Christmas Party

Robert Chacon As the hip-hop music thumped, Eric Dadayan, 24, looked for a dance partner. He spotted Denise Wright, 19. "I can really go for her being my partner," Dadayan said during the Glendale Easter Seals Christmas party. Wright, however, was too pooped to boogie and politely declined Dadayan's invitation. "This is the second party I've been to already," she said. Dadayan did not seem to mind at all, as his head continued to bob to the rhythm of the music.

Glendale children and adults with disabilities who participate in Easter Seals programs locally were treated to a Christmas party Thursday at the Glendale Easter Seals headquarters, 315 Arden Ave. Fourteen Easter Seals staffers -- and Santa Claus -- hosted the holiday party for 20 children and adults with disabilities. The party included food, Christmas carols and karaoke singing, and Santa gave gifts to the children and adults. Easter Seals in Glendale provides community- based programs that teach people with disabilities how to use public transportation, advocate for themselves, gain access to community resources like parks and shopping centers, and live more independently.

Robert Chacon Crescenta-Canada Preschool knows how to throw a Christmas party. With enough cuteness and merriment going around to steal a frown even off of the Grinch's face, about 25 preschoolers displayed their holiday skills by entertaining a room full of parents, grandparents and others with Christmas songs and poems. Most grown-ups -- equipped with video recorders and cameras -- beamed smiles so large, it was tough tell who was having a better time.

Darleene Barrientos Loving and supporting can be as important as serving and protecting. Several significant others have gotten together to revive the Glendale Police Officers' Wives Club, which traditionally raised money through bake sales to sponsor parties for the department during the holidays and to donate to children's and women's charities. The club began in 1935 as a philanthropic group, said Roxann Shade, a past president. Its members were known for their Christmas boutique, which was at the Glendale Civic Auditorium every year.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE ADVENTIST MEDICAL CENTER - Santa Claus doesn't always make it to Yonorelda Pineda's house so she was happy to bring her two children to St. Nick this year. The Pinedas were among the estimated 1,000 low-income families from throughout the Los Angeles area invited to a Christmas party Monday sponsored by the hospital and the Glendale Health Center of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. When her children, Alejandro, 7, and Ana, 9, ask why they don't get presents like other kids in their Glendale neighborhood, Pineda makes excuses for Santa Claus.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- While many people's thoughts have turned to holiday shopping, the Glendale YWCA is scrambling for presents and other items for its Christmas party. The YWCA had planned to host a party Dec. 10 for clients in its Domestic Violence Project with the help of a sponsor, but found out this week the sponsor can't help, said Consuelo Lopez, director of community services for the project. The Domestic Violence Project helps women and children who have been abused by offering a variety of services.

  Ten Years Ago Verdugo Hills Hospital was advertising its upcoming 25th anniversary celebration, which would feature carnival rides, arcade games, live bands, pony rides and hospital tours. Film celebrities on hand would be Billy Barty and Robert Picardo, the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. Author Ray Bradbury was also scheduled for a book-signing to be held in conjunction with the event.     Twenty Years Ago Francis Elsinger of La Crescenta, then 81, received the keys to a new Chevrolet Cavalier four-door sedan from Al Shaw, the owner of Foothill Chevrolet.

The “Nutcracker Ballet” is a beautiful holiday tradition that takes the audience into a world of a young girl’s dream. Media City Ballet’s “Clara’s Holiday Tea Party,” another holiday tradition held at Descanso Gardens on Sunday, Nov. 23, will bring clarity to the dream ballet and share the story with an audience during a wonderful afternoon tea. Clara’s Tea Party is a way for an audience to share...

A resident of northeast Glendale and band member of "The Blanks," George Miserlis will star on the 100th episode of the NBC television series "Scrubs." The episode will air at 9 p.m. Jan. 24. As Crispin, a member of "The Blanks," Miserlis is a recurring guest star on the weekly series and will appear in "My Way Home," the 100th episode of "Scrubs," directed by star Zach Braff, who plays Dr. John Dorian, the main character of the show. Miserlis and fellow band members were getting a bite to eat when they heard the news about the episode they had just appeared in. "That was, like, two days before Christmas.

(Dec. 17) was the West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis' annual Jefferson Christmas party. This is an activity the Kiwanians have been hosting for years. We invite children from Thomas Jefferson Elementary School to a lunch. McDonald's donates the food. Police volunteer to escort the children from the school to the Scout house, also donated. Each child receives a gift and gets their picture taken with our very own Santa Claus. This year, Rep. Adam Schiff made an appearance.

The party invitation came from an organization that doesn't usually toot its own horn - the Los Angeles County Medical Association Alliance. The local connection to the organization is longtime Glendale volunteer and activist Marilyn Gunnell. As President of the Alliance's District 4, she helped oversee the group's “Spirit of Giving” Annual Holiday Luncheon. This year's hostess was Margaret Kaufman who opened her Valle Vista Drive home to 25 Alliance members on Monday, Dec. 19. Alliance members party at the same time as they do good works.

The “Nutcracker Ballet” is a beautiful holiday tradition that takes the audience into a world of a young girl’s dream. Media City Ballet’s “Clara’s Holiday Tea Party,” another holiday tradition held at Descanso Gardens on Sunday, Nov. 23, will bring clarity to the dream ballet and share the story with an audience during a wonderful afternoon tea. Clara’s Tea Party is a way for an audience to share...

  Ten Years Ago Verdugo Hills Hospital was advertising its upcoming 25th anniversary celebration, which would feature carnival rides, arcade games, live bands, pony rides and hospital tours. Film celebrities on hand would be Billy Barty and Robert Picardo, the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. Author Ray Bradbury was also scheduled for a book-signing to be held in conjunction with the event.     Twenty Years Ago Francis Elsinger of La Crescenta, then 81, received the keys to a new Chevrolet Cavalier four-door sedan from Al Shaw, the owner of Foothill Chevrolet.

A resident of northeast Glendale and band member of "The Blanks," George Miserlis will star on the 100th episode of the NBC television series "Scrubs." The episode will air at 9 p.m. Jan. 24. As Crispin, a member of "The Blanks," Miserlis is a recurring guest star on the weekly series and will appear in "My Way Home," the 100th episode of "Scrubs," directed by star Zach Braff, who plays Dr. John Dorian, the main character of the show. Miserlis and fellow band members were getting a bite to eat when they heard the news about the episode they had just appeared in. "That was, like, two days before Christmas.

Annual Christmas luncheon draws nearly 200 to Adult Recreation Center.DOWNTOWN GLENDALE -- Nearly 200 of the city's senior citizens sang traditional Christmas carols, danced to everything from big band and jazz music to pop hits by Ricky Martin, and visited with Santa Wednesday during the annual Christmas luncheon at the Adult Recreation Center in Central Park. It was one of three holiday celebrations being held Wednesday in the city, including at the Sparr Heights and Maple Park community centers, said Joanne Venditto, community service manager for the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.

I wanted to say "Happy Holidays" to a guy the other day, but he had just told me that he was scheduled to work through Christmas. I suddenly realized that the word, "holiday" might make him feel bad, being that his was less than a happy one this year, what with work and all. So I smiled and said nothing. It was a safe encounter. He was not offended and I was politically, religiously, seasonally correct. There was a brief temptation on my part to mutter something neutral, like maybe, "Happy Winter" or safer yet, "Merry Whatever," but he just might be a depressed person and those words could hurt, too. Best to be silent, I thought.

Commentator Bill O'Reilly is on a campaign to promote the use of the holiday greeting "Merry Christmas" in retail stores, reflecting a concern that outlets are replacing the greeting with non-denominational sayings such as "Happy Holidays." Do you think secular forces are wiping out such seasonal displays? Are you offended by the lack of the word "Christmas" in such displays and advertising? Corporate America and the "secular forces" are doing a great job of removing Christ from Christmas, but it's not because of a reference to a generic holiday.

Rosette Gonzales When Carmen Ovanesian saw a picture of an Armenian girl being administered an oral vaccine, she was reminded of her own daughter. Then when she learned that thousands of children in Armenia go without basic vaccinations that cover diseases like hepatitis B, mumps, polio and tuberculosis, she knew had to do something about it. Commercial real estate broker Roobik Ovanesian and his wife, Carmen, will open their home Saturday to host an Armenian Christmas celebration and fundraiser that will benefit the Millennium Armenian Children's Vaccine Fund, a project with the goal of immunizing 560,000 Armenian children by 2017.

Robert Chacon As the hip-hop music thumped, Eric Dadayan, 24, looked for a dance partner. He spotted Denise Wright, 19. "I can really go for her being my partner," Dadayan said during the Glendale Easter Seals Christmas party. Wright, however, was too pooped to boogie and politely declined Dadayan's invitation. "This is the second party I've been to already," she said. Dadayan did not seem to mind at all, as his head continued to bob to the rhythm of the music.

Robert Chacon Crescenta-Canada Preschool knows how to throw a Christmas party. With enough cuteness and merriment going around to steal a frown even off of the Grinch's face, about 25 preschoolers displayed their holiday skills by entertaining a room full of parents, grandparents and others with Christmas songs and poems. Most grown-ups -- equipped with video recorders and cameras -- beamed smiles so large, it was tough tell who was having a better time.