European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 14, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                �?o7 Friday december 14, 1990 the stars and strikes Page 9 san Francisco apr even the ghost of Jack Benny could t save ebcne2er Scrooge on wednesday when a judge refused to Clear the name of the miserly main character of a a Christmas Carol a the. Tongue in Cheek ruling by municipal judge George Choppelas came at the court of historical review and appeals a mock court that met to decide if the name of the character created by Charles Dickens should continue to be  greed and avarice. In the past the court has ruled on such weighty questions As the existence of Santa Claus or if Chicken soup deserved to be considered jewish penicillin. Yes on both the court found. The puns during the court s 65ih session moved fast with Little Dickens and a you be been Scrooge do a a Scrooge is a Scrooge bringing moans from 1 10 or so spectators. Scrooge dressed in Black and wearing a top hat pleaded his Case saying he had been a sorely Hurt by an Early Early  Quot. A a Scrooge portrayed by retired drama teacher e. Wyman Spalding claimed his Mentor Jacob Marley should be blamed Quot it was Marley Marley Quot he told the judge. Quot mar Ley was the real  a the miser was defended by Frank Winston who said the world actually owed a debt to  insisting that comedian Jack Benny s Tightwad image was inspired by. The Scrooge character.1 even the names were familiar the lawyer said. Benny and Ebenezer. Get it a web was always a grand Guy a Winston said. The references to Benny led Choppelas to Irv an impression of the late comedian. A i m thinking. Pm  he said at one Point a slight briny tone in his voice. Prosecutor Angela Arioto said Scrooge a deserved his had name despite his change of heart at the end of the novel a a t Hose nightmares would scare the hell out of  she said. Quot you can to change with a four hour period of being  Scrooge also Drew the tire of Noah Guilin a san a Francisco examiner columnist who Wiota a poem for the event. One stanza read a a fur tears from Scrooge were Nocun am/\/7c a list sitting but the Crocodile. His so cult cd  to tilt trons of Mii Tion  nothing but i Diu . A a Altamont Iii apr decorate your House with More than a strand of Holiday lights in this City and your electric bal will read $0.00. For the fourth consecutive december Altamont is paying 90 percent of its residents electric Bills. And the City will throw in the remaining 10 percent for anyone who enters its annual Holiday lighting contest. A anybody who hears about it is amazed a said Helen Moll City clerk for the farming Community of 2,400. Quot they Don t know How we can Rit Anage  the free electricity became available in 1987, Alta Mont a member of a Power distribution cooperative with several other cities had wanted to drop out he cause it had found a cheaper supplier. To keep the cooperative together the other cities agreed to pay Altamont the $7,000 a year the City would have saved. I he Money is used to cover Quot the Cost of resident so de camber lighting  was an easy Way to give a Little Back  Community when the Christmas Hills came due and to help decorate the City at the same  said Donald Wen do Iii the City s elect i ical services commissioner. Moll said the Decora ions have made an impression on out of Tow tiers. 23 million Well wishers Craig shr Gold ii of Surrey England shows some of the 23 million get Well cards he has received front around the world. Tuesday he opened his display at the guinness world records exhibition in London the boy was diagnosed As having a brain tumor in january j989, and began receiving Large numbers of cards while hospitalized. He set a record after an Appeal for cards was printed worldwide including to readers of the stars and stripes by so n a. Whig i it a a Cox news service Priddy Texas this out of the Way Little town is the place where an untold number of couples get their Start. Where the makings of Romance Are Ripe Lor the picking. Where kisses Are conceived a a a this ranching Community about 100 Miles Northwest of Austin is Home to unsuspecting matchmakers and one of the Nalion a biggest stashes of Quot Nils Letoe. In what has become an annual rite Many people who live in in Riddy and the surrounding area trudge out to the Countryside each fall to clip the Mistletoe that grow Kyj wild and abundant on Jnes Nito Trees. A a. Then they Load it into baskets the Hacks of trucks and horse trailers and bring it to a red Brick building on the main Street where they sell it to Robert 1 Leni Ami and it is Holiday Mistletoe co. The. Company run by  and his w Ife Carolyn i Mic of a handful left that Deal in the yuletide greenery and the tie Manns estimate they provide about 91 percent of the fresh Mistletoe sold in the country Thuc Texas agriculture department does not track Mistletoe sales and the i Jem Anns keep exact production figures a tightly guarded secret. But on a Busy Day last week they processed about 5,00ti Pouls of the Evergreen. A a at any Given time Vve probably have a Hundred people out there gathering Quot says the 47-Ycar-Dld rancher. A and we have people Here who drop whatever they re doing every year at this time to go out and get some Mistletoe Tor us Quot he says. A tic Mann a father who raises goats sheep and cattle on a ranch near Here founded the company in the 1950s when a severe drought struck the Region bringing financial hardships to the ranching Indus of. A Quot we were looking for another Way to make Money and we did t want to have to move in the City for work Quot recalls Ray mind Tiemann 68. Quot Mistletoe was something that was out there for the taking. It s been Good to  a not everyone Here is enamoured w ill it. Said one woman who works Lor the i Jenninns a Why would  about Mistletoe i really done to see what a so Spe Meiai about it. Its like a Vve Eil. I mean its All Oyer the place a Afier nearly 40 years in tire business the tin inns say they have Only had one complaint -. Quot. A one time two girls wrote us a note and asked us for their Money Back a says Raymond a they claimed the. Mistletoe did t work they said that they Luing it up and Slid didst gel any kisses.�?T"�?T. Each of 12 kids a Castie Berlin up a a German property tycoon has announced he is giving each of his 12 children a historic Castle for Christmas a daily newspaper reported. International property dealer Herbert Hillebrandt who has turned his passion for buying up the historic Homes of former German nobility into a Hobby said a i uni giving each of my 12 children a Castle for Christmas a the Rinass Ciruela Tion did  reported. A a ugh Brand whose Cologne based property company marked up a $5.8 Mil lion turnover last year owns a Colic of 21 historic castles scattered in Roux Germany. �?o1 consider historic monuments castles a worthwhile investment Quot Sai multimillionaire. A a the properties being handed o h i 11 e h ran d t s e in h t he. J id r e n a it i m Nui Mages and Lour he adopted Iron Lobian orphanages include a i Lih Tury moated Castle bought Tor his 1-old daughter Maria Theresa