Maybe it was the long bus ride. Maybe it was first-game jitters. Whatever the reason, Palisades High’s varsity football team looked out of sync and was unable to overcome costly mistakes in a 25-10 season-opening loss Friday night at Sylmar. In the debut of new head coach London Woodfin, the Spartans took advantage of Pali’s poor kick coverage to start drives deep in Dolphin territory. ‘Our offensive line needs to do a better job protecting the quarterback and our special teams just weren’t up to par,’ said Pali’s first-year head coach Leo Castro, who did not enjoy his debut nearly as much as his counterpart. ‘We have five running backs that could start on any team in the City. So we can move the ball fine. But when we get in the red zone we have to score.’ Pali’s only touchdown came midway through the fourth quarter on a 99-yard interception return by junior Andre Harris, but it was too little too late. A bright spot for Palisades was the kicking of Dylan Cohen. He booted a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter and had four punts of 45 yards or more. But the Dolphins’ senior quarterback was pressured all game, completing two of seven passes for 12 yards. Anthony Anaebere led Pali’s rushing attack with 12 carries for 63 yards and Robert Gillette added four carries for 40 yards. ‘Our offense was out there 70 percent of the time, we just committed stupid penalties and basically hurt ourselves,’ said Henry Argueta, Pali’s junior linebacker and tight end. ‘They burned us on two long passes but mostly we gave them great field position. It seemed like they began every possession at our 20.’ After a scoreless first quarter, C.J. Gable returned a Palisades punt 61 yards to set up a 33-yard touchdown pass from John Austin to D’Andre Goodwin. Later, Gable returned a kickoff 80 yards to set up a nine-yard scoring run by Marc Alanis that gave Sylmar a 12-3 halftime lead. Gable gained 121 yards in 10 carries, including a 47-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. ‘Coach [Castro] told us after the game that one loss doesn’t make the whole season,’ Pali senior linebacker David Villalobos said. ‘So we can’t hang our heads. We just have to execute better from here on out. If we give Dylan time to throw, he’ll make plays for us.’ In the preceding frosh/soph game, sophomore receiver Jevon Crowder caught touchdown passes of 30 and 50 yards from quarterback Michael Latt as the Dolphins tied host Sylmar 12-12.
Marymount Volleyball Loses Season Opener
In a showdown between two of the top prep girls programs in California, Marymount High’s varsity volleyball team opened its season with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-21 loss to visiting Manhattan Beach Mira Costa Monday night. Marymount coach and Palisadian Cari Klein hopes her team will respond as it did last year when the Sailors dropped their season opener to Mater Dei before reeling off 36 consecutive victories on the way to their fourth consecutive CIF Division IV state championship. ‘We were right there, we were in every game, we just couldn’t finish them,’ Klein said of Monday’s loss, the Sailors’ 19th in her seven seasons at the school. ‘They were tall’it was like playing a college team’but we did a pretty good job blocking. We’re young and I was moving the girls around a bit. I’m still learning this team whereas last year I knew what my players could do in every situation. I’m hoping we will take this loss to heart and play better if we meet them again in a tournament.’ Mira Costa is ranked No. 1 in California by PrepVolleyball.com while the Sailors are No. 13. Marymount’s roster includes five Palisadians: senior Christina Woodward and sophomores Kelly Irvin, Audrey Eichler, Ali Hoffman and Madison Wojciechowski.
Dancing Delegates, Arnold, and Me
By KAREN WILSON Palisadian-Post Intern Emeritus There were at least two Palisadians present at last week’s Republican National Convention’Arnold Schwarzenegger and me. And while the Governator is actually a former resident who was there serving as a keynote speaker, and I’m a current townie who was busy soaking up her first political event, I will say that as thousands of delegates waved ‘Arnold!’ signs in the air at Madison Square Garden, I felt a touch of local pride. Welcome to the Grand Old Party convention, held this year for the first time in New York City. As an 18-year-old intern at Entertainment Weekly (EW) magazine, I had given politics a backseat to showbiz this summer. Previous to attending the convention, I had only one political event under my belt’a Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs press conference, during which the rap magnate unveiled his plans to reach out to young voters. Shortly after 9 p.m. last Monday, I hurried down 34th Street towards the Garden, flashing my press credentials and wishing I were home watching reruns instead of being wanded by security in my too-high heels. I made it to the fifth floor Time magazine workspace, home to all Time Warner media personnel. The Time office, crunched between those of CNN and ‘The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,’ was equipped with several computers, which were being used for online research and photo editing. While Senator John McCain was getting ready to start his speech, I was led upstairs to the sixth floor and entered the arena itself through Gate 64, where foot traffic was at a standstill. Turned out that CNN’s broadcast booth was located just inside, and reporters Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff were on the air. Security came through to keep the crowd moving, and I made my way to the Time magazine area, located about 40 feet to the right of the keynote podium. Immediately, I noticed a bleacher of cameras. Located across the floor from the stage, it rose up from a sea of delegates, supporting television cameramen shoulder-to-shoulder. Every basketball-sized lens was trained on the podium, where McCain would soon stand. Directly underneath the cameras was a giant flat-screened TV monitor, which served as the TelePrompTer. Over the next few days, I kept my focus trained on the PrompTer, trying to spot the places where the politicians went off script. While McCain and Laura Bush kept faithfully to theirs, Schwarzenegger did a little improvising, and Rudy Giuliani went completely off track as the crowd roared its approval. Also of interest to this young reporter was the row of photographers sitting two feet from the podium, snapping shots of the keynotes; when President Bush spoke at the end of the convention, many of them had been replaced by security personnel. Night two was a banner occasion for me, as Laura Bush is an idol of mine, and the aforementioned Gov. Schwarzenegger was to take the stage. During Laura’s speech, the composed First Lady kept one leg bent behind the podium, while the other tapped the floor’whether from nerves or to pace herself, I couldn’t tell. As Arnold stepped out, I looked directly across the floor at his wife, Maria Shriver, and their four children, who sat in an area reserved for political heavyweights like George Prescott Bush and Condoleezza Rice. The delegates on the floor waved blue and white signs (in a fun twist, our town’s official colors) that read ‘Arnold!’ I took delight in noting that the youngest Schwarzenegger son joined in the fun, waving a banner himself. I had two sightings that night, first passing ‘The View’ co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck in the corridor leading to the arena, and, once inside, exchanging smiles with Bob Dole as he left a CNN interview. After he’d passed, I was busy loitering in the aisle, trying to peer up at the back of Larry King’s head as he broadcasted live, when I felt a searing pain in my foot- a Dole staffer, not watching the floor either, had crushed my left toes with his wingtip shoe. Hobbling now, I was almost brought to tears’not by the pain, but by the energy in that hall during the speeches. As Laura had gone through her lines, they had been a roar from the crowd, an energy of togetherness I’d never felt before. It was like the world’s best high school pep rally, but a thousand times better. There I was, on the edge of my seat, realizing that, at age 18, I was a part of something that was Very Big. From George and Barbara Bush holding up hand-painted ‘We Love Laura’ posters, to every ‘Four More Years’ sign being waved by a delegate, there was just something raucous and magical taking place at the Garden. At the end of the night, I reached under a delegate’s seat and snagged an ‘Arnold!’ poster. Exhausted from working all day at EW, I decided to watch day three on television. As Dick Cheney and Zell Miller got the crowd on their feet, I was envisioning the real Garden scene and comparing it to what I was seeing on the screen. On night four, I snagged a half-hour floor pass and put it to use during New York Governor Pataki’s speech. It was prime time and the floor was gridlocked. I stood between the Illinois and Mississippi delegations and looked around. The Virginia delegates had autographed their signpost, while the Hawaiians had affixed a traditional floral wreath to theirs. A Michigan delegate, meanwhile, wore a customized T-shirt that read ‘Kerry Flip-Flops’ against a picture of a Heinz ketchup bottle. As I snapped his photo, I accidentally bumped the woman next to me. As she swung around, I caught the name on her credentials: it was Campbell Brown, co-host of NBC’s ‘Weekend Today.’ Then, I passed right by the heavily guarded seats where the First Family was seated, and snapped a photo. Later, the president’s speech was going smoothly when a flailing protester wearing a sign reading ‘Pink Slip Bush’ was hustled through the press area by security, and, like a modern-day politically-motivated Cinderella, she left behind a leather sandal. Soon, reporters had descended upon the shoe, snapping photos, passing it around, and smirking about the incident. When it’s no longer needed as evidence, look for it on eBay. At 11:05, Bush told the crowd that he owed his blunt persona to ‘the lady up there,’ gesturing to the seat usually occupied by his mother, Barbara. However, she wasn’t actually present during this declaration. Afterwards, balloons and confetti spilled from the ceiling. As people poured from the arena, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ blared. Remaining delegates began dancing as the convention came to an end. Stray balloons floated from the ceiling and I stood at the rail, ringed on all sides by neon signs declaring the presence of NBC News, Bloomberg Media, even Al-Jazeera. I realized that I’d never again follow a convention, or listen to a Cher CD, or watch a nightly news program on television and not think of this moment. It was the perfect time to give my arm a little pinch, and the perfect time to say good night. (Editor’s Note: Palisadian Karen Wilson is still in New York, working hard at Entertainment Weekly, and is looking forward to sophomore year at UC Santa Barbara, which begins later this month.)
Preferential Parking Debate Highlights Council Agenda
The four main agenda items on tonight’s Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting at 7 p.m. in the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real, include: 1. Parking: The board will decide whether it should support or oppose the proposed preferential district for streets adjacent to the business district and the Palisades Recreation Center. A color-coded map showing all the impacted streets is now on display in the library. A mandated L.A. Department of Transportation public hearing on the district has been scheduled for Monday, September 27 at 7 p.m. in Mort’s Oak Room (see related story and map, page 4). 2. ‘Mystery pond’ report: Daniel Hackney of the L.A. Bureau of Sanitation, who is coordinating city, county and regional government response, will discuss the problem at PCH and Chautauqua, as well as other ‘dry weather’ storm-drain issues. 3. Inclusionary Housing: A report by Gil Dembo and Don Scott on the Garcetti-Reyes proposal being considered by the L.A. City Council which would require developers building new housing to offer a number of housing units to be sold or rented to people of low-and moderate-income in the same project. According to the Los Angeles Business Journal (September 6), a City Council committee hearing on Garcetti-Reyes will be held later this month, and a ‘revised ordinance could come back to the council by early next year. Any ordinance passed would likely be phased in starting in 2006.’ 4. Cancellation of Commuter Express Route 430, the bus line linking Pacific Palisades and downtown Los Angeles: A report by the council’s transportation advisor Steve Lantz on possible further action. The public is invited. For more information about the Community Council, visit www.pp90272.org.
Renaissance Academy Delays Opening Day
On Tuesday, Renaissance Academy Charter High School principal Paul McGlothlin wrote a letter to Renaissance students and families informing them that the first day of regular classes at the 881 Alma Real building would be delayed until Monday, September 13. School had been scheduled to start yesterday. ‘I used to joke that the paint would still be wet on opening day, and as it turns out it will be,’ McGlothlin wrote in his letter. ‘We have made this decision to avoid exposing our community to very unpleasant fumes and to allow the Alma Real facility to thoroughly air out.’ The letter, posted on the school’s Web site (www.rahigh.org), also updated 10th, 11th and 12th grade students who will be taking classes at SMC that those courses will begin as planned on Friday, September 10. Yesterday morning, RA teachers Susan Caggiano (English) and John Kannofsky (visual arts and technology) stood in front of the Alma Real building to meet the handful of students who had not been informed about the opening day delay. Caggiano handed out a printed version of the letter on the Web site. Parent volunteer Joe Sheppard, whose two teens will be attending Renaissance, stood at the park entrance to meet students headed to school. ‘We tried to call everyone and we sent a mass e-mail [about the delay],’ said Kannofsky, who greeted 10th grader Thomas Kaesln walking towards the school with his aunt at 8:45 a.m. A Topanga resident, Kaesln said, ‘According to the principal, the first day was today,’ and he hadn’t checked the Web site or gotten a call telling him otherwise. Palisadian Jacqueline Steinberg, an 11th grader transferring from the Archer School, also showed up with her mother, Joy, on Wednesday, thinking it was the first day of school. Instead, she spent the morning touring the Alma Real school facilities with architecture and environmental science teacher Stephanie Besch. Though McGlothlin announced on the Web site that ‘construction has been completed,’ the school still looked like a construction site as workers in the downstairs classroom area secured bathroom and light fixtures. One of the floors had not been laid and paint cans, tools and ladders cluttered the floor. The facilities were not yet furnished. Upstairs, RA teachers looked for a room to hold a meeting in the also unfurnished administration offices/conference rooms’some carpeted and some with hardwood floors. The area smelled strongly of paint as contractors and workers continued to work despite all the people passing through. McGlothlin assured students and families that ‘this delay will not affect the overall instructional program. We are simply treating Wednesday and Thursday as staff development, or student free days.’ Students who showed up yesterday were instructed to check the Web site to find out about transportation plans for Friday, when they will travel by school bus from the Alma Real campus to SMC’s Stewart St. campus for 9 a.m. classes. They will return to RA by bus at 2 p.m. that afternoon.
Revere Raises Funds for Major Rehab
By MARILYN HAESE CEREGHINO Special to the Palisadian-Post A fall campaign at Paul Revere Middle School aims to raise $200,000 in funds for renovating the school library and making significant campus improvements. The ball got rolling when a private citizen donated a $100,000 matching grant to improve facilities and the PRIDE booster club, PTA and the school administration together also donated $100,000. The fundraising campaign is now going out to parents and friends in the community in hopes to double this initial amount and make a ‘Revere Renaissance’ a reality. ‘Everyone has always agreed that our middle school is situated on a beautiful campus,’ said parent volunteer Scott MacGillivray, ‘but it’s 50 years old this year and it’s time to make it a more vital center of learning.’ MacGillivray, a West L.A. architect who is PRIDE’s vice president overseeing fundraising, is a veteran of teaming up with other parents for school improvements that have included creating playgrounds and a new library at Kenter Charter Elementary School in Brentwood and the complete rebuilding of the Brentwood Science Magnet’s outdoor campus. Targeted for updating is Revere’s sizable but outdated library. ‘This is a nice-sized library, but it needs to be comfortable and attractive for students to spend more time in it. Most of all, it needs the right resources, such as books, computers and reference materials,’ said MacGillivray, who is providing his architectural services pro bono. Efforts are currently underway to redo the library from floor to ceiling. Plans for furnishings include replacing the cumbersome rows of work tables currently there with reading clusters of comfortable chairs, smaller work space areas, new high efficiency lighting for better illumination, card catalog computers, indoor trees, new carpeting, a new color scheme, artwork and a large, glass entry door. Also planned for installation are wireless docking ports for more computers and laptops, and a new book club room and listening lab. Plans for updating the library’s operations include the procurement of more books, a review of teachers’ needs, and a repositioning of the circulation desk and check-out procedure, including bar coding of books and elimination of the entry turnstile. In addition, plans are underway to build a separate teachers’ library stocked with books, CDs, DVD and videos for faculty to share. Also on the library committee’s ‘wish list’ is the creation of an adjacent outdoor ‘Reading Garden’ to be entered from the library through a glass-wall entry, with seating areas, arbors and shade. Elsewhere on campus, slated improvements include a boot-camp style ‘Obstacle Course’ as well as benches and outdoor seating areas, trellises and landscaping for the eighth grade quad. Additionally, a new stage curtain, theater lights and a thrust stage are scheduled upgrades for Town Hall. The school district has also allocated funds for a new sound system in the 900-seat auditorium which will help support, among other activities, the school’s orchestra and choir programs plus the new drama program. ‘This new effort is expected to raise the school stakeholders’ consciousness of the possibilities that exist for our kids in the public school system,’ MacGillivray said. A resurgence at the middle school began last year with the installation of a new administration, led by principal Art Copper, and an increased level of parental involvement and fundraising support. Last year’s ‘Ride the Wave’ campaign resulted in more than $200,000 in parent donations and grants. Residents should look for information in the Palisadian-Post in upcoming weeks regarding an open forum meeting at the Paul Revere library. Community Match Donations can be made out to ‘PRIDE-MATCH,’ and mailed to Paul Revere Middle School, 1450 Allenford, Los Angeles, CA 90049. Contact: Scott MacGillivray at 479-1974 or at TSMAIA@aol.com or e-mail Marilyn Haese Cereghino at: haese@haesewood.com.
Bel-Air Bay Club Wins Beach Volleyball Title
By JIMMY DUNNE Special to the Palisadian-Post It was a perfect end-of-summer Sunday on the beach at Bel-Air Bay Club, where 75 juniors from the Beach Club, Jonathan Club and Bel-Air Bay Club battled it out for the Conference Volleyball Championships two weeks ago at Will Rogers State Beach. Bel-Air Bay Club handily won the title with 22 team wins. The Beach Club finished second with 11 wins and the Jonathan Club was third with five wins. Bel-Air Bay Club won the 14-and-under and 16-and-under Divisions while the Beach Club took first-place in the 12s and 18s. ‘What really struck me more than the kids’ incredible ability was the smiles on their faces and how they acted,’ Beach Club coach Roland Sunga said. ‘I never saw one kid question a call the whole day.’ Juniors’ ages spanned from 10 to 18 and competition was open to both boys and girls. Rock music blared across the beach, moms and dads cheered on the participants and kids had fun with their best friends, culminating with a barbecue on the beach. ‘I look forward to this event all summer long,’ said Meg Norton of the Jonathan Club, who proudly captured ‘Most Improved Player’ honors in the Conference. One of the most celebrated awards of the afternoon went to Madison Wojciechowski, who earned the coveted Linda Hanley Award for exemplifying true character during competition. The award honors Palisades resident Linda Hanley, one of the greatest women’s beach volleyball players of all time, who expressed her passion, love of life and respect for others throughout a stellar pro career. ‘The reason Bel-Air Bay Club’s coaches Greg and Clark Porter are so successful is because they really have a good relationship with so many of the volleyball kids at the club,’ Athletic Director Jason Sandoval said. Huey Wilton of the Beach Club was the Conference’s Most Valuable Player for his dominance in the 18s Division while Peter Eichler, Claire Kannan, Rusty Barneson and Kelly Irvin also earned accolades for their standout play. ‘Hughie Wilton is a force to be reckoned with in beach volleyball. He may very well be the next Karch Kiraly,’ said Roland Sunga, who was named co-Coach of the Year along with Rick Kinnan of the Beach Club. Rows and rows of parents, friends and kids lined the beach breathing in the last moments of a great summer. ‘Is this a great day in Southern California, or what?’ said Cindy Simon as she cheered on daughter Lulu from her beach chair. ‘It’s competitive, and you really want to win’but that’s really not what this day is about,’ Henry Elder said. ‘There’s a spirit in this event that’s not like any other volleyball tournament.’ As the kids sat at picnic tables, they watched the sun melt into the Pacific Oceran and contemplated the upcoming school year, which, for many, began the next day. ‘I’m beaching it with my best friends, I won a trophy today, and I don’t have any homework when I go home,’ said Jessie Kybartas of the Bel-Air Bay Club. ‘What’s better than that?’
Football Opens Friday at Sylmar
The Palisades High varsity football team kicks off its season tomorrow night in unfamiliar territory and against an unfamiliar opponent. The Dolphins travel north to Sylmar for a game against a school they have not played since 1970. Both teams start the season under new leadership. Athletic director Leo Castro will be Palisades’ fourth head coach in the past five years. He replaces Jason Blatt, who compiled a 9-13 record over two seasons. For the Spartans, London Woodfin takes over for longtime coach Jeff Engilman, who built the program into a perennial City Section power. ‘Even with a new quarterback and a new coach, we expect Sylmar to be just as good as it’s always been,’ Castro said. ‘They are physical, they have good athletes and it’ll be a real test for us. It’s going to be a tough game for sure.’ Pali was 4-7 last season, finished fourth in the Western League and lost to El Camino Real in the first round of the Invitational playoffs. The Spartans are trying to reload from a 9-3-1 season in which they won the Valley Mission League title and advanced to the semifinals of the City championship playoffs before losing to top-seeded Venice. Friday’s game will feature two of the top wide receivers in the City Section: C.J. Gable of Sylmar and Pali’s Brandon Bryant. Daniel Vasquez and John Austin will share the quarterback duties for Sylmar while senior Dylan Cohen returns for his second season as the starting quarterback and kicker for Palisades. The teams shared two common opponents last year, each beating Narbonne and Van Nuys. The frosh/soph game begins at 4 p.m. and the varsity game will follow at 7 p.m. Friday at Sylmar High. Directions to Sylmar High: Take the 405 Freeway North for 16 miles, then merge onto I-5 North. Merge onto the 210 Freeway (towards Pasadena), exit at Polk Street. Turn right onto Polk Street and drive half a mile before turning left onto Bordon Avenue. The school is at 13050 Borden Avenue.
Savoring Tee Time
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Although being a devoted wife and mother takes first priority in her life, Palisadian Colette Rosenberg still makes time every week for her number one hobby. In between driving her three boys to and from school, cooking dinner and cleaning house, she sneaks in a round or two of golf at Riviera Country Club and that devotion has taken her places she’s never been before. Rosenberg recently qualified for the United States Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships, which begin tomorrow at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee. For a few days, she can take a break from being a mom and test her strokes against 129 other players from across the country at one of the most beautiful courses in America—and she embraces every opportunity. ‘This is the 10th time I’ve made it,’ says Rosenberg, who shot a 79 at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club to finish fourth in Southern California, one stroke behind the first-place trio. ‘I’m not real happy with my score’I should shoot a 74 on that course’but I’ll take it.’ Only the top 16 golfers from Southern California make the national cut and Rosenberg will be joined in Tennessee by two fellow members from Riviera, where she and her husband Joey have been members for 23 years. In fact, she has won the club championship there eight times. ‘I love Riviera and it definitely gets me prepared for other events,’ says Rosenberg, whose personal-best on her home course is a 1-under par 70. ‘I don’t mind the narrow fairways and deep bunkers because I know if I can play consistently well there, I can shoot a low score anywhere.’ Even at 43, Rosenberg routinely competes against and beats players 15 to 20 years younger than her. Part of the reason for her success is experience. Rosenberg has learned a lot since first picking up a club at the age of 14. Growing up in Aiea, a village near Pearl Harbor on Oahu, she quickly grew to love the game and eventually made the team at the University of Hawaii. ‘I have played on a lot of different courses and they set up some pretty nice ones for the amateur championships,’ says Rosenberg, a zero handicapper who cites putting as the strongest aspect of her game. ‘But Riviera is where I play the most and it’s definitely my favorite.’ Riviera is Rosenberg’s first choice not only because of its hallowed greens and close proximity to her home near Bienvenida, but also for a sentimental reason: it’s where she and Joey first met. ‘I was working in the pro shop at the time and he used to come by to play all the time,’ she recalls. ‘We still try to play together once a week, but with our busy schedules we play on our own a lot more.’ The Mid-Amateur field starts at 130 players and only the top 64 advance to Sunday’s match play format, in which the player with the lowest score faces the player with the highest score head-to-head. The farthest Rosenberg has ever advanced is the round of 16 at Tacoma Country Club in Washington seven years ago. ‘I actually prefer match play much more,’ Rosenberg admits. ‘In stroke play, every shot counts, but in match play you only have to worry about one person. And if you have a bad hole, you only lose one point no matter what.’ Rosenberg has only hit one hole in one in her life, but she remembers the time and place vividly. It happened on September 26, 1999, at Riviera’s famous fourth hole (236 yards), considered by many experts, including golfing legend Ben Hogan, to be the most difficult par 3 in America. ‘It was my oldest son Dustin’s 10th birthday and he, my husband and I all played a round,’ Rosenberg says, laughing. ‘I used my driver from the white tee and I hit it straight down the fairway but I didn’t see it go in. When I approached the hole I still couldn’t see it so I asked Dustin where my ball was and he said it was in the cup. I thought I had hit it over the green!’ There was even more significance to that particular family outing. ‘Joey’s drive landed on the green and he made birdie and Dustin laid up, chipped onto the green and made his putt. So we scored 1-2-3 on that hole.’ Now 14, Dustin played PPBA and AYSO in the Palisades and is now starting at quarterback and safety on Loyola High’s freshman football team. Rosenberg’s other two kids, Darren (12) and Dawson (9) both attend Calvary Christian School. Darren has made the Pali Rec League’s all-star basketball team while Dawson, a third-grader, made the PPBA Pinto Division all-star travel team. Joey was the quarterback at Granada Hills High under John Newman (who later coached John Elway) and played catcher at UCLA. Rosenberg flew to Knoxville Tuesday with longtime friend Sandra Nakagaki, who shot an 83 and finished tied for seventh in SoCal. ‘We grew up together,’ Rosenberg says of Nakagaki, who lives in Culver City. ‘She works in the pro shop at Riviera and I’ve known her for 28 years. We were even teammates at Hawaii.’ The defending Riviera Club champion, Akemi Khaiatt of Huntington Beach, tied for first at the SoCal regional tournament, one stroke ahead of Rosenberg. ‘I think it says a lot for our club that three players qualified for the championships. Hopefully, one of us can bring home the winner’s trophy this year.’ No prize money is involved in amateur golf tournaments, but competing nevertheless allows Rosenberg to travel all over the country and play some of the nation’s most beautiful courses. So far, her hobby has brought her to Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Georgia and now Tennessee. She has also played amateur events on various courses throughout the Southland, including San Diego, Newport Beach, Rancho Park and Mission Hills. ‘Golf is a sport you can play and enjoy your whole life,’ Rosenberg says. ‘I savor every chance I get to play these events. It’s fun to challenge yourself and keep trying to get better.’
Dr. Columbus D. McAlpin, 61; Pediatric Surgeon and Comforter
We have been blessed to have in our midst a distinguished and prominent surgeon, Dr. Columbus D. McAlpin. A gentleman of extraordinary achievements and success and extremely high personal ethical standards, McAlpin passed away on Friday, September 3. He was 61. McAlpin was the former Director of Pediatric Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. He was also on the medical staffs of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Childrens Hospital of Long Beach, King Drew Medical Center, Centinela Hospital, Santa Monica/ UCLA Hospital, Saint John’s Hospital and California Hospital. His brilliant surgical career spanned over 30 years and focused on healing and saving the lives of tens of thousands of children. McAlpin was born on August 11, 1943 in Los Angeles and attended Cathedral High School, where he served as student body president. Unknown to many, McAlpin turned down a UCLA football scholarship. Instead, he worked his way through UCLA so that he could focus on his undergraduate premedical studies and fulfill his dream of attending medical school. He accomplished all of this, while helping to parent and financially support his three younger siblings, due to his mother’s early death. McAlpin graduated at the top of his class from Howard University Medical School, Alpha Omega Alpha. He was also voted president of his graduating medical class. He completed his general surgical residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center and his pediatric surgical residency at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. He distinguished himself as the chief pediatric resident at Childrens Hospital. He was the second African American to obtain certification by the American Board of Pediatric Surgery. He held academic positions at USC Medical Center and Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School. He received countless honors and awards during his prestigious career, most notably the coveted Golden Apple Award presented to the most outstanding faculty member and voted on by the chief resident and residents of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He and his family have been residents of Pacific Palisades for 15 years. ‘He walked among us as a common man: not flashy, not ostentatious, but humble and gentle with a twinkle in his eye and always a smile on his face,’ said family friend Brenda Miller. However, he was far from common. It was a unique experience to encounter a man such as McAlpin, whose miraculous touch healed so many. His calm and reassuring demeanor instilled immediate comfort and confidence, especially when fragile lives were at risk. McAlpin could not stroll in any community without being greeted by a former patient or parent, eager to extend a grateful hug. In spite of his demanding professional schedule, he placed the highest priority on his family. He never missed a special musical performance, sports event or any occasion honoring his family. His family was clearly an important priority in his life. He was dearly loved and will be tremendously missed. He is survived by two children, Marcus, 11, a 6th grader at John Thomas Dye, and Lauren, 15, a sophomore at Marlborough; his wife Rochelle; and four of his siblings, Lola McAlpin Grant, Leonard, Jerome and Christina McAlpin. His sister Veronica was recently deceased. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, at Corpus Christi Church, 887 Toyopa Dr. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Columbus McAlpin, M.D. Fund, which will underwrite a room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in McAlpin’s name, and contribute to the McAlpin children’s college education, 2341 Veteran Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064.
