Woman’s Club Honors Town Nonagenarians

The Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club held their annual birthday luncheon to celebrate the town’s 90-and-older residents on Saturday, with more than 45 honorees joining the fun.
The oldest attendee was John Danley, 99, joined by his wife Shirley, 92. Graduates of Santa Monica High, the Danleys have been married 71 years (since July 12, 1941) and are longtime, active members of the Palisades Presbyterian Church. They moved here in 1954.
Anna Manza, Herb Lewis and Phyllis Genovese represented the 98-year-olds. Phyllis owned The Letter Shop, a business she founded in 1947 and sold in 1998 (it closed last year). She remains active, playing bridge at the Woman’s Club and driving friends to appointments in her 1992 Chrysler New Yorker.
George Mitchell, 97, has lived on San Remo Drive in the Riviera since 1966 and has been coming to every luncheon since turning 90. The next oldest attendee was Donald Roof, 96, who has lived in the Palisades since 1941.
Checking in at 95 were Alice Brown and Betty Lou Frick, while the 94-year-olds included Paul Morris, Ann Lewis (who played Daisy in “Driving Miss Daisy” at Theatre Palisades in 2000) and Rose Gilbert, the legendary English teacher at Palisades High who retired in January.
The program featured welcome music by the Oceanaires Band; songs by Mr. Palisades, Greg Lehroff, at the piano; barbershop singing by The Oceanaires; a welcome by PPWC President Kristin Sibson; and keynote speaker Bill Bruns, editor of the Palisadian-Post.
The luncheon was made possible not only by hard-working members of the Woman’s Club (some of whom were joined by their children), but through generous donations of goods and services from local businesses, including Luxe Homecare, Lavender Catering, Dr. Nasreen Babu Khan of Palisades Dermatology, Palisades Flowers, Casa Nostra, Sunrise Assisted Living, Tivoli Café, Vittorio’s Ristorante, Coffee Bean, Kay ‘n’ Dave’s, Matthew’s Garden Café, The Yogurt Shoppe, K Bakery, Balloon Celebrations, Victor Benes, Become Beauty, Palisades Café and Mayberry’s.
Tammy Mozenter and Ingrid Vinji were event co-chairs.