News-Pilot from San Pedro, California • 1

I Maw San Pedro California 59th year No 70 May 26 1986 Hands Across America participants appear to take on the shape of Africa and India at the intersection of The Esplanade and Avenue I in Redondo Beach 'Hands' makes imprint By Norma Meyer Staff writar The homeless yogis deaf people bikini-clad women and babies joined the nations largest block party Sunday as Hands Across America made a festive human chain in Southern California to raise money for the countrys hungry and homeless At noon PDT the long-awaited transcontinental hand-clasp took place with sun-drenched participants swaying singing and crying in a history-making show of spirit akin to the Olympics Although there were some gaps along the states segment from Indio to Long Beach Roger Carrick California director for Hands Across America called the outpouring phenomenal and estimated more than 400000 people took to the streets to show their support for the less fortunate At the Queen Mary in Long Beach the western end of the sea-to-sea route the last people in line were Bill and Mary Jones and their five children a homeless family that symbolizes the new poor When Jones 34 lost his job as a telephone solicitor two months ago he could not pay the rent for the familys apartment in Carson The couple and their children ages 1 through 6 have been staying at a shelter in Long Beach for the past week We are brothers we are all one family and we have to begin caring about one another" said Jones who was surrounded by stars Raquel Welch Dudley Moore Cicely Tyson and Ben Vereen among others An estimated 15000 people crowded alongside the Queen Mary with rows of participants six deep in some places When the ship blew its horn at noon some 6000 people released balloons with the Hands Across America logo on them and joined in singing We Are the World Hands Across America" and America the Beautiful One of those waiting to take her place was wheelchair-bound Leota Krage 88 who had left her Garden Grove retirement home for the day to be part of history I wouldnt want to miss this for the world said Krage who wore a Hands Across America plastic visor on her head and had a souvenir T-shirt peaking out from her green polyester jacket I contribute to hungry people all the time Our church has a cupboard where we collected for the needy and I always take food there" said Krage swaying to the rock music preceding the handholding Ten minutes before noon a feeling of panic touched some organizers standing in the middle of block-wide gaps in the chain on the north end of Hermosa Beach Try to get people up from the beach and spread out" a staffer yelled to another Hands A3 Harbor Area fills the gap to benefit poor have Christmas So when God blesses me I give to my fellow man" His daughter Beverly Sanchez of Lomita said the unity in the line was infectious It was very inspiring she said When everybody got in that line they set everything aside Whether they were prejudiced or had not known God it was the spirit I think if everyone let (their emotions) go they would have cried For others laughter served as their emotional outlet Deborah Rembold of Long Beach dressed in red white and blue came to Wilmington with her family and friends and began knocking on doors bringing neighbors near the line out into the street I thinks its incredible It shows America cares Rembold said laughing dancing and motioning to cars to stop and join the line Nobody cares whose hand they held It is just wonderful Children dotted the line clinging to parents Jerry Del Valle 9 and his cousin Rosendo Del Valle 10 both of Torrance said they joined the line to raise money for the homeless and to stop hunger LaDone Lankster 11 of Long Beach said I thinks its a good idea and it will help a lot of starving people Wilmington A3 By Kathleen Reilly Staff writer The Harbor Area did its part for Hands Across America on Sunday with a nearly unbroken line of people holding hands down Pacific Coast Highway There were only a few gaps in the Wilmington section after people poured into the street shifting where needed to clasp a hand in support of Americas homeless and hungry At 11 a people were scattered along Pacific Coast Highway in beach chairs with coolers and radios People were asking anyone in a Hands Across America T-shirt how they could donate and where they could stand Although no official volunteers were spotted for blocks things ran smoothly Its not that difficult to figure out what to do" said Rod Acosta of San Pedro By noon the middle of Pacific Coast Highway was filled with people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds all singing and holding hands Some were crying I cried from the time I started holding hands" said Ralph Koch of Compton becoming emotional again Well I love my fellow man I raised seven children and I remember the hard times when we had to hock all our fishing gear and our hunting guns so we could Stacy Woldt of Hawthorne in wheelchair links hands with 8ruc HazeltonStaff photographer others in Manhattan Beach Millions link up across nation Reports say some Lebanon hostages may be released soon This is just the beginning top organizer Ken Kragen said in New York When today is over roll up your sleeves and go out to work in your community We have to move from the big event to the person on the street The line was thick with people swaying to the strains of We Are vision crews awaiting the release of the hostages The influx began after as-Safir reported an alleged breakthrough last week in backstage contacts in Syria Lebanon and Iran to free the French hostages The newspaper has not said who is involved in the contacts It said however that the efforts excluded the five American hostages because of the US air raids on Libya on April 15 On Saturday as-Safir quoted unidentified sources as saying eight Frenchmen would be released four within two days and four a week later Al-Shiraa carried a one-paragraph report saying that an B4 A4 B5 Keep on Service Sports By Robert Barr Associated Press writer Millions of volunteers extended hands to the hungry the homeless and each other Sunday joining Hands Across America in a broken line over mountains and plains through pockets of poverty and to the porch of the White House When he did he was surprised that the Elysee asked him how true were the reports about the imminent release of the hostages He said he knew nothing of the sort the source said Unconfirmed reports Sunday in Beirut said the French hostages were moved to a secret location in Syrian-controlled eastern Lebanon pending their release in Damascus A Western news agency reported Beiruts French-language daily L'Orient le Jour said the French captives were taken to Lebanons Bekaa Valley but the newspaper did not carry such a report Hotels in Damascus were filled with European reporters and tele A6 Ad A8-12 Comics Editorial Entertainment I the World and holding clasped hands aloft at its terminals in New York and Long Beach in other places red-and-white ropes and ribbons substituted for people I'm here because Im making history said Bobby Conner in Clinton Ky I wouldnt miss it for Millions A3 informed political source has disclosed that six hostages three Americans and three French will be freed shortly Neither publication identified the hostages to be released John Jenco brother of one of the kidnapped Americans said the State Department informed him of the report Saturday and told him US officials were trying to confirm it President Reagan asked about the reports at a White House reception Saturday night said I have no way of knowing about those rumors Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk learning A5 organizations A5 B1-3 4 Sydney Sharaa interviewed Sunday in Damascus on the CBS program "Face the Nation said his government is working to secure the release of the American and French hostages but I cant feel very op-timiste when I dont have tangible grounds for that Sharaa added that Syria was unaware of the whereabouts of the hostages because their captors "move them from one place to another and keep their hideout very secret He said the task had been complicated by the American attack on Libya Nine Frenchmen and five Americans are missing in Lebanon By Farouk Nassar Associated Press writer BEIRUT Lebanon A French hostage negotiator was in Damascus Syria Sunday as reports swirled out of Lebanon that some of the 14 French and American hostages held in Lebanon by Moslem extremists soon would be released But an informed source who insisted he remain anonymous and his location not be disclosed said: I am in a position to assure you that all the gossip about the release of any hostage is without foundation at all" The Beirut newspaper as-Safir said Saturday that eight Frenchmen would be released over the next nine days The same day the pro-Libyan Beirut magazine al-Shiraa said three American and three French hostages would be freed soon The source said that although French negotiator Omran Adham was in the capital of neighboring Syria he was on a private business visit this time" In the last six months Adham made frequent trips to Syria to try to gain freedom for the hostages When Adham checked into his Damascus hotel he found four messages asking him to call President Francois Mitterrand's Elysee Palace the source said Ann Landers Bridge Classified on the inside Omarr A6 Television B4 Weather A2 I.