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Honorary Mayor of the North Valley and Voice of Bart Simpson

     Well, it’s that time of year again. Here we are already into December and we just got done eating the last of our leftover turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberries.

     The nice china has been wrapped and stored for another three weeks or so. And the days are passing by like passengers on the California Screamin’ rollercoaster at Disneyland. I can’t believe how much faster time seems to move as you hit the big five-oh!

     Uh oh; did I say that out loud?

     Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, there are a few things that must be acknowledged, especially given this time of year. From Thanksgiving through the holidays, it is traditional to thank those who are important and special in our lives. There are a few folks I am especially thankful for regarding all the support they gave in our Second Annual Monte Carlo Night in support of funding for our new PALS Youth Center.

     The volunteer help was unprecedented. From our own Councilman Greig Smith and his staff, including his chief deputy, Mitch Englander, who have demonstrated continual support in making this dream come true, to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division for all their security efforts, especially—Officer Liz Sandoval, the head officer who actually runs the youth center -the kids would be no where without her dedication, these are people who make the North Valley the fabulous place it is.

     I would also like to thank Officers Richard Sauer, Senior Lead Officers Daniel Del Valle, Dario Del Coro, Kathy Bennett, Susan Herald and Sgt. Maria St. Pierre for their extra coverage on the security of the event. To Devonshire’s commander, Capt. Sean Kane who promoted this fundraiser to all his staff and especially and provided us with the impressive flyover by an LAPD helicopter. I am not the only one who thought, Uh oh; what have I done now?

     Then there are Greg Baker and Stan Bryant who headed up the youth center’s capital campaign, always garnering more and more monies to get the actual building built. I would be remiss without naming those dedicated PALS board members who went above and beyond their duty to help on the actual event. So thanks to Mary Ann Conron, Sally Barnes, Dick Ashnault, Sandy Clydesdale, Vicky Bourdas and especially president of PALS, Lorraine New, who are always involved and carry the weight of many on their shoulders.

     To local citizens Katie and Chris Williams, the famous mother-daughter team who have yet to miss out on any of our functions and truly set a good example for what is needed in our community.

     There are so many people to thank, my goodness. I personally wrote 125 letters of commendation to every single volunteer and sent off copies to Chief Bratton, Capt. Kane, Councilman Greig Smith and Mayor Villaraigosa to let them know how much I appreciate all the help that we got. I am deeply touched as are all the members of PALS. Their efforts represent exactly the kind of grassroots cooperation that will be needed in order to get this center up and running.

     As a follow-up, in 2006 for our First Annual Monte Carlo, we had 280 guests come to the party. This year, we had 450! And to really knock your socks off, we tripled our net income.

     Checks continued to come in after the event itself and a little birdie told me there is even more good news coming around the corner, so stay tuned!

     Yee Haw! We’re shooting for a groundbreaking this winter and hopefully and God-willing, we will celebrate New Year’s Day, 2009 in the new Northridge Community Youth Center.

     Happy Holidays to all…and to all a good night!