The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 19

VALLEY Cos Angeles Sfanes San Fernando, Conejo, Santa Garita Simi Valleys 6 Part IIMonday. December 31, 1984F Ringing in the New Year Without Fruit of the Vine fk-I vf- i JTtt T.il Al i By STEPHEN G. BLOOM, Times Staff Writer The wrath of grapes hits especially hard BRIAN GADBERY Los Angeles Times One who will indulge in New Year's champagne is Barbara Bailey of Reseda, looking for an appropriate spirit Sunday. Passing the evening quietly is not in the plans for all those who follow unconventional religions. Many of the 225 Los Angeles devotees who live in the largest Hare Krishna temple in the United States will don their usual orange robes for evening chanting along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

The night really is not special, devotee Purusottama Dasa said, because it does not signify the ending of the year for Hare Krishnas. The first day of the year, as they interpret it, comes in the spring when devotees celebrate for two days with a continuing 200-course feast, served without any alcoholic beverages, he said. Mormons, by their charter, are proscribed from drinking not just alcohol but anything with caffeine in it, including coffee, tea and most soft drinks. Myra Russon said she and her husband, Nile, a top Mormon official for the West Valley, will join 21 friends for a New Year's Eve of indulging in punch and sparkling apple cider. She said a dance for Valley Mormon youth is scheduled in Chatsworth, and boys musfc wear ties and girls will not be admitted "in anything but nice dresses, no spaghetti straps, miniskirts or anything revealing." Liquor Discouraged At the Church of Mind Awareness, a metaphysical center on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys, liquor is not prohibited, but its consumption is discouraged, said Pastor Robert Prete.

He said many parishioners will be attending a private ceremony at which the significance of the number 1985 will be examined. If the numbers 1, 9, 8 and 5 are added together, they total 23, and when 2 and 3 are combined, the sum is 5. That, Prete said, is significant. "Because this is a '5 we are going to see many changes," he said. "The stars on New Year's Day.

Usual hangover conditions include head-piercing pain, sunken eyes, dry mouth and swearing off booze forever. Yet for centuries, wine makers have toiled in vineyards, nurturing their crops, picking grapes one by one just for a night like tonight. For what would New Year's Eve be without champagne? Not bad, say those who celebrate the passing of the year without the fruit of the vine. For reasons of religion or health, many abstain from alcohol on New Year's Eve as well as the rest of the year. Some will not be drinking even coffee or cola because of the caffeine in those drinks.

Others ring in the new year silently, sitting in incense-filled rooms. Some do not even recognize today as the last day of the year. No Alcohol at Center At the Pathways Alcoholism Treatment Center in Van Nuys, the last thing staff workers will tolerate, especially tonight, is liquid that carries with it a proof. "We make sure there is plenty to do to keep our minds off of drinking," said Nick Whalan, a staff member who is a recovering alcoholic. At the Vedantic Center in Agoura, the 17 disciples of the Swami Turiyasangita will start a silent vigil at precisely half an hour before 1985 begins.

The shaved -headed devotees will meditate until 12:30 a.m., then bow and nod to one other and go to their cells to retire. At midnight the meditators usually hear noise from the outside firecrackers, yelling and loud music, a follower named Purushattama said. "That makes the meditation all the more meaningful," the 30-year-old devotee said. "You realize the inner source of strength that comes from the quiet." Police Will Be on the Lookout for Drank Drivers Over Holiday are in the right place for conservative politics to take hold of the country." At the Salvation Army rehabilitation center downtown, "We do anything to keep them in," Maj. Joseph Viola said.

"It doesn't always work, but we try. If they have had drinking in their past, some try sneaking out, going to the first bar, trying to find a crowd and start drinking again." That is not a problem for the 20 nuns at the Eucharistic Missionary Convent in Los Angeles; they will pass most of the last day of 1984 in silence. Just after Mass is celebrated at 6:30 a.m., the sisters will take a 12-hour vow of silence. Dinner will be taken in silence, Sister Irma said, and afterward the nuns will silently file in line to the convent chapel for a final annual Mass. "We'll probably all be asleep by the time midnight rolls along," she said.

Valley police officials say they are not planning to increase patrols tonight for New Year's Eve, but a holiday drunk-driving task force will continue its efforts to catch drivers who have overindulged. "Traditionally, New Year's Eve is a very quiet night around the Valley because people who don't drink are just afraid of getting on the road and taking a chance on getting killed," police Sgt. Dennis Rueg-segger said Sunday. "What usually happens is that it's just us and the drunks on the street, so they're easy to spot," Ruegsegger said. The 125-officer task force, which patrols the 2,700 miles of roads in the Valley, will concentrate on certain targeted areas, but Ruegsegger declined to name them.

During the first weeks of its operation this year, from Nov. 13 to Dec. 8, the task force made 516 impaired -driving arrests, more than double the number in the corresponding period last year, police said. Through Nov. 13, nine people had been killed and 147 severely injured in alcohol-and drug-related accidents in the Valley this year.

PAL ETAS PS 1MK (H. A I 1- Moviegoing at Latino Theaters a Family Fiesta By STEPHANIE CHAVEZ, Times Staff Writer The line outside the Azteca Theater in San Fernando begins to form when the Spanish -language Mass ends at Santa Rosa Catholic Church less than a mile away. Family after family arrived Sunday, close to 900 people eventually filing through the theater doors to see the double feature "Nino Pobre, Nino Rico" and "Alia en Plaza Garibaldi." Many passers-by cannot read what is advertised on the marquee the titles mean "Poor Boy, Rich Boy" and "There at Plaza Garibaldi" and probably have not bought a ticket from the box office in 17 years, when English -language films last played inside. But for the area's large Latino population, the Azteca, along with the Valley's six other Spanish -language movie theaters, is a regular part of life. "These are the only films that we can all come see and understand," Maria Elena Pena said as she waited with her four young children for the box office to open.

"This is a family day for us." The huge theaters, with heavy red or gold drapes covering the screens and auditoriums triple the size found in most modern cinema complexes, each weekend attract thousands of patrons people able to turn a double feature into a mini -fiesta and who seem to attend the show faithfully regardless of the movie playing. Answered Demand Situated in communities with Latino populations as high as 68 (in San Fernando), the theaters have answered the demand for Latino entertainment in the Valley and at the same time rescued old and often gracious buildings from decay. "When we bought the Fox, it was nothing," said Jorge Bueno, who heads the company that for five years has operated the 660-seat Spanish -language theater on Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys. "It had been vacant for three or four months. Before that it couldn't survive with those 99-cent action and kiddie films." The Lankershim Theater in North Hollywood had previously shown adult films, a theater in Chatsworth had been vacated, and three other movie houses had played host to hundreds of empty seats every night, operators said.

Of the seven Spanish -language theaters in the Valley, four are run by Metropolitan Theatres which operates 30 Spanish -language and 28 English-language theaters in Southern California. The Azteca in San Fernando and Cinema 76 in Chatsworth are independently operated. The Fox is one of nine Spanish-language theaters operated by J. Bueno Corp. Teatro Azteca in San Fernando opened in 1968 as the first Spanish -language theater in the Valley, the other theaters opened in the late 1970s.

The Azteca's owner, Raul Negrette, said the failure of an English -language theater allowed him to move in with Spanish -language films. "When I came in, good television programs were coming on and people were staying away in droves," Negrette said. "It was called the Crest when I picked up the lease. After three years, business was good enough that we decided to make a venture out of it and buy it." The business of operating a Spanish -language movie house versus an English -language house is "like night and day," one operator said. A Spanish house caters mainly to Latino family audiences, which make a trip to the movies the highlight of their week, moviegoers and theater operators say.

Inside a Spanish -language theater, the atmosphere is like a fiesta, complete with food and lively Latin music between pictures. (M i.r; ftflKRITOS SIS' ''-SM Hf H. "fllPl uum 1 i MMummmM BOB CAREY Los Angeles Times For Mercedes Saldana, seated left, and Maria Elena Pena and their children, movie day is "family snack bar menu and calendars at Teatro Azteca, above; Isabel Zuni, 4, at movies. Portal in North Hollywood to the 760-seat Reseda, is the lack of other forms of Latino entertainment in the Valley. "There are so many things for the English-speaking audience: cable television, plays, concerts.

Many Latinos can't afford this, and their transportation may rely on buses," he said. "So they rely on the neighborhood movie house for their entertainment." Audience loyalty also distinguishes Spanish -language theaters, where patrons come each week regardless of the movie. "You can almost set your watch to the people walking through the door," Bueno said. All of the Valley's Spanish-language theaters offer various perks for their patrons. The Panorama and Lankershim have bingo games once a week in between films, and a $250 prize is given away.

Children are always admitted free at the Fox in Van Nuys. Every theater has a "dos pro uno" two for one night. For the new year, Negrette is giving away 1985 wall calendars with colorful religious pictures depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin of Guadelupe. Beneath the pictures an advertisement reads in Spanish, "The Aztec is your favorite theater where the best films are shown. Come visit our delicious snack bar." One night last week at the Panorama theater on Van Nuys Boulevard, a group of children played chase in the lobby, screaming with delight as they tagged each other.

A group of men stood in the back of the lobby, smoking cigarettes, talking and laughing. Teen-age boys huddled around five video arcade machines. The concession stand was selling camote (candied yams), mazapan (a sweet almond and sugar paste) and alfajor (sugar and coconut) alongside Snickers, popcorn and hot dogs. And the flow to the counter was constant throughout the movie. The 950-seat theater was about one-third filled with patrons who had paid $3 per adult and $1.50 per child to see "Nino Pobre, Nino Rico" and "La Nina de la Mochila Azul" Girl With the Blue The first film was a comedy about the friendship between two children, one rich and one poor.

The other told the story of a poor orphan girl befriended by a young boy, played by a popular Mexican child actor, Pedrito Fernandez. The first film started at 5:30 p.m., but patrons flowed in all through the movie. By the end, the theater was about two -thirds full. "It doesn't seem to make a difference when the movie starts or when it ends," Bueno said. "It's just something to do.

A lot of times the movie is the secondary thing. People go for the social contact." Operators said that the best box office draw is a Mexican-produced film that is family oriented. New films are introduced every Monday. In the Spanish -language market, the equivalent of Westwood's first-run theater area is Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, where Metropolitan operates 12 movie houses. Films are released downtown, where tickets cost $1 more, and are shown in Valley theaters two weeks later, said Daniel Hernandez, who manages the Spanish-language theaters for Metropolitan.

Theater operators said that on Sunday afternoons they can depend on filling 90 or more of their seats. Bueno explained that for the Latino audience, watching Mexican-produced movies is "like going home for a couple hours." He said that the Fox once showed a movie titled "Caminos de Michoacan" Roads of about two men traveling through the Mexican state of Michoacan. In one scene the signs of dozens of Mexican towns were shown in a montage sequence. "People would see the little signs and would just start to howl," Bueno said. "I think people were going just to see their old hometown.

It was kind of touching but kind of funny to hear the yells." Negrette said another factor drawing audiences to the theaters, which range in size from the 1350-seat El.