We all can be ‘environmental activists’ and take action to help the environment. Local organizations and residents are taking action. Please join them. 1. Heal the Bay Proclaims December 20 ‘A Day Without a Bag!’ Thousands of reusable bags will be given away citywide. Palisades Cares is coordinating our community participation in this event. Community volunteers, including students and members of Palisades Cares and Palisades Green Initiative, will be distributing reusable bags and literature in front of Starbucks from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and encouraging the use of reusable bags. Starbucks will provide complimentary coffee to volunteers and bag ‘shoppers.’ Local businesses are asked to encourage their shoppers to use reusable bags. Volunteers will distribute reusable bags to businesses that wish to use them that day. So far, Bentons, Village Books, Oasis Palisades and Collar and Leash have signed up. To request some bags or to volunteer to distribute bags to local businesses, contact info@palisadescares.org or call (310) 459-8318. See www.healthebay.org or www.palisadescares.org for more details. 2. Palisades High Students Promote an Environmentally Friendly Christmas Student Lauren Gustafson, who is working on the EAST project with Talia Hovanesian and Xavier Keyser, writes: ‘Do you know that we create an extra five million tons of garbage every holiday season, from 8,000 tons of wrapping paper, 4,200 tons of aluminum foil, and 125,000 tons of plastic packaging?’ She urges everybody to visit greenholiday07.googlepages.com/environmentallyfriendlychristmas for good idea, including Web sites for ‘green’ clothes, toys, and cosmetics. EAST is the Environmental and Spatial Technology club. 3. ‘Pali Lights’ Fundraiser at Palisades Charter High School Liane Dallalzadeh, an EAST student, is working on replacing 100 of the 400 incandescent bulbs at PaliHi with CFLs by mid-February. The fundraising to purchase these bulbs has been organized in cooperation with One Planet Fundraising. The students in Dallalzadeh’s EAST group are selling the bulbs at $6 for one or $10 for two. Families of students who attend PaliHi or people who are affiliated with the school are encouraged to participate. Call Dallalzadeh at (310) 487-6800 or e-mail palilights@aol.com with questions. 4. Girl Scouts to Sponsor Plastic Bag-Free Weekend Cadette Girl Scout Troop 128 will host this event February 9 and 10 in the Palisades. The girls will give away free canvas bags and literature among other activities. They will discuss their plan at the January meeting of the Palisades Cares Environmental Network. 5. Update on Business Recycling in the Palisades Ask the businesses you patronize if they recycle. Chrysalis Recycling provides free weekly recycling to the Palisades Chamber of Commerce, the Palisadian-Post, the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, Senior Funding Advisors, Calvary Christian School, Sara Jo, Bel-Air Bay Club, Wells Fargo Bank, Palisades Presbyterian Church and Preschool, Palisades Lutheran Church, Roy Robbins, Teale-Edwards Productions, and Oasis Spa. Contact: Elizabeth Shavelson at LizS@changelives.org. 6. Shop for Environmentally Friendly Gifts Whole Foods Market and the L.A. Times are co-sponsoring an Eco Gift Expo on December 15 and 16 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. For further information, visit www.ecogift.com. 7. Eight for ’08 Update Make your individual pledge and give suggestions for our community. Since these are ‘New Year Resolutions,’ the deadline has been extended to January 2. Some early submissions have included using reusable bags in every store, encouraging businesses to stop using Styrofoam, and starting a community garden. What do you want our community to work on? Will you help? What will you do at home? E-mail info@palisadescares.org with your goals and visit www.palisadescares.org to see frequent updates.

By CHIARA CANZI Palisadian-Post Intern It was a clear, crispy night as I approached a home in the upper Riviera neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. I was assigned to meet and profile a woman who will soon turn 100, and I was excited for the opportunity to talk to somebody who had lived through nearly all the important events of the 20th century. When I entered the room, Margaret Kelly was sitting on the sofa sipping a sweet, pinkish wine. ‘This is my favorite time of day,’ she said with a giggle. That smile reminded me about my own grandmother, Pierina, back home in Milan, Italy. At 96, she too is planning on becoming a centenarian. I used to love sitting on her lap, listening to her stories. Margaret’s daughter Peggy ushered me in to meet her mother, and clearly there’s a special bond between them. Margaret, who is 99 until December 16, has been living with her daughter for a few years because of severe arthritis. Margaret’s story begins in Brownsville, Oregon, where she was raised on a farm with a sister, Anna, and two brothers, Jack and Dan. ‘The farmhouse is still there,’ says Peggy, pushing the DVD player’s play button. ‘That’s your daddy’s farm, right Mom?’ Margaret nods. Peggy is playing a homemade video for me that tells her mother’s life story. ‘I took old pictures and put it together,’ she says. ‘It’s so nice to watch it again and again.’ Old black-and-white pictures of a far different time scroll on the screen. In every picture Margaret looks happy and surrounded by family. Her parents, Denis and Delia Lane, were proud Irish immigrants with strong Catholic family values. Margaret was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, where she got all A’s and B’s, except in deportment. ‘You liked to talk, Mom,’ Peggy says. Margaret nods and laughs loudly. ‘Yes, I sure did!’ After the death of her father in 1925, Margaret and her mother sold the farm and moved to Los Angeles to be closer to her older brothers. She was 18. On the screen now, we see a young Margaret, a stylish fashionista–pigtails, peasant blouses accented by leather gloves. She looked incredible. I share this thought and Peggy agrees. ‘My mother has always been a very cool person. During Prohibition, she and her friends were caught single-handedly carrying flasks into restaurants. They would order Seven-Up and mix it with you know what.’ Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, Margaret found a job downtown at Western Union, where she earned 50 cents an hour and worked in the same office for the next 20 years. ‘Downtown was so different back then,’ she says. ‘I remember going to work on an electric streetcar. There weren’t that many people there, so there was no traffic. Imagine that!’ In 1932, Margaret married Jim Kelly and, she says, ‘I proceeded, as a good Irish Catholic, to have five children.’ Despite the Depression, the Kellys were able to move into a house in Huntington Park and both kept working. Jim Kelly was an accountant, and he soon started his own business downtown. ‘Those were happy times,’ Margaret says with a sigh, tipping the glass with her polished nails. She remembers moving to Sherman Oaks in 1939 and buying a house for $1,700. She lived there and in a second home until 2004, when she moved in with her daughter. When Jim Kelly died of a heart attack in 1951, he left five children in the care of their mother. ‘We had tough times,’ says Peggy, ‘ but we were a happy family.’ Dad left the family a little money from his accounting enterprise, but Margaret had to supplement it with a job at the California Electric Service in Van Nuys. She worked there for 30 years, before retiring at 77. Even now, on the sofa, this 99-year-old woman glows. She is strong. She has that particular vitality that radiates through her fragile limbs. Her life has not been ordinary; she had to overcome setbacks that defined the woman she is now. But she never once forgot to have fun. Legend has it that one night, at one of her favorite hangouts in the San Fernando Valley’the Tail of the Cock’Margaret arrived early and was waiting for her friends at the bar. A guy sitting next to her made a rude comment about her, and the bartender jumped the counter, made the man apologize and asked him to leave. In 1949, Margaret and many of her friends were founding members of St. Cyril’s Catholic Church in Encino. Here, they enjoyed gathering for fundraisers–and the additional martini. They now call themselves the HBs (‘Has Beens’), and still meet for lunch whenever they can. When Margaret retired at 77, she took up bowling with her church group. She and her teammates played in a league once a week and called themselves the SOBs (for ‘Sherman Oaks Beauties’). The sport became Margaret’s lasting love. When she was 91, she was featured in L.A. Senior Life magazine as the oldest bowler in the area. She bowled until the age of 96, when her knees asked her to stop, but even then, her average score was close to 100. ‘She was and still is a very social person,’ Peggy says. ‘People love talking to her, she is so full of life.’ As we visited, Margaret caught a glimpse of the invitation for her 100th birthday party. ‘That’s for me? 100? It can’t be true! I don’t feel old!’ She never grows old, she says. It’s in her genes and in her spirit. With almost a century behind her, Margaret has a suggestion for all youngsters out there: ‘Get along with people, be yourself and have a glass of wine every night!’ She plays gin every evening with her daughter, a stockbroker, who says, ‘I have to tell you, she always wins. The other night I asked her why she wins all the time, and she said, ”It’s not my fault you’re not as smart as I am.’ Can you believe that?’ Both women embrace in a good laugh. My thoughts go back to my grandmother, who did not, however, have the same average in bowling. I think she never bowled in her life, actually, but she, like Margaret, is a product of a different time. For that they are strong, independent women. And for those of you math wiz’s, here are some numbers: Margaret has 32 descendants: five children, 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. They will all be gathering here this Saturday along with many friends for the big birthday bash. Daughter Peggy plans to toast her mother with an old Irish proverb: ‘May you live 100 years, and one extra year to repent.’ When I completed my interview and was outside, getting ready to leave, Peggy showed me Margaret’s vintage dark-blue 1967 Mustang that she drove until she was 95. Even in her 80s, Margaret told an earlier interviewer, whenever she was stopped at a signal and a guy would pull up next to her in a sports car, she enjoyed showing him who was boss. ‘The other driver would see this gray-haired lady behind the wheel,’ Margaret said, ‘but I would look at him, then just step on the gas and leave him in the dust.’

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority will not consider making Las Pulgas Canyon into a state-owned park because of the canyon’s “severe” geological instability, said its Executive Director Joe Edmiston in an interview Tuesday with the Palisadian-Post. As director of the MRCA and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Edmiston regularly purchases large tracts of private land to preserve open space throughout Southern California. But Las Pulgas, which went on the market for $25 million this October, will not be one of them. “We wouldn’t consider acquiring it even if it was a donation,” Edmiston said. “I think Las Pulgas is a wonderful canyon. It’s a wonderful spot. But in terms of getting the state to take that liability, that in this day and age, wouldn’t play well in Sacramento. Maybe circumstances have changed. I don’t know, but the geology has probably changed the least.” Before Barry Maiten bought the 33-acre canyon in 1996 for less than $1.6 million, Edmiston said he and his staff researched buying the property. Their conclusion? Even free was too expensive. Edmiston points to the conclusion of a 1990 independent land-use valuation survey, which concluded that the property was worth negative $10.5 million. “At the time, you couldn’t even buy insurance for that property,” Edmiston said. “That canyon has many of the similar problems as Potrero [Canyon]. The instability issues are quite severe. Given all the problems that continue in Potrero, for a public agency, it would pose a tremendous problem.” Maiten and his realtor, Sotheby International’s agent Rodrigo Iglesias, reject the study because the negative appraisal was based on subdividing the property into 45 single-family houses. And they argue that technological improvements could allow development today that was not permitted in 1990. Iglesias said he is trying to sell the canyon to someone who wants to own a large, ranch-style estate; he’s not seeking a developer. Edmiston’s refusal to consider buying the property is unwelcome news for neighbors of the canyon and members of Save Las Pulgas Canyon, Inc., who have dreamed of permanently protecting the canyon from development by creating a “passive” park. “What’s true today may not necessarily be true in the future,” said Lloyd Ahern, a leader of Save Las Pulgas. “[Edmiston] has always come up with remedies when there were none. We’re not in a crisis right now, so we don’t have to think short-term.” Edmiston pointed to one alternative that members of Save Las Pulgas might want to consider. “At a lower price–$25 million is unfeasible–it might be feasible to have a Benefit Assessment District,” Edmiston said. “As a separate entity, [Las Pulgas] could be acquired by people in the neighborhood.” In a letter to the Post this week (see page 2), the realtor selling the property suggested that Maiten would offer a ‘substantial discount to any government agency that would purchase this property for the enjoyment of underprivileged inner-city children, gang-member rehabilitation and any other associations dedicated to keeping kids off the streets and enjoying the wonderful potential activities of being in contact with the extraordinary nature of this canyon/ranch and the beach.’ He added: “Soccer games, overnight camping and campfires are but just a few of the opportunities this amazing site can offer to allow Angelenos of all social classes and backgrounds an opportunity to find a way out of the bad influences of the inner-city streets.” Ahern of Save Las Pulgas called Maiten’s offer “silly.” “It’s not a serious proposal,” he said. “This canyon has already been imagined as an environmental park. It’s not flat enough for playing soccer. There’s no money for that or for supervision of the park. This battle will go on until it’s turned into public land.” —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.

The Westside Waldorf School’s fundraiser on Sunday fell far short of raising the nearly $100,000 needed to fund the construction of a traffic signal on Sunset Boulevard at Los Liones Drive. The total amount raised from school-sponsored raffles, auctions and donations was “somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000–but probably closer to $10,000–said the K-8’s Development Director Jeffrey Graham on Tuesday. That leaves the school roughly $85,000 short of what it must raise. “We’re still waiting for the final estimate,” Graham said. “We had a lower turnout than we had wished for, but we had a broad range of people participating. The real value [of the event] was raising awareness.” L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl was one of approximately 50 people who attended the event. Graham said that he is speaking to individual philanthropists to close the shortfall. The school plans to auction several items not sold last weekend online and at its Winter Faire this Saturday. If funds are still needed, the school will consider hosting another fundraising event next spring, Graham said. The school agreed to pay for the construction of the Sunset-Los Liones traffic signal as a condition of receiving a permanent Certificate of Occupancy from the city. Castellammare residents using Los Liones Drive complain that school traffic has made the intersection increasingly dangerous. And Castellammare homeowners as well as other community members have urged the city to withhold granting Waldorf permanent occupancy until the school completes funding the light. The school’s temporary occupancy certificate was extended this November until the end of this school year. The L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT) began the first phase of the project–design–this summer after the school gave more than $50,000. The design phase is scheduled to be complete by spring, according to Graham. Keeping the signal on track to be completed by September 2008, as planned, will depend on the success of Waldorf fundraising. LADOT estimates total project’s cost will be $350,000. Construction is expected to account for $270,000 of the total cost. The Waldorf School originally estimated that the total cost of the project would be $200,000. That estimate was inaccurate because it did not account for building concrete sidewalks and grading, according to LADOT. Last January, the K-8 school moved from Santa Monica to the site of the former Santa Ynez Inn and Transcendental Meditation Center. Based on Waldorf’s original faulty estimate, it had set aside $50,000 and received a $150,000 commitment from the Getty Villa Community Relations Committee. That committee will still donate $150,000 toward the signal once Waldorf completes fundraising, Graham said. Councilman Bill Rosendahl has said he will use district funds to pay the difference between the final costs of construction and the $300,000 paid by Waldorf and the Getty Committee. That difference is estimated to be around $50,000. —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.

Although rain threatened to wreck the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Holliday Ho!Ho!Ho! festivities last Friday evening, a last-minute change of venue to the Corpus Christi parish hall allowed more than 200 children a chance to sit with Santa and talk about their Christmas wishes. Rob and Victoria Aikman brought their 11-month-old son, Rex, for his first time with Santa. ‘He’ll either be totally shocked, crying or interested,’ predicted Victoria about the visit. Rex managed to make two of his mom’s predictions come true: for the first few minutes he was fascinated with the big bearded man in red, and then he started crying. Friday was also a first for 18-month-old Abraham Balser. ‘We don’t know. He may freak out,’ mom Allison said. Instead, he sat nicely on Santa’s lap, allowing mom and dad ample photo-taking opportunities. For many of the youngest who were not quite comfortable with the tradition, Mrs. Claus graciously gave up her chair, so that moms could sit next to Santa and hold their children. Older sister Ava Irving had no problems with Santa, so she helped 14-month-old sister Hazel by holding her while she sat comfortably on Mr. Claus’ lap. For some longtime residents like Deann Wilken, the visit to Santa hasn’t stopped because she has grown children. Her granddaughter, Kendall Wilken, 3, was waiting in line. Wilken said that the visit to the Palisades event has spanned several generations. ‘We have a picture of me sitting on Santa’s lap on Swarthmore,’ said mom Heather Wilken. Many parents and children arrived before 5 p.m. to watch Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on a Fire Station 69’s engine. (Santa always parks his sleigh on the station roof.) Accompanying the North Pole couple were Honorary Mayor Gavin MacLeod; Mr. Palisades, Tyler DuBovy; Miss Palisades, Colleen Benko; and Chamber President Brad Lusk. Although the predicted downpour of rain never materialized, parents took advantage of the indoor location, dressing their children in velvet outfits, ‘The community really came together and made the adjustment,’ Lusk said. ‘It’s turned out to be a great event.’ Free hot chocolate and popcorn, face painting and holiday selections from the Palisades Oom PaPa Band all added to the festive evening. After the band finished playing, movies ran on the screen donated by Movies in the Park. Even Chamber of Commerce Secretary Marilyn Crawford admitted that Sponge Bob mesmerized her. The Corpus Christi children’s choir sang holiday tunes. To everyone’s delight, some of the younger children performed an impromptu dance recital, twirling and swaying in time to the music in front of the choir. This was the first year that toys for the ‘Toys for Tots’ campaign were gathered and given to Station 69 for its collection. ‘We did really well with toys,’ Crawford said. ‘This was the first year and, hopefully, we will do even better next year. This is a good thing.’ The Chamber of Commerce would like to thank all of their sponsors and volunteers who made this such a memorable event.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13 The United Methodist Women’s annual Christmas Tea and Mini Bazaar, 1 p.m. in Gabrielson Hall, 801 Via de la Paz. The bazaar is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Public invited. ‘Green Your Holiday’ meeting, sponsored by the Palisades Cares Eco Network, 6:30 p.m. at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, 15150 Sunset. Discussion will focus on having an eco-conscious holiday season. Green gifts will be displayed from Pharmaca, Klean Kanteen, Greenopia and others. Organic eggnog will be served. Contact: Marie Steckmest at 459-1614. Pacific Palisades Community Council’s annual Community Service Award meeting, 7 p.m. in the dining hall at Temescal Gateway Park, preceded by a holiday potluck dinner. Public invited. Mark Frost, author of ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ and ‘Grand Slam,’ discusses and signs ‘The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever,’ 7:30 p.m., Village Books on Swarthmore. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 Paliskates hosts a Board Release Party at 5 p.m. at the store, 1019 Swarthmore. Music of the Season by J.S. Bach, presented by the St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra and the St. Matthew’s Choir, 8 p.m. in the sanctuary, 1031 Bienveneda. Admission at the door: $25. Theatre Palisades presents Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit ‘The Unexpected Guest,’ Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., through December 16 at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Call (310) 454-1970 for ticket information, or go to www.theatrepalisades.org. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 Book launch for Antje Ravic Strubel’s novel, ‘Snowed Under,” 4 p.m. at the Villa Aurora on Paseo Miramar. Shuttle service begins at 3:30 p.m. at the corner of Los Liones and Sunset Blvd. (See story, page TK.) The Temescal Canyon Association hikers explore the Venice canals in their Christmas glory. Public invited. For this hike only, meet at 5 p.m. in the Temescal Gateway parking lot (just north of Sunset) for carpooling. For more information and possible updates, visit temcanyon.org or call (310) 459-5931. MONDAY, DECEMBER 17 Deadline for Holiday Spirit Toy Drive at selected locations in Pacific Palisades. New toys and clothes are sought. Details at palisadescares.org TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18 Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association board meeting, 7 p.m. at Rustic Canyon Park. Public invited. The agenda’s New Business items include burglaries in the upper canyon; future planning for the eucalyptus forest in Rustic Park; and new speed humps in Rustic. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19 A weekly writing meeting for all 12-Step programs or anyone else with a habitual problem or illness, 7 to 8 p.m. at 16730 Bollinger. Every third Saturday there’s a three-hour writing workshop at 9 a.m., same address. Contacts: (310) 454-5138 or info@12stepsforeverybody.org. Sal Foti, a longtime parishioner at Corpus Christi Church, will display his paintings at a special exhibit in the Palisades Branch Library community room, today through January 5. The public is invited. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20 ‘The Santa Cause,’ a play written by Palisadian Pamela Sommer, will be performed at 8 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd.