility, the YMCA must be able to offer its donors a minimum 10-year commitment of pool availability,’ she said. Pfannkuche said the Y would also ask for an annual base rent of $1, which the Y has paid for decades. In Edmiston’s bid request and invitation, he asked that the new lessee make a contribution of about $75,000 a year toward the Conservancy’s at-risk youth programming in Temescal. The Conservancy purchased the park with Proposition A to create trails and provide this programming. ‘Please consider that in lieu of the at-risk youth contribution, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, of which the Palisades-Malibu YMCA is a branch, annually provides financial assistance to send more than 20,000 at-risk youth to residential camping programs,’ Pfannkuche said. ‘Given the high costs of operating the pool facility, the Palisades-Malibu YMCA’s annual budget unfortunately cannot accommodate the additional $75,000 per year.’ Edmiston attempted to create a compromise with the Y (the only potential bidder to step forward on Tuesday) by suggesting the Conservancy board consider offering the Y a $400,000 loan to repair the pool. The Y could charge a $5 pool admission and that money would be used to repay the loan and fund at-risk youth programming, he said. ‘It allows for the continuation of the pool until the high school pool can be built,’ Edmiston said. ‘This is an opportunity to transition the community.’ Palisades Charter High School has plans to construct the Maggie Gilbert Aquatics Center and had a groundbreaking ceremony in August, but actual construction has yet to begin. Conservancy board members, however, struck down Edmiston’s suggestion. ‘We have waited too long to fulfill our mandate [to serve at-risk youth]’ said Antonio Gonzalez. ‘We should deal with this forthwith.’ Amy Lethbridge, the Conservancy’s deputy executive officer of youth programs, told the board that the at-risk youth programming is about providing wildlife and nature education, so the pool is rarely used. Conservancy board member Sara Wan responded that ‘We’re a state agency and it’s not appropriate for us to have a community function. It’s a temporary solution [to re-open the pool], and we will have less chance to do what we want five years from now.’ The Conservancy will now begin a process to create a master plan for Temescal Gateway Park with Dudek, an environmental and engineering consulting firm headquartered in Encinitas. There will be public hearings, and Dudek will prepare a draft report that will be the subject of at least one public meeting prior to a formal hearing before the Conservancy’s governing board for adoption. Pfannkuche told the Palisadian-Post Wednesday morning that ‘We are deeply saddened by the decision made by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board. While we appreciate the efforts of Conservancy board members and staff to try to compromise with the YMCA on a solution, their final vote took our community pool away. Friends of the Temescal Pool, led by John Yeh and Ilene Cassidy, should be celebrated for their strong and selfless efforts through this long process.’ Yeh and Cassidy formed the nonprofit organization to encourage the rehabilitation of the Y pool, and membership has grown to more than 2,000 members in about two months. At Tuesday’s meeting, they advocated for the pool along with other residents including 93-year-old Lillian Weizer, who exercised there, and disabled citizen Howard Rosenfeld, who used the pool for therapy. ‘For those of us who cannot walk, either temporarily or permanently, the Temescal pool is the only accessible part of the entire park, and the pool is the only way we can get aerobic exercise,’ Rosenfeld said. Norm Kulla, Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s northern district director and senior counsel, informed the board that Rosendahl supports preserving the pool. Kulla said the Councilman’s office believes the YMCA could meet the Conservancy’s mission to serve at-risk youth through its swim programs. But members of Friends of Temescal Canyon spoke out against reopening the pool. ‘Since the closure of the pool, there has been an absence of noise and dangerous traffic,’ said Nancy Markel, who co-founded the organization. ‘The area is being revitalized with birds and other wildlife returning. Temescal Canyon is a rare treasure, and we hope these new changes will remain.’ Pfannkuche, however, says it’s regrettable how much hardship the pool’s closure has caused on local residents. ‘The YMCA board stands committed to providing a new community aquatics program in the Palisades, as soon as possible,’ she said. ‘In Tuesday’s testimonies, our swimmers spoke with passion about their experiences at the pool, and the relationships that helped them be strong in spirit, mind and body; these relationships can continue at the YMCA, even while we are without a pool. As always, the YMCA is here for everyone; financial assistance is available for those in need.’
A 10-week-old Dalmatian will arrive at Fire Station 69 on Saturday after a brief ride from LAX. That same evening he will leave for a month’s training before making the station his home, replacing the late Buddy. The puppy needs a name and Station 69 firefighters are seeking community input. Choose one of the eight names below (or provide your own suggestion on paper) and put your selection through the mail slot by noon Saturday at the fire station, corner of Sunset and Carey. Only one vote per person. Possible names include: Buddy II, Spot, Pali, Sunset (Sunny), Chief, Carey, Skipper, Smokey, Duke and Zorro. The new puppy, which was born on September 27 at the Allen Kennels in Winder, Georgia, will have big paws to fill because Buddy, who died last December, was a goodwill ambassador to the town, and beloved by the community. Allen Kennels specialize in large dogs and breed for character and temperament, which is important for a dog that not only goes to neighborhood birthday and block parties, but also participates in the Fourth of July parade. The newest addition to Station 69 is a gift of the Miller family: Ram, Caroline, Jake, 9, Cole, 7, and Gigi, 4. The station and its firefighters have a special significance for the family, because on November 22, 2004, Gigi was born there after her parents realized they were never make it from their home to the hospital in time for the delivery. Every year, the family celebrates Gigi’s birthday with the firefighters. When the Millers offered to buy a new dog after Buddy died, the firefighters said no. Caroline asked again this past summer, and this time the answer was affirmative. The 36 firefighters, who work on three different shifts, had to vote to take responsibility for the dog’s expenses, including vet bills, food and training. ‘The vote was overwhelming to have a dog,’ said Scott Gill, who has been Station 69’s hook-and-ladder driver for six years. After the Millers located a puppy, the firefighters knew that some sort of training would be needed. ‘We decided that with 36 guys, the best thing for the new puppy was to have one trainer,’ Gill said. Clint Rowe, a Hollywood trainer who has prepared animals for ‘Turner and Hooch,’ ‘Man’s Best Friend,’ ‘Borat,’ and ‘You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,’ will work with the puppy. Rowe is also currently training Wilshire, Fire Station 29’s Dalmatian. ‘He normally doesn’t do this, but he did it for us,’ Gill said. Rowe will teach the dog boundary and house training, as well as a few simple commands. When he returns to the station, two firefighters on each shift will specifically deal with him. Palisadians Ninkey Dalton and Charles Eglee, whose late Dalmatian Bongo used to play with Buddy, will donate $100 towards the new puppy’s care. Addition checks can be made out to Fire Station 69, and on the memo line write ‘puppy fund.’
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