Holiday drama wraps up well.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

For 66-year-old Rose Marie Sakai, 2005 will go down as the Christmas that almost wasn't.

The Eugene mother of four and grandmother of nine accidentally threw out $170 worth of gifts. But thanks to the holiday generosity of a group of county employees at the Glenwood dump, her Christmas was not completely trashed.

The workers pooled their money and donated $236 to Sakai. They presented her with the money and a Christmas card with an angel on the front.

"I never will forget this. It's a miracle," a sobbing Sakai said Friday. "Never lose your faith, because good things can happen. They were so nice, those people."

The holiday drama started Thursday when Sakai rushed to get her trash cans to the curb and mistakenly included a bag of gifts. Realizing what she had done, she called Sanipac in a panic.

The trash hauling company put her in touch with Lane County Waste Management superintendent Jeff Bishop, who helped trace the trash load to the Glenwood Central Receiving Station.

Then a crew at the Glenwood station did something they almost never do - they jumped into the trash pit and went searching for the missing gifts.

"Typically, it's absolutely hopeless," Bishop said. "So much garbage goes through that place in a day - about 400 tons - so to find any item other than a car is pretty hopeless."

Bishop says the amount of trash at the facility was less than normal because of the holidays, and crews knew the exact location where the trash load containing the gifts had been dumped.

"Plus, it's Christmastime," he said. "She was so sweet and so upset, so we figured we'd give it a try."

After the crew came up empty-handed, a pair of employees devised the idea to raise the money for Sakai.

They passed the hat and equipment operators, fee collectors, recyclers and other workers all chipped in.

"Only in Glenwood," Bishop said. "We have some fine people out here."

Sakai's daughter Desiree thanked the workers for their generosity.

Desiree said December had been a trying time for the family.

Sakai's toy poodle, Blackie, died a week earlier and the family did not have the money to cremate the dog.

A local company performed the service for free.

"We really appreciate everything everyone's done for us," she said. "It's turning out to be a pretty good Christmas."

CAPTION(S):

Rose Marie Sakai hugs her dog, Miki, as she reacts to the kindness of strangers. County workers waded through trash at the Glenwood Central Receiving Station looking for Sakai's wrongly discarded Christmas gifts, then took up a collection for her.