The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 37

Sunday, Dec. 15, 1985 nQiiSQimcu imnnDim0 From steelworker to kiwifruit. See Page 7. The Sun San Bernardino, California Metro Final San Bernardino, Del Rosa Highland, Muscoy, Big Bear Lake Arrowhead, Crestline Overview: Conservancy vs. cemetery Ed Mauel f- Market vandalism continues Proposed Gold Mountain Memorial Park mil Three alternative sites Searching for Paved Road Graded dirt road I Conservancy area restaurant's namesake When a body eats in Alice's Restaurant, a body usually asks the only unquestionably female employee if she's Alice, right? That happened in San Bernardino, right off the Inland Center Drive exit of southbound Interstate 215, in a center back- wall booth at 867 W.

Jefferson Big 'V i Erwin Lake Sugarloaf JS THE Ut By JACKIE RICHARD Son Staff Writer- BALDWIN LAKE It doesn't look like property that's worth fighting for. Rising above a lake that's sometimes there and sometimes not, the area looks anything but controversial. Five years ago, the treeless slope at the northeast end of Bear Valley seemed the perfect spot for Gold Mountain Memorial Park. At least, it appeared that way to its investors. "It looked ideal for a cemetery," said Angelo Cardono, board chairman of Gold Mountain Memorial Park, during a recent telephone conversation, 'it was the right zoning and we figured there would be no neighbors to complain." Most of the property surrounding the site belonged to landholders of a defunct gold mine far up the mountain.

That was five years ago. Since then, the property has become the center of one of the biggest controversies in the Big Bear area. The 14.7-acre plot has drawn into the battle not only its owners, but the county, the courts, state and federal agencies and many conservation groups. The problem is the plants that live on the Gold Mountain property. Conservation groups say the area supports one of the largest concentrations of rare plants in the nation, and some of the plants are protected by law.

In 1982, county supervisors and planning commissioners approved the cemetery proposal over the objections of conservationists and the county's own staff. The San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society promptly sued to block the development. Last week, after two years of court hearings and other legal maneuvering, the county Planning Commission reversed previous county approvals and unanimously opposed development of a cemetery on the north Baldwin Lake property. Ivan Cowper, shareholder in the cemetery land and director of Big Bear Mortuary, said he has difficulty understanding why there's so much controversy. "I'm not against rare plants.

I'm (Please see Plants, B-6) for those who want to know exactly where. The woman immediately demonstrated why she was unquestionable. "No. He's Alice," she said, 1 Sun News Services LOS ANGELES Vandalism at grocery stores continued Saturday, even as union leaders in the 41-day Southern California supermarket strike prepared to report to their members on the status of the dispute. Tear gas released in a Ralph's market in Manhattan Beach sent three people to the hospital Saturday afternoon with complaints of breathing difficulties, said police Lt.

Robert Cashion. He said 12 people were treated outside the market after it was evacuated about 4:15 p.m. because of the tear-gas attack. "There was no strike activity or pickets on the scene, and no direct evidence to indicate it was strike-related," Cashion said. A Long Beach woman facing felony charges in two similar incidents was free Saturday on $2,000 bail after being arrested Friday evening, said sheriff's Deputy Bob Stoneman.

He said Norma June Berry, 52, a Safeway meat wrapper, was arrested after a janitor at a Vons market in Paramount reported a woman offered to pay him $500 to dump a chemical inside the store. Berry was arrested for Investigation of a conspiracy charge in that incident, Stone-' man said. She also was arrested for investigation of a felony assault charge in a Dec. 7 incident at the same store, he said. That time, the store was evacuated because of a spill of the chemical thiophene, which is added to odorless natural gas so leaks can be detected.

The chemical given to the janitor Friday had not been analyzed, Stoneman said. Meanwhile, Teamsters met Saturday evening at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel with negotiators from the Food Employers Council, which represents seven grocery chains with a total of 900 stores in Southern California. Representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents butchers and meat wrappers, were also on hand for the talks, said food industry negotiator Bob Mondor. The unions arranged a series of membership meetings today to report on the status of negotiations. However, union lead- (Please see Market, B-8) pointing to the balding 6-foot-plus fellow who had been introduced as "Bob" when Ted Lane and I walked in.

"I'm Ellis." While I spooned up a big bowl of clam chowder, made bland without salt, sugar, or monosodium glutamate to protect people with dietary problems, but Staff map by Jean Moxam Lake Arrowhead Big Bear Lake Baldwin i rs Lake easily seasoned to taste, the confusion mounted. Then, like a hero in a bad western novel, it rode off in all directions. Bob produced a card that said Bob and Donna. Underneath he i Running Springs A i iJlV-o nfv Angelus wrote "Yeates." He wondered that I hadn't understood him at the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Area enlarged 1 uas San Bernardino Redlands Commerce Coffee Klatch on Wednesday morning when he introduced himself to the group as "Alice from Bob's At 7:40 in the morning he wants things like that Forest Falls One endangered plant, birdfoot checker bloom. remembered? There is no hour at which things like that should be remembered, but now try to forget it.

Alice's opened as a partnership Etiwanda going from triumph to larger challenge operation between Bob Yeates and Donna Ellis, when she weighed 86 pounds and garage doors lifted her. She says she has now gained control over garage doors and 20 pounds. Where she hides it in the basic freeway restaurant miniskirt is her secret. The idea of As Anderson recalled, "When they announced Etiwanda had won, everybody said, 'Where's Etiwanda? Nancy Patterson, the school's social studies chairwoman and team coach, said she thought the team might do well in the competition, "but I had no idea how well they would place. "The exciting part of it is, not one of the team members has had any academic decathlon experience," she said.

"I think it's a reflection of the quality of staff we have here at Etiwanda High School, the enthusiasm of the staff and the dedication of the team members." The decathlon, which was conducted at California State University, San Bernardino, Nov. 16, tests students of varying academic backgrounds with 10 events over a nine-hour period. Each team starts six members in the contest, with three others serving as alternate members in case a starter cannot com pete. Of the starters, two must have an average, two must average grades and the remaining two need a average. Event subjects and questions were the same in every competition nationwide.

This year, they included economics, fine arts, literature, science, social science and math-ematics. Each team member also submitted to an interview, wrote an essay and delivered both prepared and impromptu speeches. Closing the competition was the "Super Quiz," a six-round question-and-answer session and the only event that can be viewed by the public. A crowd of about 500 cheered on this year's quiz event, which dealt with the subject of immigration. Most people likely would be hard pressed to answer the multiple-choice quiz questions.

For instance, one stated, "The potato famine of 1845 is to the Irish what (Please see Etiwanda, B-8) (2,300 students) and Upland was a formidable challenge for Etiwanda, which has a student body of 1,400. The school is only in its third year of existence, and didn't even put together this year's team until a month and a half before the event. Moreover, school officials point out, four of the team's six starting members are juniors who haven't had the advantage of taking advanced academic courses in 12th grade. "We're extremely proud of this accomplishment for our school," Etiwanda Principal Don Culp said. "When we started two years ago, our goal was to establish a strong academic school.

We feel this success is an indication that we are accomplishing our goal." Etiwanda's win apparently came as a great surprise to its opponents, many of whom didn't even know there was such a high school, said team member Chandra Anderson, a junior. By MATT SPERLING Sun Staff Writer RANCHO CUCAMONGA They may be younger and less experienced, but Etiwanda High School's academic decathlon team members have proved they can outsmart their opponents literally. The nine-member squad more than matched its wits against teams from 20 other area schools last month to take San Bernardino County's Academic Decathlon title. The decathlon is perhaps the nation's most prestigious tournament in measuring intellectual achievement among high school students, school administrators say. By being the overall winner in the county, Etiwanda has qualified for the statewide competition Jan.

3 in Santa Ana, where it will try to outscore nearly 50 other high schools that topped opponents in their respective counties. Defeating 25 other schools, many of them much larger ones like San Bernardino Smitty the Jumper to make 216th leap today; the first was in 1928 her being able to carry a pad and pencil, let along a couple of dinners, at 20 pounds lighter boggles the eyeball as well as the imagination. While Ted and I ate and discussed the news of the Inland Empire, he being news director for radio stations KDIG and KBON, Bob and Donna played with our minds. They won. Bob displayed his own shiny pate to start telling about a cure for baldness, rubbing a paste of persimmon juice and alum into the scalp.

It doesn't grow hair. It puckers up the skin on the headbone until the hairy fringes meet and mingle. That gets us back to the chamber's early morning coffee, which had less than maximum attendance because many members were at San Bernardino Mayor Evlyn Wilcox's prayer breakfast. Dr. Mildred Dalton Henry, president of Provisional Educational Services provided cross-cultural enrichment while explaining the purpose behind the learning center that will open Jan.

6 on the city's West Side. She opened with the stirring words of Mary McLeod Bethune: "I am my mother's daughter and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart and will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth." She closed with her own version: "I am my mother's daughter and the drums of education beat in my heart and "tiiiiii. wii i i nuwuumii in I I a a naut and partly to boost activity at the 541-member club. Smitty arrived in San Bernardino on Thursday, carrying the first parachute he ever owned. So old that the material tears at the slightest hint of strain, the homemade rig is a museum piece.

The silk canopy's lines are knotted to a Model A steering wheel. Leather straps connect the wheel to a thick waist belt and leg straps. A harnessmaker built the contraption in the late 1920s. Smitty's first stop in San Bernardino was at Pioneer Park, where he unpacked his chute for a reporter and photographer. One look begged the question of how he ever survived its use.

Pure luck, he admitted. An hour later, the born-again barnstormer was being introduced to a private gathering at a fancy jewelry store. So fancy that Miss Universe was there. That suited Smitty just fine. She gave him a kiss.

He gave her an autographed copy of his life story. He also wrapped an arm around Mayor Evlyn Wilcox and tried to talk her Into jumping. No way, she said. "I've been 'jumping' since (taking office on) June 3." On Sunday, Smitty will jump (Please see Smitty, B-7) achuting five times, but each time he has succumbed to the lure of skydiving's adrenalin rush. He has made four jumps this year alone.

Smitty has been unable to escape the frailness of age. But, his spirit and mental acuity are undiminished. During the week, he leads a quiet life at home in Wichita, Kan. "I just sit and look out the window all day long," he said. Pausing for effect, he adds: "Until Friday night.

Then, I go to the Coyote Club and boogie." Smitty figures he gets enough exercise in four hours of dancing to last him all week. "When I get to where I feel my heart beating a little too fast, I sit one out." San Bernardino businessman William 'Tony" Brogdon learned firsthand about Smitty's stamina. Brogdon, who has about 250 jumps to his credit, met Smitty in 1977 and spent some time with him in Kansas. Smitty took him to the Coyote Club, Brogdon recalled, "and I finally had to ask him if we could leave. It was 2 in the morning and I was tired.

I'm serious." On weekends, Brogdon serves as vice president of Perris Valley Skydiving Society. One of Smitty's biggest fans, Brogdon is sponsoring Smitty's trip to California, partly to honor the aging aero By RICHARD BROOKS Sun Staff Writer SAN BERNARDINO Smitty the Jumper is 87 years old, but he'll probably never grow up. He's having too much fun dancing, chasing pretty girls and parachuting. The decades have dimmed his eyesight and slowed the blood circulation to his feet. But, despite landings that have knocked out teeth and snapped bones, H.

Truesdell Smith refuses to retire from the pastime that gave him his nickname in 1928. He's fixing to make his 216th parachute jump about 2 p.m. today at Perris Valley Airport in Perris, 20 miles southeast of Riverside. Why? "Cause I like it," the white-bearded, former sign painter said Friday. "I'm physically fit, and I want to.

So why not?" Smitty is something of a cult figure in the national skydiving community. He started as a barnstormer, free-falling to such low altitudes that an emergency chute wouldn't have saved him even if he'd bothered to carry one, which he didn't. In recent years, he has served as an unofficial greeter at the annual U.S. National Parachuting Championships. He has given up active par will not let me rest until every boy and girl has a chance to prove his worth." A number of chamber members volunteered to help the center rescue youngsters, more often than not from ethnic minorities, in danger of dropping out of the school system and the job market.

Millie doesn't knock prayer, nor does she disparage DOING something about a problem whether it has been prayed over or not. Staff photo by Mlko I Smitty holds his first parachute, a homemade one..