The Daily Breeze from Torrance, California • 9
- Publication:
- The Daily Breezei
- Location:
- Torrance, California
- Issue Date:
- Page:
- 9
Extracted Article Text (OCR)
r- Daily Breeze Pi SUNDAY December 24 1989 (CemmimM IN YOUR COMMUNITY TRAFFIC ALERTZJJ WELCOME HOM EB5 Charities say a little must go long way Jani Eisenhut stands next to some of the hammers connected to the chimes at the Chimes Tower on Catalina Corps answers holiday wishes and prayers By Chris Richard STAFF WRITER For many Southland 1 residents Christmas will bring the fruits of the I gift-giving spirit But for people like Ligia Sears and Guadelupe Na- varro of Redondo Beach Christmas came early Fri- day when they collected toys for their children and a box of food from the Redondo Beach Salvation Army Corps If it werent for these people my kids wouldnt get anything for Christ- mas Sears said I come from a big family We never were poor We always had plenty to eat when I was a kid but my husband and I are separated Welfare takes care of us but I cant afford anything All I can do is pray Navarro said she also is dependent on the Salva- tion Army to provide Christmas gifts for her four children Were six people and my husband is the only one whos working" she said He doesnt earn that much Theyve always helped us here" Maj Fred Seiler commanding officer at the Redondo Beach Salvation Army Corps said corps members expect to serve about 180 families from Manhattan Beach Her-mosa Beach and Redondo Beach in Fridays one-day WISHESB2 RflMflMMffl DM TIKiE SEASON Chime player brightens holidays with Catalina tradition By Tim Woodhull STAFF WRITER Donations to major charities serving Southern California and the South Bay declined this holiday season officials said though smaller agencies helping the needy reported contributions on par with last year A decline in donations was anticipated in the fall by some organizations who cautioned that a range of diversions might eat into contributions of food money clothing and toys Hurricane Hugo in North Carolina diverted some money The San Francisco earthquake diverted more funds Moreover some groups said tax law changes on deductible contributions the merger of grocery chains that limit the amount of available food and a shift in focus on those who need help most tdso have affected contributions That was most noticed by referral services that try to match agencies with people who call for help Resources tire way down this year for a variety of reasons said Burt Wallrich community relations director for the Info Line referral service which helps the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services Deduction laws changed Tax laws changed deductions There are fewer donations of food After consolidation of some of the chain stores they give one donation instead of two or they give none because the consolidation may have left them with debt to carry and they cannot afford to contribute On one recent day Info Line received 230 calls for assistance Some people wanted food Others wanted a Christmas tree Some wanted to find toys for their children We had to turn away 200 of them Wallrich said There is less of everything" People also have been turned away by the referral service that helps United Way Yesterday we got 237 calls for resources and provided 30 of them with service said Theresa Lemire holiday resource coordinator We didnt serve 207 of them They wanted Christmas trees food baskets and meals Its real hard not to be able to help people when theyre in such great need she said Donations to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in 1989 compared favorably to 1988 but food bank development manager Tony Bairos said shortages werent relieved be- It is true that not every Christmas carol ringing out from the gigantic chimes believed to be made of bronze is recognizable The 20 chimes arranged in two rows are from 3 to 1 1 feet tall said Charles Canby the islands fourth chimes keeper The keyboard can play only 20 notes Canby said When the chimes are played they respond slowly Eisenhut said She hits each key individually while pounding out a series of Christmas songs such as Joy to the World It Came Upon A Midnight Clear First Noel and We Three Kings of Orient For fun Eisenhut throws in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snow Man The reason I always push for Christmas is because I want to remind people its Jesus Christs birth the true meaning of Christmas she said I enjoy doing it too I tell Mom: I want to stop playing the chimes She said: Fine but I think youll miss it And I know I would Eisenhut started to play the chimes when her father Dale an electrical engineer cared for the chimes and the Casino building on the island The Eisenhut family lived in a small apartment in the Casino Her late father asked Eisenhut to start playing the chimes because she already knew how to play piano She hesitated at first because she didnt like the idea of playing publicly But shes over those fears now even when she misses a note or when the keys play so faintly that it sounds like she has skipped a note Practicing songs she said always has CH1MEB2 By Diana Chapman STAFF WRITER Jani Eisenhut rides her motorcycle up a steep road on Catalina Island and climbs down into the bowels of Chimes Tower She opens a paint-cracked door flicks on a light and switches off an automatic mechanism that allows the towers chimes to ring through the town of Avalon every 15 minutes from 8 am to 8 pm And then patiently slowly she presses the notes on a keyboard of a tiny console and the Christmas Carols begin The chimes echo from the tower first belting out We Wish You a Merry Christmas The sound sweeps down the hillside across the bay and through the tiny town I come up here and play the chimes whenever I feel like it said the 37-year-old Eisenhut wearing a Christmas sweat shirt accented with candy canes and snowmen Right now its guaranteed for Christmas and Easter Its basically up to me whether I have the time to do it From age 14 the native islander has played Christmas carols from the Spanish-style tower perched on a hillside overlooking Avalon Bay During December each year Eisenhut winds up Chimes Tower Road to play carols once a day for 15 to 30 minutes The chimes housed in the 45-foot-high tower contain the original Deagan Westminster Chimes donated to the town by a Wrigley family member in 1925 A series of musicians have sat patiently in the tiny dank room playing the chimes to the town a tradition since 1926 At one time Eisenhut said the keyboard I cause requests for help also increased this year by 11 percent Donations become increasing-ly difficult he said because more agencies are soliciting contributions and people grow wary Moreover he said large corporations concentrated their donations on victims of Hurri- cane Hugo and the San Francisco earthquake By the time the i holidays arrived the companies had almost nothing left to give Besides he added I think its a normal problem that all 1 non-profit agencies experience during the holidays Bairos ac- knowledged Obviously weve CHARITIESB2 small room next to the Chimes Tower that plays the chimes was located in town but was later moved to the tower Only a handful of islanders have had the privilege of playing Currently Bob Salisbury is the only other resident in town who plays the chimes I get so jealous snaps a good-humored islander Cathy Bratton I want to play Ive always wanted to do that Bratton said she enjoys the carols after I figure out what they are Christmas season stirs poignant memories i i I I of times past memories of love and laughter 1200 miles away I climbed out of bed already dressed my friends kept their house at 55 degrees even in the winter to save money for a boat they were buying and went out to the kitchen where my friend sat He didn't speak He had never liked Christmas and now his wifes absence darkened his mood even more They never got along any other time but I could read his thoughts This is Christmas and Christmas is supposed to be different The power had been restored I fixed breakfast and started my book Around noon I called home I lied to my mother about my Christmas plans I was spending the day with friends at their big house on the lake I told her There would be a big holiday dinner I assured her She was relieved She missed me but was happy to hear I wouldnt be alone on this special day After I hung up I fixed a sandwich and went back to my book I finished it that night I got a job two weeks later working in the circulation department of an indoor plant magazine Within the month I found my own apartment It was in a bad neighborhood but I couldnt afford anything better I was finally on my own I managed to save enough by the end of the year to fly home for the holiday's Id been gone almost 18 months I felt a lot older I Tim Woodhull is a staff writer for The Daily Breeze page scanning for jobs I could handle The classifieds were loaded with work I couldnt do Data processing Draftsman Engineering Mechanic Sales Id find a few jobs advertised and make the calls Clerical Delivery driver Hotel desk clerk Even secretarial I needed the job I told an employment office Took a typing test and did well But no one wanted a male secretary I lied my way through interviews for work I knew nothing about I lied about my background for other jobs for which I was over-qualified telling some interviewers that Id dropped out of college and had never gone back Still nothing It wore on me I seemed to laugh more easily but also to get mad more quickly And tears came more easily I was hungry but couldnt eat I lost weight I lost resistance to illness and got sick more easily I felt tired And I felt ashamed I was staying with an old college friend who was in the midst of a second divorce from the same woman They still lived together and their fights kept me awake nights They were each good people But not with each other She caught a flight a few days before Christmas to be with her family in Florida Id mailed gifts home earlier in the month when I still had some money I couldnt afford much so I sent paperback books to my family with a homemade card On Christmas Eve I bought All the Presidents Men in paperback That night a blizzard blew in from the east knocking out electricity and virtually shutting down the city I awoke on Christmas to snow and Dt was my decision to spend Christmas far from home I didnt plan to be broke and virtually alone Still stricken with wanderlust at 25 1 had pulled up my Southern California roots quit my job emptied my savings account bade a difficult goodbye to my family and headed north to Oregon where I had attended college My plan was simple: take whatever job I could find then play away the nights with friends and guitars Im just going to kick around for a while I told people I want one more lap around the track before I settle into a career My scheme collapsed with the recession of 1974 Work was almost impossible to find Not only was I living in Oregons poorest county but major defense industries began laying off thousands of workers who flooded the region to find jobs Still I was confident my first day in line at the state employment office All I want I told the case worker when I reached the counter is work Ill take anything Ill combine part-time jobs if necessary It wont be easy he responded The holidays are coming and things are looking bad Not much work around He called with a job the next dayA dairy farmer needed help cleaning cow stalls that had been neglected for several months he said I didnt hesitate I arrived for work just after sunrise the next day It was November and the fog lay low over the ice-crusted Wilammete Valley until the sun burned through at midmorning The farmer greeted me with good morning and a shovel I got to work shoveling frozen cow dung and old straw out and raking new straw in I finished the job in three days and made $48 My caseworker called again with another job More part-time work this time as a janitor at a preschool for $2 an hour I tried to make it last but the $8 a day didnt stretch far enough I quit after only a few weeks I tried washing windows for minimum wage But I quit when my first paycheck for $16 bounced I was mad But looking back I guess it was tough times for business owners too Things slowed to a halt after that Every day I went to the unemployment office and found nothing Every day I responded to newspaper ads Every day I called people that I had called the day before and the day before that Nope no work today No we havent made a decision yet Thanks for calling Try tomorrow Things had to be better in Seattle I told myself I moved there Dec 9 Fifteen years later I still remember the date You never forget those things in times like that Each morning Id get up early grab the want ads out of the newspaper and turn page after i a 4.
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