JASON B. SCHALL, son of Steve and Wendy Schall and a sophomore in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, was named to the dean’s list for the winter quarter of the 2005-06 academic year. Students on the dean’s list have attained a grade-point average of at least 3.70. Schall, a Palisades High School graduate, is majoring in history. TARA BRISCO, daughter of Linda and Len Brisco, was named to the dean’s list at the University of San Francisco. ANDREW PANKIN, son of Stuart and Joy Pankin, was named to the merit list at Kenyon College for the first semester of the 2005-2006 academic year. To be eligible for merit list recognition, a student must earn a grade-point average of at least 3.45 on the college’s 4-point grading scale. Pankin, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, was also a member of the chorus in the Kenyon College Dramatic Club production of “The Gospel at Colonus,” conceived and adapted by Lee Breuer, with music composed by Bob Telson, at Kenyon College’s Bolton Theater in Gambier, Ohio. The work was inspired by the story of the dying Oedipus, accursed king of Thebes in ancient Greek legend, as depicted in Sophocles’ trilogy, “Oedipus Rex,” “Oedipus at Colonus,” and “Antigone.” Breuer and Telson based their production primarily on the adaptation of the middle play by poet Robert Fitzgerald, incorporating passages from versions of the first and third plays by Dudley Fitts and Fitzgerald. But instead of a Greek chorus providing counterpoint and commentary to the action, there’s a preacher telling the story of Oedipus as a sermon, backed by a full-throated gospel choir and a six-piece jazz band. Director Jonathan Tazewell and set designer Hugh Lester also incorporate references to the devastation of New Orleans in this parable about life, death and redemption. Pankin is a graduate of Crossroads School. BERIT E. AUERBACH-LYNN and ALEXANDRA P. KALINOWKSI were named to the dean’s list at Boston University for the fall 2005 semester. NATHANIEL KLEIN, son of Sue and Irv Klein, was named to the dean’s list at Washington University in St. Louis for the fall 2005 semester. To be eligible for this recognition, a student must earn a grade-point average of 3.6 or higher, and be enrolled in at least 12 hours of graded course work. Nathaniel, a graduate of Windward School, is currently enrolled in the university’s John M. Olin School of Business. Marine Corps Cpl. RAUL A. VELASQUEZ, a 2004 graduate of Palisades Charter High School, was recently promoted to his current rank while serving with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212, Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station, in Iwakuni, Japan. Velasquez was promoted on the basis of sustained superior job performance and proficiency in his designated specialty. Velasquez joined the Marine Corps in July 2004. DAVID WEINER-CRANE was named to the academic honor roll for the winter term at Northfield Mount Hermon School, an independent boarding school in Northfield, Massachusetts. He is currently in his junior year at the high school.

Third Annual Palisades Film Fest Begins Tonight The Palisades Film Festival opens tonight, May 11, and continues through Saturday, May 13 with a variety of screenings taking place at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Blvd. The opening night’s film, shown at 7:15 p.m., is the L.A. premiere of “Crossing Arizona,” Joseph Mathew’s gripping documentary about the tensions along the Mexican/American border. Focusing on personal stories of local people on both sides of the border, the film follows a dynamic array of individuals including Minutemen, Latino activists and the emigrants themselves. Also showing will be the short film “Intelligence” by director Allen Martinez. Opening-night festivities culminate at 9:30 p.m. at Chefmakers Cooking Academy, 862 Via de la Paz, where Dom DeLuise will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by his longtime friend Burt Reynolds. Tickets to the opening-night party, including the screenings, are $50. The film-only price is $10. Another highlight is the screening of “Always Will” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 13. Earlier this year the movie won the audience-favorite award at the International Family Film Festival. Written and directed by Michael Sammaciccia, “Always Will” centers on the tumultuous years of a high school adolescent who discovers a time capsule that allows him to achieve the kind of popularity that every teenager yearns for. Tickets are $5. For a complete list of screenings, go online to www.FriendsofFilm.com. Credit card reservations for all screening parties and packages can be made by calling the Theatre Palisades box office at 454-1970. Ann Taylor Fleming Explores the Ever-Fascinating Family Ann Taylor Fleming will sign her first novel, “As If Love Were Enough” on Thursday, May 18, 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Fleming is a television commentator and writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her two novellas, “Marriage: A Duet,” were published to critical acclaim, and an earlier nonfiction book, “Motherhood Deferred,” a woman’s journey, is a passionate and personal exploration of the generation of women who came of age during the women’s movement. Fleming, an on-camera essayist for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and a CNN NewsNight contributor, lives in Brentwood with her husband, Karl Fleming. Her novel tells the story of the intricate relationships of a family as its members grapple with love, loyalty and their meaning to one another. When Clare Layton’s actress mother abandons her husband and small daughters for her lover, Clare’s comfortable Hollywood family and lifestyle are shattered forever. But a reunion with her long-estranged sister, Louise, who hopes to enlist her aid to save her ailing teenage son, forces both women to come to terms with their childhood, family, and personal lives. Kehillat Lecture Aims on Fatherhood “Fatherhood” is the subject of a talk to be presented by Edward Dreyfus, Ph.D. at Kehillat Israel, 16019 Sunset Blvd., at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 15. Most fathers think of themselves merely as breadwinners in the family. At best, they become a “mother’s assistant” rather than recognize that their role is unique and as important as the mother’s role. As a result, children often suffer from what might be called “father-hunger.” This workshop will help you understand more fully your psychological role as a dad and how you can become more active in your child’s life. Contact: 459-2328. Author Thomas Perry To Speak at Library Thomas Perry, the author of many popular mysteries, will be speaking at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real Dr., at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 20. His most current novel,”Nightline,” is the story of a woman who changes identities each time she commits a murder. Perry is a Los Angeles writer who has won an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of American for his first crime novel. The program is sponsored by the Pacific Palisades Library Association. Contact: 459-2754. Malibu Garden Tour Set for May 20 The Malibu Garden Club will hold its 9th Annual Garden Tour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 20. Featured this year will be some of Malibu’s most beautiful gardens hosted by docents and renowned landscape architects and designers at each location. Refreshments are included with the $25 tax-deductible donation. For tickets or for more information, go to www.malibugardenclub.com or call 455-1558. The Da Vinci Code Opens Discussion Palisadians Gerald McLaughlin and Sara Taft will discuss the Knights Templar and Mary Magdalene on the eve of the motion picture release of “The Da Vinci Code” on Tuesday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library Community Room, 861 Alma Real. McLaughlin is dean emeritus and a professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and is the author of “The Parchment.” Sara Taft is a local artist whose artwork entitled “A Legendary Biography of Mary Magdalene” is currently circulating. Some of her work will be displayed during the discussion.

For classical concert pianist Ritta Bardakjian, playing piano is a gift her parents gave her when she was just a child growing up in Kuwait in the 1970s. The gift originally came in the form of a piano that her parents shipped from England, where they traveled frequently on business. “I sat at the piano whenever I felt lost, lonely or sad,” says Bardakjian, a Pacific Palisades resident who earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from USC last May. The rich and soothing power of music has inspired Bardakjian throughout her life, and became particularly resonant last July, when her mother passed away. “I wanted to do something in my mom’s memory,” says Bardakjian, who organized a concert that will take place on May 20 at 7 p.m. at Pepperdine University’s Raitt Recital Hall. “I just know she would want me to continue to practice and perform.” Bardakjian’s program will include Beethoven’s Opus 13 (Path’tique), Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 (“Funeral March”) and Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes because her mother, Jackline, “adored Schumann.” Bardakjian, who is Armenian, grew up listening to Western as well as Eastern music. She started playing piano when she was about 5 years old and studied with a teacher from South America who was “very focused and intense.” As young Ritta developed her playing skills, the teacher advised her mother to send her outside Kuwait where she would have the opportunity to seriously pursue her talent. So, when Bardakjian was 13, she went off to a boarding school in Uppingham, outside London. Her choirmaster at the school encouraged her to audition for a conservatory in London and, two years later, she was training at the London School of Music, where William Lloyd Webber (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s father) was director. Bardakjian received her music degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and made her Canadian debut in 1981, performing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. In 1983, at age 20, she got the opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall because the Armenian Ladies’ Guild was looking for Armenian talent and chose her to perform at an event. She says she wasn’t nervous because “when you’re young, you’re more gutsy. Egos don’t play as big a role.” It was a thrilling experience just knowing she was “touching the keys the greats have touched.” Bardakjian was accepted to The Julliard School and the Paris Conservatory on scholarships but declined them both to study with Hungarian pianist Georgy Sebok at the University of Indiana while working towards her master’s degree in music. Sebok “taught me that I had to use the piano as an instrument but not battle with it,” says Bardakjian, who has also studied with other renowned artists such as Polish pianist Marek Jablonski and American pianist Leon Fleischer and Kevin Fitz-Gerald. Currently, Bardakjian teaches piano to students as young as 5, though she says that children at that age have to be “exceptional” in their skills. Bardakjian has a 10-year-old daughter, Angelica, who studies piano and ballet. To inquire about lessons with Bardakjian, contact: 573-9622. For tickets to the Pepperdine concert, contact: 506-4522.

It all started in 1925, three years after the official founding of Pacific Palisades, when 54 women met to discuss books and current events. Calling themselves “The Forum,” the group chose the California poppy as their flower, orange and green as their official colors, and “Let Something Good Be Said” as their motto. “This motto reminds us always of the far-reaching effect of our words,” one of the early members wrote. Scrapbooks filled with yellowed newsprint are all that survive of the early decades of the club, which changed its name to the Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club in 1931, joining the federal and state federation of women’s clubs. Now in its 80th year, and carrying the distinction as the oldest club in Pacific Palisades, the Woman’s Club will host a celebratory open house at its clubhouse, 901 Haverford Ave., from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 21. Everyone in the community is invited. Membership has ebbed and flowed over the years, with the peak coming in 1952 when it climbed to 500 after two new divisions, junior and evening associates, were created. These days, while membership is a more modest 80, the activities of the club remain much the same, ranging from philanthropic projects to author teas, fashion shows, bridge luncheons, music recitals and topical lectures. The year 1942 was a pivotal one for the club, when the site of the future clubhouse was purchased for $301.10. The following year, members bought an additional one-half lot for $150. Construction and dedication of the clubhouse didn’t come until 1951 and since that time the sleek, modernist building has been remodeled and enlarged twice. While the clubhouse originally was built primarily for Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club functions, over the years it has become a meeting place on a community-wide scale. The club is approached on a regular basis with proposals from those who wish to purchase and develop the valuable land. “This is our clubhouse and we have every intention of keeping it that way,” says current president Jean Aroeste. “While we give money to over 25 charities each year, I think the biggest contribution we make to this community is maintaining the clubhouse and making it available to other groups. With a kitchen and stage, along with a public address system, it’s really the only fully equipped meeting place in town.” Dorothy Hill, at 95 still active in the club, joined in 1958 when her first son went off to college and she “didn’t have much do.” She remembers the days when shopping and preparing the luncheon were required. “We got smart and now have it catered,” she says. She points to membership numbers as one of the biggest changes she has witnessed over the years. Back in the 1960s, membership was over 250. “This is before Juniors changed the rules and became their own entity [the Pacific Palisades Junior Women’s Club],” Dorothy says. “It used to be that when Juniors reached 35, they would join our group. Now they can be a Junior until they’re 90.” Marion Marshall, who in 40 years as a member has held every board position including serving as president four times, agrees something was lost when the Juniors splintered off, but acknowledges how societal changes, particularly women entering the work force, have had an impact on the popularity of women’s clubs in general. Nonetheless, she’s quick to list the club’s many undertakings as evidence of continued vitality. “We still conduct a literature section four times a year, we sponsor a free flu clinic, we provide scholarships to students at Palisades High, and we have a wonderful annual fashion show.” Mary Dean, one of the younger members at 59, conducts free tai chi classes, open to the community, every Thursday morning throughout the year. Dean has organized a special exhibition of paintings by women artists in the community, including one of her own paintings, to coincide with the 80th anniversary. “These women are such an inspiration to me,” says Dean of her fellow members. She joined the group when she moved to the Palisades in 1974. “There has been such deep community involvement among them for so many years,” she adds. At 91, Phyllis Keely is one of the newest members, having joined only a couple years ago. For 50 years, she was busy operating her own business, “The Letter Shop,” on Via de la Paz. “We’re still plugging along, still playing bridge and having a lot of fun,” says the spry nonagenarian. She gets a big laugh from her gal pals when she adds “Getting older isn’t for wimps.” Regular club meetings with entertainment and lunch are held every second Tuesday and bridge luncheons every third Tuesday, from October through June. For membership information, contact Judy Grosh at 454-7144.