Jamie Greenberg clears the bar on her winning pole vault at last Sunday
Lifelong Palisadian Jamie Greenberg won a gold medal in the pole vault in the Youth Girls (ages 13-14) division of the Southern California Junior Olympics June 8, clearing a personal-best height of nine feet. That triumph was bettered last Sunday at the Regional Junior Olympics in Escondido, where the recent Paul Revere graduate cleared 8′ 6′ to win another gold medal to earn a trip to the National Junior Olympics in Omaha, Nebraska, next month. Greenberg, younger sister of former Palisades High City champion pole vaulter Brian Greenberg, hopes to compete on the Dolphins’ track team next fall. Jamie lives in the Palisades Highlands and, at the age of 14, is fourth in her age group in the 2008 Elite Youth national rankings. Greenberg has been vaulting for two years and attends after-school clinics run by UCLA pole vault coach Anthony Curran. She played on AYSO Region 69’s Ninjas U14 squad that finished second in the state. She also attends dance classes at Fancy Feet.
Anna Rasmussen, a 17-year-old Palisadian representing Marina Aquatic Center [MAC] Junior Rowing, earned a silver medal in the quadruple sculls at the 2008 United States Rowing Youth National Championships on June 15. Over 1,300 teenagers competed for national titles in 16 rowing events outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. MAC’s silver medal-winning boat included Lindsay Pollock, Ariana Chehrazi, Rasmussen, and Katie O’Hanlon. The MAC quartet finished in stirring fashion with a time of 7:12.77, just over six seconds behind Long Beach Junior Crew. O’Hanlon and Rasmussen, who lives in the Palisades Highlands, finished as high as fifth in both the Double and Single. They then took gold in the Double at the USRowing Club National Championships last July. On the strength of their performance in Cincinnati, Rasmussen and her boatmates were invited to the Pan-American Youth Championships, called CanAmMex, next month in Oklahoma City. Rasmussen will attend Stanford University in the fall.
Derek Vincent of the Palisades Tennis Center keeps his eye on the ball on his way to winning the Braemar Tournament in Encino.Ask any of the teaching pros at the Palisades Tennis Center and they’ll tell you Derek Vincent has been one of the hardest working juniors on the court the last few years. Now, his effort is beginning to yield results in the form of victories. Last week, Vincent won back-to-back boys 10-and-under singles titles in Encino and Long Beach. First, at the 24th annual Long Beach Open, the PTC standout and Calvary Christian student dominated the draw. As the second seed, Vincent got a bye in the first round, then proceeded to cruise through the bracket without losing a set, dropping just eight games on his way to the championship. In the quarterfinals Vincent beat Anderson Ju of Cerritos, 6-2, 6-0. In the semifinals he did even better, beating Tyler Yim of Rolling Hills, 6-1, 6-0, to set up a meeting with Beau Pelletier of Huntington Beach in the finals. Vincent won, 6-3, 6-2. “There hasn’t been a kid here who has put in more time, energy or effort than Derek Vincent,” PTC pro Max Osswald said. “These wins are going to set the stage for an incredible junior career.” Vincent carried his momentum on to the Braemar Tournament in Encino, where he blitzed Brent Ifemembi in the first round, 6-0, 6-0. In his next match, though, he was pushed to the limit by third-seeded Curtis Tam and had to fight off a match point in the second set before prevailing, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6, in 115- degree temperature. In the semifinals against Kevin Hq, Vincent allowed just two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win, That pitted him against second-seeded Johnny Barcohana in the finals. Showing heart and tenacity, Vincent once again came from behind to win, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8, for his second straight title and seventh match victory in a row. In the boys 8-and-under division, fellow PTC player Roscoe Bellamy made the finals for the second straight year and this time he won. Seeded No. 1, Bellamy eliminated Jacob Tucker of Calabasas, 6-3, 6-4, in a grueling two-hour semifinal. The Corpus Christi student then faced Andrew Goldberg of Encino and won, 6-1, 6-2. It was Bellamy’s third tournament title since February, the others being the Valley Open and the Palm Springs Open.
The Pali Blues, a local women’s club soccer team, remained undefeated and increased their lead in the W-League’s Western Conference to four points with a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps last Sunday in Canada. The Blues (7-0-0) return to the friendly confines of Palisades High’s Stadium by the Sea next Monday when they host the Fort Collins Force at 7 p.m. “On the soccer side of things, I was very proud of the way we played tonight,” Blues Head Coach Charlie Naimo said of the game against the Whitecaps. “Vancouver held strong and made it difficult for us to finish some first half chances, but our girls were resilient after halftime and got one early. In the locker room we all agreed we were playing well and just needed to stay the course with a little added intensity. It was an entertaining match.” Last Tuesday, the Blues acquired U.S. National Team player India Trotter. “Adding India is great timing,” Naimo said. “After losing (Sarah) Walsh and (Caitlyn) Munoz to injury, we needed to find a quality attacking player to replace them. India can play at a high level in any position, but we intend to find a role for her that will make us even more dangerous in our attack.”
Wilford H. Tully, a respected local general contractor for many years, died at the Veterans Administration hospital in Westwood on June 10. He was 86. Tully, the son of Wilford and Elizabeth (Howard) Tully, was born in San Francisco in 1922 and moved to Los Angeles as a child. He graduated from Fairfax High School and attended Loyola University on the G.I. Bill. During World War II, Tully served in the 302nd Depot Repair Squad of the U.S. Army Air Corps in India. He was awarded the Bronze Star for outstanding service in 1945. Tully was a profound thinker and reveled in storytelling. His personal philosophy was formed in part by his upbringing during the Depression, his Army service in India, and the education he received from the Jesuits at Loyola. He enjoyed his retirement at home in the Marquez neighborhood where he had lived since 1973 with his wife, Monica (Roche) Tully, a Santa Monica native. Together, they spent many hours working in their garden and nurturing a small menagerie of cats, dogs, parrots, squirrels and a few errant mallards. Recently, Monica’s granddaughter, Stephanie Coleman, and her daughters, Britlyn and Brianna, have lived with the Tullys and have provided loving care and support. In addition to his wife, Tully is survived by his loving daughters, Pamela Tully Price (husband Robert) of Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, and Kathleen Tully-Fried (Jeremy) of Lake Oswego, Oregon; his grandchildren Brian Tully Price, Emily Kathleen Price and Zachary Tully-Fried; Monica Tully’s son, John Polkinghorn; and Monica’s many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A private service will be held. Donations may be made in Wilford Tully’s name to support The Serenity Park Sanctuary, a nonprofit parrot refuge and therapeutic facility on the grounds of the V.A. Medical Center. Send to The Association for Parrot C.A.R.E, P.O. Box 84042, Los Angeles, CA 90073 (www.parrotcare.org./donations.html).
New Getty exhibit reveals a German naturalist/artist who was ahead of her time
A piece by artist/naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, the subject of a new Getty Center exhibition.
Her own life journey was marked by transformations as dramatic as the turns taken by the caterpillars she so passionately studied. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) grew up in Germany, married, had two daughters, left her husband to join a religious colony, moved to Amsterdam and, at 52, sold all her possessions to sail to the jungles of South America. All the while, she forged an unlikely career as an artist and scientist, bringing to life her meticulous study of plants and insects with vivid watercolors and hand-colored engravings. Even more remarkable, she did this during the 17th century, when women were excluded from scientific study and forbidden to paint in oils. And to focus on insects, then thought of as ‘beasts of the devil,’ showed particular verve. A new exhibition at the Getty Center spotlights Merian’s revolutionary work in art and science as well as those of her most important students’daughters Johanna Helena and Dorothea Maria. It’s the first solo show of her work in the United States. At the entrance to the exhibition, Merian’s portrait is reproduced alongside the great scientists and rulers of the day, people like Sir Hans Sloane, Albert Seba and Peter the Great. ‘You get an idea of the singularity of this woman who was able to navigate in a field completely dominated by men,’ says Stephanie Schrader, associate curator of drawings at the Getty and organizer of the exhibition. Merian’s lifelong fascination with the metamorphosis of insects began as a young girl in her native Frankfurt. At 13, she painted the transformation of silkworms into moths. For the next 50 years, she pursued the job of collecting and rearing caterpillars, directly observing them in order to accurately depict their life cycle. ‘Patience is a very beneficial herb,’ Merian once wrote about the time-consuming task informing her two volumes illustrating caterpillars’ growth stages and feeding patterns. These books helped disprove the commonly held belief that insects developed spontaneously from decaying matter. Nonetheless, scientists of the time largely ignored her work since the text had not been written in their official language, Latin. Unlike other scientific illustrators of her day, Merian was among the first to show caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies with the specific plants they ate. ‘Her images are uncommonly compelling and dynamic,’ says Schrader, who underscores the point by displaying examples of the rote illustrations that were the norm among her contemporaries. Merian’s images, ruthlessly exacting while daring in color and composition, hold up to this day as individual, enthralling works of art. A good example is a watercolor of a pomegranate tree, the earliest work in the exhibition. ‘What she does that is so different is introduce the passage of time into this narrative,’ Schrader says. The image shows the exotic fruit in all stages from ripe to rotten and finally as a food source. ‘She’s already bucking the tradition of recording flowers solely for posterity.’ Family connections’Merian’s stepfather, Jacob Marrel, was a renowned still-life painter and her teacher’opened an otherwise closed door to art training. Her first publication, the ‘New Book of Flowers’ (1675-80), served as a pattern book for embroidery and became her calling card to teach young girls, the daughters of wealthy patricians, how to embroider and paint. She took advantage of the situation, raiding her clients’ vast gardens filled with specimens to further her scientific study. The precise reason Merian, at 39, left her husband and took off with her daughters to live in a strict Protestant community in Friesland (the Netherlands) is unknown, but the event changed her life. Despite her isolation, she was exposed to the most exotic specimens ever. The governor of the Dutch colony of Suriname, who shipped home large moths, lizards, snakes, and beetles from South America, owned the castle where she lived. Five years later, the religious community collapsed. Merian and her daughters fled to Amsterdam, where they supported themselves by supplying wealthy collectors with preserved animals and exotic insects from faraway lands for their curiosity cabinet. Ultimately, Merian tired of seeing only dead specimens from South America and sold everything she owned in order to go to Suriname for a firsthand encounter. Her work from this period forms the crescendo of the Getty exhibition, showcasing monumental, life-size portraits of the exotica she came face-to-face with, including beguiling lizards and snakes. Her research in South America culminated with her most important publication: ‘The Insects of Suriname.’ She didn’t shy away from nature’s violence, either, with graphic works showing the handiwork made of hummingbirds by blood-sucking tarantulas. ‘These really powerful image mess with people’s notions of gender,’ Schrader says. ‘People tend to think women only represent things that are pretty or decorative. But she didn’t shy away from depicting the violence she saw.’ She didn’t shy away either from making cultural observations about the foul-smelling climate, the local uses of flora and fauna for food, shelter and medicine, and the issues of slavery in the Dutch Colony. ‘We’re an art museum trying to bring art and science together,’ says Schrader, who has placed butterfly and other animal specimens–things we normally associate seeing in natural history museums–on view throughout the exhibition to allow visitors a fuller experience. ‘As in Merian’s work, there’s no clear division between these two disciplines, and they definitely overlap here.’ ‘Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science’ continues at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Center through August 31. A lecture by Kim Todd, author of a new Merian biography, will take place tonight at 7 p.m. in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium. ‘Maria Sibylla Merian: A New Documentary Film’ will be screened on Sunday, July 27 at 3 p.m. in the auditorium. For a complete listing of related events, go online to www.getty.edu.
Mathew Tekulsky’s entry-winning shot of the Southwestern willow flycatcher.
Mathew Tekulsky’s photograph of a Southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) has been chosen to participate in ‘Endangered Species: Flora and Fauna in Peril,’ an international juried art competition at The Wilding Art Museum in Los Olivos. The exhibition will run from June 22 through September 14 before traveling to the Department of the Interior Museum in Washington, D.C., and The Wildlife Experience in Parker, Colorado. The exhibition will feature 50 works of art in a variety of media (drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture) depicting flora and fauna listed as threatened or endangered in North America by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 47 species will be represented, among them the California condor, grizzly bear, black-footed ferret, Oahu tree snail, Sonora tiger salamander, Mesa Verde cactus, and Texas wild rice. This year’s works were selected from nearly 200 entries by a distinguished jury that included E. G. Hochberg, Ph.D., curator of invertebrate zoology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History; Hollis Hunter, director of the Museum of the U. S. Department of the Interior; Amy Scott, curator of visual art at the Autry Museum of the American West, and Karen Sinsheimer, curator of photography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. ‘It can be difficult to locate threatened or endangered species and ‘capture’ them artistically without harming them,’ points out Penny Knowles, executive director of the Wildling Art Museum. ‘I admire the artists who struggled with these issues to submit such visually stunning entries.’ A Pacific Palisades resident, Tekulsky’s love and knowledge of birds began with his love of nature. The artist has dedicated himself full-time to writing for National Geographic and producing a series of books, including ‘The Butterfly Garden’ and ‘The Hummingbird Garden.’ His days of capturing the perfect image are often long and arduous. When shooting on location, he generally spends several hours in the morning taking shots, then breaks for lunch and returns to his photography for another couple of hours. Tekulsky possesses a wealth of knowledge on the subject of fowl. He studies migration patterns and old trail guides in order to figure out when and where his feathered subjects might appear. ‘If you watch birds long enough, you can anticipate their movements,’ he says. The Wildling Art Museum”located in the town of Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley, 30 miles from Santa Barbara”is an educational institution dedicated to presenting the art of America’s wilderness and preserving our natural heritage. For more information, visit www.wildlingmuseum.org or call 805-688-1082.
New Chamber president Antonia Balfour tangos with re-elected honorary mayor Gavin MacLeod. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer Bobbi Farberow, flanked by Mort Farberow Award winner David Williams’ daughters Sara and Hannah. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer Best New Business Award winner Nicole Howard, creator of ThisWeekinthePalisades.com. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
A new president, a new board, and re-induction of the town’s honorary mayor. Not bad for an evening’s festivities. At its 59th Installation Dinner, held last Thursday at the Riviera Country Club, the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce swore in president Antonia Balfour and her 2008-09 board of directors. ‘If you look around the room, at every table you’ll see people who have positively impacted the community,’ said Balfour, delivering the evening’s most compelling speech. Elegant in a dark gown, the co-owner of Oasis Palisades (a new acupuncture and massage salon in Marquez), who has sat on the board for five years, thanked her husband Marc and acknowledged the efforts of Marie Steckmest and Lester Wood for their environmental activism on the local level. The trio has formed the Business Greening Committee and is working to place recycling receptacles throughout the business district. Dressed to the nines in an off-white suit, actor Gavin MacLeod was inducted for a rare second term (two years) as honorary mayor. He expressed his gratitude for various Palisadians, past and present, who have helped give this community its luster. The actor’s roster included the late Ted Knight, his longtime friend, colleague and erstwhile honorary mayor; Broadway legend John Raitt (‘The big thrill was when I met him at Gelson’s one day!’), and Arnie Wishnick and Marilyn Crawford at the Chamber office”my second home, especially since they have goodies to eat there.’ Early in the evening, Palisadian-Post publisher Roberta Donohue presented the Mort Farberow Business Person Award (named for the late owner of the former Mort’s Deli, who died in 2002) to restaurateur and Palisades High soccer coach David Williams. ‘If anyone understands the value of giving back, it’s lifelong Palisadian David Williams,’ said Donohue, a Chamber past-president and 2005 winner of the Farberow Award. The owner of Mogan’s Caf’ in the Highlands accepted his award in absentia, via video in Austria, where he is serving as personal chef and training camp manager for heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine. Williams’ daughters, Hannah and Sara, accepted the award on their dad’s behalf. President-elect Ramis Sadrieh (owner of Technology for You!) presented the Best New Business Award to ThisWeekinthePalisades.com creator Nicole Howard, who remembered her first brush with Pacific Palisades as a 13-year-old living near Wilshire and Robertson. After a visit here, she told her mother, ‘I’m going to live my life in the Palisades.’ Today, she, her husband David, and their two boys, who attend Palisades Elementary, are living that dream amid ‘an abundance of beautiful dogs and a casually dressed yet intelligent community.’ Kevin Niles, president-elect of the Palisades Rotary Club, awarded the annual Beautification Award to Palisades Charter High School for installing a synthetic-turf football/soccer field and an all-weather running track that will benefit the entire community. Outgoing Chamber prez Brad Lusk received kudos from the city and state, with emcee Sam Lagana doing his best ‘Ah-nuld’ impression while reading a proclamation from the Governor. ‘Thanks, Arnold’I mean Sam,’ joked Flora Gil Krisiloff, who represented County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and praised Lusk’s contributions to the Palisades community. Also appearing at the podium: Cheri Orgel, representing Assemblymember Julia Brownley, and Stephen Chung, field deputy for Mayor Villaraigosa, who applauded the Palisades for its mixture of ‘community pride and civic engagement.’ Officiating at the Board’s installation was Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, who literally arrived hot on the heels of two previous engagements: a 25th wedding anniversary, and a tribute to Doug Dutton, who recently closed his treasured book store in Brentwood. Rosendahl praised the Palisades for having ‘a sense of identity and community that is breathtaking’ and inducted the new board: Sanda Alcalay (Coldwell Banker), attorney Brett Bjornson, Rena Bornstein (Cognitiatives Brain Training Systems founder), Zara Guivi (California National Bank), Nicole Howard, Sam Lagana (associate vice chancellor of athletics at Pepperdine University), Jennifer Lowe (Metrocities Mortgage) and Angela Parker (Body Inspired Fitness). In addition to Balfour, the Chamber’s executive committee includes Brad Lusk (Sunrise Senior Living Santa Monica), Ramis Sadrieh, John Petrick (Perennial Financial Services), Greg Wood (Palisades High), Roberta Donohue, David Williams, Sandy Eddy (The Discovery Shop) and Roy Robbins (Roy Robbins Gifts & Stationery).
Homeowners and business owners along the Fourth of July parade route are invited to participate in the inaugural PAPA/Coldwell Banker Patriotic Home and Business Decorating Contest. “Seeing the town decked out in red, white and blue generates a lot of excitement for the Fourth of July,’ said Rob Weber, president of the Palisades Americanism Parade Association (PAPA). ‘Our committee thought that this contest would be a wonderful way to encourage even more participation.” Weber continued, “Coldwell Banker has been a long-time supporter of the parade and other community events, and we are pleased that it has joined with PAPA to support this new Palisades tradition.” He noted that Robbie Sedway, manager of Coldwell’s office on Sunset Boulevard, right along the parade route, enthusiastically stepped up to support the contest. Valuable prizes will be awarded to the two homes and businesses that the panel of celebrity judges deems to be the most patriotic’from the start of the parade at Bowdoin and Via de la Paz, all along Sunset to Drummond, and then west on Toyopa to Alma Real, where the parade finishes. There is no entry fee or registration required: just decorate your home or business with Fourth of July fervor, and you are entered in the contest. A panel of judges will walk along the parade route on July 3, between 5 and 7 p.m., to determine the winners. ‘Perhaps this will even spark some good-natured competition among neighbors and business owners to earn the ‘Most Patriotic Home or Business’ title,’ Weber said. Prizes include an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Despite objections from the Pacific Palisades Community Council, more advertising signs will be displayed around the community in the coming months. In 2002, the Los Angeles City Council pre-approved a bus shelter, with advertising panels, for the corner of Sunset and Via de la Paz, which will be installed this summer. Two public amenity kiosks are proposed for the southwest corner of Sunset and Castellammare and on the northeast corner of Sunset and Pacific Coast Highway. These kiosks are free-standing three-sided or two-sided structures, which have one or two advertising panels and a panel for a local vicinity map, community poster or public service announcement. ‘We decided that the least hurtful on the eye is out of the Village,’ Jennifer Rivera told the Palisades Community Council at last Thursday’s meeting. Rivera is a field deputy for Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, representing District 11. Rosendahl and his staff negotiated for public amenity kiosks at those locations as part of a contract with CBS/Decaux that requires 3,350 bus shelters, newsstands, public toilets, kiosks and benches to be installed citywide in the next 20 years. The City Council entered into an agreement in 2001 with CBS/Decaux, which is installing and maintaining the street furniture in exchange for the right to sell and display advertising. The city receives a guaranteed share of the total profit (about $150 million) from the advertising revenue and uses the money for beautification projects. The Community Council, which has no legal authority, has historically opposed the street furniture, arguing that it creates blight in the community. The Palisades already has four benches and bus kiosks located on Temescal Canyon Road, PCH and Sunset. ‘This deal that was cut seven years ago is a lousy deal for District 11,’ said Rosendahl, adding that the district must install a large portion of the street furniture. ‘I want to do whatever I can to listen to my constituents. It’s an ongoing discussion, and the law is not on my side.’ Rivera asked the Council to approve the two proposed locations on Sunset and Castellammare and Sunset and PCH or suggest other sites. The Council did not make a decision at Thursday’s meeting. Council member Gil Dembo, who represents the Temescal Canyon Association, said he disapproves of the bus shelter at Sunset and Via de la Paz because he has records of all previous conversations about where the street furniture could be placed and that location was never approved. ‘They have an obligation to inform us,’ Dembo said. ‘I feel like this was done behind our backs.’ Rivera responded that the bus shelter was approved before Rosendahl came into office in 2005, and she could not speak to why the Council was not informed. ‘It’s out of the hands of the Councilman,’ Rivera said, adding the appeal process has passed. The Council is considering joining Brentwood Community Council’s efforts to oppose street furniture. The Brentwood council has sought legal advice regarding the issue and is requesting a financial contribution from the Palisades council. Attorney Beverly Grossman Palmer of Strumwasser & Woocher found that the contract between the City of Los Angeles and CBS/Decaux violates the city’s General Plan, which protects scenic highways (such as Sunset Boulevard) and scenic corridors against advertising signs. Grossman also found that the contract also violates the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades Specific Plans, which have signage restrictions. Brentwood Community Council Chair Wendy-Sue Rosen is invited to the next meeting on June 26 to discuss the findings and how the Council can help. Dembo is concerned that if the Council doesn’t act, the number of advertising signs will only increase. ‘They keep nibbling at us; every year they ask for more signs, and the contract goes for 20 years,’ he said.
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