White Christmases m Port Townsend are few and far between (we can see the mountain snow), but your Port Townsend Observation Deck News Around Town comes around every week.

T-SHIRT SAYING OF THE WEEK: "It wouldn't be a family gathering during a holiday without a little crying."

NOT-SO-HAPPY HOLIDAYS: The holiday season can be stuffed full of cheer although it may have equal feelings of loneliness and pain. "It may be January before it filters down to me, but I know it will," says a counselor. "For a lot of people, this is not a happy time. They just put on a brave face. It's a great family member or friend who can see through it, and try to help."

SANTA NEWS: Grandma was working upstairs and grandson, age 5, comes up the stairs in a hustle. "Grandma! I've got to call my mom. It's important. I've got to call my mom right now." Grandma says, "OK, why?" And he responds, 'Tve got to find out if we have a chimney." So he calls his mom on the cell, goes out of the room for his conversation, and returns to hand over the phone. "Mommy says it's OK; Santa has magic and he can get inside our house without a chimney."

CHRISTMAS TREE NEWS: "I bought one of the last trees from the Boy Scouts and it must be 8 feet tall," says a single man who tends to do things at the last minute. "It touches the ceiling. It's the biggest, bushiest and ugliest tree I've ever had; until I decorated; now it looks pretty nice. I did have to move my whole apartment around to do it. But what are you gonna do? It's Christmas."

VOLUNTEER NEWS: It's great news that at least 100 people volunteered to help serve Christmas Day meals in Port Townsend and Chimacum, after some organizers said there was a volunteer shortage. Well, there is a shortage of volunteers if not for special events, then for routine events. 'The volunteer base is getting older and it's harder to get people to turn out," says a 50-something leader in one organization, which ranks him the youngest by about 15 years. "We can only do what we can do, and we'll see if everything holds together."

SCANNER CALL OF THE WEEK: JeffCom Dispatch reports to Port Townsend Police Department after a call from a reporting party (RP). After giving a street corner location, the dispatcher says, 'Two male subjects were looking suspicious." Response from officer: "What do you mean by looking suspicious?' Dispatch: "In RP's yard pretending to pick things up."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I moved here because I wanted out of California, and I'm not alone," says a not-so-recent transplant to Jefferson County. "The trick is not to screw this place up like happened to California. Good luck to us with that."

(Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader Editor Patrick J. Sullivan moved here with a plan to stay five years; that was 26 years ago.)