Snow

  "The Gift" by Pete Hamill The temperature has dropped below 0, the dreamy lights of Christmas reflect on the fallen snow of Brooklyn's streets that are stampeded by the hustle and bustle of shoppers, school children and workers heading their way to their local bar for a drink. It is Christmas in 1952 and 17-year-old Pete is home from the war in Korea. The latest letters he had received from his girlfriend Kathleen made his stomach fill with nerves and his anxiety grew worse when he was the only solider off the train without a girl to meet him. Even his parents weren't there, but in those times you were lucky if your family had a telephone and his did not. Pete's father was an Irish factory worker and had always been a distant man to Pete.

"White Christmas," the musical of love and snow, or rather lack thereof, is revived at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood from Nov. 22 to Jan. 1. Starring Brian D'Arcy James as the love-lost humbug Bob Wallace, Jeffry Denman as Phil Davis, his ladies man partner, Anastasia Barzee as Betty Haynes, the female equivalent of Bob Wallace, and Meredith Patterson as Judy Haynes, the female equivalent of Phil Davis. Davis and Wallace are old army buddies. Ten years after the end of WWII, they are famous singers.

The active search for missing hiker and former La Crescenta resident Dean Christy was called off on Sunday. The avid hiker had been missing in the snow-covered San Bernardino Mountains since late afternoon on Jan. 4. ?My sister-in-law called on Friday and she said, ?Are you sitting down? Dean is missing. He went for a walk in the rain,?? recalled Susan Cena, Christy?s sister. Cena said that since the news was delivered, they are just taking life one day at a time. ?He and his wife [Joan]

Glendale resident Edik Gharapetian crafted a Christmas village in the corner of his living room. It's already Christmas inside Edik Gharapetian's Glendale apartment. Trees are lighted, snow is falling, Christmas carols are playing and homes are decorated in the miniature Christmas village Gharapetian built in his living room. "I've got love in my heart about art and Christmas and decorations," the 52-year-old said. That is evident by the seven months of work he put in to building a winter village in the corner of his living room, which stands about 8 feet tall, 10 feet wide and extends out about 6 feet from the corner of his living room.

  Ten Years Ago Then state Senator Adam Schiff, representing this area while serving as chair of the Joint Committee on the Arts, introduced a bill calling for an investment of $1 per capita in the arts. He said it would increase the budget for the California Arts Commission by $35 million “to keep California competitive with other states and nations as we move into the next century.”   Twenty Years Ago During this week 20 years ago, snow frosted the local mountains for the third time during the winter of 1987-’88.

From a vantage point in La Crescenta, Mt. Wilson looks clear of snow, but snow still covers the north face of the peak. It is this winter blanket that has kept the Montrose Search and Rescue Team members busy the last two weekends. “March 2 was an extremely busy day,” said Mike Leum, a longtime rescue team member. The team was first activated at noon on a call concerning a 20-year-old mountain biker with a broken leg. The cyclist was on the road near Red Box and Switzer Falls when he fell from his bike and injured his leg. The team responded at first with assistance from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Air Five helicopter, but the wind was too strong for the chopper.

Dear Neighbor, I was thinking about you this weekend and wanted to drop a line to tell you how much I miss you. I remember the first time we met. I was about 3 or 4. We went up to play in the snow. I remember my dad getting our toboggans and snow clothes out of the garage loft. I remember the drive up to see you. My mom would fill thermoses with cream of mushroom soup. And when we sipped it, the soup was so hot we'd burn our mouths. But the taste of the soup combined with the smell of that crisp winter air is something I'll never forget.

In my dream, Buck and I are standing at the entrance of our school, reading a note that had been posted on the front gate. "No School Today," the note read, "Because of Snow." It isn't until we read the note that we realize that snow is falling, in soft, diagonal sheets, the way you'll see it in cartoons. In fact, everything about this dream has a cartoon quality to it, every detail taken from something I'd seen on TV. I have no actual memory of snow, having grown up in Los Angeles.