The Palisades High boys and girls swim teams opened the season in fine form on February 28, easily outdistancing host Santa Monica in an intersectional meet. The Dolphins’ frosh/soph girls blanked SaMo 100-0, winning every place in every event, while the frosh/soph boys also posted a shut out, 96-0. PaliHi head coach Maggie Nance was equally pleased with the performance of her varsity teams. The Dolphin girls won 142-23 while the defending City champion boys looked the part, stroking to a 145-28 victory over the Vikings. Standout performances on varsity were turned in by freshman Kristen Fufii, who was first in the 50 Freestyle and Amanda Mohagen, who was second in the 100 Butterfly. Rachel Kent was runner-up in the 200 Freestyle while Cayley Cline won the 100 Butterfly in 1:08.41. Andrew Le won the junior varsity 50 Backstroke and Igor Bivol was second in the 100 Butterfly. Brian Johnson won the boys’ varsity 200 Individual Medley and 100 Backstroke, Gavin Jones swam third in the 100 Freestyle and second in the 100 Backstroke. Paris Hays was second in the 100 Freestyle while David Nonberg won the 50 Freestyle in 23.52 and also won the 100 Freestyle. For the girls, Chelsea Davidoff won the 200 Individual Medley and finished second in the 500 Freestyle. Patrice Dodd was first in the 100 Freestyle and Julie Wynn was second in both the 50 and 100 Freestyle events.
Baseball Routs Channel Islands in Opener
If its first game is any indcation, the Palisades High varsity baseball team will go far this season. The Dolphins needed only six innings to mercy Channel Islands, 11-1, Saturday at George Robert Field for the first of what they hope will be many victories this season. ‘I’m happy with the way we played, I’m just a little disappointed that Channel Islands didn’t give us a better game,’ Pali co-coach Tom Seyler said. ‘Usually they field much stronger teams.’ Matt Skolnik had two hits, including a triple, and scored two runs while Dylan Cohen and Austin Jones each had two hits and two runs batted in. David Bromberg pitched the first three innings, Turhan Folse pitched two more (striking out five) and Seri Kattan-Wright struck out the side in the sixth inning. Jeff Dauber hit the game-ending double and Tim Sunderland was solid behind the plate in his first varsity start for Pali. Palisades was supposed to have opened the season last Friday at Oxnard, but the game was rained. In a rematch of last season’s City playoff game, San Fernando shut out the Dolphins, 3-0, on Monday behind the pitching of Matt Navarez, who allowed one hit with eight strikeouts in five innings and worked out of two bases-loaded jams. Bromberg was equally impressive for Palisades (1-1), pitching a six-hitter with six strikeouts, but Palisades committed four errors, three of which led to runs.
Becken Finishes 70th in First LA Marathon
Although Brad Becken loves to run, he had never tested himself at a distance longer than 10 kilometers. But after being the 70th male finisher in a field of over 25,000 participants in Sunday’s 20th running of the Los Angeles Marathon, the 24-year-old Palisadian will never have to wonder if he could hold up in a grueling distance event. Becken ran the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 57 minutes and 49 seconds. The men’s winner, Mark Saina of Kenya, clocked a 2:09:35. ‘My goal was to break three hours, so I’m happy with my time,’ Becken said. ‘I hit the wall at around the 30k mark and sort of limped home from there. I realized with two miles left that I was going to meet my goal, so at that point my main concern was just to finish in one piece.’ Becken runs daily through his Huntington Palisades neighborhood, down to the Via bluffs and across Sunset, but 20.5 miles was the farthest he had ever run at one time prior to Sunday’s marathon. He runs five or six 10ks a year, which he proclaims is his ideal distance. He won the Palisades-Will Rogers 10k in July, finishing in a personal-best 32:51 to hold off 2003 co-winners Nate Bowen and Tyson Sacco. ‘I’m planning on coming back and running Will Rogers again July 4 and hopefully make it two in a row,’ Becken said. ‘But I also want to run the marathon again. I had fun and it was a great experience. I’m a little sore right now, but it’s worth it.’ Becken is interning as a financial analyst at Fine Arts Entertainment in Beverly Hills. He was on the cross country and track teams at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he graduated with a degree in economics two years ago.
Defending Champs Prove Too Much for Pali Soccer
When the season began, 54 high school teams had dreams of playing in the City Section girls’ soccer championships. Palisades was one of two teams that lived its dream this year, although the final chapter did not quite produce the fairytale ending the Dolphins envisioned. Palisades’ remarkable playoff run, which included upset victories over seventh-seeded Fairfax and sixth-seeded Granada Hills, ended with a 4-0 loss to defending champion El Camino Real Saturday night at East Los Angeles College. The top-seeded Conquistadores (20-3-1) took command from the opening kickoff, scoring the only goal they would need in the fifth minute on a give-and-go from leading scorer Katie Oakes to freshman Megan Quinn, who one-timed a pass over Palisades’ freshman goalie Allison Kappeyne. Oakes scored on a header in the 28th minute and Niki Connolly added a goal on a turnaround shot to increase El Camino Real’s lead to 3-0 just before halftime. The 10th-seeded Dolphins (12-8-1), making their first appearance in a City final, generated little offense in the first 40 minutes. Inspired by coach Kim Smith’s halftime speech, in which she told her players they had nothing to lose, Palisades picked up the pace in the second half and played on even terms with a team on its way to its record-tying fifth consecutive City title. Despite several early scoring chances, the Dolphins found themselves further behind when Connolly snuck behind a defender and headed a cross from Quinn into the net in the 47th minute. Palisades’ best chance to score came on an indirect free kick nine from nine yards out, but co-captain Alex Michael’s shot was blocked by a wall of ECR defenders. Co-captain Kirsten Schluter, who scored the winning goal against Granada Hills in the semifinals, provided constant pressure on the wing while Michael, fellow captain Tia Lebherz and leading scorer Lucy Miller paced Pali’s second-half attack. Diana Grubb and Madison Glantz anchored the Dolphins’ defense. Kappeyne made eight saves for Palisades.
Baseball Back at Field of Dreams
COUNTDOWN TO PPBA OPENING DAY
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
All anyone needed to know about who was having fun was etched on the faces of the players as they hustled to and from the dugout in between innings. The season does not officially begin for another nine days, but coaches and players in the Palisades Pony Baseball Association are ready to play ball right now. ‘They are nice and give you lots of tips that help you. They cheer you on because they want you to do good.’ That is how an 11-year-old Bronco player described his coaches during the Palisades Pony Baseball Association’s spring training practice games last week. In spite of the recent rains that have kept practices to a minimum and fields closed, spring training for Pony Baseball has finally arrived at the ‘Field of Dreams’ complex at the Palisades Recreation Center. Try-outs were held in January. Each perspective player fielded grounders and fly balls, threw to first base to demonstrate his throwing arm, and took cuts at the plate. As always, more players tried out than the fields are able to accommodate. The PPBA is broken down into three divisions. Pinto, consisting mostly of 8-year-olds, with a few outstanding 7-year-olds and some nine-year-olds who help provide experience for their younger teammates. For many 7- and 8-year-olds, this is their first experience with a pitching machine. Pinto games are on Tuesday or Thursday and every Saturday. The Mustang consists of 9- and 10-year-olds, and players do their own pitching. Games are Wednesdays and Saturdays. Broncos are 11- and 12-year-olds, who play Tuesdays or Thursdays and Saturdays. Palisades also has a Pony division (13- and 14-year-olds) team, which hosts games against other Westside teams every Friday night at the Rec Center. The start of spring training and practice games signify that the pancake breakfast, PPBA’s annual fundraiser, is drawing near to usher in a new PPBA season. This year’s PPBA Opening Day festivities will be March 19. Fifty-one years of celebrating the spring with the ever popular menu of delicious pancakes, mouthwatering sausages, orange juice, and coffee, all for a price lower than some lattes, $3.00. Seek out your local neighborhood baseball player to purchase tickets. Baseball Commissioner Bob Benton is tight-lipped about who will throw out the first pitch to start the 2005 season. He promises to divulge who it will be next week, a mere two days before Opening Day. For more information about PPBA, including schedules, rules and standings, log onto the new web-site: http://PPBA.net.
Robert Tilandy, Longtime Resident
Robert Tilandy, a resident of Pacific Palisades for over 50 years, died in his home on February 22. He was 95. Bob was a fiercely independent person who lived alone and fended for himself, even to the extent of changing the oil in his 1978 Honda Civic. He resisted any suggestion that he move to an assisted-living arrangement. Bob was born and raised in Pasadena. His father, a German-speaking Hungarian, was a tailor whose clientele consisted of wealthy Easterners who rode the trains to winter in Pasadena. When times changed, his father opened up a garage to build cars, where Bob acquired his early knowledge of motors. He attended Woodbury College, where he earned a degree in economics, but the Depression forced him to take odd jobs, including one at E.F. Hutton, where he posted stock losses and gains on the display board. Thereafter, Bob became a marine engine mechanic in the Santa Monica harbor, and later operated a water taxi from the pier out to the gambling ships that were then moored outside the three-mile limit. During World War II, Bob served in the U.S. Army on the East Coast, where he served as the officer in charge of a motor pool. His knowledge of German led the Army to assign to him all the German prisoners of war there. He ran the motor pool efficiently, using the German P.O.W’s, who performed well in their jobs since they feared being returned to Europe. Following military service, Bob returned to work on the Santa Monica Pier, where he worked for Tedford and Sons repairing diesel and gasoline engines. He married and bought his home in the Palisades with the help of the G.I. Bill. Bob often complained that he felt he had been overcharged for the $15,000 he paid for his house with a 3-percent mortgage. He worked on boats until his retirement. Never far from the water, Bob made friends on the pier, where he spent many happy hours even after retirement. On Monday nights for years, Bob and his pier friends met every Monday evening for drinks and dinner. Having lived through the tremendous technological changes of the last century, Bob kept up with world affairs by subscribing to and reading numerous magazines and journals. His marriage was brief and did not result in any children. In the most recent past, several neighbors helped Bob with the more arduous tasks of maintaining his house and yard, and keeping his 26-year-old automobile running. He was proud that he still had a valid driver’s license, a prized possession. He is survived by his sister, Adrienne Fissel of Arroyo Grande.
Anna Lindgren, 84; Lived in Palisades Since 1954
Anna Lindgren, who had lived in Pacific Palisades with her husband Howard since 1954, died on January 22 after having a stroke. She was 84. Anna was born in Naples, Italy, in 1920. Howard was a U.S. Army medic stationed in Naples during World War II, and Anna lived a block away from the hospital where he worked. Anna, who was studying English, met Howard through a friend and the couple fell in love. Howard returned as a civilian eight months after the war and they were married there. The couple spent eight years in Chicago before moving out to California and the Palisades. Anna was active in real estate, successfully buying and selling properties. She was also active with the Patrons of Italian Culture Club for many years. In addition to her husband of 58 years, Anna is survived by her daughter, Linda Hann (husband Terry), grandson Andrew Hann (wife Sherry) and four great-grandchildren, Sarah, Sydney, Sophia and Seth, all of Las Vegas, Nevada. A memorial service was held at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City on January 28.
Irving Louis Uttal, 82; Active in B’nai B’rith
Irving Louis Uttal, a Pacific Palisades resident since 1949, passed away peacefully on February 22 in Santa Monica. He was 82. Uttal was born on December 13, 1922 in Albany, New York, to Fannie and Harry Uttal. He distinguished himself early in his youth as a local checkers champion in the Albany area. During World War II, he served as a co-pilot in U.S. Air Force 390th Bombardier Group, flying 35 missions over Europe. After the war, he remained active in the reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel. Uttal graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in business administration, and in 1946 moved to Los Angeles. Within a year he founded Heirloom Carpets in partnership with his brother Joseph and Leo Ricard. In 1959, Uttal sold the business and joined Olivetti-Underwood as a business machine salesman. He spent the remaining 20 years of his career as a lead computer salesperson for MAI Basic Four. Upon retirement, Uttal founded ROI Computrux, a value-added reseller focused on accounting systems for trucking companies. Uttal married Lois Horwitz in August 1949 and they settled in Pacific Palisades, where they raised four children. An artist, writer, humorist and successful computer salesman, Irving was considered by his friends and family a Renaissance man. Fond of a good joke, Irv often brightened the room with his irrepressible wit and frequent puns. During the wartime years he contributed humorous stories to the Saturday Evening Post. After his retirement, he continued writing, focusing on U.S. military policies during World War II. Irving was active in the 390th Bombardier Group and the B’nai B’rith, where he and his wife, Lois, were honored with the Akiba Award in 2001. Irving enjoyed the outdoors; on weekends he liked sailing, bicycling, and hiking, or visiting the cliffs overlooking the ocean. He and Lois were familiar faces in the community, and were often seen on their frequent walks to the village. In addition to his wife of 55 years, he is survived by his children, Debra Uttal Leifer of Pacific Palisades; Judith Uttal of Irvine; Nancy Dolin of Van Nuys; David Uttal of Pacific Palisades; and grandchildren Janel, Karin, Joshua and Joseph. Memorial services were held at the Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the 390th Memorial Museum Foundation in Tucson, Arizona, or the Marina Ketubah chapter of the B’nai B’rith.
Via de las Olas Residents Fear Landslides at Bluffs
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
A group of Via de las Olas residents, fearful of losing their street and their bluff to landslides, prodded the Community Council last Thursday night to ‘advocate on our behalf’ for emergency action by the City of Los Angeles. Led by Bill Moran and Regina McConahay, the residents said that immediate rehabilitation efforts are needed along Via and the bluffs (especially between Via de la Paz and Friends Street), if the city hopes to forestall a landslide disaster similar to the one that engulfed PCH in 1958 just west of the current trouble areas. The residents urged ‘five critical steps to save the bluffs,’ including: 1. Re-engineer, repair and resurface the street. 2. Re-engineer, repair and rebuild the wooden bulkhead near Friends, the sewers and the storm drains. 3. Determine the presence and condition of hydraugers; establish regularly monitored, reported, and certified saturation by inclinometers. 4. Reinstate status of Via de las Olas as an official street warranting repairs and resurfacing. 5. Make this a priority in the city’s budget action plan. Last June, in response to homeowner demands and a request by City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, the city’s Geotechnical Engineering Division and Bureau of Street Services submitted a report giving possible methods of repair and projected cost estimates to improve the stability and engineering of the roadway. Total estimated cost: $1,460,000. Following public discussion last Thursday, the Community Council unanimously recommended to Miscikowski’s deputy, Monique Ford, that ‘remedial action be given urgent status requiring imminent attention for funding and corrective action.’ The council also unanimously supported Miscikowski’s proposed action to make Via de las Olas an attendant project of the adjacent Potrero Canyon Restoration Project, which is nearing its final financing stage. The city plans to sell 35 lots along the perimeter of Potrero in order to complete the project and pay back its 20-year ‘investment.’ But Miscikowski reiterated last week that she will bring a motion to City Council to insure that Potrero revenues are also allotted to help shore up Via de las Olas before going to the city’s general fund. After the meeting, McConahay told the Palisadian-Post that while the Community Council’s proclamations were ‘wonderfully supportive, they do not translate into action without immediate funding. I’m scrambling to find other sources of revenue.’
Rosendahl Vies for Council Seat Tuesday
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
‘I love the matzo ball soup here,’ said Bill Rosendahl, even though his serving was growing cold as he talked and an interviewer listened during a February interview at Mort’s Palisades Deli. ‘I’ve told Bobbie that if I win, I’m going to serve her soup at a City Council meeting.’ This is Bill Rosendahl, casually praising the popular deli owner, Bobbie Farberow, and trying to keep a local touch as he runs against Flora Gil Krisiloff and Angela Reddock for the City Council’s 11th District seat in Tuesday’s primary election. Another Rosendahl touch was the fact that, coincidentally, former Mayor Richard Riordan was eating lunch across the room. ‘Dick is a good friend of mine,’ Rosendahl said, noting that Riordan and his wife, Nancy Daley, hosted his first campaign fundraiser in March 2004. ‘What’s good about the Riordans’ support is that it symbolizes both political parties’Nancy is a strong Democrat, Dick is a strong Republican, and I see myself in the middle as a consensus builder. I’m a non-partisan guy; I think most problems can be solved without ideology if you just get people in a room and work on them.’ Of course, Rosendahl is a lifelong Democrat who worked on campaigns for Bobby Kennedy and George McGovern, but he still projects himself as an ‘objective,’ problem-solving politician who will draw on the skills he acquired as a moderator for more than 3,000 public affairs television programs for 16 years. The interview was interrupted for a moment by Phyllis Genovese, the town’s 90-year-old business legend (she founded The Letter Shop on Via de la Paz in 1947), who politely came up to Rosendahl and was introduced by a friend. Genovese said, ‘I just wanted to give you the word that I went over to our ex-Mayor and I asked him, ‘Whom do you recommend in the City Council election?’ and he said, ‘Bill Rosendahl’go over and talk to him.” ‘Well, God bless you,’ Bill said, and when he learned Genovese’s age, he asked, ‘So what’s the secret?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know’good hard work I guess,’ Genovese said. Rosendahl has always been accustomed to hard work, having grown up in New Jersey as one of eight children born to two Germans who immigrated here before World War II. ‘My father started here as a janitor with a 6th grade education, but he got himself schooled in bookkeeping and ended up being the vice-president of a cosmetic firm, the Wella Corporation. I was active in campus politics in high school and at St. Vincent’s College in Pennsylvania, where I got a degree in politics and economics. I also got involved in the civil rights movement, going down to Washington and hearing Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.’ In 1968, when Bobby Kennedy announced he would run for president, Rosendahl took a leave from graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh and joined Kennedy’s campaign in Indiana. ‘I ran a congressional district for him in the primary and we bonded in that relationship,’ Rosendahl said. ‘He then asked me to work in his Oregon campaign for six weeks, before going down to California. I was in the hotel, waiting for him in the press room, when he got killed.’ Distraught, Rosendahl returned to graduate school to complete his master’s in social work, then was drafted into the Army. He spent his first year as a counselor at Ft. Carson, Colorado, ‘working with soldiers who had drug and alcohol problems, racial harmony problems, identity problems and morale problems. So I said to the general, at a little gathering, ‘General, we have a lot of problems here: AWOLs are up and new enlistments are down.’ ‘He said, ‘Come work for me,’ and I began advising him on how to improve the situation. We turned things around, and my picture ended up in Life magazine as part of a story on ‘The New Army,’ in early 1969.’ According to Rosendahl, ‘John D. Rockefeller III, oldest of the four brothers, read the Life article and asked me to work for him as an associate in New York. I managed his emerging interest in social change and proposed ways in which he could make his five foundations more sensitive to young people.’ In 1972, Rosendahl left Rockefeller to work on George McGovern’s national campaign staff. ‘After that election, I decided I needed to understand myself better and the world better, so I took a leave from our way of life and got a backpack and a sleeping bag and became a wanderer. I started in Europe, went to the Middle East, followed the Nile to Sudan, traveled across the Namib desert to Ethiopia, and then made my way down to South Africa, all by foot and local transportation.’ He then flew to Brazil and took planes to major cities in South American and Central America before returning home after 18 months and 39 countries. Back in the U.S.A., Rosenthal was still imbued with politics, and although he worked on two more unsuccessful political campaigns, he met Jimmy Carter along the way. This led to an White House appointment to the State Department as Chief of Operations for the U.S. Trade and Development Program. ‘When the president was defeated in 1980, I got a call from people at Westinghouse Broadcasting who wanted me to join the cable television business. They said, ‘It’s a lot of fun, we’re wiring the nation and we’re looking for people with your campaign experience because every city will be making a decision about who gets the franchise.” Thus began Rosenthal’s 22-year career as an executive with Westinghouse, Century Cable and Adelphia. When Rosendahl lost his job at Adelphia in 2003, he seized the opportunity to finally run as a political candidate himself. City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski was going to be ‘termed out’ in 2005 and the reconfigured District 11’shed of its San Fernando Valley voters’was now focused on the coastal area between Pacific Palisades and LAX over to the 405 Freeway. ‘I live in Mar Vista,’ Rosendahl said, ‘so I see myself as the guy in the middle of the district who wants to bring the whole district together. I’m running for City Council because I want to take my skills as the facilitator of a discussion and solve the many problems that we’ve been talking about in this campaign.’
