The magical tradition of Santa’s arrival is fast approaching as the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce organizes the town’s 59th Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! on Friday, December 4. Festivities will begin on north Swarthmore at 5 p.m., just before Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on the Station 69 fire truck. The rosy-cheeked couple will then sit on their bright red sled, greeting each child and listening to their wishes. Elves will be on hand to deliver a toy, compliments of the Chamber. Please note that Santa and his bride must leave promptly at 8 p.m. in order to fulfill another engagement in Wasilla, Alaska. In the spirit of the holiday season, adult attendees are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys (for all ages) and deposit them in the Toys for Tots bin. The town’s very own OomPaPa band will entertain with holiday music, Amy the Face Painter will delight the children with her unique designs, and free popcorn and movies will be available. Continuing Mort’s longtime tradition, The Village Pantry and The Oak Room will provide free hot chocolate. Additionally, the Palisades-Malibu YMCA will, once again, provide beautiful Christmas trees to be decorated by the elves. The Y will also sell its trees during the event at a discount price.’ Those interested may pick up their tree at 8 p.m. A Rental Connection is the Chamber’s choice for party rentals, Chrysalis will provide cleanup, and Bel-Air/ADT Patrol will assist with security.’ Sponsors include Santa (Tim & Lisa Marschall); Mrs. Claus (American Legion Post 283); Popcorn Cart (Festa Insurance Agency and Tumbleweed Day Camp); Face Painter (Michael Edlen of Coldwell Banker); Balloon Lady (Roberta Smith, M.D., Alison Garb, M.D. and Home Instead Senior Care); Toys (Botham Plumbing & Heating, Inc.); Movie (A Rental Connection & Movies in the Park-Pacific Palisades, Inc.); Decorations (Ron Dean, attorney and Hi-Lites Hair Studio).’ Organizing committee members are co-chairs Sam Lagana (Pepperdine University) and David Williams (personal chef), plus Roberta Donohue (publisher, Palisadian-Post), Andy Frew, Ph.D. (Theatre Palisades), Tim Marschall (TMC General Contractors, Inc.), and Brad Lusk, (Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine). Tim Marschall, CEO of TMC General Contractors (founded in 1990), built and painted the bright-red wooden sled for Santa and Mrs. Claus 12 years ago, so that they wouldn’t have to simply sit in chairs as they visited with the children. He stores the 15 sections of the sled all year, keeps them refurbished, and then re-assembles them with his crew on Swarthmore, once the street is closed down for Ho!Ho!Ho! Assembly takes about an hour. One year, when it started raining, the crew had to move fast to set up a scaled-down version of the sled inside Mort’s Deli, so that no child missed talking to Santa. As a member of the Ho!Ho!Ho! committee every year, Marschall also helps move barricades into place on Swarthmore, checks out the electrical supply, and helps with the tear-down and other tasks. ’Tim is a dedicated ‘local guy’ who loves serving the community by contributing his time and energy to making sure that Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! is successful,’ said the Chamber’s Marilyn Crawford. ‘He and his wife Lisa are also sponsoring Santa once again this year.’ Said Marschall, who was born and raised in the Palisades and graduated from PaliHi in 1983: ‘This is a nice opportunity for me to give back to the community.’ Married since 1989, he and Lisa live in town and have two daughters, Heather, age 7, and Brittney, age 4.
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