The Pali Life section starts off with a cover story, featuring everything from block parties to a Marquez Knolls resident with thousands of miniature glass figurines stored in cases in her home.
January 3
This year kicked off with Palisadian Matthew Del Negro (above), who launched a podcast, 10,000 No’s, which focuses on people’s life journeys, rather than their destinations. “I started [the podcast] about a year-and-a-half ago as a complete passion project all about not just actors but [people from] all walks of life, overcoming adversity and turning things around,” the Via Mesa resident said in an interview with the Post. Del Negro has since hosted big names in the fields of entertainment and sports, business and music, many of which are Palisadian.
March 28
Artists, dancers and musicians shared their talents at the annual Palisades Charter High School Visual and Performing Arts Showcase on Thursday evening, March 14. The show featured ceramics, paintings, drawings, photography, film and performances by the talented Pali High dance team, jazz band, choir, string orchestra, marching band and color guard. “We had a great turnout—it was a beautiful night,” Rick Steil, chair of the Visual Arts Department, told the Post. “So many of my friends that don’t have kids here anymore still come back to it. Where else do you go to see dancers, a jazz band, art shows and singers all in one night?”
May 2
The Alphabet Streets acrobat: Lifelong resident of the Palisades Georgia Bryan was 7 years old when she first tried flying trapeze at the Santa Monica Pier. Her first-ever big show was at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre at the age of 9. Now, Bryan, 15, calls herself a contortionist, dancer, acrobat and aspiring yogi. “The reason I can do it is because it’s all so fun for me, it doesn’t feel like work at all,” she explained. She focuses mainly on freelance work and working with adult performance companies. Bryan has been photographed in various poses throughout Pacific Palisades—including at Will Rogers State Beach, the Bluffs and a viral video taken at Palisades Recreation Center.
September 5
Palisades Charter High School welcomed a new Marching Band Director Tyler Farrell. The 27-year-old music phenom has entered the Palisadian school with a vision for success and one of the best marching band programs in the state to do it with. Originally from a small town in North Carolina, Farrell started experimenting with music at the age of 2 with a drum set gifted to him by his grandmother. Following the music throughout middle school, Farrell said he figured out in high school that he wanted to be a band director. “The one thing that I want to maintain is the commitment to the excellent performance standards that have been set and growing upon those,” Farrell said.
October 3
Each pet that enters our homes has a story—and the Post shed some light on these tales of adoption. Julie Dresner shared: “We first met Ms. Dolly Pawton in January 2014. Dolly had been abandoned in Bakersfield and left to fend for herself on the dangerous streets as a young pregnant pup … Our daughter’s good friends took her in to foster her in their home until a forever home could be found. Our daughter begged us to come meet Dolly and perhaps give her the forever home she so desperately needed. We made many excuses until finally we broke down and agreed to meet who they referred to as a most amazing dog. We walked in to greet this incredible 1-year old dog. She was indeed beautiful. All white with black polka-dot ears. White eyelashes and black eyeliner rimming her expressively large eyes. I knew that moment I wanted Dolly, and we made arrangements to keep her forever.”
November 21
At Marquez Charter Elementary School, the future is ongoing, thanks to the school’s nascent, award-winning, ’bot-building Robotics Team. Founded in the 2018-19 school year and comprised of fourth- and fifth-graders, in-house teachers Akiko Arevalo, Clare Gardner and Julie Yoshida have been overseeing Marquez’s Robotics Team. The 18 students currently enrolled in the elementary school program learn to build and modify robots from a Lego-like kit of robot parts, Arevalo explained to the Post. This year’s crop of makers has been creating ’bots that can pick up and transport modular pieces.
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