HOMETOWN HOLIDAY LIKE TREE, HISTORIC BABY ALL GROWN UP.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer VALENCIA - The first time Laura Battle came to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, her mother did all the work. On Tuesday, it was the daughter's turn. Battle - the former Laura Elizabeth Basler - was the first baby born at the 30-year-old Valencia hospital. Her still-proud mother, Susan Basler, watched Tuesday while Battle rode a cherry picker cherry picker n. 1. A maneuverable vertical boom with an open bucket or cage at the end from which a worker can perform aerial work such as pruning trees or repairing electrical lines. 2. A vehicle equipped with such a boom. to the top of the hospital's 45-foot-tall community Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. and topped it with a three- sided star. ``Oh, there she goes!'' Basler said as Battle rode to the top of the tree. It was a homecoming of sorts for Battle. Born and raised in Valencia, she now lives in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. with her husband and their 15-month-old son. A highlight of the brief ceremony was a poster-size photograph of Battle at a party the hospital held to celebrate her first birthday. Nurses who gathered on the lawn along McBean Parkway to watch the living spruce tree get its final touches for the season marveled at the white caps the members of a secret organization in various of the United States, who attempt to drive away or reform obnoxious persons by lynch-law methods. They appear masked in white. Their actions resembled those of the Ku Klux Klan in some ways but they were not formally affiliated with the sported by nurses in the 1976 picture. And they compared the tiny face of the birthday girl to the woman she became. ``She looks like she's right off a baby-food jar,'' nurse Donna Ferguson said of the little blond toddler in the black-and-white photo. Basler said she was thrilled to give birth in the brand new hospital Aug. 8, 1975. Days before, she had experienced false labor false labor Obstetrics Parturition that results from disordered uterine action where regular painful contractions are not accompanied by effacement or dilation of the cervix that may either cease or be followed by onset of true labor. Cf Labor. and felt disappointed when she had to go to an old single-story hospital on Lyons Avenue and Wiley Canyon Road because Newhall Memorial wasn't open. But when the baby was really ready to arrive, the new hospital was ready, too. ``It was so new, they wheeled me the wrong way because they didn't know where the delivery room was,'' Basler said about confused orderlies learning their way around the new hospital. ``If it had been my first baby, I would have been pretty upset.'' Battle was her fourth child. Thirty-plus years later, Battle confidently topped the tree with a three-sided star that will light up Sunday when the hospital holds its 20th annual community tree lighting ceremony from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will be free children's holiday crafts, face painting, train rides and pictures with Santa Claus Santa Claus: see Nicholas, Saint. Santa Claus jolly, gift-giving figure who visits children on Christmas Eve. [Christian Tradition: NCE, 1937] See : Christmas Santa Claus . Youngsters can pen their wishes to Santa and mail them. The tree is decked with colorful ornaments, snowflakes snowflakes small patches of gray or white hair acquired after birth. Skin color is unchanged. See also achromotrichia, vitiligo. and icicles, many representing donations to the hospital's Gift of Life program. Battle, a Hart High School Hart High School may refer to:
The predecessor to UCSB, Santa Barbara State College, focused on teacher training, industrial arts, home economics, and foreign languages. Intense lobbying by an interest group in the City of Santa Barbara led by Thomas Storke and Pearl Chase persuaded the State , said she was touched by the honor of topping the tree. ``It's great to be able to be here with my husband and my family, and to have my own son here,'' she said. Patricia Farrell Aidem, (661) 257-5251 pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Valencia native Laura Basler, now Laura Battle, puts a star atop a 45-foot Christmas tree in her birthplace community. (2 -- color) A cherry picker carries up some volunteers, below, while others - including Joshua Melancon, 8, below - work from the ground putting finishing touches on the community Christmas tree to be lighted Sunday in Valencia. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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