NEW TOY FUN: Here’s a sample of...

NEW TOY FUN: Here’s a sample of how the new Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21, which has 20 movie screens open, is making a splash in the theater world. Daily Variety says “Toy Story” at the Spectrum--where it’s showing on four screens--landed the second largest gross last three-day weekend. It grossed $82,693 there, second only to the El Capitan in Hollywood. . . . Says Daily Variety: “The multiplex can offer multiple screens for the blockbusters and still have room to play all the top films.”

STAYING OLD: Not all Orange Old Towne merchants were willing to have their store exteriors transformed into 1964 Erie, Pa., for the ongoing filming of the new Tom Hanks movie, “That Thing You Do.” The movie’s crew had to shoot around them using computer imaging. But, says the city’s Lori Corbett: “Now they’re jealous.” . . . In fact, some who did permit their storefronts to be changed say they want to keep them that way.

RAIDERETTE: Fifth-grade teacher Lydia D’Alessandro of Fountain Valley is the only woman on Team Rockport, an Orange County group participating in next week’s non-motorized Raid Gauloises (E1) wilderness race in Argentina--by foot, kayak, horse and canoe. . . . The group gets along great, but D’Alessandro, 34, does point out that “the guys can be such gear heads. They treat horses like they were models of cars. And sometimes when you fall, the guys just pick you up and say, ‘Let’s go.’ I’m like, ‘Guys, give me 30 seconds to whimper.’ ”

HOLIDAY DRIVE: The Huntington Beach First Christian Church at Main Street and Adams Avenue offers a different way to see the meaning of Christmas. And after 27 years, it has it down to a science. The church annually turns its seven-acre parking lot into a “Drive-Thru Nativity”--6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. . . . From the comfort of your car, you can travel through 11 scenes depicting events leading to the birth of Christ. It takes about 16 minutes. But be prepared: The wait can be up to an hour.