Fun_People Archive
26 Jul
WhiteBoardness - 7/22/96

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 22:15:06 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: WhiteBoardness - 7/22/96

Excerpted-from: WhiteBoard News for Monday, July 22, 1996

North Royalton, Ohio:

A new girl washing dishes at the restaurant looked familiar to assistant
chef Gina Crimi.  She looked again: It was the daughter she gave up for
adoption 15 years ago.

Crimi said Traci Trobl resembled her brother.

After some checking, Crimi verified the relationship and told the girl's
adoptive mother, Marge Trobl.  Then Traci was told.

"I was shocked a little.  Really surprised," Traci said.

Mrs. Trobl said she and her husband were pleased for Traci.  "It was like
a piece of her life was filled in."  Crimi, who lives three miles away from
the Trobls, said she gave up her baby when she was a high school student.

"Putting a child up for adoption is one of the hardest decisions you can
make.  You always are thinking about the child," Crimi said.

"I always hoped and expected the girl would knock on my door someday.  I
was hoping when she was of age, she would be the one to pursue it...I didn't
want to interfere with her life," Crimi said.

The families have meshed well.  Traci met a 10-year-old half-brother,
Stephen, who was invited to an amusement park with the Trobls.  Traci has
visited her maternal grandparents.

After watching Traci with the Trobls, Crimi said she was certain she did
the right thing.

"They are wonderful," she said.
==========

Waitsburg, Washington:

Police, volunteer firefighters and ambulance drivers in this small southeast
Washington town were holding an emergency drill when they got some
unexpected help.

Part of the July 10 drill included a hostage situation in which volunteers
acted out a boyfriend holding a knife to his girlfriend's throat, said
Marshal Michelle Long.  A deputy marshal had drawn his gun and was in a
standoff with the "boyfriend" when retired businessman Bill Thompson rode
up on his bike.

Sizing up the situation, Thompson looked around for a weapon and picked up
a hammer from a nearby construction site.

"He was sneaking up behind the suspect and was going to conk him on the
head," Long said.  He got within 15 feet before he realized it was only a
drill.

"We were yelling at him to stop.  It took us a few times to get through to
him this was not real."  Long says Thompson said "Oh," put the hammer back,
got on his bike and rode off.

Long, who knows Thompson and most of the other people in the Walla Walla
County town of 1,100 says, "He'll never live this one down."
==========

"McDonald's announced they're coming out with three new adult burgers in an
effort to appeal to older customers.  Not only that but in their new ads,
Ronald McDonald will be getting his prostate checked."

Conan O'Brien, on "Late Night"
==========

Palm Springs, California:

First baseball in the buff didn't pan out, now a planned salute to drag
queens has some seeing red.

The Palm Springs Suns have announced they will hold "Drag Queen of the
Desert Night" during its August 9 game against the Salinas Peppers.
Included will be a drag queen parade and the crowning of a "Priscilla, Queen
of the Desert Suns."

The event, borrowing its them from the movie "Priscilla, Queen of the
Desert," was conjured up to attract fans.

The team's average attendance -- 755 fans per home game -- is the lowest in
the eight-team independent Western Baseball League.

The Suns had hoped a "Clothing Optional Night" on July 8 would boost
attendance.  Nude fans were to have enjoyed the game against the Grays
Harbor Gulls from within the privacy of a large tent.

But after late-night television comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman,
among others, made jokes about the promotion, the team was forced to cancel
the event for security reasons.

© 1996 Peter Langston