OUR LAGUNA:The way we were wowed

This is the Oh Wow! season for my family.

We all scurry around looking for the “Oh Wow!” present. That’s the present that lights up the face of the giver as well as the givee, whose joyful “Oh Wow!” is what Christmas is all about for us, as Hanukkah would be if that’s what we celebrated.

It’s the gift that can still make you smile years later, the one that belies the complaints that the holiday season, whether packed into one day or spread out over eight, is too commercial.

Almost everyone has a cherished memory.

Joie Jones was four or five when he was given a big — huge to a little boy — red fire truck.

“I played with it all the time,” Jones said. “It is a wonderful memory.”

City Clerk Martha Anderson’s best present ever came from husband Andy.

“It was a TAD ocean-going kayak,” Anderson said.

Marv Johnson recalled with pleasure the subscription to nine Beethoven concerts played on the instruments in use in the composer’s time, a gift from his wife, Anne, city planning commissioner.

Louise Buckley’s favorite present was a Raggedy Ann doll.

“I was so excited,” she said.

A Shirley Temple doll won Skipper Lynn’s heart.

“I loved a plastic erector set that had moving parts that Santa brought me,” Arts Commissioner Terry Smith said. “I wore it out.”

Liza Interlandi Stewart also cherished a building set.

“My father gave it to us for our playhouse,” she said.

Realtor Gayle Waite remembers with gratitude the friend who gave her a house.

“No one else has ever been so generous to me,” Waite said.

The generosity of Brigitte Schoen’s daughter and husband, who gave her a brand new car, still brings a smile to her face.

Fire Chief Mike Macey was three or four when he received a rocking horse.

“I didn’t share,” he said.

Beverly Hine’s favorite gift was a trip the Galapagos Islands, where she saw the gooney birds and turtles. For chiropractor Emily Harting, it was a trip to Costa Rica.

Frank Ricchiazzi will never forget the navy blue pants he received one year — pants he was required to wear to his parochial school.

“My family had hit some really difficult times, and the only thing they could afford was those pants,” Ricchiazzi said.

“At the time, it was not the best of Christmases. But looking back, it was best present I ever got,” Ricchiazzi said. “It taught me a lot. When times are tough, you don’t get what you are used to getting.”

Penny King’s favorite present was a parakeet she was given in childhood.

“My favorite gift was a bicycle, but my father locked it up the day I got it,” said Woman’s Club and Chamber of Commerce volunteer Anne Wood.

Nothing tarnishes the memory of the Christmas when young Dennis Power’s old clunker was replaced by a snazzy, three-speed Schwinn.

“I spent the entire day circling an oak tree on our block,” said the president of the Laguna College of Art & Design.

Optimistic Planning Commissioner Norm Grossman said he is still waiting.

For a lot of people, the best of all presents is family.

“My mother-in-law,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider without a second’s hesitation, a gift from husband, Ernie.

His favorite present was special because of the giver more than the gift.

“My dad had died the week before Christmas,” Schneider said. “He had given me this beautiful suede jacket. When I opened it, he was there. I can’t get that out of my mind.”

“The love of my family,” Festival of Arts President Anita Mangels said is the gift that gives her the most joy, a choice echoed by Sande St. John.

Laguna Beach Seniors Inc. past President Pauline Walpin narrowed it down: “My husband,” she said.

Family gatherings top many best-ever gifts.

Chiropractor Veronica Nice recalls with joy the reunion two years ago attended by 50 family members.

Ramona Loucks’ best present: ‘Having my entire family together.”

Artist Nadine Nordstrom: “Having my kids and grandchildren together at Christmas.”

Grandchildren score big on the hit parade of presents.

California NOW President Kim Salter considers her grandchildren the best holiday gift.

“One was born Nov. 26 and one on Dec. 30,” she said.

City Councilman Kelly Boyd: “I’d have to say my grandchildren: Catherine, who is five, and Michael, who is nine.”

Laguna Beach County Water District General Manager Renae Hinchy: “My granddaughter, London.”

Friends of the Library and Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. President Martha Lydick: “My grandson Vaughn.

“But the diamond earrings Larry [the late Judge Lawrence Lydick] bought for me at Tiffany’s are a close second. The night he brought them home, he didn’t even make it through dinner before he gave them to me.”

But kids aren’t exactly chopped chicken liver.

Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman’s best gifts ever: “My sons, Josh and Nicholas.”

Laguna Beach Woman’s Club President Peggy Ford: “My daughters have brought me so much joy.”

Joan Harrison: “My son, born the day after Christmas.”

I also was given that gift, although I can’t say I was crazy at the time about the delivery of the package. But Kenny and his wife, Chris, have paid me back sevenfold: grandchildren Bryan, Julie, Scotty, Kaitlyn, Kelsey, Lindsey and Nicholas. Last year, we welcomed Bry and Tea’s baby girl, Ariana, into the fold. I am also blessed with sons Paul and Kevin and his wife, Tracy.

Paul’s annual Oh Wow! present to me is dog-sitting every year so I can spend Christmas with my grands and great in Northern California.

And I would be sadly unappreciative if I were not grateful for the more than two decades I have been privileged to cover Laguna Beach for three different community papers.

But in all honesty, the gifts that have meant the most to me were the Oh Wows! that I gave.

I will never forget the look on Ken’s face when he opened a package of Santa Claus mugs that I found at On Consignment.

They were signed and dated the same as six mugs — one got broken — that I bought in 1955, which were brought out every Christmas season. Ken had always said when he made his first million — that would be when all the kids were educated and self-supporting — he would find a potter to duplicate the mugs so our whole family could be served drinks at the same time. Oh wow!

I will always remember the look on Julie’s face when she opened the Lenox centerpiece of Disney’s Teacup ride. It was a celebration for her of trips to Disneyland when her late grandmother, Ada, was the only one who would go on that wild ride with her. Oh Wow!

And the look on Tracy’s face when I gave her my mink coat — which easily stands up to winters in Toronto, where she grew up and still visits her parents. It was the first and the last time I ever heard her voice a vulgarity. Then there was the Christmas I found a place to add pieces to Chris’s grandmother’s china and the year Kev got a key — and he zipped off in his British racing green, 1965 Mustang convertible.

Oh Wows! all. Here’s wishing an Oh Wow! holiday to each and every one of you.