CATHERINE WANG, daughter of Tracy and Hi Wang, was one of 200 students who took part in the Junior National Leaders Conference (Jr. NYLC) from February 18 to 23, in Washington D.C. Themed The Legacy of American Leadership, the Jr. NYLC introduces young people to the rich tradition of leadership throughout American history, while helping them develop their own leadership skills. Catherine, a 7th grade student at St. Matthew’s Parish school, has been a swimmer on the YMCA PALY team for six years and was named YMCA National top-16 swimmer in four individual events for the 2004-2005 season. She attends the Westside Chinese school on weekends and is a scholarship recipient from the Southern California Chinese Council for academic achievements in Chinese studying. o o o ALEX LOSITO, a sixth grader at Corpus Christi School, recently won the 2005 Los Angeles-Eschscholtzia Chapter, DAR (Daughter of the American Revolution) American History Essay contest. In his essay “Ben Franklin, Not Just a Revolutionary,” Alex wrote about some of the many inventions attributed to Franklin, and included information on Franklin the humorist. Alex received a bronze history award and a cash gift. o o o LONDON VENTURELLI was recently selected for admission to the National Who’s Who of American High School Students. A sophomore at Brentwood School, she is on the dean’s list, in honors women’s choir and’the manager of the co-ed varsity swim team. She’is also a community’volunteer for the Harold Pump Foundation and Camp Harmony. London enjoys dancing and singing, and records an annual album of vocal and instrumental arrangements.
Calvary Director Tapped for Teachers’
Marti Ingraham-Willens, Middle School director and eighth grade English teacher at Calvary Christian School, has been selected for inclusion in the 10th edition of “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2005/2006.” This publication honors a select 5 percent of U.S. teachers who have been nominated by former students. Palisades resident Jessie Kybartas, a Calvary graduate and current Marymount student, nominated Willens for this honor. Kybartas said: “Mrs. Willens is a teacher who has influenced me because of her true connection to us, the students. When it came to English, she taught with her heart. Mrs. Willens’ passion for literature gave my classmates and me the inspiration to become better writers. She is a teacher I’ll never forget.” Willens has been teaching eighth grade English at Calvary since 1995, became chairman of the English department in 1998 and director of the Middle School in 2000. In addition to academic and administrative duties, she has found time to coach the flag football team, advise the student council and sit on Calvary’s board of trustees as the Middle School representative. Currently she is a member of the board of trustees at the Bel-Air Bay Club. She received honorary service awards from Palisades Elementary School in 1995 and from the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Dept. in 1996. Willens was born and raised in Texas and received a B.A. in journalism from the University of Texas in 1976. She is married to Ron Willens and has three children: Shane, Zack and Stephanie Ingraham.
A Classic Blooms on Stage
Theater Review
“There is no such thing as natural beauty.” That’s the motto at Truvy’s Beauty Salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, the small-town setting of Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias.” The story tells of a closely-knit group of six women’lively, quirky and lovable characters made famous by the actresses who played them in the 1989 film. It’s hard to imagine a cast that could perform these roles with the chemistry created by Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts. However, the play version of “Steel Magnolias” allows the characters to develop and their relationships to be manifest more quickly and intensely by omitting the male roles and staging all of the action in the beauty parlor. The scenes and quotable lines we remember from the movie are cleverly condensed into this sacred female space of comfort, gossip and friendship. In the Santa Monica Theatre Guild production at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, the sisterhood between these strong-minded southern ladies is refreshingly natural. Under the direction of Sherry Coon, the actresses perform the memorable roles with great energy, clearly inspired by the film’s classic performances but also bringing their own vision to the stage. Jennifer Ruckman is delightful as the sweet and strong-willed Shelby, who is determined to have a baby despite doctor’s orders that she shouldn’t, because of her diabetic condition. Ruckman accentuates Shelby’s tomboyishness and her zest for life. Shelby’s mother M’Lynn (Jaimie Keppel) is visibly torn over her daughter’s decision and needs all the support she can get from her closest friends. They give M’Lynn strength with a generous dose of humor. The mother-daughter relationship created by Ruckman and Keppel is convincing’their characters’ love for each other felt in their intense disagreements on everything from Shelby’s wedding colors to her health issues. The ensemble transitions smoothly between the light, playful banter and more delicate, somber scenes like the moment Shelby experiences “insulin shock,” or M’Lynn’s emotional collapse. These are real southern ladies’strong and vulnerable at the same time. They are not afraid to cry or raise their voices, and what keeps them going is a sharp sense of humor and the ability to laugh at themselves and one another. Clairee (Mary Beth Pape) has some of the best lines and Pape delivers them well. “If you can’t find anything good to say about anybody, come sit by me,” she says in a delicate southern drawl. Ouiser (Joanna Churgin) is the butt of so many jokes, but only because she can take them. Churgin, a petite woman, is a little more feminine than Shirley MacLaine’s crude, overall-clad Ouiser but she has no problem playing the loud and cynical character who claims, “I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a really bad mood for 40 years.” Closely observing the dynamic network of ladies is Annelle (Kimberly Paris), a young woman about Shelby’s age who Truvy hires as her new assistant in the beauty salon. Annelle is from out of town, which is about as mysterious as you can be in Chinquapin. Paris is good as the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Annelle, emphasizing her shy character’s awkwardness in Act 1. She makes it interesting to watch Annelle’s transformation into a confident woman and overzealous Christian as the play progresses. Though most of these actresses seem to be younger than the roles they play, they fit the shoes well, especially Jana Bozeman in the role of Truvy. She crafts a thick southern accent to match her big hair and brightly colored 1980s-style outfits (costume and hair design by Anne Gesling), and is believable as the easygoing and gentle motherly type who takes Annelle under her wing. The beauty-parlor gossip is fast-paced but the actresses make it easy to follow and understand. However, the background music at the beginning of Act 2 is too loud and takes away from the dialogue. The set design (by Thomas A. Brown) creates just the right cozy, lived-in feel of a beauty salon carved out of someone’s home or, in this case, carport. The pastel-colored walls are covered with picture frames and decorations, and it’s a truly workable space where the actresses actually style each other’s hair on stage. The show, produced by Anne Gesling and Larry Gesling, runs through April 8 at the Morgan-Wixson, 2627 Pico Blvd. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets ($18 general admission; $15 seniors and students), call 828-7519.
Sanborns Put a Face on Katrina
To see mountains of wreckage where homes once stood in New Orleans is to see a landscape of devastation and bewilderment, a tragedy. But if you look closely, you see a Pacific Palisades family inserted into the frame, working alongside a man, a resident of the Ninth Ward, cleaning up the soggy remains of his life. It has been six months since Hurricane Katrina blew over New Orleans covering four-fifths of the city in water, destroying thousands of structures and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents. “It was so much bigger than what we were seeing on TV,” Carol Sanborn says, simply. “I remember listening to a man describing to a journalist that his wife had just gone, and the journalist, a pretty blond in her yellow raincoat, quietly ended the questions.” A thoughtful woman of steady conviction, Sanborn decided that she had to do something, and felt compelled to go to New Orleans. Not knowing exactly how to go about her mission, she called her Paulist friend John Collins, who was serving at St. Paul’s in New York. He told her to call Faye Blakely, who had a friend, Sister Loretta Theresa, a nun with the Sisters of the Holy Family whose order was working in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Sisters of the Holy Family was established on November 21, 1842 by a free woman of African descent, Henriette Delille, who began the work of educating the children of slaves and caring for the sick, the poor and the elderly. While denying a superstitious nature, Sanborn believes that signs were there, such as the coincidence that November 21 is her birthday, which she took as encouragement. Sister Loretta put Sanborn in contact with Sister Kathleen, who would be working with her. “It was difficult to contact her because the sisters had been displaced, and there were no phones,” Sanborn recalls. “I told her that my family wanted to help; we’d clean, read books to children, anything.” Although acting on her convictions is familiar to Sanborn’in August she had gone to Crawford, Texas, to keep vigil with Cindy Sheehan’she wanted to include her husband and particularly her children in the New Orleans mission. “I wanted the kids to know that it is not enough to say that this was terrible. I wanted them to know that these people had done nothing wrong to have this horrible tragedy come upon them. Ironically, I realized that we were buying some hardship for them, children who are so privileged living in the Palisades.” As plans unfolded through the fall and Sister Kathleen put Sanborn in touch with the Rev. Doug Doussan of St. Gabriel Parish in the Ninth Ward, it looked as if the Sanborn family would be traveling to post-Katrina New Orleans for a week during the kids’ Christmas break to help two families. The Sanborn children, Jessica, 19, Erica, 17 and Ander, 13, while lacking the fervor of their mother and insisting on staying home for New Year’s Eve, agreed to a diminished Christmas and took off on New Year’s Day. “This was something that Carol had to do on a small scale and we supported her,” says her husband Scott, a gynecologist/obstetrician at Kaiser Hospital. The Sanborns say that even though it was four months after the hurricane, it was as if the staggering devastation played on endlessly. The carpets in the airport were still pulled up, and warnings were clearly displayed: “You’re going to be in contact with mold.” “The Marriott looked like a once-decent hotel that had gone to ruin, and the services were diminished: towels twice a week, maid service three times a week. For every one business that was open, 10 were not,” Scott says. The angels in the story were the people they met. “Once we were there, we saw such deserving people, such expressive people,” Scott says. Father Doussan had told his parishioners that he couldn’t promise them much, but that “they wouldn’t do this alone.” He is the director of Priest Personnel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, but so much more. His flock was scattered, but his commitment to the community and to recovery was constant. Father Doussan had arranged for the Sanborns to assist two families from St. Gabriel Parish, remove the contents of their homes and then demolish the walls and ceilings’the first step in reclaiming their homes and lives. “St. Gabriel Parish is located in the Ninth Ward in a section known as Gentilly Woods,” Carol says. “Their homes sustained about 8-1/2 feet of flooding when the levy broke a few blocks from their neighborhood. The brackish water stood for weeks before it was finally pumped out, and residents had only been permitted to return in January to see the damage for the first time.” They first met Eric Hornsby, whose family had a long tradition of support of the parish and who was the church organist. “He told us how his father delivered mail to the Marsalis family, most famous for sons Wynton and Branford, and negotiated music lessons for Eric with Mr. Marsalis,” Carol says. “Eric worked part-time as a librarian at Delgado College and is engaged to Lynette, who is confined to a wheelchair. They have been living temporarily in Houston since August 29.” Dressed in hazmat suits, rubber gloves, face masks and bandanas, Carol and Scott approached the house, a two-story home Eric had inherited from his parents. “Our first impression was the smell of rotten food and the sweet pungency of mold,” Carol says. “We went into the house, opened the windows and pulled down the drapes so the light could come in.” The children, overwhelmed by the stench, stayed away for a day, preferring to help ferry trash from the house to the piles of debris in the “front” yard. The Sanborns had to reckon with other obstacles, too, such as no water, no power and no gas stations. Although some 200,000 homes were destroyed in the neighborhood, FEMA would provide trailers and tarps to those whose houses could be inhabited once again. But few applied. “Only one out of 50 has taken advantage of the assistance because they don’t know about it and there are no services,” Scott says. The Sanborns began to shovel out 18 years of stuff, using simple tools’shovels, hammers, trash cans’and muscle. On one occasion Carol was clearing out the kitchen and reached up on top of a cabinet and felt something. She jumped back thinking it was a cockroach’which in those parts are the size of a loaf of bread’but no, it was a Nintendo game. “I realized that this had once been a family, and for the first time we could not pretend that these people were not us.” While Scott doesn’t share his wife’s Catholic religion, he does embrace the spirit. “Whatever you do, you do it well,” he told the kids. “Manual labor brings satisfaction every day.” After long days, the Sanborns would return to the hotel and quickly remove their clothes. Most items were ditched, leaving the blue jeans for the Laundromat. Shoes, caked with mud and mold, were tossed into the trunk of the car until the next day. They threw out their hazmat suits before lunch and again after a day’s work. “In the evenings we’d go to the French Quarter, where we were the only people in the restaurant besides the FEMA guys,” Scott says. “We’d be eating in places where normally it might have taken months to get a reservation.” After two days with Eric, the Sanborns moved on to assist Harold and Barbara Hamilton to clear their house. Eric wanted to be with the Sanborns, so he joined in the work party at the Hamilton’s, and later Harold and Barbara returned to Eric’s house to help complete the job. A proud man, Harold was wary of accepting help. “He told Father Doussan that this was serious business and wanted to make sure ‘these people’ were trained,” Carol says. “Fr. Doussan assured him that we were trained, after having worked two days at Eric’s.” The families became close, sharing the details of their lives, even jokes, and adding new chapters. “For these people to heal, they need one another,” Carol says. “There is such a feeling of abandonment. My kids asked, ‘What difference does it make? It’s only two homes.’ I tell them, ‘If we had an earthquake in Pacific Palisades and somebody decided to help us, it would make a whole lot of difference.'” Carol is planning to return to New Orleans, perhaps with a small group of women from Corpus Christi. “So many people have supported these people by giving money,” she says. “Giving money is a noble act, but it is important for me to see a face with this crisis. One of the things that I’m left with recently is that, when you’re gone, it’s not what material wealth you had, but what you did and the people you met and touched.” Those interested in more information may call Carol Sanborn at 503-7690.
Stryer Wins Post Travel Contest
The winner of this year’s Palisadian-Post Travel Tales writing contest could have told a hundred different adventurous stories of backpacking in Alaska and game-viewing in Africa. Michael Stryer, a social studies teacher at Fairfax High School, has traveled to 65 countries and every continent except for Antarctica. But he chose to write about one of his more meaningful experiences in a country that is close to his heart’Brazil. More than two decades ago, Stryer decided to explore the Amazon following a semester of study at the University of S’o Paolo. He boarded a crowded boat and, during eight days under the jungle canopy, befriended an Argentinian man named Daniel who was fleeing his country’s repressive military government. In Stryer’s story, their “unexpected friendship” takes an interesting course after they part ways. “For me, it’s such an uplifting story about the potential for people to act honestly, even at times when the person you’re dealing with, you may never see again,” Stryer said Monday. “It was also an amazing trip being on this boat with people with different objectives, and going up the Amazon River.” Stryer, who was then 20, said it was an interesting time to be in Brazil because the country was making the transition from a military government to a democratic system. Jo’o Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo was president. “We didn’t know whether there was going to be a revolution or a military coup or a peaceful transition to democratic government,” said Stryer, who remembers that there were curfews and that the atmosphere “felt dangerous.” As it turned out, the country made a smooth transition to democracy. “Very few Americans went to Brazil then,” he said. “It was an anomaly.” Stryer didn’t want to leave. A native of Palo Alto and a junior at Stanford University, he stayed in Brazil for a short time after his year of study and travel was over, until his family worried he wasn’t coming back. He eventually returned to the United States and earned his degree in political science. “The [Brazilian] people couldn’t have been warmer,” said Stryer, who lived with a family for a while and then with local college students. Now a father himself, he’s still in touch with his Brazilian host family and friends. Unfortunately, he has not been able to locate Daniel. “He must have moved because my letters haven’t reached him,” said Stryer, who speaks Spanish and Portuguese. A 15-year career in international sales and marketing gave Stryer the opportunity to see the world. He’s traveled to most of the major countries in South America, and lived for a few months in Mexico while working for the Ford Foundation. He’s been to most European countries (except for Russia, which is at the top of his list for future trips), and has traveled to Japan, Korea, Thailand and China. He has even trekked in Nepal. While working for Levolor, a window blinds company, Stryer taught factory workers in southern China how to make blinds. When he worked for Applause, a toy and stuffed character company, he posed for a photo with executives at Euro Disney. These snapshot experiences were memorable, but Stryer said that traveling almost 100 days a year was exhausting. The things he liked most about his job’the mentoring and teaching aspects’he realized he could do closer to home in Pacific Palisades, where he and his wife, Barri, have lived for 13 years. They have two children: Leah, 11, and Adam, 8. So, three years ago, Stryer got his teaching credential and worked with Palisades High School teachers before landing a job at Fairfax High School. He currently teaches AP world history, government and economics, and often incorporates stories from his travels into the lessons. As a teacher, Stryer also has more time to travel for pleasure with his family. Last August, they visited the Gal’pagos and, during winter break, they went on a safari in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. “We had a few close encounters,” he said of his family’s experience in the desert. “An elephant charged us and a lion came quite close.” Stryer’s most adventurous trip, however, was one he took with his brother in 1986. They spent a week backpacking in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park, where they saw “pristine wilderness’unbelievable wildlife and grizzly bears,” and had no contact with other human beings. While Stryer has quenched his desire for a more “natural” existence, as he wrote in his Amazon story, he still has a couple of trips he plans to make. He wants to see the Stry River in Ukraine, which is where his family name comes from, and go dog sledding in the Arctic. Traveling, he said, has opened his eyes to “the amazing ability we have to communicate with others, despite so many differences in culture, upbringing and socioeconomic status.” Stryer coaches youth soccer and baseball in the Palisades, and has served on the Marquez Elementary Governing Council. His story, “Unexpected Friendship on the Amazon,” is the first piece he has ever had published. Stryer’s next “trip” will be just a short distance from the Palisades, at the Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood, where he can redeem his prize of a two-night stay for two, including two spa treatments and daily breakfast in the Caf’ Bel Air.
Skinner, AYSO Donate to Pali Stadium Project
At Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Palisades High board of directors, project co-leaders Bob Jeffers and Jim Bailey updated the progress of the planned all-weather football field and track at Stadium by the Sea. They also announced that Mike Skinner, who spearheaded the Palisades Recreation Center’s Field of Dreams makeover, is donating $10,000 and that an additional $30,000 is being donated by AYSO’s Region 69, headed by Commissioner Debbie Held. “Bob gave me a call asking for ideas about fundraising,” said Skinner, who was named Citizen of the Year in 2004. “This is definitely something I want to be a part of because I coached on this field. My son, Ryan, played football his senior year at Pali. So this is just my thing.” Skinner’s donation will be used for preliminary architectural design and AYSO’s contribution will go towards surveying as well as construction documents. “I would like to thank Palisades High for giving the community the opportunity to pursue this project,” Held said. “AYSO is happy to continue its support of the school through its contributions and grant money that it applied for and received’specifically $5,000 from the Junior Women’s Club.” Larry Foster of Bellinger, Foster and Steinmetz, the design firm assigned to the project, gave a slide presentation with before and after images of the facility. He said one of the primary changes will be moving the existing field 15 feet north to accommodate a full eight-lane track. The proposed $1.4 million project will consist of (1) replacing the existing natural grass playing field with a soft and durable Field Turf synthetic grass and (2) replacing the current dirt running track with a rubberized all-weather surface. Jeffers and Bailey are hopeful that construction will begin after graduation in June and be completed in time for the start of the football season in September. Anyone interested in donating to the project should call Jeffers at 230-8914 or Bailey at 408-6761. The Board also approved the the hire of Aquatic Design Group to design the on-campus pool, a $2.4- million project expected to take four years.
Will Rogers Ranch Reopens This Saturday
After three years and $5.3 million in renovations, the Will Rogers ranch house and adjoining properties will reopen with a yippee-kay-ay this Saturday with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rogers family at the ranch to mark the event. Admission is free. In 2002, California State Parks began to restore the ranch with the intention of approximating its appearance when the Rogers family lived there. Festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with The Lost Canyon Rangers performing on the ranch house stage. At 11 a.m., the rededication ceremony will commence, with Schwarzenegger among the scheduled speakers. Public tours of the restored ranch house will begin at 11:30 a.m. The cornerstone, sponsored by Riviera Masonic Lodge No. 780 with master of ceremonies Bill Branch, will be dedicated at Jim Rogers’ Barn at 11:45 a.m. “Will Rogers” himself (Robert Basgall) will be on hand to deliver a special tribute to Will Rogers at 12:15 p.m. Gun spinner Joey Dillon will perform dazzling tricks and famous trick ropers Dave Thornbury, Gene McLaughlin and Pat Puckett will entertain. Trail rides ($20 per person), sponsored by the Circle K Ranch, will allow visitors to view the 186-acre park that still offers an easy retreat from urban Los Angeles. There will be a no-host Western-style barbecue catered by Calamigos Ranch throughout the day, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The Will Rogers Polo Club will give a polo demonstration, narrated by Andrew Bossom. There will be no on-site event parking at the park itself, but complimentary shuttle service will be provided at three locations: 1. Paul Revere Middle School, at the east parking lot (near the Mandeville entrance). 2. Los Liones Gateway Park, 400-500 Los Liones Dr., with stops at parking lots A and B. 3. Temescal Canyon Road, the SW corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin Street and at the bottom of Temescal Canyon Road. Off-site parking locations open at 9 a.m. Free shuttle service begins’by’ 9:30 a.m. at each location. Note: Last shuttles leave Will Rogers Park at ‘4 p.m.
Alex Ouligian, Genna Rochlin Are Mr. and Miss Palisades
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
This year’s Teen Pageant winners could not have had more different approaches to the annual performance contest, held at Pierson Playhouse on March 15. Miss Palisades Genna Rochlin, a Palisades High School sophomore, had been preparing for months and knew for much longer that she wanted to compete. Mr. Palisades Alex Ouligian, a Loyola sophomore, was recruited three weeks before the event and had to practice his piano piece on a keyboard with headphones. Rochlin tap danced to a swing song, “Jumping at the Woodside” by Benny Goodman. In a sparkling costume, she gave a focused and dynamic performance. Ouligian played the romantic and calming “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, moving his body theatrically with the chords. Five judges awarded the titles to Rochlin and Ouligian based on their character, talent, communication, poise and presentation. They each won a $2,000 Cathie Wishnick scholarship, named in honor of the pageant’s longtime co-host, from the Chamber of Commerce plus a sterling silver Swiss Army knife (for Ouligian) and a sterling silver and gold heart necklace (for Rochlin) from Denton Jewelers. The couple will appear in events throughout the year, including riding in the Fourth of July parade, joining Santa on the fire truck for Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! and appearing at Chamber mixers and events. Runners-up were Tyler DuBovy, a Renaissance sophomore and solid performer who delivered a monologue from “Ah, Wilderness” by Eugene O’Neill, and Archer School ninth grader Madisen Siegel, who played the piano and sang a beautiful rendition of Carole Bayer Sager’s “Looking Through Your Eyes.” Both received $200 and will step in for Mr. and Miss Palisades if they are unable to complete their duties. The other talented pageant participants were Caitlin Gallo, a junior at Marymount, who sang “Good Morning, Baltimore” from “Hairspray”; Mason Hays, a junior at PaliHi, who performed an original stand-up comedy routine entitled “A Teenager’s View of Life in the Palisades”; Ali Eagle, a sophomore at Crossroads, who sang “The Wizard and I” from “Wicked”; Erin Kelly, a sophomore at Archer, who played “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar, on the violin; Kristina Goldberg, another sophomore at Archer, who sang “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera”; Paul Miller, a sophomore at PaliHi, who sang “Somewhere” from “West Side Story”; Breanna Baraff, a junior at Marymount, who performed a monologue, “Explanations,” by Vernon Howard; Alicia Dougherty, a sophomore at Archer, who danced and sang to “All of Me” by Marks & Simons. Hosts Christian Saglie, Mr. Palisades 1996, and Ramis Sadrieh, Mr. Palisades 1993, reminisced about their pageant days. They interviewed the teens, asking them about one of their accomplishments, their goals for the future, and the question that contestants did not know in advance: What have you taught your parents? “I think I taught them how to have fun,” said Rochlin, the daughter of Gary and Marla Rochlin, crediting her sisters, Katrina, an eighth grader, and Danielle, a senior. “All of us together taught my parents what it means to enjoy life and dance around in the sun.” She also spoke about being selected ninth grade student of the year at Paul Revere, after making the big transition from a much smaller school. Her goals include earning a college degree and then going to graduate school in order to become an entrepreneur so she can own her own business. She would also like to travel the world and help others less fortunate. “I want to live a passionate life that I’m proud of, to know in my heart I have made a difference one way or another.” Ouligian said he had taught his parents, Greg and Victoria, time organization as well as how to cooperate on raising him and his two siblings, Rebecca, a ninth grader, and Thomas, a sixth grader. “It might have been a lot of work on their part, but I’m sure they think it’s worth it.” He also talked about his Eagle Scout trip to Europe, where they posed at the American Cemetery in Normandy with an American flag that is now flying over the Village Green. Ouligian, who likes to talk about policy, said he plans to study government and economics in college and, eventually, become an ambassador to another nation so that he can “meet a lot of international people, share ideas and debate.” Last year’s winners, Thea Rogers, a junior at Marlborough School, and Jay Sobel, Loyola senior, gave their farewell performances. Rogers brought back her quirky British character from last year’s comic monologue, performing this time as a tour guide in the Bront’ Parsonage Museum who offers tangential commentary on what she thinks Charlotte, Emily and Anne would have been thinking and doing. Sobel once again starred in “The Adventure of Pali Man,” a short film he wrote and directed, as a nerdy high school student who transforms into a superhero, ridding Palisadian heads of unwanted perms. While the judges’ votes were being tabulated, the audience watched an unusual act called “Opera Kadabera,” in which Patrick Bell sang French and German operas while performing magic tricks such as wiggling his way out of a straitjacket. The panel of judges was composed of Italian film distributor Giulia Gagliani Goldman, native Palisadian and professional ballroom dance instructor Kathleen Corey, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s deputy Andrea Epstein, sound editor/music mixer Bobby Mackston and actor Richard Harrison. “I was in complete shock,” said Rochlin about hearing her name announced as Miss Palisades. “It hasn’t hit me yet.” She has been taking jazz, tap and ballet lessons for most of her life, and said she chose to perform tap for the show because “I knew I wanted to do something upbeat, to do a swing number.” She currently serves as an ambassador at PaliHi, conducting school tours and orientations for visitors, and plays on the junior varsity tennis team. “Genna is just one of the best,” said Susan Haskell, who produced several Theatre Palisades Kids musicals, which Rochlin performed in from third to seventh grade. “She’s an amazingly talented girl and she’s so poised.” Ouligian said he was “frankly a bit shocked” to hear he was the new Mr. Palisades. He decided to participate in the competition when Carol Smolinisky called to recruit him just weeks before the show, because “it was an opportunity for a scholarship and to perform my piece in front of a lot of people.” He’d been working on the Debussy piece for a couple of months with his piano teacher, Yuliya Barsky, and said after his performance at the Youth Pageant that “that’s probably the best I’ve ever performed it.” What was challenging for Ouligian was the opening dance number choreographed by Thea White and performed by all of the contestants. According to his father, Ouligian “had never danced a step in his whole life” but worked hard to practice the moves. The contestants gave a lively performance in colorful basketball shorts and jerseys, dancing to the hip hop song, “Get Your Head in the Game.” Their various dancing styles emerged in this number’some balletic, others jazzy and yet others in a more break-dancing style. Ouligian said he enjoyed reuniting with former Marquez Elementary School classmates as well as Scout friends, such as Tyler DuBovy. “The competition [between participants], if any, was really joking.” Runner-up DuBovy, who has landed leading parts in school plays every year since 2000, said, “After everything we’ve been through, it was the culmination of such a great time.” Siegel, who competed with three Archer classmates, also said that “meeting everybody was really great.” The evening’s co-chairs were Smolinisky and Candida Piaggi. Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, the Miss Palisades competition dates back to 1958; the Mr. Palisades portion of the show was added in 1990.
Rec Center Report
REC CENTER REPORT Boys Minors 2nd Round Suns 37, Pistons 26 (Suns win series 2-0) Boys Majors 2nd Round Heat 51, Rockets 44 (Heat win series 2-0) Pistons 46, Suns 33 (Pistons win series 2-0) The West Region youth basketball all-star tournament started last Saturday and the Palisades Recreation Center fielded six teams: two in the boys Minors division, one in the boys Majors, one in the boys Juniors, one in the girls Minors and one in the girls Majors. Pali’s boys Minors “A” all-stars, coached by Rick Farber, beat Westchester, 42-13. Pali’s team consists of Michael Adashek, Dylan Eisner, Henry Elkus, David Farber, Benji Kagan, Grant Pugatch, Taylor Stokes, Sam Wasserman and David Yona. The boys Minors “B” squad, coached by Peter Gardiner, lost to Westwood, 18-16. The team consists of Vaughn Berglund, Andrew Gardiner, Riley Moore, Hayes Bradley, Brandon Tillis, Zane Zeder, Dawson Rosenberg and Joshua Cohenzadeh. The girls Minors team, coached by Richard Gaughan, lost to Cheviot Hills, 23-21. The roster features Jennifer Krems, Franced Jaffa, Lauren Sedmak, Nicole Shanfield, Ariel Wilbur, Mackenzie Gray, Priscilla Shafighi, Madeleine Gaughan and Charlotte Cohen. The boys Majors team, coached by Olin Simplis, defeated Jim Gilliam 63-26. The team is comprised of David Ament, Connor Cook, Ethan Damavandi, Shervin Ghane, Michael Libby, Lawrence Kondra, Nick Sheinberg, Kahlil Simplis, Jayant Subrahmanyam and Hunter Venturelli. Palisades’ girls Majors all-stars, coached by Bill Humphreys, consist of Emma Cohen, Nadine Melamed, Roni Stein, Madeleine Grey, Paris Humphrey, Lauren Kaufman, Adelaide Seaman, Leslie Baker, Nicole Flyer and Lila Scott. Palisades’ boys Junior all-star team, coached by Doug Hafford, includes Josh Flyer, Ben Lushing, Cary Sonnerblick, Jalon Adams, Dylan Palladino, Darren Rosenberg, Connor Preston, Max Wakeling and Eric Walbridge.
Olympics are Kling’s Hobby
When he’s not coaching the Palisades High tennis teams, Bud Kling is busy with his hobby: Olympic pin collecting and trading. He recently returned from a 23-day trip to Torino, Italy, where he helped organize the Coca-Cola pin trading center and the main trading center in the Olympic Village. “My wife and I and another couple stayed at a rustic style house in Peccato, a village 15 minutes outside of Torino,” Kling says. “Our neighbors had chickens and cows. I brought 1,000 pins with me and we gave all of them away. We gave some to kids and we donated some to the Boys Scouts and Special Olympics.” Kling has well over 10,000 pins in his personal collection. At every Olympics, millions of pins are exchanged. There are also many different types of pins, made for various entities: sponsors, networks, print and broadcast media, transportation, souvenir and internal staff. Some of Kling’s favorites are the National Olympic Committee (NOC) pins and bid pins–made for and by cities bidding for future Games. One of Kling’s biggest thrills was carrying the Olympic torch for the Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. Kling ran an eighth-of-a-mile stretch in Hancock Park. “The soccer star Cobi Jones lit my torch and Martin Sheen was three people in front of him,” Kling remembers. Kling organizes pin trading seminars and even designs his own pins. In fact, the 2006 Palisadian-Post pin that he designed with Tom Brooke was voted one of the 10 best of the Torino Games by the Today Show. “If I had to pick a favorite, I’d pick Barcelona [in 1992],” Kling says. “The weather was fantastic. But Nagano in 1998 was definitely the best in terms of pin trading. They were buying, selling and trading them like crazy over there.” Kling’s love of the Olympics started when he was a boy and the interest in pin trading started when he saw a news clip of people trading pins at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The first Olympics he attended were four years later at the Summer Games in Los Angeles and he has attended every Olympiad since Barcelona. At the L.A. Games Kling was an interview coordinator for the American, Italian and Yugoslavian men’s basketball teams. He served on the administrative staff for the Malawai Olympic team in Athens, Greece, in 2004, managed pin trading at the British Commonwealth Games in 1994 and has been offered the same position for the Asian Games at Doha, Qatar, in December. “It’s become a family thing now,” Kling says. “My son Ryan (a sophomore at the University of Oregon) managed one of my sites in Athens and my daughter Alex (a junior at Pali) will probably go to the Vancouver Games in 2010. We want this hobby to keep going so I’m passing the torch, so to speak.”
