Palisades-News-March-18-2015

Page 4 Palisades News March 18, 2015
Pfannkuche
(Continued from Page 1)
Coastal Commission okayed the Y’s right
to exercise its option on a 4-acre parcel in
Temescal Canyon, at the entrance off Sunset.
Pfannkuche told the News that her subsequent
accomplishments in Temescal were
all part of a “relay” race. “It was because
Corwin Davis, Everett Maguire, Duke and
others had been fighting for the right for
the Y to buy the property.”
She also credits the Simon family. “Certainly
Simon Meadow would not be what
it is without Bill and Cindy feeling strongly
about a place for families to get together,” and
making a major donation towards that goal.
Pfannkuche also remembers reaching
out to several individuals, including Kelly
Comras, Rob Lowe, Randy Young and
Volunteers Sought
At Village Green
The monthly Village Green “spruce up”
will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday,
March 21, at the triangular park located
between Sunset Boulevard, Swarthmore
Avenue and Antioch Street.
Residents who have never volunteered before
are welcome to join the “regular” Village
Green crew. Those participating are asked to
bring clippers and gloves. High school students
can receive community service hours.
YMCA Executive Director Carol Pfannkuche with board member and contributor
Everett Maquire in Simon Meadow.
Photo: Shelby Pascoe
David Card, in order to achieve effective
landscaping at Simon Meadow.
She was asked about the Temescal Pool,
which closed during her watch. “The facility
was 50 years old and the pipe structure
needed to be replaced. We were willing to
raise the money to do it, but our contract
[with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy]
only allowed for routine repairs
and maintenance. We asked if we could do
the repairs, but we were declined.”
Pfannkuche said that several members
of the pool committee wanted to sue for
the right to make the repairs, but the legal
costs and the possible ill will resulted in a
decision not to go ahead.
When Pfannkuche arrived at the Y, the
exercise equipment was mismatched and
not of professional grade. State-of-the-art
equipment is now leased and renewed on
a regular basis.
“What the Y offers, in addition to top
equipment, is a personal relationship,” she
said. “It’s those relationships that help people
become successful in fitness programs.
My staff is friendly and knows everyone—
it’s hard to find that anywhere else.”
While serving as director, Pfannkuche
has looked at other possibilities to build a
new facility in town, but that quest remains
elusive.
“Every Y has to ask what the community
needs,” she said. “This community is short
of playing field space for kids and Simon
Meadow has turned out to be great for that.”
She believes that bringing in a new director
will help “give the Y a new perspective”
on what to do about acquiring or building
a larger facility.
Pfannkuche, who starts full-time downtown
April 1, is currently working at both
locations.
She and her husband Tony, a management
consultant in the health field, have
two daughters. Molly is working on a graduate
degree in clinical exercise physiology
at the University of Wisconsin and Katie
is majoring in psychology at Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo.
Although the Pfannkuches might like
to move downtown in the future, Carol is
grounded here with an 18-month-old
golden retriever named Princess Bella
Samantha Cupcake (her girls couldn’t decide
on the name), and presidency of the
Palisades Rotary Club, starting in July.