Hebron Marching Band from Texas Practices at PaliHi

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Sue

The Hebron Marching Band practiced at the Palisades High School stadium.

Much like in “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” on Monday, December 27,  this editor “had just settled down for a long winter’s nap – when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.”

In this case, the clatter was a tremendous orchestral sound of music echoing through Temescal Canyon from the Palisades High School football field – strong, beautiful and  filled with emotion and joy.

My husband mentioned he thought that the band was practicing – but this music was not typical of what the local band had been playing, so Circling the News went over to the field around 8:30 p.m. to investigate.

The parking lot was filled with large buses and trucks. The entire football field had students executing complicated marching moves, while the music continued to overwhelm the canyon with beauty of sound. The flags of the color guard were incredible as the colors thrown about accentuated each song and the mood of the music.

Parents who were watching, told me that they were from Carrollton, Texas (northeast of Dallas), and the Hebron Band, had been chosen to march in the Rose Parade.

Hebron High School is located in Carrollton and is part of the Lewisville Independent School District. There were about  350+ students participating, under four band directors, Andy Sealy (director of bands), Travis Pruitt (associate director), Zach Houston (percussion director) and Justin Sullivan (color guard director).

The band was founded in 1999 and had just been crowned the 2021 State 6A Marching Band Champion and BOA San Antonio Super Regional Champion.

Hebron High School, with 3,583 students in grades 9 through 12, serves a diverse population – with 22 percent of the families economically challenged. The band annually launches a community food drive, partnering with the North Texas food bank to support the food-insecure in north Texas.

Why was the Hebron Marching Band in Pacific Palisades?

This editor had read in the L.A. Daily News, that for the Rose Parade, “bands practice their field shows at home for many months, and when they get to California, ‘they usually find a local school or area near to where they are lodging’ to fine tune everything. A couple days later, the bands make their 5-mile march down Colorado Boulevard and surrounding streets.”

The band, which had taken the Texas Championship, was staying at a hotel near the airport.

I asked the parents how the Hebron musicians ended up in Pacific Palisades and they weren’t sure. They said the field they were supposed to practice on didn’t materialize and all “of a sudden, we’re in Pacific Palisades.”

According to the Daily News, every year between 50 to 70 bands apply and the criteria for selection includes “musicianship, marching ability, uniqueness and entertainment value. In addition, bands with the ability to perform field show maneuvers while marching are preferred. There is no band size requirement, and participants come from around the world.”

Although in the 2022 Rose Parade, all bands will be from the United States. The Hebron Band is number 63 in the lineup.

Additionally, the bands participate in Bandfest, which means they showcase their performances on December 29 and 30 at Robinson Stadium, Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. General admission $20; children 5 and younger, free. Parking is free on campus at Structure 4 off Del Mar Avenue. More information at tournamentofroses.com. The Hebron Band will perform on Thursday, December 30.

The PaliHi stadium parking lot was filled with buses that transported Hebron students.

And if Palisades residents are lucky, the band will come back for a final rehearsal. If not, visit: click here.

Posted in Music | 2 Comments

The Challenging, Heartbreaking Story of One Homeless Woman in Our Midst 

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Sue

The car parked on Albright Street for nearly two years, was pushed closer to Charm Acres to allow for tree trimming. The car could not be started, even after it was “jumped.” The police say that it can’t be towed because a person is living in it.

“I feel badly about the situation,” the woman’s sister told neighbors during a Zoom call arranged by Palisades Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin on Wednesday. “We’ve tried to help her. We can’t get her to take help. We don’t know what to do, either.”

Daniella, the woman in question, has been living in her car on Albright Street, less than a block from Caruso’s Palisades Village.

In a December 15 Nextdoor Palisades posting, a neighbor wrote: “Our front lawn is NOT A TOILET! The woman living in her car here for the past year-and-a-half is using our lawns as a toilet. She exposes herself daily to our children when she relieves herself.”

The neighbor continued, “When I called 911 to report indecent exposure, the police came quickly and found her about to pee on our lawn again. But they won’t remove her as she’s ‘exposing herself to urinate.’  I mean, who do we call now?”

Despite repeated offers of help from the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, Daniella has been resistant to leaving her vehicle and accepting other housing.

Espin requested the West Bureau LAPD mental evaluation unit (MEU) meet her, and they did on December 21.

MEU Senior Lead Officer Gregory Parker said, “We can’t force someone into treatment.” He said they can act only if someone is determined to be gravely disabled or threatens to hurt themselves or someone else.

(Gravely disabled is defined as unable “to feed and take care of oneself.”)

Parker said that “she refused any resources and is fixated on her pet.” The dog, Duke, was living in the car with Daniella, but neighbors were concerned about its welfare, and it was removed and placed with a family – and is doing well with regular food and exercise.

Under current legal definitions, Daniella is not considered gravely disabled. She receives an unemployment check – she worked until 2020 – and can feed and clothe herself.

Espin said, “It’s up to the individual to see how far she wants to go to fix her situation.”

More than one person pointed out that a person’s mental illness might prevent them from realizing they need help. Residents were told that under current laws there’s nothing the police – or the family – can do.

Sharon Kilbride, co-president of the PPTFH, explained that Daniella is chugging bottles of vodka—and engaging in excessive amounts of drinking. Kilbride was told that since the car is Daniella’s home, there is nothing police can do.

“That’s her choice,” Espin said.

Someone asked about towing her car, and Espin said that because she’s living there, it cannot be towed because of the Community Caretaking Doctrine. That is California Vehicle Code, Chapter 10, Removal of Parked and Abandoned Vehicles (22650-22856) that states, “A removal pursuant to an authority, including, but not limited to, as provided in Section 22651, that is based on community caretaking, is only reasonable if the removal is necessary to achieve the community caretaking need, such as ensuring the safe flow of traffic or protecting property from theft or vandalism.”

“Her car has been unregistered since 2020. Can’t you do something about the tags?” a resident asked LAPD.

The resident was told it’s just parking citations and there is no arrestable crime.

Another resident asked about the woman exposing herself when she urinates and defecates on neighbor’s lawns: wouldn’t that be indecent exposure? Espin said that “indecent exposure goes back to intent and in this case it’s not gratification.”

Over and over the mantra was, “We cannot force her to move anywhere. We can’t force anyone into treatment.”

Then, Detective Kosal Bun suggested filing a police report: 1) anytime she trespasses onto a yard; 2) when she litters, 3) anytime she disturbs the peace with screaming, and 4) for public drunkenness.

Although those actions will result in citations and not an arrest, with multiple reports, “We could use it as leverage with a judge to have her mental health considered and she might be able to be declared gravely disabled.”

“We need police reports,” Bun emphasized. “We need residents to make reports whether LAPD shows up or not.” He said that reports could be made over the phone to the West L.A. Police station (non-emergency # 877-275-5273 or Espin 310-444-0737 or 37430@lapd.online).

“If we have multiple reports, then the family could take control as conservatorship,” Bun said. “Until we have that, the courts won’t take her away.”

In the meantime, the family and residents feel helpless as they watch someone who they say, “continues to deteriorate.”

Posted in Homelessness | 4 Comments

Community Effort: YMCA, Seven Arrows and Residents Provide Backpacks

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Sue

Kids were happy with new backpacks. made possible through the Palisades YMCA.

Members of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA joined with the Antelope Valley YMCA in Lancaster to hand out school backpacks filled with school supplies and snacks to local elementary school children and their families on December 18.

Palisades-Malibu YMCA Board members Dr. Anita Hanssen and Genevieve Bostic and Y Executive Director Jim Kirtley delivered the backpacks, filled with supplies that had been assembled at the Y on Via de la Paz.

“The families were so thankful for the donated items, and the children were so happy and grateful for their gifts,” Hanssen said. “It was a very moving experience to be part of this event, and a true validation of how special it is to make a difference to those in need. The children’s smiles were in abundance and the holiday cheer was in the air!”

Thanks to one outstanding Seven Arrows sixth-grade student, Matteo Correa de Toledo, the backpacks were filled with holiday cheer.

For his Ethical Leadership Project, Correa de Toledo set a goal of providing supplies for 300 backpacks. He enlisted the support of each grade of the K-6 private school (located on La Cruz and on Haverford), and each grade was tasked with a specific item. Cash donations ($30) instead of school supplies were also suggested.

Seven Arrows students are allowed autonomy in selecting causes “that are close to their heart and mind,” said Fiona Farrahi, Seven Arrows Director of Marketing. “In this case, Matteo chose the Y.”

Farrahi explained that ethical leadership is woven into Seven Arrows education and students are encouraged to be positive contributors to the world. “They can advocate solely or enlist the support of our community anytime of the year.”

In addition to the backpacks filled with school supplies, families also received a bag of sanitary toiletry items.

The backpacks themselves were donated by longtime friends of Kirtley, Brian and Sarah Underwood. Additionally, Amazon had approached Kirtley about the Reading Is Fundamental program — and through the Palisades store, reading kits were also donated.

Y Board Director Maryam Zar said that she had partnered with Kirtley and the executive director of the Antelope Valley Y for the distribution and gave a special thanks to Seven Arrows Head of School Margarita Pagliai.

Zar said the Y has helped vulnerable populations during the Covid 19 pandemic, including a weekly grocery giveaway. The backpack delivery “was the latest effort,” she said. “The community should be proud of the work and the reach of their local Y.”

YMCA Volunteers assembled 300 backpacks on Via de la Paz.

Posted in Community, Holidays | Leave a comment

“Holly Jolly Christmas” Can Come Any Day

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Sue

 

“Holly Jolly Christmas,” sung by Burl Ives, was echoing through the house – his singing just seemed to make everything happy.

The kids were decorating Christmas cookies, the tree was trimmed, the tiny little Dickens village was set up, stockings were by the fireplace, and Christmas was on its way.

But then it wasn’t.

My husband is an airline pilot — and just like for those who are married to firefighters, police or doctors — holidays are not guaranteed.

John was on reserve that December, which meant if he was called because a pilot was sick or couldn’t make the flight, he was responsible to fly it.

And just like that he was assigned a trip on December 23 that went into Christmas. He would be home late Christmas night.

I thought back to a joke my first husband, Ronnie Shakes, liked to tell. “My greatest desire is to die in December and wreck the holidays for my family,” he said and then added, “Should we open Ronnie’s present? He’s dead.”

What do I do about Santa Claus and the kids’ presents?

I’m still humming along with “Holly Jolly Christmas” when I realize all is really good in the world. I’m blessed with a husband, kids — and December 25 need only be a suggestion to celebrate Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, I took my three kids to a church service and we looked at “Baby Jesus.” The next day, a good friend invited us over for their Christmas brunch.

It was then that my normally passive, shy oldest child Shelby got into a fight with her friend Katya, who was also six.

Katya tried to tell Shelby it was Christmas Day.

“It is not. Santa comes tomorrow,” Shelby matter-of-factly told her.

Knowing that 6-, 4- and 2-year-olds don’t really look at calendars, I had simply moved Christmas by a day (to December 26), so that their dad would be home to celebrate with them.

Katya pointed out that Santa had given her presents, and that Shelby should have some, too. Shelby came to me, and I simply explained that Santa must have made an early stop in Culver City. That’s all it took, and everyone was happy again.

After my husband arrived home at about midnight on December 25, we were both awakened by the kids the next morning around 5 a.m. because “Santa had come.”

I don’t remember what Santa brought, but I remember the warmth of having us all together.

This year, I’m once again moving Christmas to January 1 – because Shelby, now 30, is celebrating Christmas at her boyfriend’s family house. One son is out of the country — and my husband is flying.

The tree is trimmed, the stockings are up, cookies are made and frosted, and the tiny village is once again lit.

The exact date doesn’t really matter, nor do the wrapped presents.

The real gift is the joy of spending the day, or any day, with people you love.

To CTN readers, have a “Holly Jolly Christmas!”

And to all — love and joy.

Posted in Holidays | 1 Comment

Another Day at the Illegal RV Encampment on Jefferson

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Sue

The two women told the police officers that a man had hit them and threatened them with a gun.

There were screams and then a woman was sobbing, saying, “He took my dog. He took my dog.”

The woman said the man came into her van, hit her and hit her friend – another woman, threatened them with a gun and then took the woman’s chihuahua and left.

This happened a little after 10 a.m. today on Jefferson Boulevard between Lincoln and Culver. One lane of Jefferson had been blocked off for a homeless encampment cleanup. A Department of Transportation official called 911, as CTN listened.

This editor had been tipped off that the cleanup was underway, involving the line of RV’s and vans parked for months along Jefferson, next to the environmentally sensitive Ballona Wetlands. I had walked over by the van when the screaming started.

The woman who lives in her van said her door was opened (to let in the sun and fresh air), but the man just burst in. She said the man had also tried to take another person’s dog, but that owner, a man, had told him to “get the f*ck out of here.” So, the bad guy came into her van.

She said that she had found the dog, after it had been abandoned, and that gradually she had nursed it back to health. As she related the story, an older model black Chevy Impala, without license plates, drove by and she shouted, “That’s him! The dog is in the back seat.”

It was now about 10:30 a.m. and the LAPD had not yet responded, so CTN called 911 and related the story and was told that police would arrive soon. The first car arrived five minutes later, followed by a second car five minutes later.

Jamie Paige, editor of Westside Current and a Venice resident, explained that unless the incident was reported as a crime in progress, it would not move up to Code 3. A Code 3 means LAPD shows up immediately with lights and sirens. LAPD responded as Code 2 because the caller said the suspect had left the scene.

Upon further investigation, the suspect was found and told LAPD that the woman had stolen the chihuahua from him.

LAPD can’t do anything further, unless the woman files a police report for assault and threatening with a weapon or if the suspect files that the woman stole the dog from him.

People living in the RVs moved belongings off the parkway and put it on the road next to their RVs during the cleanup.

THE BALLONA WETLANDS/JEFFERSON CLEANUP

Neighbors, birdwatchers and environmentalists have decried the illegal parking of RVs and other vehicles along Jefferson, adjacent to the Ballona Wetlands. There are no facilities for camping, no place for greywater, no restrooms. The signs say “No Parking.”

This is an unique wetlands, a mix of saltwater and freshwater, and provides shelter and resting areas for more than one-third of the country’s threatened and endangered species, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

CTN has written to state Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Autumn Burke about the degradation, and in October, Allen responded: “I remain concerned by the increase in debris and trash at the Ballona Wetlands. My staff and I have been working extensively with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure they are up to date on areas in need of additional attention.

“We happily welcome the public’s help and input in alerting us to areas of state property needing cleanup so we can notify the proper agencies in Los Angeles. We will continue to work with all relevant jurisdictions in search of long-term solutions that protect the reserve’s ecological treasures.”

When CTN received news this morning that there would be a cleanup, we hoped that perhaps the RVs would be moved, and a real cleanup of the roadway would take place.

Unfortunately, this cleanup was not for the roadway, but a “spot” cleanup for the “front yards” of the RV’s. People who illegally park along the roadway have taken over the walkway between the road and the park, adding structures and strewing garbage.

This car was propped up and looked like it was having an oil change.

The notice alerted those people, living illegally, that the City would begin cleaning at 6 a.m. and be done by 5 p.m. and that “property left behind will be collected and kept by the City for a period of 90 days.”

Many of the occupants simply picked up their stuff on the parkway and moved it to the road.

As CTN watched, L.A. Sanitation picked up jugs of urine, needles and other drug paraphernalia. It appeared that one car parked along the road was in the middle of an oil change, and a bus had tubes draining into a bucket beneath it.

We asked L.A. Sanitation about cleaning the road and were told that this is not their department. That would be the Department of Transportation, which would be needed to move the vehicles so that the road can be cleaned.

A wood structure had been built at the corner of Jefferson and Lincoln, hidden in the bushes next to Ballona. Nice real estate—hope there’s a fire extinguisher handy.

This wood structure was built at the corner of Lincoln and Jefferson.

Posted in Environmental, Homelessness | 1 Comment

Playing the Holy Family – and the Magic of Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Sue

My second born had colic. During the day he was the sweetest child, but at night just like Jekyll, he turned into a screaming stranger. The crying went on for three to four hours every night and doctors couldn’t offer a reason or a fix.

My daughter, who was barely two, suddenly wouldn’t leave my side. Never. For any reason.

Needing a break, my husband took me out to dinner. Midway through our meal, the babysitter called and explained she couldn’t take anymore.  In the background, I could hear my son’s pained crying and my daughter’s sobs. My spirit sunk as we drove home.

A week later, our church, the Methodist Church in Santa Monica called and asked if we would be the Holy Family on Christmas Eve.

Each year, a family with a newborn and dressed in appropriate Bethlehem garb is asked to walk to the front of the church, pretending to be Mary, Joseph, carrying baby Jesus.

I told  Reverend Don Shelby we couldn’t because of my son’s colic. I also explained my daughter refused to leave my side – I was quite sure the Bible made no mention of Jesus’ older sister.

Shelby listened, and then simply and cheerfully said, “We’ll count on you.”

Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck in her short story, The Christmas Story, describes a young mother’s anguish about giving birth to a boy on Christmas Eve.

“He’ll grow up and be a man and he’ll go off, too, to some Vietnam or other and be blown to pieces and all this will be of no use.” But what, the mother was thinking, was the use of this pain, this agony of birth, endured by women generation after generation, if people kept on killing each other, generation after generation?

After her son’s birth, the Doctor sends a photo to the husband in Vietnam. On the back of the photo he writes, “I wonder if long ago Mary knew that a great man had been born from her womb, a great man who would lead the world to peace, if men would follow him?  Anyway, she hoped as all mothers’ hope! Who knows? I keep hoping; too, with every baby I deliver.

On a Christmas Eve in 1993, we stood at the entrance to the church sanctuary. My son was wrapped in swaddling clothes, my husband and I in robes, my daughter hanging on my hem.

Just as we started to walk down the aisle, a happy young church member produced a big stuffed bear and asked my daughter if she’d like to go play. She looked at me, and then, for the first time in months cheerfully went off with the woman carrying a bear.

While the congregation sang “Silent Night,” we walked to the altar carrying a quiet child. I laid him in the manager and waited for his wails.

They never came.

For the first time in two and a half months he didn’t cry. His big eyes stared at everyone in wonderment.

We were at the front of the church for about 30 minutes, while everyone walked by to see “Baby Jesus.”

A small miracle happened that night.

As the congregation walked out of the sanctuary, we left the alter and walked back to a room to change our clothes. Our daughter came in and asked to be held. We went home and everyone slept that Christmas Eve.

The next night the colic was back and continued for another month and a half. My daughter once again clung to my side.

Every Christmas, I hope for miracles for the people who need them.

I think of how Christmas resonates with the symbolism of a child’s birth. Every time a baby is born, the promise, the hope that baby may be the person who can lead our world to a peaceful coexistence: where differences are respected, evil suppressed, and the joy of life celebrated.

Let this coming year be the beginning of that miracle.

Posted in Holidays | 3 Comments

City Overrules the Palisades Design Review Board

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Sue

 

The Hydration Room on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica has shades in the window. The Palisades DRB asked for a similar treatment in the proposed store across from the Village Green.

Back on September 22, the Pacific Palisades Design Review Board unanimously voted to disapprove plans for The Hydration Room on Antioch at Swarthmore.

But on December 14, the City’s Director of Determination at the Planning Department wrote that the department was approving the change of use from a retail store to a medical office use, overturning the DRB decision.

The Hydration Room, which gives vitamin and other IV infusions, was proposed for the space formerly occupied by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 874 Swarthmore.

In its opposition motion to L.A. City Planning, the DRB wrote: “Located across a narrow street, adjacent to a community park, the Village Green, the proposed business is not compatible and consistent with the general character of the community as stated in the Pacific Palisades Specific Plan: Section 2 – B, D, F; LAMC 16:50 Design Review Board Procedures, Section A. Purpose and Objectives; 16.50 A, A2, A3.”

DRB members felt that procedures done at The Hydration Room would be more suitable inside a medical office building or hospital, rather than a converted space on a retail block.

The Palisades DRB, a volunteer group appointed by the City Councilperson for CD 11, did not feel that the plans it reviewed would guarantee a sanitary work environment, such as an additional bathroom for staff, clean room for IV preparation, hand-washing sinks for nurses and a janitorial sink.

According to its letter to the Planning Department, the DRB wrote: “A problematic, palliative medical treatment facility in the center of Pacific Palisades, trendy as it may appear, is not consistent with the established character, identity and ongoing welfare of the Community.”

At the August 25 DRB meeting and a subsequent September 22 meeting, the DRB asked for a combination of tinted window treatment and an interior low partition wall to separate the treatment and reception area. (Editor’s note: The Hydration Room on Montana in Santa Monica has shades.) The applicant, Daniel Olivas, disagreed and the DRB denied the application.

The application then went to the Department of City Planning, under Director of Planning Vincent Bertoni, and the December 14 Director’s Determination overturned the local decision, stating: “The change of use from retail store to medical office is allowed in the C4 Zone,” which meant it complied with the Specific Plan. Bertoni approved the use, signs and parking that had been proposed. Planning Assistant Nick Vasuthasawat prepared the document, which was reviewed by City Planner Jordann Turner and Senior City Planner Juliet Oh.

With just 15 business days to appeal the Director’s decision, the DRB went to the Pacific Palisades Community Council and asked if that group would file an appeal. Members of the DRB include two past chairs of the PPCC, Barbara Kohn and Maryam Zar.

In a December 20 email to Kohn, Zar and Donna Vaccarino (DRB chair), Chairman David Card said, “We’ve decided to not file an appeal of the Planning Department’s decision to approve the design and use for the Hydration Room.  We understand that this use in that location with open views into the space is offensive to some, including some of us, and that a responsible applicant should have been willing to make changes.

“You may be able to find others who would be willing to appeal, such as the Village Green or other organizations,” Card wrote. “The local news media should be interested in the City’s decision.”

Circling the News reached out to Card and asked about the decision not to appeal.

He wrote back on December 21, “The Executive Committee of the Pacific Palisades Community Council has taken no position on the decisions of the Palisades DRB or the City Planning Department.”

Card said that the full board doesn’t meet until after the deadline to file an appeal and “The Executive Committee did not believe that the Board would have passed by a two-thirds majority a motion regarding an appeal of the City’s approval.”

CTN  asked Card, “Why not file and then let the full board vote in January?” He has not yet responded.

(Editor’s note: The PPCC executive committee consists of David Card, David Kaplan, Richard Cohen, Chris Spitz, Joanna Spak and John Padden.) 

 

 

Posted in businesses/stores, City/Councilman Mike Bonin | 3 Comments

LAUSD to Begin $10 Million Construction Project at Palisades High

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Sue

The Palisades High School gymnasium will receive a $10 million upgrade.

According to a flyer sent to residents who live near Palisades Charter High School, the LAUSD will soon begin to remove and replace the underground utility piping serving the entire campus and replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the competition gymnasium.

Construction dates are December 2021 through June 2024. Work hours will be Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (as needed).

Although Palisades is a fiscally independent charter and controls its own budget plus academic and discipline policies, the school pays a facility fee to the Los Angeles Unified School District, which owns the land and buildings on campus.

CTN contacted Lorrie Munoz, LAUSD Community Relations and asked about the cost.

“This is a critical repair project, and it is funded through Measure Q [2008] Bond funds,” Munoz wrote in a December 21 email, noting that the gym’s HVAC system will cost $7,353,500 and the underground boiler piping replacement will be $2,815,000. “The combined estimated total will be $10,168,500.”

We asked Munoz if construction would interfere with basketball or volleyball practices/competitions. “Our construction team is in communication with school administrators to minimize any interruption with school activities,” she replied. She recommended contacting school administrators for more detailed information and updates.

As of now, no street closures are anticipated, Munoz said.

The majority of the campus classrooms, built in 1961, still do not have air conditioning. Munoz was asked if they are to be included as part of this project. She said, “No, at this time it is just for the gym.”

When David Riccardi was hired as the PaliHi Director of Operations in 2012, he used money donated by former teacher and Citizen of the Year Rose Gilbert, now deceased, to renovate Mercer and Gilbert Hall.

Riccardi worked with vermin removal, lead and asbestos abatement and noted that HVAC duct work and air handling equipment had not been cleaned in 50 years and that A/C would be repaired for Mercer complex within two weeks.

“When I first walked into Mercer Hall, there were literally hundreds of dead rats under the stage,” he said. On his first entrance to the space, “my nose had started to run, and my eyes had started to water. It was a sick building.”

He began to uncover the causes, including not only the rats, but also some mold in the foyer and duct work that hadn’t been cleaned perhaps since 1961. Riccardi found an estimated $150,000 to clean the ducts throughout the school.

Riccardi in a 2013 report said that he was looking for “Funding options to be identified and sourced for renovation of entire gymnasium complex.”

A mere eight years later, the gymnasium project will finally begin.

Riccardi and the high school parted company in 2017.

Posted in Schools | 3 Comments

John Lennon’s Rainbow Mittens Offered in Magical New York

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Sue

When I was twenty-in, I loaded up a suitcase with all my worldly possessions, two hundred dollars, and took a Greyhound bus from South Dakota to New York City. I was too naïve to realize the folly of what I was doing. I had no job and no place to stay. My parents opposed my decision, but I was twenty-one.

When I arrived, it was September. The colors in Central Park were warm with yellow, orange and reds.

I got lucky and immediately found a job at Scribner’s Book Store, a mecca of books housed in a glass, wood architectural dream.

A woman, with brilliantly dyed red hair, askew glasses, a thick New York accent, and whose hobby was betting on the ponies, was letting an apartment in a building on 181st street.

She decided I was a “very nice girl” and told me rent was $180 a month. I told her I couldn’t afford it, so she lined me up with a roommate, also a “very nice girl,” so we could share the rent. The apartment had a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and two broken refrigerators in the entry hall—my new home.

Struggling financially to pay rent and pay for subway tokens to get to and from work, I had no money for luxuries. New clothes were not an option.

I continued to wear what I had packed in my suitcase, including my best polyester pants suit and my one pair of shoes. As the weather started to turn icy, I layered more clothes because I didn’t have a winter coat.

My parents begged me to come home, but like being involved with a man that you know is bad for you and you should break it off, instead I dived deeper into my love affair with New York City, and stayed.

I never asked my parents for money. I knew they wouldn’t send it. They had made it clear that when I came to my senses, they would pay for a ticket home.

In December, the city streets turned magical with lights, shoppers, the Rockefeller Center tree and skating rink and the artfully decorated Christmas department store windows along Fifth Avenue.

I took all the money I had managed to save and bought Christmas presents. I knew my family would think I was doing well if I sent gifts.

A warm, furry cap for my dad, a beautiful photo book of Wyeth’s paintings for my mom, a cookbook for my grandma, a giant gingerbread house that needed to be assembled from Macy’s for my little sister, and a croquet set for my other siblings. I had no money left, but my pride was intact.

In reality, my shoes were falling apart, rotten from the rain and slush of New York streets. I had a ragged pair of beige mittens that I had purchased in November on a street corner for a dollar.

The interior of Scribner’s Bookstore.

Two weeks before Christmas, I was behind the cash register in the bookstore. There were so many customers, I rarely looked up to see the face.

As I waited for yet another long day to be over, the most marvelous gloves I had ever seen quietly rested on the counter. They were all the colors of the rainbow – red, blue, purple, yellow, green.

I looked up at the man, who had wonderful kind eyes, and told him they were amazing. He looked at me and then asked, “Would you like them?”

At first, I was excited that I might own something so beautiful. Then I remembered, I only had ugly, dirty beige mittens to trade.

The store went very silent. Everyone seemed to be watching us.

I said, “I would like them, but all I can give you in exchange are my beige mittens that are dirty from the subway.”

He softly told me, “No, I’ll give these to you.” I wanted those gloves. But I couldn’t send the man out into the cold with bare hands. “Thank you,” I said, “but I can’t.”

He smiled and paid for his cards in cash. Then his wife, who barely was tall enough to peer over the counter, and his little boy, left.

The noise returned to the store.  One of the clerks rushed up to me.  “What were you talking about?!!”

“Mittens,” I said.

She asked me, “Did you know you were talking to John Lennon?”

On Christmas Eve, the store stayed open late for the last-minute shoppers. The cash registers wouldn’t balance, and we didn’t leave until late.

By the time the A train got me to my stop it was after eleven. I came out on the street, cold and tired and walked the stairs to my fifth-floor apartment.

The clerk had told me I was stupid, that I should’ve taken his gloves and that I could’ve sold them for a lot of money. I thought about it, but only briefly, because no one should have cold hands.

Years later as I looked back at my first Christmas away from home with no tree, no family, no presents, I think about loneliness.

I was alone, but regrets? I have none.

 

Posted in Viewpoint | 4 Comments

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” a Wonderful Celebration at Theatre Palisades

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Sue

The cast of “It’s a Wonderful Life” prior to taking the stage.

We now can enjoy two annual Christmas celebrations in Pacific Palisades. One, the revived Ho!Ho!Ho! in Temescal Canyon, provides a warm community event. This year, family and children gathered with Santa at Simon Meadow on a Saturday.

The second event is an eight-year tradition that has easily become a favorite with adults. Last Wednesday night, the Theatre Palisades Actors’ Troupe (TPAT) presented a live radio play celebrating the holiday season. The actors and Foley crew, dressed in costume, recreated a 1946 radio show broadcast of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

The free performance at the Pierson Playhouse started in the lobby with mulled wine and Christmas cookies before the performance.

Then it was into the theater and a “Wonderful” night that included two skilled Foley artists, Maria O’Connor and Martha Hunter, who provided all of the radio “sound effects.” The cast of 12 actors, directed by Sherman Wayne, were equally talented.

The 1946 Christmas movie was produced by Frank Capra, based on a short story, “The Greatest Gift,” by Phillip Van Doren Stern, that examines the life of George Bailey.

This man (played in the movie by Jimmy Stewart) has given up a life of dreams to help others, and finally in desperation on Christmas Eve, considers suicide because he feels he’s been a failure.

His guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, travels to earth to show George all the lives he’s touched and how different the community of Bedford Falls would have been if he had never been born.

Initially, the movie performed poorly at the box office, but it was recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made. Filmmaker Capra said it was his personal favorite and he screened it for his family every Christmas season.

After Wednesday’s performance, Mrs. Santa Claus and her chief elf, Skyla Burmeister, gave away two gift certificates from Luxe Coffee, a gift certificate from Gelson’s supermarket, two sets of tickets to upcoming Theatre Palisades shows and a Bob’s Burger Swag basket donated by Bento Box Productions.

 

 

 

Martha Hunter shared her mulled wine recipe with Circling the News and we’re sharing it with readers:

Two bottles of Merlot.

One cup of Brandy

One cup of Apple Cider

One cup of Honey, Cinnamon sticks, Star anise, Cloves stuck in quartered orange.

The easiest way to heat it is in a crock pot/slow cooker but you can also use the stove. Heat on low until it gets hot (about an hour). Stir occasionally. When ready to serve, remove/strain all spices and oranges. Serves about twelve.

Optional: serve with an orange twist and cinnamon stick.

There are many, many variations. One recipe uses maple syrup instead of honey. Some people leave out the apple cider. Do not leave the spices in too long or the wine can turn a bit bitter.

Posted in Holidays, Reviews | Leave a comment