Smith: After crash, CHP saves Santa Rosa boy's singing part

Dec. 22--Nobody was hurt in a crash on Highway 101 at Santa Rosa'sCollege Avenue on Tuesday evening, but it was clear to CHP Officer Kim Lemons that a young boy in one of the two damaged cars was quite upset.

His parents revealed why: At the time of the collision, they were bound for a Christmas stage show at his elementary school. The child was to sing with his class choir, and now it appeared he'd would miss the entire program.

Maybe not. Lemons acted, arranging for a second CHP officer to drive the lad and an older sibling to the school.

The black-and-white pulled up just in time for the boy to take his place with classmates, and sing.

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THIS MILITARY VET had been sleeping in vegetation near the Veterans Administration medical clinic just north of Santa Rosa.

VA staffers eager to get him out of the biting cold told him days ago they'd found him a temporary place to live in San Francisco. He was grateful, except for one thing.

He shared that he'd be very sorry to miss a pre-holiday tradition in Santa Rosa: the Indian buffet served up for vets by members of the local Sikh temple. For eight straight Decembers, the feast has accompanied a gathering of Vet Connect at the Veterans Memorial Building.

The vet did accept a ride to the shelter in San Francisco. And on Tuesday he caught a shuttle back up for the Sikhs' annual gift to veterans of respect, live music and, oh, my, kidney-bean rajmah, potato curry, carrot gajrela, rice, yogurt dressing and naan flatbread.

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ACT FAST and, if you'd like, you can help founders of the new Feminism and Gender Equality Club at Santa Rosa High provide badly needed sanitary pads, tampons, diapers, wipes, clothing, socks and underwear to women who struggle and who rely on The Living Room day-use center.

Items can be dropped off at the school office today from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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ALL THESE PEOPLE were queued at the Montgomery Village Post Office, waiting to dispatch packages or purchase Christmas stamps. And no one in the line spoke; most tapped onto or read from their im-personal electronic devices.

Sensing an opportunity for a holiday moment, Laurie Reaume began to sing: "Deck the Halls." Others joined in.

"For the first time since we'd arrived," relates Reamue (REE-um), "people made eye contact and smiled. Then someone else started in with 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' and all two dozen of us sang together."

How brave is she who nudges us to our humanity.

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ONE LETTER SHORT: No one wants to read his mother's death notice in the newspaper. For Sean Kehoe, the experience days ago was uncommonly jarring.

There was a typographical error in the PD's "Life Tribute" for Linda Jean Kehoe, a beam of light who'd served as a nurse and taught healthcare-related classes at SRJC. Right in the first sentence, we dropped the "p" in "passed away."

Sean was frantic to reach someone here at the paper and be assured that the error would be corrected the following day, which it was.

"Luckily," he confides, "my mom would've thought it was hilarious."

Chris Smith is at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.

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