SPECIAL SECTION • OCTOBER 19 2016

SPECIAL SECTION • OCTOBER 19, 2016

Page 2 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016
PaliHi Students Replant Bowdoin Median
The median in front of Palisades High School was replanted by students in Steven
Engelmann’s class before school started in August.
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
For decades, people have driven past
the median that separates the four
lanes of Bowdoin in front of Pali -
sades High School. The median runs from
about Temescal Canyon Boulevard to the
top of the hill where it intersects with
Northfield Street.
To say it was ugly—packed with hard
dirt, dead plants and a few trees—would
be an understatement.
Last school year, students Aileen Fig -
ueroa, Sangeet Dhandwar, Maggie Thomp -
son, Esther Galvez and Greg Gladkov in
Steven Engelmann’s EAST class (Environmental
and Spatial Technology) took steps
to landscape the median.
Calling themselves the Pali Median Team,
they first checked the soil to determine
what kind of plants would grow well in that
narrow space.
“They determined drainage was not
good and the soil had a great deal of clay,”
Engelmann said.
Next, the group visited the Theodore
Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native
Plants in Sun Valley (theororepayne.org
or [818} 768-1802).
Established in 1960, the foundation operates
a retail nursery that offers hundreds
of different species, many of which are
drought tolerant and low maintenance.
The Median Team spoke to experts to determine
which plants would do best in the
school’s coastal climate.
The team then went to the PaliHi Boost -
er Club for funding. Internationally-recognized
architect Doug Suisman, who is
heading the Gateway Beautification Project
at the school, was at the meeting when the
students presented.
Afterwards he wrote to the team, “I want -
ed to congratulate all of you for your energetic,
clear and persuasive presentation at
the Booster Club on Tuesday night, and for
the wonderful job you have done of turning
the median landscaping improvements
from merely a laudable idea into a real and
compelling environmental project.
“I was so impressed with all your efforts:
doing the scientific legwork, getting up to
speed on plant selection, soil, and irrigation,
establishing a detailed budget, and navi-
(Continued on Page 3)
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October 19, 2016 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens Page 3
Median
(Continued from Page 2)
gating the city bureaucracy to find support
and get approvals. And even more, by your
exceptional efforts to try and show your
ideas through a variety of visual means,
from photographs of existing conditions,
to a lovely watercolor rendering, to a stunning
3D model with a fly-through video.
“You guys should be very proud of your
work, and the Gateway team is very proud
to be able to include the median as a featured
element of our project. I hope the
Booster Club granted your funding request,
and that you are successful in your other
fundraising efforts.”
The boosters gave the students $10,000.
Some of the money went to a landscaping
crew that had to loosen the cement-like
dirt to make planting possible. The students
also discovered that the existing irrigation
pipes were broken and this required them
to lobby the DWP to replace them—still a
work in progress. Although the selected
plants were drought tolerant once established,
they needed water initially.
Meanwhile, Greg Gladkov collected sunflower
seeds and planted 200 pots, providing
6-inch seedlings when the median was
ready to be planted.
All five students graduated last June, but
they came back over the summer to put
This was the median before the students (left to right) Aileen Figueroa, Sangeet Dhandwar, Maggie Thompson, Esther Galvez, and
Sean Barnett did soil preparation and planting.
Photo: Steve Engelmann
in drought-tolerant plants. Wood chips
were placed around the plantings to help
retain moisture.
Three new students from Engelmann’s
EAST class taking over the next phase of
the project, including the watering of the
plants, are Valerie Cifuentes, Karina Cruz
and Ichrak El Halouti.
“The more kids are involved, the more
they take on ownership,” Engelmann said.
“The new students feel it’s their median now.”
Even in October, the original Pali Median
Team members were still texting
their teacher to ask him, “How are the
plants doing?”
Engelmann, whose Envirothon team
took third in the nation this past summer,
attended the fall semester’s first Booster
Club meeting. He told the News, “One of the
parents stood up and said, “There were five
kids who presented last year. I’ve worked
my whole career in a Fortune 500 company.
They were so professional; we’d hire them
on the spot,” referring to the Median team.
The median has been completed as far as
the entrance to the stadium, and the EAST
class will now tackle the top half. The students
have received partial funding but will
soon need to reach out to the community.
Planting the median—one plant at a
time—are Maggie Thompson (bottom)
and Esther Galvez. Photo: Steve Engelmann
Greg Gladkov, Aileen Figueroa, Esther Galvez and Greer King at the beginning of the
planting project.
Photo: Steve Engelmann
Members of Steve Engelmann’s class are filling water cans in order to water the plants
on the median by hand.
Photo: Steve Engelmann

Page 4 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016
Lutherans Show Faith in Conservation
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
The Palisades Lutheran Church is
not only in the business of saving
souls, it’s also intent on saving energy
and water.
Vance Meyer, a member of the church’s
facilities committee the past three years,
was put in charge of a landscape project to
conserve water in January, and the work
was completed in about a month.
“We wanted to have the project installed
and the plants growing before Easter Sunday,”
Meyer said. “I felt that planning was the
most engaging and most challenging aspect.”
The plan was designed by Arredondos
Landscaping in collaboration with Luther -
an members Kingsley Fife, Rich Wilken,
George Wilken and Dave Cardone.
The first step was to kill all the grass out
in front of the church along Sunset and in
the courtyard, which they did by turning
off the water and using a weed killer. They
were aided by Mother Nature, who despite
predictions of an El Nino, managed to keep
the rain in abeyance.
Once the grass was dead and removed,
the ground was prepped for a drip-irrigation
system and drought-tolerant plants,
artificial turf, decomposed granite and river
(Continued on Page 5)
The grass by the Lutheran Church on Sunset was replaced by dought-tolerant landscaping.
Photo: Patricia Meyer
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October 19, 2016 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens Page 5
Lutherans
(Continued from Page 4)
pebbles, in a decorative design.
The project, which followed guidelines
provided by the Los Angeles DWP, cost
$30,000.
“Once we settled in on our plan and proceeded
with the work, the project became
quite exciting,” said Meyer, a 46-year resi -
dent. “We met our schedule for completion,
but I never felt it was difficult.”
Fife said that although it is too early to
have an accurate reading on savings, “We
are anticipating a 17- to 20-percent improvement
in water usage year to year.”
Some of the plants selected included
Oriental fountain grass, Korean feather
reed grass, pink muhly, blue oat grass, red
and bronze flax, Mexican sage and Santa
Barbara daisy.
Lantana with a variety of colors was used
for ground cover and several Palo Verde
trees were planted. Low-voltage garden
lighting was installed to save energy and
provide decorative accents.
The Lutheran Church began its program
to become environmentally friendly in July
2013 when solar panels were installed to save
on energy usage and reduce energy costs.
“The members decided to make every
effort to initiate a green program that better
suits the environmental concerns of the
members and the community,” Fife said.
“The church has been at this location since
Grass around the central fountain was replaced with artificial turf.
1959 and feels that environmental preservation
is the responsibility of everyone.”
The Church is home to a preschool for
children ages two to five, with an afterschool
program for kids with working parents.
The location is also used for Boy Scout
meetings, community concerts and other
programs not affiliated with the church.
“We feel it is important to have the
Photo: Patricia Meyer
church play a significant role in the community,”
Fife said.
Meyer, who was the chief operating officer
of Pardee Construction until his retirement,
was also inspired by the new landscaping.
“After I finished at the church, I
went home and redid the plants in my yard.”
He and his wife, Patricia, have three
grown daughters: Stacy, Wendy and Katie.
Lantana and daisy plants and a variety
of grasses compliment the front of the
church. Several Palo Verde trees were also
planted.
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Page 6 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016

October 19, 2016 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens Page 7
Wanted: Dorm Room with a View
By BOB VICKREY
Special to the Palisades News
When my 18-year-old niece Olivia
told me in April she would be
enrolling this fall at Pepperdine
University in Malibu, I was excited that I’d
finally have some family living near me on
the West Coast.
Nashville born-and-raised Olivia has always
exhibited a spirit of adventure and had
told her parents that she preferred attending
Pepperdine or the University of Hawaii
to one of the southern schools where most
of her friends were headed.
Remembering my own college experience
at Baylor and recalling the excitement
of living on my own for the first time, I realized
that if I’d had an “Uncle Bob” living
in Waco back then, he probably would not
have been at the top of my speed-dial list—
even if we’d had such features back in the
day of the archaic rotary phone.
After having dinner with Olivia and her
family during the weekend she moved into
her dorm, I realized that the next time I
would likely be hearing from her would be
in four years when I received an invitation
to attend her graduation ceremony.
Anyone who has visited the Pepperdine
campus knows that it’s not exactly your
traditional college setting with ivy-covered
red-brick walls set amidst a grove of stately
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evergreens. Instead, Pepperdine sits atop a
picturesque hillside overlooking the azureblue
Pacific Ocean, where on a clear sunny
day you can see Catalina Island.
So, I suppose I should not have been surprised
when Olivia’s mom casually mentioned
that her daughter’s dorm room had
an ocean view. She must have noticed my
skeptical reaction as I considered such a feature
as a viable option in one’s college housing
choices. This image didn’t quite match
my own initial college experience after arriving
at Baylor many years ago and moving
into creaky old Kokernot Hall dormitory—
which offered all the charm and elegance
of Schofield Barracks.
Olivia showed me pictures of one of her
classmates’ rooms that featured outlandishly
ornate headboards above beds that you
might expect to find in a New Orleans
bordello. A big-screen mounted television
adorned one of the walls with elaborate
side-by-side desks adjacent to the twin
beds. I was curious to know if the girls’
mothers had done the decorating or if they
had hired an interior designer with the eccentric
taste of the late Liberace.
Some of the dorm rooms at Pepperdine
are designed as suites where two adjoining
rooms share a common bathroom—a far
cry from life in Kokernot Hall, where we
trudged down dimly lit hallways to one
common public bathroom and shower facility
that provided all the comfort and privacy
of your basic army draft physical.
We would eventually discover that
Kokernot Hall rivaled the Ritz Carleton
compared to several off-campus
houses we rented in later years.
Two of my classmates and I rented a
small dilapidated house that offered our
own kitchen and bathroom for the first
time. Yet I began to notice that I was walking
downhill as I approached my bedroom
and it quickly came to our attention that
one side of the house was at least a foot
lower than the other side. We strategically
placed a broomstick handle against the
outer wall to lend some much needed support
to the structure.
That particular winter brought to Central
Texas some of the coldest weather in recent
memory and I discovered that walking
downhill to my bedroom was the least of my
worries. It seems there were some significant
Photo: Barry Stein
The author’s niece, Olivia, started school at
Pepperdine this fall.
gaps between the outside wooden wall panels,
as I awoke during my first night there to
find my hair blowing freely in the icy breeze.
The following morning, I stuffed newspaper
into the cavities of the aging wall and
hung a very tasteful Ali McGraw poster that
I had bought after much careful consideration
from K-Mart (“Only $2.98 While They
Last!”) It perfectly covered the exposed
minor flaw in my otherwise immaculate
bedroom and kept the temperature hovering
somewhere just above the glacial icing stage.
Reflecting on the dramatic difference in
our two college experiences has me toying
with the idea of partaking in the good life
at Pepperdine and enjoying the abundant
spoils of today’s college student.
Perhaps I should enroll in college again,
just like Rodney Dangerfield did in the 1986
movie Back to School. I’m quite certain that
my niece Olivia would be absolutely thrilled
to have her Uncle Bob as a classmate. I
thought about asking her opinion, but I think
maybe I’ll just surprise her when I show up
next semester in her freshman English class.
Palisadian Bob Vickrey is a writer whose
columns appear in the Houston Chronicle
and the Waco Tribune-Herald. He is a regular
contributor to the Boryana Books website.

Page 8 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016
Acadia National Park— A Bounty
Of Bird, Animal and Marine Life
By LIBBY MOTIKA
Palisades News Contributor
All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.
I turned and looked the other way
And saw three islands in a bay.
—“Renascence,” Edna St. Vincent Millay
This was Maine for the renowned
poet. For E. B. White, Maine was
“Summertime, oh summertime,
pattern of life indelible, the fade-proof
lake, the woods unshatterable . . .”
You don’t have to be a poet, a children’s
author or even John D. Rockefeller to be
transported to reverie in Maine.
For us in the West acclimated to the
everlasting seasons, vast unoccupied places
and an unquenchable search for renewal,
the central coast of Maine is the yang of
our yin. It matches the postcard sketch of
craggy rock-bound inlets harboring workingman
dories, scattered islands and lakes
and studded mountains that thrust from
the Atlantic.
No doubt the abridged collection of a
Maine experience is in Acadia National
Park. Here sea and mountains meet, where
“you can fish with one hand and sample
blueberries from a wind-stunted bush with
the other.”
There is no better way to celebrate the
centennial of the U.S. National Park Service
than to spend a vacation in Acadia.
Most of the park is contained on Mount
Desert Island, a patchwork of parkland,
private property and seaside villages. Nineteenth-century
city-dwellers found relief
from the cloying summers in the city. The
well-heeled built extravagant houses, called
cottages, and soon transformed the quiet
farming and fishing villages. But an inspired
group of men who appreciated the
natural beauty of the island thought beyond
and worried that over time this island
might be destroyed by development.
How prescient they were. These conservation
advocates, including George Dorr
and Rockefeller, formed a public trust and
acquired 5,000 acres in donated land to
which they added to over time, eventually
securing government protection by having
it designed as a national monument. As
more land donations expanded the area,
the monument became the Lafayette National
Park in 1919. The name was changed
in 1926 to Acadia National Park.
There were advantages to having formed
the park from privately held parcels. In
order to maintain the woodlands, mountaintops
and fragile areas, no cars were permitted
within the park. The 27-mile Park
Loop Road circles the perimeter of the
park, offering entry points along the way.
Meanwhile, a 45-mile network of finegravel
carriage roads winds through
the park, allowing for both hikers and bicyclists
only. Rockefeller supervised (and
financed) this system between 1913 and
1940, to provide escape from the noisy
“smoke-belching autos.”
Absent whiz-bang geysers, roaming
bison and red rock mesas, Acadia shows off
hardwood forests bumping up to the pristine
lakes in the park’s interior contrasted
with the granite cliffs that define the scenic
coastline.
Acadia is one of the nation’s most popular
national parks. In 2015, more than 2.8
million people enjoyed the 49,000-acre resource.
We visited for five days this August,
the busiest month of the year there, and these
are some of our observations and highlights.
The Wild Gardens of Acadia present the
most comprehensive sampling of the myriad
ecosystems from forest to stream banks,
marsh and bog. In just one acre, 400 species
of trees, shrubs, flowers and native island
plant life are represented.
We noted plant lovers, certainly, but also
kids who were fascinated particularly by the
exotic pitcher plant, a strange carnivorous
plant that lures foraging, flying or crawling
(Continued on Page 9)
Libby Motika near Bass Harbor Lighthouse
on Mount Desert Island. Photo: Tom Shardlow
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October 19, 2016 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens Page 9
Acadia
(Continued from Page 8)
insects to its cavity with nectar bribes.
In our few days in the park, we had to
choose from a 120-mile network of trails,
each one offering a different experience. We
rambled over the strenuous mountain cobbles
to Great Head, which rewarded us with
a spectacular overlook.
Our favorite hike was the Tarn Pond, a
meandering trail that parallels the shore.
As we picked our way over large granite
boulders, we were frequently stopped by
a splash, a bubble or a glistening vortex.
Pond life was alive.
Eagle Lake is the second-largest body on
the island, which supplies the water for the
nearby town of Bar Harbor. On one of the
famous coach roads, the walk takes you
around the lake with views of sailboats and
waterfowl. This is also a popular bicycle path.
Acadia is worth a week or two, but
Maine’s midcoast is dotted with towns
perched at the side of an inlet or bay. In Bar
Harbor, we stayed in a hotel that overlooks
the harbor and watched from our deck
the sailboats and the seabirds that are well
aware of the rich sea life.
We began our trip in Portland. From
there we made our way up the coast, stopping
along the way. I wasn’t going to miss
Freeport, the flagship home of L.L. Bean.
We anchored the next four days in Rockland,
a quintessential seaport village with
A sunset view of Bar Harbor from the author’s hotel room.
a successive history in shipbuilding, lime
production and fishing. Today Rockland
is still a vibrant lobster-fishing hub, and
home to the Maine Lobster Festival, an annual
celebration of the town’s primary export:
lobster.
Rockland also is home to the Farnsworth
Art Museum, a world-famous art gallery
containing paintings by Andrew Wyeth and
other well-known New England artists.
Day excursions could include hiking and
visiting the many lighthouses along the
Solar
Photo: Libby Motika
coast. Of the 48 lighthouses, 18 are within
40 miles of Rockland.
A trip to Maine is a treat for us in the
West. Just two hours driving from Boston
to Portland, this is a vacation that is worth
considering.
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Page 10 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016
S.M. Conservancy Features Byers Home
The Santa Monica Conservancy will
host its annual Fall Salon on Sunday,
October 23, from 3 to 5 p.m.
at the Armstrong-Cobb house, a former
home of actress Bette Davis.
The Salon will feature a tour of the estate
and a reception with wine and hors
d’oeuvres, as well as a talk about the house’s
architect, the renowned John Byers, by Dr.
Ken Breisch, associate professor at USC’s
School of Architecture.
Designed in 1926, the Armstrong-Cobb
house is a magnificent two-story Spanish
Colonial Revival residence overlooking the
Riviera Country Club.
Originally constructed for Donald Armstrong,
it was altered in 1934 for Irvin S.
Cobb, author of many books and short stories,
some of which were adapted for silent
movies. The residence was featured in the
March 2006 issue of Architectural Digest.
John Byers (1875-1966) discovered his
talent in architecture while working as a
translator between a homeowner and Mexican
craftsmen who were constructing an
adobe home in Brentwood. Inspired by the
vernacular architecture of Latin America,
Byers turned to architecture full-time in
1922 and received his architect’s license in
1925. He revived adobe construction enhanced
by authentic handmade materials,
Architect John Byers' renowned Armstrong-Cobb house.
which are abundant in the Armstrong-
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Page 12 Palisades News Special Section — Homes & Gardens October 19, 2016