The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 7

mm Staff photos by Jebb Harris Saturday, June 18, 1977 A-7: The Sun-Telegram, San Bernardino, Calif. I' V' I w.w.r.v..& -u iwmjn -S -x I --TV IV-- b. 7 i- Y. W'- I 1 I -I i San Bernardino native and former beauty queen Sondra Theodore is Playboy Magazine's July Playmate from girl-next- door to centerfold he went By JOHN WEEKS Sun-Telegram Staff Writer SAN BERNARDINO When Sondra Theodore left San Bernardino for Los Angeles less than a year ago, she was just Sondra Theodore, San Bernardino girl, aspiring actress. When she returned to San Bernardino for an interview this week, chauffer-driven in a long sleek Playboy limousine, she was "Baby Blue," Playboy magazine's July Playmate, the steady girlfriend of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, 51, and an actress indeed.

The July Issue of Playboy, which includes a 10-page centerfold spread of Sondra's smiling face and more, appeared at San Bernardino news stands only last Monday. It was a rapid sell-out, several dealers reported. One batch of 50 copies as snatched up for distribution at City Hall, where Sondra was crowned San Bernardino's Miss Bicentennial two years ago. Obviously, San Bernardino is taking a long second look, and probably several more, at this particular native daughter. Sondra, 20, isn't surprised at the hometown reaction.

"I know there's going to be a lot of gossip," she said. "What else is there to talk about in San Bernardino?" Her parents, Nicholas and Pauline Theodore of San Bernardino, are less than pleased, she admits. "When I told my mother I was going to be in the magazine, she said, 'oh But she's handling it much better than my father. My father wouldn't even look at it past the first page." Her father, she said, is an executive accountant, a family man, and definitely not a Playboy reader. down I always knew I was going to be a big actress," she said.

From the third grade she studied piano and voice. She was active in school theatricals, and worked for a time with the Redlands Footlighters. She was chosen Miss Bicentennial for San Bernardino in 1975, during her senior year at Cajon High School. Last July 22 she and a girlfriend moved to Los Angeles in search of stardom. The girlfriend stayed a month, then returned to San Bernardino to get married.

"I was left stranded," Sondra said with a laugh. "I panicked." Not really. Actually, she began to land small acting jobs her first week in L.A., starting with an appearance on a Saturday morning children's program. Subsequently she appeared in bit parts on the Johnny Carson show, "Barnaby Jones," a television pilot, "Washington, D.C.," and the movie "Skateboard." Last August 27 she was invited to a party at Hefner's mansion. She and Hefner met, talked, danced, and almost immediately struck up a courtship.

"He started calling me up, just like any other boy who calls a girl." Now, they are steadies. Hefner's longtime romance with singer Barbi Benton ended "quite some time ago," Sondra explained. "Now he goes out only with me, publicly," she said. "I'm in love with him, and he's in love with me. He occasionally sees other girls, at the mansion, but Tm not going to try to change that part of his life.

It keeps him very alive and vivacious. Hef 's not an ordinary person. I can't walk in after 50 years and change his life. When he sees (Continued on A-8, column 3) "He never had Playboy around the house, so I didn't expect him to just flip through this one, because I was in it. I mean wow, he never even saw me running around the house naked." Sondra is sure the storm will pass.

"They're really concerned, bui within time it'll blow over. It'll be come just a memory. I can't blame them, they have a right to feel I did a wrong thing. But they continue tc love me. They're just a little con fused as to why I did it.

They think it will ruin my career." 7 know there's going to be a lot of gossip. What else is there to talk about in San Sondra has heard from some oi her old girlfriends, too. "Of course they say they never would havt done it. They're really shocked. But I know deep down they're thinking god.

I ish I had the guts. She's also heard from some of her old boyfriends. "Basically, they're shocked, but they're thrilled tc death, too. They say. at last I can set what you look like.

What they can't mean, I was very straight when I was in Sac Bernardino. They don't understand the transition." Sondra understands the transition perfectly. "I had to change," she said. "Otherwise I'd still be here in San Bernardino." Blonde and green-eyed, Sondra sat for the interview in an ice cream white 'pantsuit, a hot pink blouse under that, and a terrific suntan under that. She wore a gold necklace with 90 diamonds forming the words, Baby Blue.

Both the necklace and the nickname were gifts from boyfriend Hugh Hefner. She also wore a gold pendant charm inscribed with the word, sold. "It keeps prowlers away," she said, meaning other men. "I just hold it up and tell them I'm already dating a man. I don't tell them that the man is Hugh Hefner." Sondra, who has an apartment in Beverly Hills but spends "most of the time" at Hefner's mansion in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, has her own philosophy about the changes she has gone through.

"I still come out to San Bernardino every few months, but it's getting harder and harder. People always ask me what I'm doing, and it always sounds like I'm bragging. I mean, I'm living with servants. I don't go to McDonald's for dinner anymore. I don't go to movies because we have movies at Hef 's.

I'm being catered to. It's a wonderful life. Hef and I are very very happy. "I know I've changed. I was very much into the church when I was here.

I had friends in the city, and of course there's my family. I knew 1 was going to hurt them, but 1 thought, who am I living with, who am I coping with, them or the friends I have in L.A.? It was like I was living in two worlds, and I decided to let go. It's going to hurt them, I know, but they'll get over it. "I have a zest for life. That's why Hef loves me.

That's what he tells me. I'm a very up person. I like to take even the worst situation and have fun with it. I'm not going to worry about tomorrow." Sondra was born in San Bernardino (Dec. 12, 1956), attended Hillside Elementary School, Golden Valley Jr.

High School, and Cajon High School, graduating in June, 1975. She then attended California State College, San Bernardino, for a year "just to let my parents know that I would try college." Until two years ago she attended 'It was fun. It was a lot of money $10,000 is a lot of money and I pleased the man I love most.9 and taught Bible classes at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior, San Bernardino. "I was very much involved in the church until two years ago," she said. "But then I began to see a different world.

The church tended to make me judge others. There were all these heavy judgments that weren't sincere or honest. Now I don't judge I'm living with a man myself, and who's to say it's wrong? All I know is that I'm very happy right now, and I'm just enjoying life." Her "life-long ambition," she said, has been to be an actress. "Deep holes through made of wood. the Make a belt the Indian way The leisure craftsman By PHYLLIS FIAROTTA The American Indians were famous for smoking tobacco, Sitting Bull, and weaving.

Of course, this is a simplified synopsis of the incredible contributions of this truly American producer of commodities, lore, and crafts. Weaving is still a craft in hich the Indian excels, and the Navajo blanket is a work of art in regular demand. 9. Knot all remaining -ends. 10.

Pin one knotted end to a pillow or any other suitable item. 11. Tie one end of the yarn to be woven to an end length on the loom. 12. To weave, bring the loom up so that the yarn between the bars extends above the yarn through the holes.

Bring the weaving 1 yarn through the warp that has been separated by brin- ing the loom to an up posi- tion. Now bring the loom down so the yarn between the bars falls below the yarn through the holes. Bring the weaving yarn through the rearranged warp as above. Weave eve- ry row after you have moved the loom up or down. Weave loosely.

13. Weave the entire warp, then tie the end of the weaving yarn to the warp. 14. Unknot the gathered ends of the warp and tie every two lengths together. Trim away the extra ends.

bars 2. Cut the cardboard into 5-inch strips for the loom's vertical bars. They should be a little wider than Vi inch. Use a utility knife or a single-edge razor blade and a ruler to make clean cuts. Cut the narrowest lattice into 5-inch lengths.

Ice cream sticks are a good length. 3. Cut the loom's horizontal bars from the same material you are using. They should be twice as wide as the vertical bars and long enough to accommodate them allowing for spacing. 5.

Glue the ends of the vertical bars across the hoizontal bars. They should be arranged inch apart. Use a strong glue like a bond cement or epoxy. 6. Cut enough lengths of yarn to accommodate the number of holes of the vertical bars and the spaces between the bars.

The lengths should be longer than the item to be woven. 7. Gather all the ends of the yarn, and knot. The Indian looms worked today are basically the same as those used hundreds of years ago. This simple shuttle loom cannot create a Navajo blanket, but you and the kids can make a basketful of belts, headbands, and banners for gifts orfor yourself.

1. This loom is made from corrugated cardboard. If a member of your family is handy in woodworking, have him or her make a permanent loom from very narrow strips of wood (lattice) or ice cream sticks. 4. Twist a hole through the center of each vertical cardboard bar with the point of a pencil or any other sharp item.

Drill 8. Feed a length through each hole and each space of the loom. These strung lengths are the warp..