Christmas Tree

In southeast Glendale on Wednesday, seven children were in a small apartment, with no presents underneath the Christmas tree. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long, and they knew it. So when a knock sounded at the door, they gathered around eagerly to greet their visitors. “Hi!” they chimed in unison, as a uniformed Glendale Police officer, with three helpers, hauled in bags and bags of gifts. The special delivery was compliments of the Glendale Police Department’s Cops for Kids program and the Kiwanis of Glendale, which joined together to give 15 needy families a complete Christmas — from the tree to the gifts to food for a Christmas meal.

Chipper big-band renditions of Christmas classics filled Perkins Plaza Wednesday night, as hundreds of residents came out for the city’s 23rd annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. Children were skipping through the courtyard, clambering over rocks and returning sporadically to their parents for a sip of hot chocolate, which was in abundant supply in white Styrofoam cups. “This is one of the nicest events that we put on here in Glendale throughout the year,” Mayor Ara Najarian said.

Craig Yaussi, the director of property and special events at the YMCA of Glendale, put his Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving. He has to, because most of his waking hours between Thanksgiving and Christmas morning will be spent overseeing the YMCA’s Christmas tree lot at the corner of Brand Boulevard and Wilson Avenue. “It’s the last free weekend I have until the end of the season,” Yaussi said. The lot, which opened Friday, will be open for business seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., until Christmas Eve — and Yaussi will be there every day, holding down the fort.

A 32-foot-tall Christmas tree made the trek from Oregon to Glendale this week, arriving Thursday at Perkins Plaza at City Hall, where it will stand through the end of December. The city?s traditional holiday tree is a different type this year, called a Nordman, which is a crossbreed of a noble fir and a grand fir that drops fewer needles. Due to ongoing renovations in the plaza, the tree, 3 feet taller than last year, will be closer to the plaza fountain than in previous years, facilities supervisor Lisa Nolan said.

Students young and old turned out on Thursday to help members of the Adams Square Merchants Assn. deck out the Christmas tree in Adams Square Plaza in holiday garb. John Muir Elementary School students came to the annual tree-decorating event for the first time, and adult students from Glendale Community College’s Garfield campus also lent a hand. About 10 Muir students — mostly sixth-graders, and all members of the school’s student council — walked to the plaza from their school, which is about two blocks away, said Jaclyn Scott, a teacher specialist at Muir.

All was well on Christmas night at the Glendale Police Department as the men and women in blue filled their plates with holiday fare. Officer Rich Ulrich and his wife and children spent all day keeping a turkey-and-ham dinner warm and ready for Glendale's finest on duty for Christmas day. For nearly the past two decades, the department has been hosting a Christmas meal for the officers with a few sergeants or cops either cooking or serving...

This is in response to Don Mazen's letter to the Glendale News-Press, complaining that Toll Middle School used the title "Winterfest Concert" rather than "Christmas Concert," and likened them to Scrooge for the insult to his Christmas cheer ("More violations of Christmas seen," Mailbag, Dec. 15). In particular, he said that the term "Winterfest" was just a poor substitute for "Christmas" and had no real meaning. I hate to be the one to say it, but really, he's got it backwards.

Every year dozens of city residents deck out their houses with rows of lights, decorations and other eye-catching adornments to celebrate the holiday season. As in past years, the city of Glendale is honoring its festively ambitious residents by handing out its annual Winter Holiday Spirit Awards for homes that are nominated. "We've gotten to know some of these people and they really take pride in their homes and in their neighborhoods," said Juan Gonzalez, city Neighborhood Services program supervisor.

When Bob and I arrived at our Sons of Norway local lodge for the annual Christmas party, we admired the beautifully decorated fresh tree that dominated the center of the gleaming wood floor of the Foreign Legion post on La Crescenta Avenue. The room was fast filling with adults, but I saw no children. As Jo Ness paused a moment in the midst of greeting guests, I asked her, "Where are the children?" She said they were downstairs getting ready for the program. We joined the audience of around 50 members and guests.