Christmas

Young Chang A heartfelt bunch they are, these Newport-Mesa notables. When asked about the best gifts they've ever received, the worst, what they've always wanted but never owned and their happiest Christmas memories, none resorted to talking about diamonds or generic sentiments involving snowmen with carrots for noses. Newport Beach socialite Eve Kornyei, Newport Beach's recently appointed mayor Tod Ridgeway, Newport-Mesa Unified school board member Wendy Leece, Costa Mesa Councilmen Chris Steel and Gary Monahan, and Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden each nearly brought this reporter to tears with stories about the human side of the holidays.

Lolita Harper SOUTH COAST PLAZA -- Bubbling, sauce-splattered faces slurped up spaghetti at Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant on Thursday, finally filling their little bellies after a busy morning visiting with Santa Claus. About 23 children from South Coast Children's Preschool went to the cross-town eatery for their first field trip of the school year and a chance to make sure Santa had the right information for his Christmas deliveries. "I want a Barbie and makeup," said Heather Canales, 6, as she sat on St. Nick's lap. "And I want a go-cart," Heather's 4-year-old friend, Kendall Wright, chimed in from Santa's other knee.

Weatherford Clayton Tired of hunting for Christmas presents? Still looking for meaningful presents for your loved ones? Have I got a deal for you. It's an innovative idea. No money down, no chasing around the mall parking lot searching for a parking place. You might call it a fresh approach to giving presents. It's wrapped with kindness and tied with the ribbon of love. It's based on time-tested principles that came to light thousands of years ago when a star appeared in the heavens.

Advent is the season when we celebrate God's coming to us in the Holy Child of Bethlehem. During this season of anticipation, expectation and preparation, we light candles in an Advent wreath symbolizing the hope, peace, joy and love that comes to us with the advent of the birth of Christ. Our Advent waiting culminates in Christmas as God comes into this world to embrace and redeem us. Long before the coming of the Advent season, the Christian church acknowledged that God is always involved with us. The Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters and God made the world.

They come for the friendship. They come for the fabulous food. They come to buy chance tickets for one of the most incredible door prize raffles on the social circuit. Mostly, they come to support Chapman University at the annual Christmas at The Ritz celebration. Since 1987, many of the most fashionable set in Newport-Mesa and Orange County have come together in early December to enjoy the holiday season and raise funds for a variety of Chapman University needs.

Ted Shaffrey CORONA DEL MAR -- A one-mile strip of East Coast Highway will be transformed into a celebration of all things Christmas tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., between Avocado and Poppy avenues. "Come and party with us!" said a cheerful Ali Ataya of the Health Emporium, one of the more than 150 businesses taking part in the 21st annual "Christmas Walk Festival," sponsored by the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce. Highlights will include wandering carolers and musicians, free photos with Santa Claus, a petting zoo and plenty of clowns to entertain.

Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. -- THE UNITED CHURCH OBSERVER "Hi, Cindy, it's great to see you," a friend said to me recently. "I know what you should write about this week. I have just the right thing for you." I told her I was very interested to hear her idea. I was surprised when her answer was simply, "worry." "Worry?" I asked. "Please tell me more, and tell my why I should write about worry now, three weeks before Christmas."

LOLITA HARPER Dear Santa, Hi. Remember me? It's Lolita Harper, from Costa Mesa. I know I haven't written you in a long time but my son, Donovan, and I stopped by the mall the other day to visit you. I was the one in the black top, grumbling about having to pay $15 for a Polaroid picture in a flimsy, construction-paper frame. Ring any bells? Anyway, I wanted to touch base with you because I have just one simple request. All I want for Christmas is a National Championship for the USC football team.

DAVID SILVA It's a strange fact, or perhaps it isn't strange at all, that the worst and the best Christmas I ever experienced happened in the same season. I was living in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment in Costa Mesa with my wife. She and I were students, working a combined total of four part-time jobs just to pay the rent and almost all of our bills. In other words, we were poor, and never more so than during this particular December. I had finished writing a golf manual for a publisher in Laguna Beach, but he was taking the long road in getting around to paying me. To understand how much work I put into that golf manual, you should know that at the time I wrote it, I had played not one game of golf in my life.

Although Dave Skousen and his captain always enter Skousen's 63-foot yacht, Scout, in the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, Skousen said Friday that he thinks of himself as more of a Grinch. But that all changed in August when he decided he'd go all out for this year's parade. Bob Metcalf, Skousen's boat partner and captain, is a big fan of the Christmas season. But Skousen and Metcalf's boat isn't decorated like many others with the sweet images Christmas conjures, like Santa, elves and presents.

The 2012 Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade will celebrate the beach. The 104th annual event's theme "Surf, Sand and Santa" was submitted by local Adam Gafke and was chosen out of more than 100 submissions. Gafke won two VIP spots on the official Santa Boat, which leads the parade. Newport Harbor residents decorate their homes, yachts, kayaks and boats with Christmas lights based on the theme every year for the five-night event hosted by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Candles have been used for more than 5,000 years. Although the ancient Egyptians may have been among the first to use them as torches, the Romans are credited with developing the wicked candle. In the ancient world, candles were the major source of light. During modern December celebrations, candlelight continues to shed light, traditions and comfort. Every year, for example, Jews gather to brighten their homes with candles and feast for eight straight days in celebration of Hanukkah, which started more than 2,000 years ago. At that time, there was a great temple in Jerusalem, Judea (now Israel)

For most of her 13 years, Kacey Mathieson has missed her father's presence for months at a time. There were some birthdays he couldn't make, holidays when he was far away. And until Friday evening, she didn't know if the man she calls "my bestest buddy" would be home this Christmas. But when Kacey went to dinner with her mother and grandmother at Duke's in Huntington Beach, the "waiter" who approached the table was none other than her dad, an Air Force reservist who was granted a five-day leave and made it home in time to surprise his daughter.

It was almost the end of August, almost the end of summer. The tourists were all heading home. There was a good chance the national park would close in the next week until the following May. Snow was on its way. Summer's end was near. But for the park staff, it was a party. Maybe it should have been a goodbye party. Most of the staff would not see each other for nine months. They jokingly called it their city deployment. Or their pregnancy leave. So it should have been a time of tears and farewells, blended with vague promises to see you next season.

Now that Christmas Eve has become a popular night to dine out, it's easy to find great restaurants open for dinner — but not so much on Christmas Day or evening. But we found four, with different price points, including Royal Khyber, which is one of our favorites. In Laguna Beach, Las Brisas will be serving their popular four-course Mexican Riviera brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., which includes complimentary champagne, freshly baked Mexican pastries, and choice of coffee or tea. Entrée choices include sand dabs Puerto Nuevo, pasta con camarones and filete de res con huevos.

In a foreboding first message as your new school board president, David Brooks did his best Ebenezer Scrooge "Bah! Humbug!" impersonation by saying, "We don't need critics" who are "bad-mouthing schools. " So to the many educators and others who have emailed me privately with your outrage, and to those who appear before the board to complain, Brooks would like you to put that coal back in the scuttle and get back to work. Teachers, you'll get back to work on Jan. 2, while the rest of the country observes a federal holiday.

Over his prolific century on this planet, Irving Berlin composed many memorable songs, including the best-selling record in history. That would be "White Christmas," introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" and identified with the crooner for the rest of his career, most notably in Crosby's 1954 flick "White Christmas," which now, after all these years, has become a Broadway musical. The touring version of that show, now in residence at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, is a sumptuous holiday treat, reconfiguring the movie plot and adding a few show-stopping surprises.

COSTA MESA — Snoopy's new digs may be bigger than that one-story doghouse. As Costa Mesa couple Jim and Linda Jordan battle Wells Fargo in court over the deed to their home on Santa Ana Avenue, city officials have assured them that if the battle is lost, their cherished Christmas tradition doesn't have to be. "[City CEO] Tom Hatch offered me a home [for my decorations] there as long as we want, and I think that's outstanding," Jim Jordan said Wednesday, tired but happy after his family's annual Christmas setup premiered the night before on City Hall's front lawn.

I felt honored to be part of the crew who delivered the Balboa Yacht Club's new Committee Boat from San Francisco to Marina del Rey. I wanted to make one shout-out to our captain, Richard DeWolf: "I will go to sea with you any time. " Without a doubt, Rich is the most qualified and trusted skipper I have sailed with. Now that I am home safely, let's talk about what is going on in Newport Harbor this week. That's the 103rd annual Christmas Boat Parade, which runs from Wednesday through Sunday.

As Linda Jordan put the final touches on the characters in the "Snoopy House" Christmas display's dollhouse outside City Hall on Tuesday night, she broke down. "I just couldn't stop crying," she said. "It's not relief. I'm happy. I'm sad at the same time. " It's been a roller coaster of emotions for Jordan and her husband, Jim, 59. Just two weeks ago, Wells Fargo permanently locked the couple out of their home on Santa Ana Avenue, which they rented out for supplemental income.