Village Green Dedicates Plaque to Arnie Wishnick

By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter

A brass plaque in honor of beloved community member Arnie Wishnick was officially dedicated to him by the Village Green Board of Directors and the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Sept. 24. 

More than 50 Palisadians occupied the heart of the Village to see the new plaque that reads “Arnie Wishnick: A remarkable man and a treasure to our community 2019,” and faces Sunset Boulevard below the shade of  trees and accompanied by a new bench. 

Village Green Board Member Marge Gold started the ceremony by thanking all in attendance, including Wishnick’s widow Audrey and his sister Jackie for making the event one to remember and for pooling their resources together to make the dedication ceremony happen. 

“Arnie was a board member for ever,” she shared. “We thanked him for 30 years of service. He was the person we turned to when we wanted to know something about the community it was ‘ask Arnie’ He was our goodwill ambassador and he represented us well, we miss him every day.“

Community member Bill Bruns then gave a speech to remember his longtime friend and gave several anecdotes of his time working with Wishnick on several community projects. 

Former President of the Chamber of Commerce, Adam Glazer, also addressed the crowd.

“Unlike many of you here today I only had Arnie in my life over the last decade,” Glazer said. “Over the years Arnie became the person who in a lot of ways I referred to as my west coast grandfather. I will forever be grateful for the friendship that i had with Arnie.”

Glazer remembered their common love for black and white cookies from Gelson’s, and traveling with Wishnick to a Yankees game and Angel stadium. 

“Arnie would probably say that he was lucky to have known all of us…but at the end of the day the truth is, we were truly the lucky ones to have Arnie Wishnick in our lives.”

Wishnick was known throughout the Palisades for his work with the Chamber of Commerce and his long list of efforts to improve the Palisades community, including his diligent work with the Palisades Americanism Parade Association. 

Palisadian actor Steve Guttenberg also made an appearance to honor Wishnick, a longtime friend of his, and gave an emotional speech in his memory.

“Every sidewalk, every lantern, every store, every citizen of our town owes a warm debt to Arnie for his generosity in building our beloved Palisades,” Guttenberg said.