by Richard Foss

Gene O’Hara and the 1948 Packard Woodie he will display at the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance. Photo by Olivia Kestin

The car that is likely to be one of the showstoppers at the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance at Trump National Golf Course on September 18 and 19 doesn’t look like much at the moment. It’s a hulk sitting on a rack in a dusty workshop in El Segundo, lit eerily from below with droplights and occasional showers of sparks where a restorer is grinding an axle bracket.

But to the practiced eye of Gene O’Hara, who has been working on this car for years, it is a thing of beauty.

“In the collector car world, everybody has their brand, but Packard is generally regarded as the best car made in America. They weren’t the equal of the best European cars, but they were definitely better than the other American high-priced cars,” he said.

This 1948 Packard Woodie is one of only 1,248 made that year, and it was in awful shape when Stanley Zimmerman of the Automobile Driving Museum of El Segundo bought it. The car had been forgotten in a leaky garage for 30 years. The once-beautiful hardwood that adorned the vehicle was in bad shape. Happily, it was put in the hands of the only person who believed it could be saved. Gene O’Hara, manager of the museum’s restoration shop, understood why others were skeptical.

“This car was stored under the worst possible conditions. The back end was so rotten that if you flicked your finger against the wood, bits would fly into the air like dandelions. Nobody, professional or amateur, thought it could be repaired.  I managed to save it all. When we’re done, this car will have every piece of wood it left the factory with. I have my own technique – really a series of techniques that other people do, but I put them together in my own way.”

O’Hara has a lot of experience with the old cars, gave an interesting history of Woodies, which started out as economy vehicles and eventually became recognized as an art form.

“Henry Ford was asked to make low-cost transportation to get people to and from train depots, which was why they were called station wagons. They made the doors out of wood rather than steel, because it was cheaper. They caught on, and Pontiac, Chevrolet, Mercury, everybody started making them. Chrysler and Ford both started offering wood on passenger cars. Ford called it a Town and Country, Chrysler called it a Huntsman.

“Woodies really became a style thing in the 1960s. That’s when you start seeing fake wood versions. Surfers started identifying Woodies with surfers when the Beach Boys posed with a couple of Woodie Fords. The cars came to be identified with the California dream.”

Unfortunately, California sun, beach dampness and salt air aren’t the best environment for polished woodwork, as many South Bay homeowners have found.

“Woodies required a lot of maintenance, even under the best of conditions. Wood cracks, expands, stretches and shrinks in a different way than the metal it’s attached to. The car companies used whatever was left over at the mill – oak, ash, hickory, whatever – so there are a lot of variations even in the same model year. They mixed the different colors and grains to get a nice effect. There are three different kinds in this car. The wood on this particular car was ornamental, not structural – it was an overlay on the doors.”

The look of wood extends to the interior of the car – the look, but not the reality – it’s a wonderfully detailed paint job that fools the eye.

“It had a real wood exterior, but simulated wood dashboard and window frames. I’m going to be using the same kind of technique that they did to simulate the wood graining in some places where I had to repair the actual wood, just to preserve the look of it.”

O’Hara has been a car restorer since he was 18 years old, and has a perspective on the craft that may surprise some people.

“The whole restoration thing started after WW2 when wealthy people decided they wanted to save these cars as art. There were so many variations in those prewar days, choices for coachwork, custom wood and crystal interiors. Some companies even offered summer and winter bodies so you could change them with the seasons. They were falling into disrepair by the 1950s, and restorers responded to both their history and their craftsmanship. Nowadays we’re even preserving ‘50s and ‘60s mass-produced cars.

“The hot rod craze started when working class people started customizing their cars, because they couldn’t afford the exact car they wanted. Now we all work together, and the one thing we have in common is appreciating quality workmanship. I’ve never approached this from any other perspective than that this was art, and fine art.”

O’Hara has been working on the 1946 Packard with the attitude of an artist who is more concerned about quality than speed. By the time he’s done he will know as much about the car as anyone but the designer.

“I shepherded the restoration from undoing the first bolt. I’ve been on it for three or four years, but not steadily – there was a problem with the title, so we put it in storage until that was resolved. If you count the work alone, it’s about six months so far.

“It’s going to be on display at the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance, and I’m going to be giving some lectures and demonstrations.  I’m going to tell people how to restore this type of automobile without separating the frame from the body. As bad as it was up above, it’s fine below – we could actually do more harm than good by removing it from the frame.”

The Packard Woodie will still be a work in progress when it is displayed at the concours on September 19.

How, I asked Gene, will today’s vehicles stand up to 65 years of use, and will we see modern cars in some concours event in 2074?

“To me this is a modern car. I was schooled working on prewar cars. Generally speaking, the older a machine is, the better it is. It may not go as fast, but it’s easier to keep going, easier to repair. You can repair this vehicle with basic materials, steel bars and sheet metal, where with a modern car you have to have the exact piece. These will survive longer because they’re more repairable.”

For more information about the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance visit www.pvconcours.com.

For more about the Automobile Driving Museum visit www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org. The museum is located at 610 Lairport Street, El Segundo.Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides on Sundays only. B

Kathy Mallon relies on her experiences to teach science at Peninsula Heritage School

by Joan Erzer Behrens

Mallon in her science classes, teaches about different ecosystems.

The adage that “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” certainly does not apply to Kathy Mallon.

Mallon is a science teacher at Peninsula Heritage School, educated at England’s prestigious Cambridge University, a trained genetic counselor and former co-coordinator of a California genetic screening program, a long-time Peninsula resident, mother of two grown sons, and… what’s this? A technical Dive Master and team member on the recent Andrea Doria expedition that recovered the ship’s prized bell!

Following over a year’s specialized training in deep waters and caves, Mallon and eight other divers set off on June 24 for the Andrea Doria wreck, located 95 miles off the coast of Rhode Island and 250 feet below the ocean’s surface. This dive site is considered among divers to be the most challenging of all shipwreck sites. The Doria, a magnificent Italian ocean liner, sunk to its watery grave in 1956 after a mid-ocean collision with a Swedish vessel.

As Kathy Mallon’s team of three divers descended through the ocean depths to this slowly disintegrating wreck, Mallon was the first to spot the remains of the Doria. She and the other divers each stood on the hull of the ship and viewed the huge breach where one section had ripped apart and fallen forward. She looked in the ship’s portholes and thought of all the people who had looked out of those circular windows during the short, three-year life of the vessel. Because of the depth, Mallon and her fellow divers could only stay 15 minutes on the wreck; at the exact end of that time, they had to begin their ascent.

“Each stage of this type of dive is very technical,” Mallon explains, “and also filled with surprises. As we ascended from that first awesome dive, we encountered a 12-foot blue shark. It swam around us, and it bumped my fins with its nose!”

This trio of divers completed two dives to the Andrea Doria wreck in two days, and they were preparing for a third dive when another set of two divers on their boat, Ernest Rookey and Carl Bayer, made an amazing discovery. As they were exploring the ship’s remains, Bayer spotted a well-known shape and upon examination realized that he had found one of the ship’s bells. Eighteen minutes into a 20-minute dive, all he and Rookey had time to do was quickly dig the bell loose, attach it to an inflatable bag, and send it up to the surface.

The lift bag carrying the 75 pound bell might well have been swept away in the areas ever-changing ocean currents, but fortunately it popped to the surface not far from the dive boat. On the boat, the divers decompressed while others on board, including Mallon, erupted in cheers at the sight of the recovered bell.

“That moment I shall never forget,” recalls Mallon. “The bell is a prize – the heart of the ship.”

This trip was the culmination of a goal that Kathy Mallon set for herself over two years ago. Interestingly, the goal was not to see the wreck of the Andrea Doria, but to train so completely as to have the ability to do the dive. This involved mixed gas use, strength training — divers carry from 175 to 240 pounds of gear on each dive – as well as numerous cave and deep wreck dives. Approximately 1,000 divers have successfully descended to the sunken Andrea Doria, and Mallon is the 44th woman to do so.

“I talk to my science students at Peninsula Heritage School about setting goals,” Mallon relates. “Our Character Qualities program is a major part of our school, and the quality of Perseverance is the one I related to on this trip. I encourage our students to explore and reach their full potential while exploring new environments. Teamwork is also very important to me, and my dive buddies got me safely to the Doria and back. I encourage the children to work together in the lab on many projects, learning how important it is to depend on each other.

“In my science classes, I teach about different ecosystems. The marine environment is one that I find completely fascinating. It’s like exploring outer space, but actually more research has been done in space than right here on earth in our own oceans. Another of our Character Qualities is Respect, and I’ve found that we must certainly respect our environment because much of it is so fragile. On a cave dive, if a diver is not careful, one bump by a swim fin might knock off a stalactite that was thousands of years in the making.”

A visit to one of Mallon’s science classes in her fully equipped lab at Peninsula Heritage School confirms her focus on the exploration of all facets of science. Mallon’s enthusiasm for her subject is infectious, and many students count it as their favorite part of the School’s curriculum. Seated around lab tables and wearing lab coats and goggles when necessary, students from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade are treated as scientists and engage in hands-on experiments directly related to their classroom science curriculum.

“I love to share my passion of science with the children,” Mallon relates. “They are so interested to learn how things function – they’re like sponges. For example, I have the First Graders pour water into containers, hold ice, observe condensation and evaporation, have them feel and see the properties of each — all as part of their unit on exploring physical phase changes. During one of my units with the Third Graders this past year, we conducted numerous architectural experiments to determine the most resilient structure for bridges. The students constructed model bridges, sharing the results of their research with parents and visitors at Peninsula Heritage’s annual Science/Math/Technology Fair.”

With summer vacation drawing to a close, Kathy Mallon continues to pursue her twin passions of science teaching and deep sea diving. PEN

President of the Norris Board of Directors David Tomblin. Photo photo courtesy of Clix Portrait Studios

Head of Norris Board
Sets the Stage for
A New Season

by Betty Lukas

David Tomblin is really excited about the rain.
Not any ordinary rain, mind you, but production-value moisture due to fall onstage Sept. 24, when the Norris Center for the Performing Arts launches its 28th season with “Singin’ in the Rain,” a stage adaptation of the classic Gene Kelly film.
Tomblin makes no excuses for his enthusiasm: “For the first time in Norris [Theatre] history, it will rain on stage!” And he’ll be there to feel the first drop!
Such improvements in production values, he said, are only the latest example of changes that have occurred during his two terms as president of its Board of Directors. (The Board sets policy, provides funds and vision for activities at the three-building artistic complex, Tomblin explained.)
“We’ve also extended the run of each of our own three, professionally produced plays and musicals,” he added, “and this gives theater-goers a greater opportunity to attend performances closer to home and at affordable prices.” (“The Odd Couple” and “The Andrews Brothers” will be brought to the Norris next year.)
In other Board changes, Tomblin explained during a recent interview that he has invited newcomers with special skills to join the board as more longtime members have retired. “My goal has been to bring in 12 new board members for a good balance of experience and fresh ideas,” he said, “and I’m halfway there.” His ultimate goal for new board members is 31.
“What we’ve heard from this board is that it wants more resources allocated to productions, so we’re notching up their quality,” he said. “We are in the position to do it: The Norris is financially in good shape.”
Another major development in his past five years on the board, he went on, is that the Center is now more business-oriented than volunteer-based. “We now have 11 full-time and 32 part-time employees.” This means, “We’re a full business performing art and the art-of-performing business.”
In a more recent move, the Board also appointed its Artistic Director, James W. Gruessing, Jr., as interim Executive Director following the departure earlier this year of Gary L. Ferrell after a brief stay in that role. Gruessing’s interim assignment is for six months. “We’ll make our decision then, Tomblin said, but “he’s worked out very well, and is our leading candidate.”
As for his current involvement with the Norris Center Board, Tomblin gives his close friend and mentor John Jaacks credit. “We’ve been friends since we were 17, so when he asked me to join six years ago, I accepted.” Tomblin and his wife, Ann, had been no strangers to Norris programs because their daughter, Nikke, was active in the theatre’s “Curtain’s Up” program for area youngsters.
For a person “who’s always been intrigued by acting” but never involved, Tomblin said he spent several years of his young adulthood producing events for the Boy Scouts, working with major stars such as Bob Hope and John Wayne. Tomblin recalled his parents were always active in the community. “My father was a Boy Scoutmaster, and mother was a Girl Scout leader,” he explained. “It was just natural for me to be involved [in Scout-related productions.]
“As for me,” Tomblin said, “my hobby is community service. Being involved in the community renews your faith in [what is] good. From a selfish standpoint, I like to be involved because it keeps my focus on what is good.”
His wide range of present and past activities and memberships includes his service on the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission; The Palos Verdes Unified School District Board of Trustees; the Los Angeles Area Council Boy Scouts of America; Rotary; the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation, and as a member of the LAPD Police Reserves Foundation.
He’s also served on the boards of Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army, the California Science Center, plus service with Palos Verdes Girls Softball League, the Intermediate School Booster Club and the Palos Verdes High School Booster Club.
And now that Nikke is at Santa Clara University in a biology-pre-dental program, the Tomblins will be hosting the university’s president at a dinner party in their home soon. Twenty-six area parents of Santa Clara students will be their guests, he said.
Wife Ann, he said, is involved in Las Madrecitas and also serves as executive vice president of their company, Tomblin Asset Management Group, a firm he and his father launched in 1974 when they bought their first two houses in Long Beach. The company owns and manages commercial and residential real estate in Los Angeles and Phoenix, he explained.
Tomblin noted that his architectural training at Don Bosco Technical Institute and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal State Long Beach have been real assets in his current career, as well as his prior work as regional division manager for Sears in Torrance and commercial lending officer for the Bank of America. “I know a lot about property–building, remodeling and financing,” he said, with a grim nod to the present gloomy economy.
As for their personal home design preferences, “It changes,” he said, acknowledging that he and his family have lived in three different houses on the Peninsula since they moved here in 1983. And before that, there more homes in Cerritos and Redondo Beach.
Not withstanding the 20 hours a week Board President Tomblin spends “backstage” as it were, expanding and enhancing the vision of the Norris Center, he admits to getting an occasional yen for those bright footlights onstage: “I wouldn’t mind a little walk-on,” he muses.
Season tickets for any or all of the 23 productions scheduled for the new season are available online at www.norriscenter.com; by calling 310-544-0403; by Fax 310-544-2473; by visiting the box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, or Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The Center is located at 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates. PEN

Peter Kunoth with a 1913 Mercedes 37/39 Tourer.

by Robb Fulcher

The 18th Annual Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance may be just around the corner, but the personal motor of Chairman Peter D. Kunoth has been running in high gear for quite a while.
He has been tirelessly organizing, networking and overseeing efforts to assure that the spectacular event, Sept. 18 and 19 at Trump National Golf Club overlooking the Pacific Ocean, lives up to a reputation that already shines like a Mercedes-Benz polished for exhibit.
Kunoth recently idled for a moment beside the graceful, black-bottom swimming pool in the gardens of his low-lying, Mediterranean style home for some cheerful Concours promotion.
He was quick to give credit where credit is due. He praised the aptly named Greg Sparkman, chairman for the Tour d’Epicure Road Rallye, which will kick off the weekend on Saturday afternoon with a rallye ending at Edelbrock Automotive Museum, with food stops and a “Pirates of PV” treasure hunt along the way.
Kunoth praised the work of Ed and Susie Beall, who are spearheading the grand marshal reception, a causal German Oktoberfest on Saturday evening also at the Edelbrock Museum at the Rallye’s end with Gerhard Mosler, chef and owner of Cigo’s restaurant offering up German style food along with beer and wine.
He spoke glowingly of racing legend Andy Granatelli, the 2010 Concours Grand Marshal whose name is recognized far beyond the auto loving world.
“Andy built and raced the world-famous Indianapolis turbine engine cars in 1967 and 1968, and his race cars won the Indianapolis 500 twice,” Kunoth said. “His business accomplishments are still talked about in financial circles. He took an unknown company called Chemical Compounds, changed its name to STP, and in nine years it zoomed from seven to over 2,000 employees. He made STP a household word.”
And he held aloft the sleek, fluid, neo-deco painting of a Mercedes by Tom Hale that serves as the Concours’ official poster.
The German-born Kunoth smiled at the Concours theme, German Fest with Mercedes-Benz as the marque.
“Oktoberfest with an Italian grand marshal,” he said.
The two dozen exhibitor classes include horseless carriages, open and closed European and American classic cars dating as far as 1925, vintage Zephyrs and Jaguars, postwar Mercedes, Mercedes 300SL, Borgward, German racecars and German motorcycles.
Kunoth also looked forward to the return of the Concours’ Restoration Alley, where craftsmen demonstrate the art of restoring valuable automobiles. Steve Tillack of Redondo Beach, who specializes in Italian sports cars and racecars, will return this year to once again show off autos in different phases of restoration. He will be joined by representatives of the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine, Edelbrock, El Segundo Driving Museum, and Lorenzo Pearson’s West Coast Metric. In keeping with the Concours theme, Restoration Alley will be dubbed Wiederherstellungsallee.
Kunoth also took time to praise the hundreds of volunteers, many of them Rotarians, who will serve numerous functions at the Concours, which this year again benefits the Palos Verdes Peninsula Rotary Foundation and the Palos Verdes Art Center.
“That is what makes the whole thing tick,” he said, perhaps unconsciously using a clock reference as he neared the homestretch for the Councours’ preparation.

‘Octane guy’
Asking a lover of horsepower why he is so drawn to engine-powered vehicles is like asking a fish why he prefers the water, and when Kunoth was asked why motors caught his fancy, he thought a bit and then shrugged.
“I’m an octane guy, I guess,” he said. “Either it’s in your blood or it’s not in your blood.”
Kunoth had a Vespa scooter when he was 11 or 12. Now he has a Hallett speedboat, he’s an instrument-rated pilot who flies his own Bonanza A-36 single engine plane, and his cars include a stunning and lavishly cared for 1977 chocolate brown Porsche.
And he finds time for strenuous motorcycle trips with a small group of friends to Laguna Seca Raceway and back.
Kunoth, a longtime executive in the international manufacturing and distribution of office products, who now oversees trust investments, used to take his plane on business trips a great deal.
“I like to fly it or ride it or drive it,” he said.
As he steers, bikes, boats and soars over expanses of land and water, he seems to have a special respect for the realities of flying.
“You don’t get a Mulligan in aviation,” he said.
Kunoth came to America when he was 13 with his family, which settled in Seattle.
With his wife Sue, a former senior manager with Honda North America, Kunoth has a son Kurt and daughter-in-law Laura, and two grandsons, 2-year-old Greydon and 7-month-old Wyatt.
Kunoth’s philanthropic endeavors include his ongoing service as senior vice president and treasurer of Banning Museum in Los Angeles.
For more on the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance and to purchase tickets for all events see pvconcours.com. PEN

Ralph and Josephine Montera celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary on April 21, 2010. They married in Pueblo, Colorado at Mt Carmel Cathedral in 1940. Ralph talks about how they met at a political rally at the Pueblo City Hall in 1938. He can still remember what she was wearing and how her hair was set.

Ralph and Josephine started on their life’s journey dreaming of owning a business. In 1945, they rented a building on Fairview Ave. and ran a grocery store. One year later in 1946, they purchased property and opened Ralph’s Grocery Store which they ran and operated until 1979.

In 1979, they sold their business, retired to California joining their only daughter and son-in-law, Charlene and Nick Arico in Rancho Palos Verdes. The Aricos have been Rancho Palos Verdes residents for 47 years.

The Monteras are proud grandparents and grandparents-in-law to Gina Arico-Smith and Red Smith of Moraga, CA, Cheryl Arico Barbarino and Sebastian Barbarino of Porter Ranch, CA and Nick Arico and Julie Sorgi Arico of Rolling Hiss Estates.

The Moneras have nine wonderful great-grandchildren ages 8-18; Dustin, Alexa, Grant and Brett Smith; Nicholas and Gabriella Barbarino; and Natalie, Michael and Lukas Arico.

Often asked what is their secret to success, their answer is always the same, Josephine would reply “Don’t forget to kiss me good-night” and Ralph would say “never say no to your wife.”

Eight year old Lukas Arico was asked what he thought about 70 years of marriage. “That’s a long time, they take care of each other and they always hold hands.”

Sixteen year old Alexa Smith once said of her great grandparents, “Love is Jo-Jo and Papa Ralph….It’s not what they say, but what they do.”

Throughout the years the Monteras have traveled and enjoyed doing things always together and being with their family and friends. They are an inspiration and guiding light for their family. PEN

Watchmaker and antique dealer Sid Schonholtz.

For most of us, growing old isn’t much fun – better than the alternative, I guess. It would be great to age like the piano sitting proudly in the living room. Or the immaculate Patek Philippe wristwatch grandpa bequeathed in his will. Unfortunately, there is no mahogany in these old, creaky bones. The few sonorous emanations arising from my gullet these days are cursings directed toward my dastardly seven-iron. What little bit of silver I own is implanted in my teeth.

But, put the Ben-Gay back into the medicine cabinet, fellow gray hairs, and spend a weekend enjoying objets d’art which are aging quite nicely, thank you. The 41st Annual Palos Verdes Antiques Show and Sale happens May 27-30 at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Palos Verdes Estates. Proceeds help the church’s ongoing civic projects. Youngins (non-AARP members) are also encouraged to attend. You might get the chance to purchase great-grandpa’s sled. Rosebud, wasn’t it?

A three-year participant in the show is Sid Shonholtz, a third-generation watchmaker and jeweler whose grandfather opened a jewelry store in Hollywood in 1918. Yes, children, there is more to time than Timex (god bless Geppetto). A few talented and skilled people actually do create watches these days, though you won’t find their products in Wal-Mart.

In the mid-1970s, Shonholtz opened a small vintage watch store in West Hollywood called Second Time Around Watch Company. Among his clients were Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Selleck, George Clooney, Nicholas Cage and Artie Shaw (speaking of cherished collectibles). Malcom McDowell and Ely Wallach would occasionally pop in.

In 2003, Shonholtz created his own watch. Guillermin Mollet, named after a famous house in the Place Vendome in Paris, is a limited edition model based on a Parisian design of the 1950s. He has only made 100 of them. Price is $6,000. All are handmade, produced “one at a time,” said Shonholtz. It doesn’t have GPS, but it will make a great omelet for you if it wakes up on le droit side of l’oeuf.

Today, Shonholtz is the owner of Advent of Time, an Internet-based company specializing in the design and creation of handmade custom wristwatch buckles. These pieces of jewelry range from $250-$700.

“My grandfather opened his first store in Philadelphia, then moved to Los Angeles around 1915,” said Shonholtz when asked of his heritage. “I sold my business (Second Time Around) about four years ago. Now, I do shows. I live in Palos Verdes and I like this show at the church. I’m still dealing in watches, but I don’t have a store.”

He has a private collection of watches and has worked for many years in watch restorations for museums all over the world. Among his favorites?

“The most famous watch in the world is Patek Philippe,” said Shonholtz. “I’m attracted to distinction. And, distinction comes in all kinds of ways. It doesn’t always have to be the most expensive… Whether it’s a watch or an automobile or anything, it should be the most dependable and the most affordable.”

He got involved with the PV Antique Show and Sale somewhat by accident. “When I moved to PV a few years ago, I saw flyers posted about the show and thought, maybe I should try to get in,” said Shonholtz. This will be his third show. He noted that typically there is much silver, textiles and many other types of collectibles available to view and purchase at the St. Francis show.

Shonholtz also participates in the Antiques Road Show, which he said includes “about 15 categories of antiques,” where he studies and appraises heirloom time pieces.

“Every year, they send out a list of all the shows around the country, and you sign up for whichever you want to do,” said Shonholtz. “I’ve been doing that for about 10 years.”

In Shonholtz’s personal treatise of his passion for time, he writes (copied with permission) “The great architect Le Corbusier suggested that a house was a machine for living in, if it is so then the watch is a machine for living with, and people do live with their watches. They sleep with them, shower with them, and yes they even make love with them, literally and figuratively. Few things have consumed man’s creativity more than the perfection of time. History is filled with accounts of great philosophers and scientists who spent years studying time; Henry Ford was a watchmaker and attributes his ideas in automobile manufacturing to modern watch making production.”

The 41st Annual Palos Verdes Antiques Show & Sale. St. Francis Episcopal Church, 2200 Via Rosa, Palos Verdes Estates, 310-375-4617. Gala and Sale Preview (Gala Donation of $35) Wednesday, May 27, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Antiques Show & Sale (donation $10) Thursday & Friday, May 28-29, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 30, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patio luncheons, afternoon tea, evening wine and cheese. In addition to the antiques, the Show presents Harvest Cupboard with homemade offerings; Garden Gazebo with plants and garden ornaments. PEN

Wendy and Jack Simmons with some of Jack's many Emmy's

by Randy Angel

Jack Simmons describes his decision in 1990 to pull up stakes and move his family from New York to California as one of two life altering gambles. Simmons was fond of living in the little beach town outside of New York City called Breezy Point. Wendy, his wife of 35 years, was raised in Brooklyn but spent summers in Breezy Point. The couple met as teenagers.

“About 2,000 families live in Breezy Point and everyone knows each other,” Jack said. “People have been there a few generations. My parents lived four blocks away from us, Wendy’s parents across the street from mine. We were all right there together and suddenly we’re leaving for California. That became a very big deal. We had never dreamed our life would take this direction.”

Simmons, 59, is the Senior Vice President of Production for Fox Sports. He and his crews have been awarded 18 Sports Emmy’s for their telecasts of many of the world’s top sporting events.

Though a life-long sports fan, he aspired to be an English teacher when he graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in New York City.

“A buddy and I were hanging out in Manhattan one Monday and decided to take a tour at NBC,” Simmons recalled. “I applied for a job and they called me back on Wednesday to fill out paperwork. I had an interview with the mail department on Friday, started the following Monday and stayed there 24 years. You never know where life is going to take you.”

Simmons continued taking night classes at St. Francis College in New York City, all the while learning office work at NBC. At 23, he was overseeing a 23-person, accounts payable department.

“At 28, I was still in the same position and wondering what went wrong,” Simmons said. “But during that time, I was meeting a lot of the sports people and sales people.”

One day, he mentioned to a woman who was typing highlights for NBC’s NFL ’78 pregame show that he would like to become involved with sports programming. A half-hour later, he had an interview with the associate producer.

“A woman was having a gall bladder operation, so I got in as one of the scorers,” Simmons said. Bryant Gumbel took a liking to me. I became his assistance on the set and that opened the door for me to get into the world of sports.”

The following year, coverage began for the upcoming Olympic Games. Simmons was hired as a financial analyst and began working in the sports department full time. After the Olympics, he worked as a unit manager for NBC’s Sports World, covering Olympic-style events, including boxing.

“Boxing became my thing for the next 10 years,” Simmons said. “I traveled all around the world covering boxing events. I was promoted into operations. I was like any guy climbing the corporate ladder.”

In 1990, General Electric took over NBC and began downsizing. Simmons’ experience in various roles within the company helped him keep his job — albeit at a price.

“They used the term “Right Sizing,” Simmons said. “There was a four-person sports division in Burbank and all four were fired. I was sent out to be one of the replacements. I had been pretty well rounded with jobs such as on-air operations producer, a field producer, a technical manager and advertising unit salesman. I had worked Orange Bowl events, including the parade and since I had the experience, I became technical manager for the Tournament of Rose Parade.”

Gambles pay off

The gamble to move west wasn’t an immediate hit. The Simmons settled in Simi Valley, where their children Brendan and Katie would later attend Royal High School. Although they enjoyed the weather, it was a lonely time for the family.

“It was just the four of us. No relatives, friends, nothing,” Jack recalled. “The kids used NBC’s back lots as their playgrounds. We had yearly passes to Universal, so we spent a lot of time there because it was easy to get to from NBC and Simi Valley.”

But the move set him up for a second big gamble. In 1994, Fox Broadcasting contacted Simmons for help in founding Fox Sports after having acquired rights to broadcast National Football League games.

“I went to speak with Chairman David Hill and President Ed Goren, and after a half-hour meeting with them, I was hooked. I left NBC, joined Fox and never looked back. Fox came along with a great offer and, in hindsight, had I not taken the Fox offer, the very next football contract NBC lost so I don’t know what might have happened with my career.”

“Fox was grabbing people from all the other networks — NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN — which is why I think we all became like family at Fox. At NBC, it was just me,” Simmons said. “Everybody is social at Fox. It’s different from any other company I’ve every seen. Everybody is banded together and bonded together. We’ve traveled together, celebrated holidays together. When our daughter got married, probably a dozen people from Fox flew to New York for the wedding.”

The East Coast transplants had found a West Coast family.

Moving on

When Fox Sports was launched, it used the old KTTV studios in Hollywood. In 1998, Fox built a new building on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before Simmons discovered the additional five to six miles to work added an extra 40 minutes of driving time on the 405 Freeway.

“One day it was raining, and it was before we were using cell phones, and it took me four hours to get to work,” Simmons said. “Wendy said. ‘That’s it, enough of this’ and we began to look for a new place to live. Besides, the Northridge earthquake shook as up pretty good. Simi Valley changed after that. It wasn’t as nice as before. We were always a little on edge waiting for the next earthquake to come.”

Wendy had become friends with some of the wives of co workers who lived in the South Bay and they began looking for a new home, eventually settling on a townhome in Rolling Hills Estates.

“Brendan was a surfer and he would want to surf everyday. He became accepted by the Palos Verdes guys and never had his tires flattened or anything,” Jack said with a chuckle. “He loves surfing in Hermosa. This was the best move coming down here.”

But his son’s love of surfing lead to a tragic consequence. Early one March morning in 2008, Brendan was surfing in Hermosa Beach with longtime friend Nathan Gocke. When Gocke failed to surface after wiping out a wave, Simmons paddled over and  helped his friend reach shore. Gocke had suffered a broken neck.

Brendan, 33, lives in Hermosa Beach and has followed in his father’s footsteps. While in high school he took audio visual classes, and began getting coffee for the Fox highlights crew and handing (NFL Hall-of-Famer) Terry Bradshaw highlight information on the set.

At the time, Fox was starting a new computer-based highlight system. Brendan would attend school, work at Fox at night and, like his father, continued to move up the ranks.

“I got noticed because I make a lot of noise. Brendan got noticed because he’s smart and efficient,” Jack said. “He has a much more analytical mind than I do and is very focused. Now he organizes all the commercials, the feeds and organizes the engineers who switch the shows. All I did was get him a job getting coffee.”

Katie, 29, also had her life changed after the move to the South Bay. When she was 20 and attending El Camino College, MTV was in Hermosa Beach filming a show. Jack arranged for his daughter to be a runner at the Beach House Hotel, where she became popular with the crew.

Shortly thereafter, Jack was attending NFL meetings in New York and invited Katie to join him so she could visit old friends. Her father had set up an interview for her with MTV, where she is still employed.

After returning to California, Katie met Sal Cocco at an event in Long Beach and the couple eventually got married.

“Sal is the production manager for NBC Sports and works for my old buddies,” Jack said. “It’s all one big family.”

Living a Dream

Jack has enjoyed watching Fox Sports grow from a fledgling offshoot to a leader in sports entertainment. Along with the NFL, the network has televised the National Hockey League (1994–1999), Major League Baseball (1996–present), NASCAR (2001–present), and the Bowl Championship Series (2007–2010). It has been the exclusive home of the Daytona 500 and the World Series since 2000 and has contract to air the Fall Classic through 2013.

Simmons oversees the organizational and technical management of all Fox Sports studio shows, including the Fox NFL Sunday Pregame Show and the MLB on Fox Pregame. He also manages all Fox Sports post production, transmission and commercial administration requirements.

On air day, Simmons serves as Operations Producer for what he calls the “Boutique Sports,” making sure the airing of proper commercials, promos, show transitions and affiliate requirements are met for all programming, including NFL football, MLB baseball and NASCAR racing. He patrols the transmission area, working closely with the Executive Control box where the president, executive producer and senior producer relay editorial decisions. Simmons translates the decisions to a crew of 100 to 125 people working in different control rooms.

“Each sport is its own animal,” Simmons explained. “During a NASCAR race, I’m making sure all the commercials get in above everything else because it’s a free flowing sport without natural breaks. In baseball, you have a commercial every half inning and when they change pitchers. In football, you get a commercial on every change of possession – a score, a punt, a fumble.

In baseball, with pitching changes, there’s our opportunity to make more revenue through advertising. In football, I’m more of a traffic cop than anything. Overtime in the Super Bowl can pull in an extra $4 Million with an extra spot. It’s a whole choreography. Don’t ask me the score at the end of a game because I have no idea.”

Surprisingly, Simmons only has to travel six or sevens times a year, mainly for what he describes as pleasant events — business meetings in New York, conventions, early set-ups for the Super Bowl and the Emmys. He does most of his work from the control room in Los Angeles. The main control for Fox Sports is in Houston.

“If there’s an earthquake in California, Houston will take over,” Simmons said. “If I ever have to call and say ‘Houston we have a problem,’ I hope they can hear me and I don’t have a building on top of my head.”

Simmons’ career has led to his involvement with Super Bowls, World Series, Summer Olympics, NBA Finals, the Daytona 500, the BCS Championship in college football, French Open tennis and world championship boxing among other events.

Events he recalls with fondness include the World Championship of Track and Field in Rome with Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis, the Detroit Tigers winning World Series in 1984, the Super Bowls, the Olympics and the Larry Holmes heavyweight championship fight. But what Simmons considers his top achievement occurred just last November when the NFL Sunday Pregame show aired from Afghanistan on Veteran’s Day weekend.

“It was the most fulfilling and rewarding experience one could imagine,” Simmons said. “We rode a C-17 30 hours to Bagram Airbase. We didn’t know what to expect. With planes taking off and landing all through the night, you don’t sleep so well. But nobody there complains. It’s really something. I’ve never seen such a group. They’re focused, they’re energetic, they‘re very positive in their approach to what they need to do.”

Simmons was shocked to see so many military personnel sporting NFL paraphernalia. Along with caps from favorite teams, terrible towels were waved by fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a Raider fan was spotted in the audience holding a Raiders helmet.

“Howie Long spotted it and asked me to go bring it back so he could autograph it for the solder,” Simmons said.

Brendan wanted to accompany his father on the trip but was told no.

“That would have been great, but we didn’t want to take a chance of the two of us going down,” the elder Simmons said. “We had a rocket fired at our plane as we were leaving. Half jokingly the pilot said ‘Oh, their aim’s not very good.’”

Simmons said his favorite sporting event was boxing. Each venue provided a different challenge.

“We did a fight in Monte Carlo and you don’t get that opportunity very often,” Simmons said. “Rocky Lockridge was fighting Julio Caesar Chavez. I’m working with an Italian crew and some British guys so it was a real challenge to get it all organized. It was only an hour show so Bob Arum, the promoter, said we’ll get the fighters into the ring and we’re not going to have any national anthems. We’re about to go on the air and one of the local organizers said there will be three anthems, the Mexican, the United States and the Monte Carlo. I said ‘No we’re not doing any anthems. We don’t have time; we have to go on the air.’ He said, ‘The Prince would like to hear the anthems.’ I looked up to my left and there’s Prince Ranier staring at me. I put the headsets on and ordered three anthems. I thought he was going to throw me out into the Mediterranean somewhere.”

Giving back

Jack and Wendy have found themselves a home on the Peninsula. Jack serves as President of the Homeowners Association and feels the weather is best aspect of living on the hill.

“The whole South Bay area is nice, but the Peninsula is a special place,” Jack said. “The people, the view, the weather are great. You have everything you need at Silver Spur. Nelson’s Restaurant at the Terranea Resort is right on the cliff and I’m a big Lamppost Pizza fan. That’s my spot. Wendy’s is Yummy Yogurt.”

The Simmons’ have become involved in a number of charities.

Part of Jack’s duties at Fox is organizing the segments when soldiers from all over the world send greetings home during the holidays. He is the liaison between Fox and the military and works with the Wounded Marines Career Foundation helping veterans get jobs in television. He also contributes to the Armed Force Foundation and the “Serving those who serve” program with Fox colleagues Howie Long and Jay Glazer.

Jack and Wendy also support the City of Hope and have made Providence TrinityCare Hospice and TrinityKids Care a big part of their lives. Brendan, Katie and her husband Sal were honored as “Family of the Year” at the 20th Annual Embassy Dinner held recently in Long Beach.

“I was shocked to hear about the award,” Wendy said. “I didn’t think we should’ve won it, but when they got up to speak that night, I realized what we had done. I was at a loss for words. I’m so proud that my son, daughter and husband joined me on this journey.

“I knew Trinity had worked with adults, but when I attended an event with the kids, they put the hook into me. It wasn’t long before I fell in love with all these little boys and girls.”

Jack claims Wendy is the driving force behind their charity work and he is “along for the ride” serving as a recruiter.

“Nobody deserves what these kids – and adults – have to go through and we just do what we can to help, which leads us back to Fox,” Jack stated. “Wendy pulled together a group of women who call themselves the Foxy Ladies and have held numerous fundraisers. Wendy is infectious with this and gets everyone involved. She is so humble but works very hard at this, seven days a week, day and night.”

Brendan has become the “unofficial” photographer at events, Katie has served as production manager and Sal has even taken care of the food after a caterer had bailed out.

“That’s what makes it so special – the whole family is involved,” Jack said. “We’ve been very lucky in our lives. There are so many other people in need. We’re no big players, just a couple of kids in the neighborhood doing what we can to help.”

Wendy also stays busy with her company Katie Cocco Confections. Named after her daughter, the company features homemade candies and goes hand-in-hand with the charities, where many gift baskets are donated at events.

Wendy said she became bored when she was pregnant with Katie. Jack was travelling six to eight weeks at a time and during the holiday season, would come home with bottles of booze given as presents. She began making her own Irish Cream and candy liqueurs. Her mother would come over and soon they began selling the candy to her mom’s friends.

As Katie got older, Wendy shared all of her sweet secrets with her, and together they have created a business stemming from their mother-daughter bond.

Now Katie is pregnant with the Simmons’ first grandchild due August 8.  The family continues to grow. PEN

Mary Curtin, President of the Peninsula Committee for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

by Betty Lukas

When Mary Curtin isn’t doing the New York Times crossword puzzle in ink every morning, she just might be leading a meeting of the Peninsula Committee for the Los Angeles Philharmonic—or a meeting of Bravo, PVE Cares or the Special Children’s League.

This effervescent, 35-year resident of Palos Verdes Estates has always been a very active person, a quality she learned from her parents, she said during a recent interview in the Via Elevado home she shares with her husband, Don, four cats, a dog and several poaching peacocks whose leader she calls “Reggie.”

As the incoming president and 12-year member of the Philharmonic’s local committee, Curtin is putting together—with the help of other committee members—the 2010 Grand Salon planned for 5 p.m., Sunday, June 6 at the Resort Point home of Carolyn and Julian Elliott.

The Salon benefits music programs for local schoolchildren and is a precursor to the group’s major fundraiser set for Sept. 12 at Chadwick School. The demise of the Music Fair has prompted the need for new sources of revenue, she explained, “but we continue to give about $25,000 annually to the Palos Verdes Unified School District to support its various music programs.”

Curtin is especially excited about the Salon this year, she said, because for the first time, musical ensembles from Palos Verdes High School and Peninsula High School will participate in the upcoming soirée. “It’s a first,” she exclaimed, adding that three Los Angeles Philharmonic musicians will also be performing for guests: Stacy Wetzel, violin; Minor Wetzel, viola, and David Garrett, cello.

Other features of the evening will be silent and chance auctions for weekend getaways, Hollywood Bowl seats, tickets to sports events, catered dinners and “pampering specials.” Several South Bay restaurants will provide “tantalizing tastings,” she added, all with the intention of enriching the musical lives of children.

By way of explaining her longstanding involvement with the Philharmonic committee, Curtin said, “I can’t imagine not having music in my life. Except for background music, I like all kinds—even Sting—but I really listen to music.” And she continues her passion by playing the piano she learned from eight years of study as a child. In high school, she was part of an all-girls dance band and a community band. Small wonder that she’s willing to spend at least 20 hours a week fulfilling her current Philharmonic Committee obligations.

Curtin’s zest for service probably started when she was a youngster growing up in Inglewood with her parents and older brother. “My mother always worked,” she said, and coming from a large family in Butte, Mont., she learned early that you have to work, she explained. Her father’s early heart attack, Curtin added, was an even greater incentive for her mother to support the family. Besides, Curtin smiled, “She didn’t like to cook. My father was a much better cook.”

Education was always paramount in her family, she pointed out. “I’ve always thought that it’s better to do than not to do,” Curtin observed by way of explaining her commitment to learning and serving others. And, despite the complexities of the assorted tasks she’s undertaken during her various involvements, she had this thought on her continued commitment: “I love puzzles. Maybe I have a knack for solving puzzles.”

A graduate of St. Mary’s Academy, she went on to UCLA where she majored in kinesiology, and then moved on to USC’s graduate program in physical therapy. In her first job, she worked for the state’s Crippled Children’s Services, spending time with orthopedically handicapped youngsters. Of her work with similar agencies serving the same young patients, she had this to say: “I feel it’s payback for my having children without such problems. I saw so many parents whose lives were severely affected by a child with special needs.”

Her commitment to dealing with such needs prompted her to join the local chapter of the Special Children’s League in 1999, where she has served as president and where, at present, she is involved in the group’s upcoming Nov. 19 fundraiser at the Palos Verdes Golf Club.

But in the early, unmarried days, even while she already had a full-time job, she was casting about for more to do, Curtin said. “I was bored,” she explained. “I took a fashion trunk show to Edwards AFB since my sister-in-law was in charge of programs for the Officers’ Wives Club.” She didn’t report the sales she made that day, but she did find a husband, Captain Donald Curtin, who she married one year later in 1961 at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Westchester.

The arrival of their four children delayed her return to academia, but Curtin later enrolled in La Maze classes at Little Company of Mary Hospital, becoming a Certified Childbirth Educator and running the department for five years until she returned to UCLA and obtained another master’s degree, this time in Public Health. After graduation, she said, she developed physical therapy departments at several health agencies in the South Bay and even worked part time as physical therapist at Little Company. At present, she works in that capacity on weekends at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills.

As a young mother, she recalled being active in Brownies, Girl Scouts, high school booster clubs as well as PTAs, adding Pan Hellenic and the National Charity League to her long list of involvements during that period in her life.

At present, one of her sons and a daughter live in the area, and have given her four grandsons. The other daughter lives in Sacramento and the other son is a major in the Air Force in Greeley, Colo.

Despite the demands of her domestic life, her maternal life, her professional life and her philanthropic life, Curtin has time for tennis three days a week, reading for her book group assignments and “walking near the ocean.”

But there is more: Always a party planner, she frequently hosts dinner parties in her home for six to eight guests—and she does all the cooking. She even turns out major feasts at least twice a year for 70 to 80 people—also in her home. “I like to cook,” she explains. “I even prepare dinner at home for the two of us every evening.”

As a woman who has spent a good part of her life in service to others, how could it be otherwise?

For further information and reservations for the June 6 Grand Salon call 310-375-7051. PEN

Ashley Dahlberg at the Shada Medical Clinic in Cape Hatian

Oh, it’s easy at first as her little darling acquiesces to ballet lessons and often declares her admiration for her Mom. But, before you can blink an eye, things begin to change, starting with the first day of kindergarten. Although the change is subtle at first, you soon realize that things will never be quite the same. Then, by age 12, you start to gear up for the bumpy road ahead which will eventually lead to the place where she is meant to be.

In the case of 23-year-old Ashley Dahlberg, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, as she had a great role model to point her in the right direction. Her mother, Pat, is a pediatric nurse practitioner for Partners For Healthy Kids, Providence Little Company of Mary.

As a senior at Peninsula High, Ashley took a class in environmental studies which led her to U.C. Santa Cruz where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in the above mentioned field. With a burning desire to make the world a better place, she discovered an organization called S.O.I.L. – Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods – so, in the summer of 2007 she accepted an internship in Cap Haitien, a northern coastal city in Haiti. She spent eight weeks in Haiti that first summer.

Upon arrival, she immediately realized the need for a medical clinic. Naturally, she thought of her Mom. She e-mailed pictures of the precious children in so much need. Pat was hooked and soon joined her daughter in Cap Haitien. Ashley’s compassion was contagious.

When friends and co-workers asked Pat why she wanted to go to Haiti, her reply was, “If I can save just one life, it will be worth it.” She established a clinic and examined 75 children the first day. By evening she found the affirmation of why she felt such a need to be there. A young mother brought her frail child to Pat in a panic, screaming “my child is so sick, I’m afraid he will die.” Pat got him immediate medical care that most assuredly saved his life.

After that two week sojourn, Pat and Ashley’s lives were forever changed. They both realized that they and others could make a difference. After arriving back home, Pat began to describe to her friend Phylly what she had experienced. She suggested that the two of them do something for the children of Haiti that would involve local neighbors and friends. Time passed, Pat and Ashley spent the following two summers back at the Shada Medical Clinic, and then disaster hit the country of Haiti this past January with the devastating earthquake. As Pat’s friend Phylly watched the event unfold, she recalled her friend’s story. She picked up the phone, called Pat, who was sobbing for the people with whom she had fallen in love. The two of them knew that this was the time to put their plan into action, so they set out to form a committee to bring this project to fruition.

Phylly and her friend Trish had organized a Katrina fundraiser five years prior which was a huge success and, looking back, quite easily compared to this. Fast forward to 2010, when a few nay-sayers tried to discourage the effort with statements such as “charity begins at home,” etc. The only reasonable answer is that here in the United States there are social programs to help the poor. In Haiti they are non-existent. SOIL is unique in that it works intimately with communities to empower its inhabitants to work toward self-sufficiency and create change within their own communities.

It has indeed been a rough road, but when one door closes another opens, and their small committee of seven keeps on going. The hard work seems to have paid off as people have become excited about their June 5 event.

Enrico of Frascoti Restaurant, Jean of Entertaining Friends, and Michelle from Critic’s Choice will prepare and cater the food; Howard from Anza Rentals has generously supplied all of the rental equipment; Dahlia of Designer Linens will add the finishing touches with tablecloths, napkins, etc.; Steve from Party Butlers will provide the servers for the evening.

The alfresco gathering will begin at 5 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres served poolside accompanied by Ashanti Dykes, compliments of AMUSE Music Inc. Dinner and dancing will follow with Time Warp entertaining with a variety of rock and country music. Table centerpieces donated by Rebecca, owner of Lily Pad in Hermosa Beach. A great silent auction is planned, and the committee is currently looking for live auction items – if you have a vacation home or airline mileage you are not using, why not consider donating and become part of the blessing to the children of Haiti? It’s going to be a fun evening in a beautiful setting, and the satisfaction that comes from helping the “poorest of the poor” is immeasurable.

Since the earthquake in January 2010, approximately 10,000 people have migrated to Cap Hatien from Port au Prince, creating in an even greater need for medical care.

Ashley Dahlberg will be going back to Haiti in September committing to a full year with SOIL. Her mother, Pat, will join her periodically as her workload and time permits.

Recently Phylly was with her grandchildren when 5-year-old Will gave her 82 cents and proceeded to tell her to give it to the kids in Haiti. Not to be outdone, 3-year-old John pulled a dollar from his backpack, and then big sister Cammi suggested that she donate the money she had been saving for a scooter. Phylly says that was the validation for the project – an extra blessing, and that’s what it’s all about – giving back – blessing others where the need is greatest.

Tickets for the “Gathering at Sunset” can be purchased for $75 per person by calling 310-544-2315. PEN