By BETH BRETT While most honeymooners would be content to spend their first trip as husband and wife at a luxury island resort, my husband, Adam, and I had a different idea in mind. Three weeks. To us, that meant choosing a place of natural splendor far away from the world’s trouble spots, but with access to tennis courts. A trip to New Zealand was a no-brainer. Aptly named Aotearoa, ‘Land of the Long White Cloud,’ by the early Polynesian settlers, New Zealand is a country of mystifying beauty stretching nearly 1,000 miles from north to south and consisting of two large islands, a sprinkling of smaller ones, plus a few far-flung islands hundreds of miles away. A microcosm of all the world’s attractions, New Zealand allows you to trek on the slopes of active volcanoes or in remote rain forests or climb glaciers of blue ice that almost seem to touch the Tasman Sea. You can cruise on fjords, swim with bottlenose dolphins, watch whales, fish for rainbow trout in cold mountain streams and view fur seals frolicking in the surf. The adventurous can go bungee jumping, white-water rafting or snowboarding’a seemingly endless variety of activities. Fresh air, magnificent scenery, and outdoor activities drew us to the South Island. But, above all else, we were after our favorite cement oasis’the tennis court. Few would travel 10,000 miles to play a game of tennis. But then again, not many couples can claim to have met on court as we had in a Manhattan mixed-doubles league four years ago. It was a ‘love match’ at first sight. Later that year, Adam proved himself a keeper when he came to my rescue during the finals of a women’s tournament when I managed to pop all my racket strings. Adam valiantly strung one, returning with it just in time for me to win the third set. Strangely enough, ‘tennis courting’ runs in the family. My mother and father first eyed each other at the Central Park Tennis Center, and Adam’s parents met in similar fashion while students at American University. Going back another generation, both sets of grandparents met playing handball. So it should come as no surprise that on the first day of our honeymoon, we sat at the breakfast table poring over a map of Christchurch, searching for the courts. Lovingly, I marked the spot with a giant X and we set out for a walk through town that would end at Hagley Park’s public courts. I was well trained by my father, Harold German (who captained the tennis team at Princeton University in 1963 and played in the U.S. Open), in finding courts. Most of our family vacations included hunts for treasure’the local tennis court. Whether in Barcelona or Budapest, our visits to museums and churches were interspersed with games of tennis. When we arrived in Christchurch in mid-September, we expected the sky to be a symphony of gray. Instead, the sky was clear, the clouds white as chalk. It was springtime. I felt lucky to be in love. Luckier still to have a beautiful day for a game of tennis. Armed with our beloved rackets, we set out to explore the city by foot. En route to the city center, we walked past a bunch of ‘Nanavilles,’ the Kiwi way of describing Christchurch’s many antique shops that share a certain likeness to a grandmother’s attic. We danced past the daffodils that dotted the banks of the meandering Avon River as we practiced moves that we had executed during our first dance on our wedding day. We stopped at Cathedral Square, which was abuzz with street life. Then we headed west along Worcester Street to the Arts Centre, a weekend marketplace where you can find anything from jade jewelry to rich kauri wood furniture. It was mid-afternoon and the Botanic Gardens spread before us like an Impressionist painting. A canvas of pinks, yellows and greens, the garden was a perfect portrait of paradise. Cherry blossoms fell to the ground like snow and the azalea bushes blazed fiery hues of red and orange. Finally, the tennis courts were in reach. While for many couples, a romantic day in Christchurch would be punting along the Avon, our notion of romance involved smacking balls at each other until the sun set over Lake Victoria.

Council Honors Madnick for Role In Relay for Life

After losing both of her parents to cancer, Pacific Palisades resident Amy Madnick made it her personal mission to support cancer patients and their families. ‘Sickness happens to more than just the body; it affects people spiritually and emotionally,’ the 49-year-old said this week. In 2004, Madnick organized the Palisades Relay for Life, a nationwide fundraiser benefiting the American Cancer Society, where groups of people walk or run for 24 hours to raise money for cancer research and programs. The fourth annual Relay event here will begin on Saturday, April 5 at 9 a.m. with an opening ceremony at Paul Revere Middle School. In recognition of her work, the Pacific Palisades Community Council will present Madnick with a 2008 Golden Sparkplug Award at the Citizen of the Year dinner on April 24 at the American Legion Hall. The annual award honors citizens for projects they help launch that benefit the Palisades community. ‘Without Amy, this year’s big event would never have happened,’ wrote Community Council member Susan Nash when she recommended Madnick for the award. ‘Having this event on a regular basis has significantly and permanently made a difference in the quality of life we all enjoy in this community.’ Madnick, who graduated from Palisades High School in 1976, first heard about Relay for Life from her husband’s cousin. She spoke with women in the community and organized a volunteer group that included Sandi Merwitzer, Carolyn Haselkorn, Rita Singer, Bernadette Romano, Judee Colton, Lainie Sugarman, Courtney Zinszer, Dana Fein and Mary Jane Leonetti. Madnick’s two teenage children, David and Becca, and husband, Leo, also volunteered. ‘I don’t feel like it was me,’ Madnick said. ‘I feel like it was this great group of people.’ That first year, hundreds of people participated in the relay at Marquez Elementary School, and they raised $66,000. ‘It was amazing the outpouring of generosity,’ Madnick said. ‘A good portion of us stayed up all night’ It was the best thing I ever did.’ Madnick, a social worker at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, coordinated the event again the next two years, but she was too busy with work to arrange one in 2007. Kit Festa and Joy Festa Schroeder have now taken over the leadership role. Madnick is glad the relay will continue because it’s a great opportunity for people to bond. Her mother, Barbara Lewis, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1964. She survived that cancer, but in 1984, she died of melanoma, more than likely caused by the radiation treatments she received for Hodgkin’s. Madnick’s father, Leonard, an oncologist in Santa Monica, died of a brain tumor in 1976. In addition to Relay for Life, Madnick helps Spanish-speaking breast-cancer patients at the White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles, as part of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Since starting the relay, 15 of Madnick’s friends and family members have been diagnosed with cancer. ‘I just want [my grandchildren] to grow up in a world where this illness doesn’t exist,’ she said.

The Wachovia Corporation will open a 5,000-sq.-ft. financial center in Pacific Palisades this summer as it expands aggressively into the Southern California market. Occupying the former Coldwell Banker location (between Designers Rug Resource and the woman’s clothing store Margano), Wachovia will fill a space that has been empty since the summer of 2006. ‘Our targeted open date is July 29,’ said George Swygert, who provides executive leadership to Wachovia’s retail and small business banking operations in Southern California and Arizona. He and his wife relocated to Brentwood with their young daughter 18 months ago and have become active members at St. Matthew’s Church. ‘When I first came out to California,’ Swygert told the Palisadian-Post Tuesday, ‘I looked for a site in the Palisades but there wasn’t much commercial space available. We were fortunate to find a place near the Village Green, smack dab in the middle of town on the main street.’ Another advantage: 10 parking spaces behind the building. He said the long-vacant Office Supplier space across the street was too small. The Palisades branch is larger than most of Wachovia’s branches and will be comparable in size to the Bank of America branch. What about the presence of eight other established banks within two blocks? Doesn’t this worry Wachovia? ‘Coffee Bean is right across from Starbucks, right?’ Swygert said, laughing. ‘All of us offer special services, and with the affluent population here, there are plenty of dollars to go around for everybody.’ He added, ‘When we enter a market, our reputation for giving great service usually affects our peers. We hope we will add value to the citizens whether they decide to bank with us or not.’ Wachovia, the fourth largest U.S. bank behind Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, offers a full array of financial services through offices in 21 states and Washington, D.C. At year’s end it had 163 branches in California, including two in Brentwood and one in Malibu, with a new branch opening soon in Santa Monica. ‘Pacific Palisades fills out the Westside for us,’ said Swygert, 40, who has worked his entire career with Wachovia. ‘This is a very desirable market for us.’ He’s also enthusiastic about living so close to town and getting involved in the community. ‘This is like a small town in the Midwest or the South somewhere, especially on the Fourth of July, where you go out the night before and put chairs along the parade route,’ Swygert said. ‘We come over here for the farmers market every Sunday and we eat at places like Dante’s.’ Already aware of the non-chain sentiments among many Palisades residents, Swygert noted that Wachovia ‘is a very active player in the local communities where we operate. We have established what we call an employee involvement group in Century City, and they pick projects our employees want to get involved in as volunteers and with corporate support.’ A prime example: Wachovia supports employee volunteerism through its Time Away from Work for Community Service policy, giving all employees four hours per months’or six days per year’of paid time off to volunteer in local communities. _______

The Pacific Palisades Community Council approved a motion last Thursday asking the California Attorney General to investigate the legal issues surrounding the use of photo-enforced stop signs in Temescal and Franklin Canyons by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). The vote was 13-2, with one abstention. ‘With this motion we are not taking a side,’ Vice Chair Richard Cohen said. ‘We are asking for an investigation. I think it is appropriate because the photo-enforced signs are experimental.’ Cohen explained that MRCA’s photo-enforcement at stop signs in the two canyons is unprecedented in California. After photo-enforced stop signals were introduced in various cities early this decade, there was public outcry when drivers began receiving citations in the mail. It was found that at some intersections the amber lights stayed on longer than at other intersections, which led to the introduction of specifications about photo-enforced lights in the California State Vehicle Code in January 2002. The code did not envision photo enforcement at stop signs. Another possible legal issue is that the signs in Temescal and Franklin do not follow California codes for installation. According to Mo Blorfroshan, Westside transportation engineer for the L.A. Department of Transportation, ‘Our department follows the state’s Manual of Uniform Traffic California Devices when it comes to the installation of traffic-control devices. Stop signs are posted seven-feet high (from the bottom of the sign).’ State and federal regulations require a minimum of five-feet high from the bottom of the sign. The signs in Temescal Canyon are 4 ft. 7 in., as measured by the Palisadian-Post. Another possible violation is that Redflex, the company that installed the photo-enforcement cameras, receives $20 and the Conservancy receives $80 for each citation in Temescal and Franklin. The December 2006 Conservancy minutes noted that ‘Redflex receives compensation based upon a percentage of citations issued by the system.’ Those contracts violated California Code Section 21455.5, which reads ‘A contract between a governmental agency and a manufacturer or supplier of automated enforcement equipment may not include provision for the payment or compensation to the manufacturer or supplier based on the number of citations generated.’ According to Councilmember Jack Allen, the MRCA claims that roads in Temescal and Franklin are “private driveways” and therefore are not subject to the Vehicle Code. Allen disagrees with the Conservancy’s assessment and cites a California Attorney General’s opinion holding that the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo is covered by the California Vehicle Code. In another case, a federal court rejected the argument that roads on McClellan Air Force Base were not ‘open to the use of the public,’ and wrote, ‘The roadways on [this base] are ways or places used for purposes of vehicular travel. They are open to the public, subject only to reasonable restrictions and regulations.” Before the Council voted, Cohen stated the group would remain impartial about the controversy in Temescal, but wanted the state attorney general to examine legal issues and decide whether the park is under the Vehicle Code. ‘We’re concerned about the legality of the cameras,’ Cohen said. Council member Harry Sondheim, in arguing against the motion, said ‘I don’t think the public is bothered by it. ‘ ‘We’re not advocating one side or another,’ Council member Quentin Fleming said. ‘We just want an investigation about the legality.’ According to Allen, whether the roads are covered by the Vehicle Code is one issue. A larger issue is whether the MRCA can enact ordinances. ‘I can find nothing in the legislation governing the MRCA that gives them the authority to enact ordinances,’ he said. The next step for the Community Council is to get the motion to the State Attorney General. ‘Since it requires a member of the state legislature or a state offical to make the request of the Attorney General, one would hope that either Sen. Sheila Kuehl or Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, or both, would request an opinion not only on behalf of the Community Council but also because many of their constituents are concerned,’ Allen wrote in an e-mail to the Post.