Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 1

Only 2 days to Christmas The holidays are a time for closeness. Couple may not spend Christmas with kids Paged WEATHER Temperatures Yesterday Last year Rainfall At 5 p.m. Thursday Year to Last year to MENDOCINO COUNTY Rain spreading from the north tonight turning to showers on 49 39 Saturday. Coastal lows tonight 49 45 mid-30s to mid-40s with highs Saturday mid-40s to mid-50s. 1.27 Interior valley lows tonight 30s 11.80 and lower 40s with highs Satur- 14.38 day mid-40s to mid-50s.

Ukiah Daily Friday, Dec. 23, 1988 'Journal Donrey, Inc. Vol. 128 No. 212 20 pages Serving Mendocino County, Calif.

25 Cents Tradition Local residents share unusual holiday rituals By SUZI BRAKKEN Journal Staff Writer I can't imagine a Christmas Eve without raw beef sandwiches. It's a nearly century-old tradition handed down by the German side of my family. It never seemed odd to me until outsiders heard about it and starting giving me looks of disgust. "Raw meat?" they'd ask incredulously, making exaggerated gagging noises. Those who were brave enough to try it quickly changed their tune when they realized it was darn tasty.

Grandma Addie and Grandpa Elmer's raw ground round on pumpernickel rye bread, topped with Bermuda onion has simply been ingrained in me as a customary Christmas treat. We've also added all-you- can-eat shrimp to the Christmas Eve eating and each year we fight over who's getting more shrimpy than the other. I'm happy know I'm not the only Ukiah person with a peculiar holiday tradition. At Jon and Gladys Telschow's home, Christmas wouldn't be complete without an Orange alligator. Gladys Talschow has been hiding the 4-inch straw alligator in the family Christmas trees for about 16 years now.

She bought it when the family was living in South America, gtde.alligator was in a box of colorful Christmas tfee'brnaments, all made out of Daughter Pain, then 5, took one, look and said, "Mom you can't put an orange tne tree!" Gladys s6uck it on the back of the tree anyway. Since then, she's hidden it somewhere on the tree each year and it's become the family joke to find it. "Now Mom, you didn't put that orange alligator on the tree again did you?" Pam will say. One year Gladys bluffed she'dleft the alligator in the box in the garage, but instead had it taped behind another ornament. Thisyear Pam, now 21, will have to look especially hard.

Gladys has hidden the alligator inside a tiny stocking with just the top of its orange tail sticking OUt. I- Some families who haven't had long-standing holiday traditions have created them, like Ken and Jeanne Budrow, Everyone who comes to the Budrows' home on Christmas Eve or Christmas has to sign a green tablecloth set out especially for this occasion. The signatures have been collected over the last five years or so, along with plenty of grease spots and candle wax drippings. The Budrows have had up to 26 people at a time at the table, some who've come from faraway countries. The Budrows get a kick out of reading over the signatures to recall Christmas memories.

"One year my niece came in and signed with her fiance," Budrow told me. The following Christmas, her fiance was married to somebody else. The Leo and Roxanne Bleier family of Redwood Valley takes seriously the theory that Santa's watching to see if you've been bad or good. Each family member goes into a drawer and picks out their largest sock to hang by the fireplace. This year, two of the Bleier children have soccer socks hung up.

See TRADITION, Back Page Jet recording reveals noise LOCKERBIE, Scotland (AP) The cockpit recording of Pan Am Flight 103's final minutes ended abruptly after a faint noise was heard, the Department of Transport said today. "There is nothing in the conversations (of the flight crew) to indicate anything was wrong," said spokesman Paul McKie. "There is a faint noise at the end which needs a bit more analysis. There is no indication what that noise is. It would be quite wrong to jump to any conclusions," he said.

The cockpit recording and flight data taoes from the Boeing 747 were being analyzed by the department's Air Accident Investigation Branch. British and American investigators sifted through crash debris as relatives of some of the 258 victims aboard the jumbo jet gathered in a nearby town. The noise is heard on the recorder that preserves the last 30 minutes of conversation in the cockpit. The Families express anger why weren't passengers warned? a Delay makes It easier for Investigators. Page 14 other recorder monitors flight data.

McKie told The Associated Press there was nothing abnormal on the tapes up to the moment they cut off. "There were no abnormal noises on the tape until the signals ended abruptly with the aircraft cruising at 31,000 feet." Although U.S. embassies in Europe had received warnings that a Pan Am plane would be bombed, the chief British investigator at Lockerbie, the Scottish village where the plane crashed, said no evidence of a bomb had been found yet. Mick Charles of the Air Accident See CRASH, Back Page Most Ukiah businesses to be closed on Sunday Gladys Telschow of Ukiah finds a hiding spot on the Christmas tree for a little orange alllga- tor that's become a traditional Joke In her family. By RANDY FOSTER Journal Stall Writer The world's shortest book, if it were written, might just be Christmas Day Dining, Shopping and Entertainment in Ukiah.

The book just got smaller. Denny's restaurant is closing for Christmas day. That's a first, which explains the restaurant's "Always open" sign and why until recently Denny's had no lock on its front door. "I ordered the locks four months ago," right after corporate headquarters announced the Christmas day off, Ukiah Denny's Manager Ralph Hinkson said this morning. "It's just not right for people to have to work Christmas, 'Hinkson said, which is precisely what Denny's new corporate owners decided.

Denny's day off presents Ukiah with a Christmas day dining-out challenge, but there is one option: Pete's Henny Penny, at the North State Street truck stop, will be open for lunch Sunday until. 3 p.m. Of course, a whole range of food components can be purchased for the do-it-yourselfer on Christmas day, when Bi-Lo and Ypkayo supermarkets will be open limited hours. Ukiah's other large grocery stores will be closed. Those who like to put off their Christmas shopping to the last minute may also find their choice of stores limited.

Only Thrifty Drug Discount, with two Ukiah locations, Journal published Christmas, Monday The Ukiah Daily Journal will publish both Chirstmas day and Monday at its regular times. However, the business office will be closed both days. will be open Sunday. Ukiah's convenience stores Circle and Food and Liquor (which do have locks on their doors) will be open for business as usual. Looking for entertainment besides family get-togethers and TV? Ukiah Theatre will be showing a full day of five movies, including one Ukiah premiere "Twins," starring Arnold Schwarznegger and Danny deVito.

Other movies playing are "Scrooged," "Oliver Company" (matinees only), "Tequila Sunrise" and "The Naked Gun." The theatre opens at 1 p.m. Sunday. Monday will be a sharp contrast to the quietness of Christmas day. One of the biggest shopping days of the year, Monday will see most Greater Ukiah merchants open with tempting bargains and sales. But those planning to pay for their bargains with hard currency See CHRISTMAS, Back Page Area residents open their wallets to help the needy Li Bel Wen Rick Dawson (right) director of the Ukiah Food Bank, accepts donations of food Wednesday from Ron Dowen and Jay Bromley (from left).

The two are from the corrections division of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department, which collected and donated the food to help the In the area. The spirit of Christmas is in evidence throughout the local area, as donations to the Ukiah Food Donrey Public Foundation fund drive continue to arrive. Today's contributions totaled $889, bringing the grand total to $18,254.08. J. Holden of Ukiah brought in a $365 check $1 for every day of the year.

His check was given in memory of Martha Comstock Holden. The fund drive has surpassed its original goal of $12,000 by more than $6,000. The drive will continue until Christmas Day, when a check for the entire amount collected will be given to the Food Bank for its year-long activities. The 'Joniey Public Foundation raises funds i'or charitable purposes. The Journal, which is part of the Donrey Media Group, provides the publicity to conduct the drive.

None of tin money raised is used to pay for the fund-raising effort. Those who donate to the drive through the Donrey Public Foundation will have their names published in the Journal, unless they wish to remain anonymous. Make your checks payable to the Donrey Public Foundation, and either mail them to the Daily Journal, P.O. Box 749, Ukiah, 95482 or drop them off at the Journal office, 590 S. School St.

Today's contributors include: J. Holden, $365; David and Sue Snodgrass, $100; Ukiah CHP employees, $100; ROP River Center staff, $70; Ranee" and James Bloom, $50; Alfred and Janetle Wright, $25; Larkin D. Younce Appraisals, $25; Pamela Rones, CPA and Dave Dickey, $25; David and Susan Rounds, $25; Thomas B. Mason, $25; Nathanial Rounds, Anonymous donations, $75. FOOD BANK DONATIONS.