Our Laguna: Winter Fantasy opens with aura of magic

The Sawdust Festival’s Winter Fantasy gives us all something to be thankful for: We don’t have to fight the post-Thanksgiving crowds at the mall to shop for those special gifts.

Opening Day ceremonies Saturday included the traditional tree lighting by Mayor Kelly Boyd — one of his last official and most heartwarming acts before handing over the gavel to his successor to be named at the December council meeting.

“It was magical,” said Sawdust General Manager Tom Klingenmeier. “Listening to the people and hearing the oohs and aahs from the children when the lights went on and the three machines were pumping out snow was perfect.”

Community Night also included a visit by Santa Claus and entertainment by the Laguna Community Concert Band, Sasha Evans, Rene’e Marionettes, Laguna Presbyterian Church Hand-Bell Chorus, Top of the World Elementary School Honors Chorus and Balloon Diva.

Festival visitors were greeted by U.S. Marines.

The Marine Corps Reserve sponsored a three-day Toys for Tots Drive, starting Saturday, collecting donations for newborns to 17-year-olds.

The big moment for the community organizations that donated the Christmas trees that decorate the festival grounds was the announcement of the winners: first place Daisy Troop 1892; second place Laguna Presbyterian Preschool; third place Girl Scout Troop 444.

Coastline Pilot City Editor Cindy Frazier and I, along with others, had the pleasure of judging the trees — and no, we are not going to tell you who we voted for.

Booth winners will be announced Saturday, when the results of public and exhibitor balloting will be tallied.

The 2009 festival theme is “A World of Art and Imagination.” It unites the 173 exhibitors in the show, while celebrating the diversity of their arts and crafts.

A Pet Project Foundation and local animal shelters will sponsor puppy adoptions Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 and a non-perishable food drive for the Laguna Relief and Resource Center will be conducted Dec. 6 and 13.

The Winter Fantasy will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays until Dec. 13.

Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children six to 12, free for children younger than 5. A season pass is $9.

For more information, visit website www.sawdustfestival.org or call (949) 494-3030.

Thanks be

Chhahari means shelter in Hindi. To Lagunan Christine “Chris” Casey, it means commitment, for which some lucky children in Nepal can give thanks.

Casey founded Chhahari in August 2007. It is nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to provide food, shelter, education and health care for orphans and under-privileged Nepali children.

“The word orphan has a looser meaning in Nepal — children at risk,” said Casey, who first went to Nepal six years ago.

Chhahari cares for children whose parents have died or disappeared, but also children whose parents are too poor to feed or educate them. The group rescues these children from poverty, malnutrition, drug addiction, the sex trade and murder for their organs, Casey said. It is not affiliated with the government of Nepal, whose state-run care for orphans Casey finds appalling.

“It’s like warehousing children,” Casey said. “To walk into one of them is horrifying. Chhahari provides a loving, nourishing existence for these children,”

Right now, Chhahari supports 21 children in its hostel, a family of four — a mother and father who cook and clean and are on site 24/7, and their two children — and another woman who manages the office and tutors.

“In a country where there is no social security and the political situation is highly controversial, Chhahari provides an opportunity for orphans to be educated and to be loved and cared for in a small family-like environment,” Casey said.

“Chhahari promotes programs to make children independent by developing social, mental and intellectual capabilities through education and vocational training. We will continue to help create job opportunities or further education as the children mature.”

Casey is president of the Chhahari board. Alice Bowers serves as vice president and Peggy Long is the treasurer. Both are Laguna residents. Tom Davis, a Laguna Beach attorney, is secretary.

“We are all volunteers so 100% of all donations are applied to the Chhahari budget,” Casey said.

Casey’s fellow parishioners of St. Catherine of Siena Church have made donations and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church has helped by accepting donations for the group until, or if, the state grants it tax-exempt, nonprofit status.

“Tom is working on it pro bono, but there is a hold-up because Nepal is classified as a terrorist nation,” Casey said.

In the meantime, checks may be made out to St. Mary’s, with a notation that the donation is for Chhahari, and dropped off or mailed to the church at 428 Park Ave.

For more information, visit www.chhahari.org.

Thanks from the heart

Laguna Beach resident Leah Cano talked turkey in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People.”

Cano was one of 101 writers whose stories about overcoming the economic crisis and other challenges are included in the 2009 publication that aspires to provide, “Inspiration, hope and support for overcoming adversity, pulling together, making do with less, facing challenges and finding new joys in a simpler life.”

The premise is that tough times won’t last, but tough people will.

Cano went through some really tough times when her father abandoned her and her mother.

“Where do you go to fix a broken heart that has been so ruthlessly destroyed? “ she wrote in her three-page contribution to the book.

According to all the songs she heard, it was just a matter of time.

She said that time indeed will help, but so does the way one passes time.

“Mestro” celebrates the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, a family member born with deformities that he did not allow spoil his life.

His strength of character assured Cano that she and her mother, in time, would recover from their loss.

“Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Time, Tough People” was released in June, distributed through Simon & Shuster Inc.

OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; call (949) 380-4321 or e-mail coastlinepilot@latimes.com