Beloved Community Park Kicks Off Holiday Season

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — Simon Meadow, a community staple and labor of love for the Simon family, was bustling on Saturday, Dec. 3 as the community kicked off the holiday season with a twinkling tree lighting ceremony.

Year after year Pacific Palisades residents can count on the lot at the meadow, hosted by the Palisades YMCA in partnership with the Simons, to get a fresh Christmas tree with an opportunity to support local causes.

"It's a staple of the community," said the director of the Palisades YMCA Jim Kirtley. "We hope that everybody comes and gets their tree here because the money stays with the community. That's a unique factor in getting your tree, it's like giving back and still getting something."

This year's lot opening was celebrated with the first lighting of the main tree at the front of the lot on Saturday, Dec. 3. Completely powered by a donated solar panel, the tree lights nightly until the sun comes up.

The lot started selling to the community in the 1980s, Kirtley said, but it wasn't always as large or had as much community support. The paid staff at the Y helped families pick, prepare and load their trees at the lot.

The passion for community is apparent at the lot with volunteers offering hot cocoa, snowmen standees for picture taking and hand-made art displays in the "Winding Way" created by Cindy Simon herself.

"The best thing is the smiles," Kirtley said. "You know you're doing the right thing when the smiles are there. From the staff smiling to the people smiling, it's just a great community impact."