Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 17

Reno Evening Gazette Wednesday, December 20, 197817 Rollan Melton no Who's that knocking? REMEMBERING: It was Sept. 28. A shattering car accident at the Lake Tahoe turnoff south of Carson City. Fatal injuries to 28-year-old Michel Mead, a Harrah's Reno cocktail waitress. The obituary noted that three children survived the young mother.

children, Julie, Kimber, 7 and Shawna, 6, moved to Tacoma, to live with their father. In Reno at Harrah's, the children were not forgotten. The word got around: "Let's do something for the kids." The money has come in in small amounts. Whatever fellow employees have felt they could give; $5 or $10 soon adds up. Diane Blackbern, also a cocktail waitress and close friend of Mrs.

Mead's, said the total is around $800 and still coming in. The money is to be used to purchase savings bonds for the children. 7 (pi I 0 Vr 1 SHELBY JACKSON and staying warm JACK STONE not really KEVIN ANDREWS lot about God No visions of sugar plums here Youngsters ponder meaning of holiday season SURPRISE! Dorothy and Bill Royle, were understandably jittery after a Thanksgiving Day burglar ripped them off while they were away from their Southwest Reno home for a few hours. Gone were irreplaceable mementoes gathered during their 51 years of marriage. In the ensuing weeks, each rap on the door has sent them scurrying to peek out at the visitor, before admitting same.

A few days ago, in the late afternoon, the doorbell rang. Mrs. Royle marched to a bedroom window that looks out to the entrance. Her husband dashed to gaze through the front door peephole. 'It's all right, Bill.

It's The wife gave a yelp, the governor!" Grandpa's. He gives presents and we have Christmas dinner there. We have potato chips, and cupcakes, sometimes Vincent has been looking around for a present for his Grandpa. With a little urging from his father, Lloyd, he produces it for inspection. It's a box of "snoose" (snuff) inside a leather case.

Vincent says he has asked Santa to bring him a snowmobile, a shotgun and a diving suit. Meanwhile, little sister Shelby is waiting to get in her two cents' worth. "Christmas means mittens and hats and staying warm." Had she visited Santa yet? "Uh, huh. I sat on his lap and he gave me a lady bug, an apple and an orange." she says. She has asked him for "a monster." Two Reno boys stop to chat.

"We don't really believe in Christmas," says Tom Stone, 12. "No, not reallv," adds his brother Jack, 13. The Stones, sons of Mrs. Barbara Stone of Reno, say they might be going over to their aunt's to celebrate Christmas Day. "We eat and we open presents," Tom says.

They are shopping for a present for their mother. "It's a pipe. It cost $15," Jack says, proudly. "It's a filtered pipe. She stopped smoking and says that's better than cigarettes.

It's kind of funny seeing her drive down the road smoking her pipe. One time we were driving along and this teen-ager was driving the other way and spotted her. He slammed on his brakes." A very small girl with two blond ponytails adorned with crinkly ribbons and bells wanders by, clutching a soft drink. Tammy Talsma, 5, stirs her drink back and forth as she looks up shyly. What does Christmas mean to Tammy? "I don't know she says.

She ponders the question some more. Finally comes the answer: "Santa Claus." What had she told Santa she wanted? "A stuffed animal a monkey." She is in the company of her 12-year-old sister, Shannon, and Stephanie Williams, 13. "We're best friends," Shannon says. "We're here shopping for relatives." What does Christmas mean to her? She giggles and shrugs. "We just give presents.

All the relatives come over on Christmas morning and we open presents. What does she want for Christmas? "A new saddle," she says, explaining she has three horses a quarter horse, a half-saddle horse, and one that's "half-saddle and half-Arabian." Stephanie says Christmas "means everything! Presents!" Basically, she adds, her family plans to stay home. "But my grandparents are coming from Thousand Oaks. And my aunt and uncle might come. We're going to have a dinner on Christmas Day." What does she want for Christmas? "A horse!" Does she think she'll get it? "No!" she replies.

Eight-year-old Debbie Smith walks along carrying a balloon floating on a long string. She is followed by her grandfather, Ben Hogan. "Christmas means you're happy, you give presents and you have fun," she says. 'i just visited Santa Claus. I asked him for 100 pieces of beef jerky, a Barbara Streisand record and a piano.

We get to open one present on Christmas Eve," she explains, "and the rest the next morning. But I get up in the middle of the night and go to see what Santa left me." A little girl walks up to the Salvation Army bell-ringer. She must stand on tiptoe to reach the pot, but she puts the money in, ducks her head and hurries away Both she and the bell-ringer are smiling. A boy with dark brown hair and thoughtful brown eyes declares, "My name is Kevin Scott Andrews," Kevin, 7, is doing his Christmas shopping with his mother, Mrs. Richard Andrews of Quincy.

It is not quite clear whether he still believes in Santa, but he's very clear about what he wants. "A stretch monster, an electric train and a two-foot Shogun warrior." What does Christmas mean to Kevin? "Oh, a lot about God," he says. "It's my sister's birthday, too." "Who else has a birthday, Kevin?" his mother, asks. "It's Jesus' birthday," he replies. Asked if he knows the story of Christmas, Kevin replies, "Not too well But he quickly adds he expects to learn more at his Baptist Sunday School.

They're having a Christmas pageant, but he's not going to be in it. But with a little coaxing, he begins: "Well, there was this city, I guess it was the City of David. And there was Mary. She was going to be the mother. They went to Bethlehem, and Jesus was born in a stable," he says.

By SUSAN STOOKEY In a large shopping mall in Reno, people strolled back and forth, looking at high-priced merchandise in store windows. Sounds of "Silent Night" reverberated gently from the wood and concrete hull of the mall, blending with the bells of the Salvation Army workers, seeking donations for the poor. Rarely did anybody stop and give money. In the vending machines, newspaper headlines shrieked the news of economic woe. A resort hotel has gone bankrupt.

An major industry may pull out. People in power are angered by the increase in Arab oil prices. A recession might be on the way. Perhaps we're all feeling a little poor this year, or at least a little cautious. "Lots of people are giving money and gift certificates this year," says one woman shopper.

"That's what I'm doing. People are tired of getting ripped off before Christmas, only to find everything goes on sale right after." She talks about looking for ski equipment for her teen-age daughter. Outside, a two-day snowstorm has just broken. Sunshine cascades off rooftops and snowbanks, and kisses the passing autos. The Sierra fairly shimmers with the promise of powder skiing and other winter fun.

Inside, the filtered sunlight casts a gray haze over the shoppers, the Salvation Army workers, and the center Santa, patiently listening to the wishes of small children. A man strides past a bell ringer, hurriedly casting a bill into the pot, barely breaking stride, and avoiding eye contact. The bell ringer tips his hat, and keeps on ringing. Outside the Santa booth, a sign has gone up. "Santa will be back at two o'clock," it proclaims.

Youngsters awaiting Santa's return expound on the meaning of Christmas for them. "Christmas is when Santa comes," says 5-year-old Sheila Davis of Truckee. "I sended him a note. I asked him for a Dancerella and two milking cows. Real milk cows? her father, Steve Davis, is asked.

"No." he replies, "toy ones," shrugging his shoulders as if to say "I don't know Along comes Vincent Jackson, 6, and his sister Shelby, 4, of Tahoe City. "You get presents on Christmas," Vincent says. "Santa comes, and you give presents, and go to And sure enough, it was. Big Mike O'Callaghan was paying a surprise call, among the many he's been making the last few days, to dispense mementoes to friends before he leaves office Dec. 31.

FOILED: I dislike using no-name (blind) column items, because names make news and also because without names, the reader may wonder if I'm a writer of fiction, rather than of real life. Anyway, this is a blind item and you'll understand why the name is omitted to protect the guilty: A Reno man finally enticed the lady of his desires to his home for a midnight cocktail. Warming to the occasion, he splashed soda into an iced tumbler of Scotch, served it to his guest, then hastened to lay a fire in the hearth. Things went wrong from there on. The chimney damper was closed.

Smoke filled the room. The two smoke detectors cried out the alarm. Two cats, frightened, dashed about the living room. Our Reno friend, his plan thoroughly shattered, finally got the damper open, finally got the windows open, finally got the cats settled. He fetched Kleenex for this lady guest's smoke-filled eyes, which by this time were leaking like faucets.

She quickly downed her Scotch, suddenly remembered that she had an early-morning appointment with the hair dresser, begged to be excused, left, and the smoky host hasn seen her since. Pfi 'fyml if iff V'M'7 VS "Jj X22 i -ij jk Yin Residents still at River Inn park About 20 residents of the River Inn recreational vehicle park remained on the premises this morning despite an ultimatum issued Tuesday that they vacate the premises. The inn, declared bankrupt by federal bankruptcy Judge Bert Goldwater, was officially closed Friday but many of the recreational park residents stayed because they paid their space fee through the end of December. A housekeeper who answered the River Inn phone this morning said only about seven families left the premises and those remaining fear that the elec-tricty and sewer service will be turned off today a warning that was issued Tuesday. Reno attorney Steve Harris, the court-appointed trustee of the property, couldn't be reached for comment today on the possiblity of shutting off service.

But Tuesday, tenants around the recreational vehicle park, were referring to Harris in muttered breath as "Scrooge." "I don't feel happy about having people leave, especially before Christmas," Harris said Tuesday afternoon, "but the judge ordered me to shut down. My first obligation is to secure the property. My second obligation is to save as much money as I can." Harris said he could not overcome the "mechanical problem" of pumping sewage the same problem that was instrumental in bankrupting the hotel-casino. For the past year, after the failure of the River Inn's own sewage treatment pond hotel owners had been paying $400 to $500 a day to have the sewage hauled by tanker truck to the Stead sewage treatment plant. bad news prevailed Tuesday, some Chirst-mas spirit surfaced as the River Inn manager reporte-dah outpouring of goodwill has come in reaction to the glum pre-Christmas news.

Ev Stein of Silver Springs offered the use of his mobile home to several displaced employees rent-free and threw in a supply of groceries. TAMMY TALSMA SHEILA DAVIS Santa comes DEBBIE SMITH give presents Claus Reno apartment conversion request denied By ERNEST WEBSTER A Reno developer's request to convert 195 apartments in Southwest Reno to condominiums was recommended for denial for the second time Tuesday night by the Regional Planning Commission. Planners voted 9-0 to deny the request of DiLore-to Construction and Development Co. despite an argument by the firm's attorney that planning policy and law does not differentiate between apartments and condominiums and, therefore, the commission can not recommend denial of the ment vacancy rate is at least 5 percent. The rate has been estimated recently at under 1 percent.

The developer earlier this year received approval to construct 191 apartment units on 4.4 acres of land north of Brinkby Avenue, west of Lakeside Drive on a new city street soon to be called Beck Street. Construction on the apartment complex, known as Lakeside Plaza, is almost completed. The first denial came Dec. 5, when the planning commission voted against it on a 10-1 vote. Hoy hand-delivered a letter to the RPC which contended the planning commission's power is limited to carrying out the county's master plan for development and that doesn't include turning down the request.

He said that neither the master plan for Washoe County nor Reno's zoning ordinances makes a distinction between condominiums and apartments. But Nash said today the commission and the council still can prevent the change because planning law gives the governmental bodies police power to do what they believe to be in the best public interest. Commissioners expressed concern about the frequency of conversion requests and the fact that there are few available apartment rentals left in Reno area for the growing population. Also, planners acted on the request even though they first indicated a desire to delay any action until their attorney was present to give them advice. The ultimate decision on the change must be made by the Reno City Council.

Deputy District Attorney Rusty Nash, the planners' legal counsel, was not present at the meeting, and David R. Hoy, the developer's attorney, insisted that the commission either approve or deny the request Tuesday night. Commissioners chose to deny it. Nash said today the commission and the Reno council can make the differentiation between apartments and condominiums and choose to deny conversion requests based on what they believe to be the best planning for the area. The Sparks City Council, in fact, adopted a policy about six months ago banning apartment-to-condominium conversions in the Rail City until the apart ft'LITTLE GE0R6E 5AW HlMl'SHOUTEP LITTLE 1 SAW PONT SQUIRM, MA'AM, THERE'S MORE TO COME! UA5 WAITING FOR 5UPPENLVHE HEARP THE 50UNP OF SOMEONE WALKING ON THE ROOF IT WAS A MAN IN A VELLOW SLICKER AW SANTA ANP HIS RAIN GEAR' SANTA TO COME ri ii 4 i i i BIG RUBBER BOOTS!" 1.