Saluting 2003 ‘Citizen’ Skinner

The spirit of dedicated volunteerism, a deep and vital force in Pacific Palisades since the town’s founding in 1922, was celebrated once again at the annual Citizen of the Year dinner last Thursday at the Riviera Country Club. The event was first held in 1947 and has been sponsored ever since by the Palisadian-Post. In recognition of his crucial leadership role in the $850,000 community-driven campaign to expand, renovate and vastly improve the four playing fields at the Palisades Recreation Center, longtime youth coach and businessman Mike Skinner received his Citizen of the Year award from Publisher Roberta Donohue. Also, Community Council chairman George Wolfberg presented his organization’s traditional Golden Sparkplug awards to Bob Jeffers and Roger Woods, both of whom ignited and completed important beautification projects along Sunset and at the Village Green. ‘Mike Skinner began pushing for the long needed overhaul of the antiquated and dangerous playing fields in 1999,’ Donohue said in her remarks. ‘When he realized that city funding for this project simply wasn’t going to happen, Mike came up with a plan to have the community raise the funds, hire a private contractor to rebuild the fields in accordance with city regulations, and then turn everything back over to the city.’ Once Skinner and the Palisades Pony Baseball Association (led by Bob Benton) received approval from the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks last spring, they launched a fundraising campaign (under the leadership of Bob Levitt and John Bertram) and hired the company that built the famous ‘Field of Dreams’ baseball diamond in Iowa. ‘Miraculously,’ Donohue said, ‘the fields were ready for AYSO soccer games on November 8 and the bills were paid. The result of this enormous effort is a wonderful new park, with larger and safer playing fields that are available for the entire community to enjoy.’ Skinner’s committee has now raised just over $1,000,000, allowing for creation of a permanent maintenance fund. ‘This is a very humbling experience’doing something I love and having a lot of people help me do it,’ said Skinner when he received his award from Donohue. The 27-year resident thanked the ‘Field of Dreams heroes who stepped up to the plate,’ and noted that ‘it’s amazing how many good people are out there.’ He acknowledged the key people who participated in various aspects of the project, including L.A. Dodgers announcer and Palisades resident Vin Scully and his wife Sandra, whose major donation halfway through the campaign ‘gave us a shot in the arm.’ The father of three sons (Kevin, a fireman; Ryan, a senior at BYU; and Brendan, a volleyball player at Oaks Christian High School), Skinner also praised his wife Carey, a real estate executive with DBL Realtors, for her ‘patience and understanding through years of seemingly endless meetings and the turmoil that was going on at our house. Fortunately, she understood my priorities.’ Skinner received proclamations from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Mayor James Hahn, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and, in person, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley. ‘This is my fifth Citizen dinner and the only thing I’m sorry about is I don’t live here,’ Pavley said. ‘This is one of the few events in the District that my husband and I actually attend voluntarily. We feel we’re among friends.’ And in a tribute to Skinner, she said, ‘What impressed me is that his kids are older’he did it for the kids today and the kids of the future.’ When presenting her certificates to the two Sparkplug winners, Pavley emphasized the important role played by citizen volunteers in local beautification efforts. ‘In these tight budget times, we have to collectively take the initiative. The efforts by Bob Jeffers and Roger Woods help maintain the high quality of life that you treasure here.’ Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who has been attending Citizen dinners since the early 1970’s, agreed with Pavley. ‘The Palisades never ceases to amaze me’the amazing talent, the amazing dedication by residents who say, ‘I have an idea, I have a dream, I can make it happen.’ This community never stops,’ she told the audience. Fourteen past Citizens enjoyed the festivities, including Phyllis Genovese (1952), Dr. Michael Martini (1967), Bob McMillin (1975), Gloria Stout Nedell (1978), Joan Graves (1987), Roger Diamond (1988), Kit Festa (1989), Bobbie Farberow (1995), Hal Maninger and Chuck McGlothlin (1996), Bill Grieb (1997), Kurt Toppel (1998), Carol Leacock (1999) and Mitzi Blahd (2001). The invocation was given by Mike Skinner’s friend, Bob Williams, and the master of ceremonies was Michael Dunn, a local actor who (along with Lulee Fisher) sang one of the lead roles in the evening’s musical roast. The skit was conceived and written by Barbara Dawson, produced by Joan Graves, and directed and choreographed by Babs Warden Lebowsky. The pianist was Dr. James E. Smith. When Wolfberg presented the Sparkplug awards, a Community Council tradition for more than 30 years, he recounted the many obstacles Bob Jeffers had to overcome while spending nearly two years raising funds and working to replace 600 feet of unsightly asphalt median strips along Sunset (near Chautauqua) with dwarf bougainvilleas, day lilies, red-hot pokers and gazanias. In accepting the award, PPBA coach Jeffers first thanked Skinner: ‘My two sons are enjoying the fields’fewer bad hops and fewer bruises.’ He then recalled how he continually complained about the weed-infested medians to his wife until she finally said, ‘Well, why don’t you do something about it?’ And he said, ‘Maybe I will.’ Jeffers attended a PRIDE meeting and soon found himself VP of the median project. Along the way, he recalled, ‘we found old Sunset Boulevard below the asphalt [which required an unanticipated major expense] but Councilwoman Miscikowski came to our rescue.’ Ultimately, PRIDE raised $70,000 in community donations, including important checks from the Lions Club, Junior Women’s Club and Sue Kohl/Prudential John Aaroe. ‘This project shows how much a man can accomplish when he’s trying to make a point to his wife,’ Jeffers said. Roger Woods had somewhat the same experience as Jeffers when it came to getting quickly involved in the Village Green Committee. About seven years ago, after he retired from his private neurology practice, Woods began taking a horticulture class at Santa Monica Emeritus College, where he met Margaret Jose, who was then president of the committee. ‘I wanted to give back to the community and I loved gardening,’ Woods said in his acceptance speech. ‘So I joined their monthly Saturday work parties, and pretty soon I realized nobody was looking after the roses. I decided to adopt the roses. But I didn’t realize I was a sitting duck,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Within a matter of months I was vice-president,’ eventually to become the current president when he couldn’t come up with an exit strategy. In addition to reviving the Green’s rose beds, Woods began renovating first the drinking water fountain and then the decorative dolphin fountain’the centerpiece of the Green. This meant revamping the plumbing system, digging a deep trench and laying new pipes and electric lines, as well as designing and constructing a wooden housing for the pump and a new cement foundation. The project was finally completed last December, ‘and the fountain still works’it hasn’t plugged up yet!’ Woods said, amazed that he had become an hydraulic engineer in his retirement. ‘I especially enjoy watching the kids look at the dolphin. They’re mesmerized by the water, and this makes it all worthwhile.’ He added, ‘I can’t pass up this opportunity to emphasize that volunteerism is infectious; it rubs off on you. I haven’t regretted a moment.’