Christmas Tree

GREER WYLDER In the spirit of the season, Fashion Island will host two events this weekend to benefit the less fortunate. On Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a Holiday Toy Drive with Star 98.7 FM at the Christmas tree. All new, unwrapped gifts will go to the Orangewood Children's Foundation. On Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m., Kids & Cottages will have "Caring for Kids" benefiting orphans in Mexico. Bring in a shoe box or other small box containing one or more small toys, and one or more everyday necessity, like a toothbrush, socks, shoes or clothing.

KAREN WIGHT Tucked between plain office buildings and trendy bikini boutiques is a Balboa street filled with charm and character. Antique stores, art galleries, floral designers and unique eateries are the trademark of 31st Street, and their owners invite you to join them on Nov. 13 for an open-air open house. The festivities will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m. In addition to the stores and galleries, there will be refreshments served, compliments of the Cannery Painters, a group of artists organized by Marilyn Poliquin of Cannery Paints.

We asked six kindergartners at Anderson Elementary last week what they wanted for Christmas. Here's what they had to say:"I want a dog for Christmas. A Golden Retriever. I think I'll get one because I wrote a note to Santa. It would be a boy dog and I would name him Lucky."EMMA KAYE, 5 Newport Beach "I want ice skates because I want to learn how to ice skate. I could balance on one foot if I learned how to ice skate. The Mighty Ducks are my favorite ice skaters.

SANTA ANA - The convoy made its way across the street and up the stairs with 12-year-old Bella Anderson bringing up the rear with four oversized Nordstrom shopping bags stuffed with presents. At Apartment 103 - the number scribbled on the door - the party gingerly walked inside, packing the living room of the studio-turned-two-bedroom apartment where four members of the Murillo family waited. Moms Rebecca Anderson and Christina Murillo broke the ice with a nice-to-meet-you hug that brought tears to their eyes.

Once again Christmas came early this year as the super dedicated and giving folks who support the Pacific Chorale gathered for an early fall dinner at Big Canyon Country Club, Newport Beach, to raise funds needed to produce their annual holiday gala, "A Dickens Feast. " To set the stage for the fundraiser, Newport's dynamic Jan Landstrom was on the phone to Roger's Gardens in mid-September, requesting a fully-lighted and decorated holiday tree for the country club's dining room.

I have just returned from my annual Christmas visit with my youngest daughter and my grandchildren in Boulder, Colo. We follow a regular routine during this week that starts with shopping for a Christmas tree. I'm allowed to buy it and take part in putting on the lights. Then I sit back, usually with a martini, and watch my daughter and grandchildren decorate the tree. The rest of my time there is subdivided into shopping for gifts, wrapping them, writing outrageously bad poems to accompany each gift, taking my daughter and son-in-law out to lunch, schmoozing with my grandsons and enjoying family dinners.

Danette Goulet NEWPORT BEACH -- Mariners Elementary School parents have taken down strings of colored and white lights at the request of school board president Dana Black, although there has been little to no opposition in the community to the display. "It's a public building," Black said. "Our school parents do a really good job of ringing in the holidays, but it's a public building and lights have no place there." When Black was at a grocery store Saturday afternoon, a resident who lives in the Mariners neighborhood stopped her to let her know that "they were at it again," Black said.

Deirdre Newman Southern California may not be blanketed by the snowy weather that heralds the approach of Christmas, but it is blessed with a bevy of ballet companies performing the quintessential holiday classic "The Nutcracker." This month, three companies will perform the ballet -- two in Costa Mesa and one in Irvine. All of them feature different interpretations of the Sugar Plum Fairy role, the lead female soloist who entertains young Clara and the Nutcracker Prince after their journey through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Candy.

I love Christmas and I'm a rabbi, so my love for Christmas is the love of a happy and respectful stranger. However, because of all that my dearest friend, Fr. Tom Hartman, taught me, I may, in fact, be a perfect stranger for Christmas. In full disclosure, I must say that I love Passover and Purim, Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, Shavuot and Shabbat more than Christmas. I do love Christmas more than Hanukkah, because Hanukkah is just a poor ripoff of Christmas nowadays, and even in the old days, the Maccabees led the Hasmoneans, who were the most corrupt dynasty of Jewish priests in history.