INMATES HELP SANTA STOCK THE TOY BAG.Byline: Amy Raisin raisin, in botany and cooking raisin, dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun-dried. Darvish Staff Writer CASTAIC - In a workshop crowded with saws, sanders and boxes of finished toy trucks and helicopters, the only thing missing are snowdrifts on the windowsills and Santa himself. But on this sunny, 70-degree day, it's clear that this darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. carpentry building at Pitchess Detention Center A detention center or a detention centre is any location used for detention. Specifically, it can mean:
A slang term for guests appearing on the PBS television show "Wall Street Week." Notes: These technical analysts attempt to predict the direction of the market in the coming months. . Rather, they are county inmates, clad in jail-issue yellow clothing, who spend their weekdays crafting wooden toys during the holiday season for inmates' sons and daughters and for less fortunate children across Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. ``I'm a contractor on the outside,'' said Ron LaPoint, 41, of Sylmar, who has served more than half of his seven-month sentence for felony evasion of a police officer. ``I heard there was a wood shop, and I talked to a deputy about working on this crew.'' Well-behaved inmates serving time for nonviolent crimes can participate in various programs at the sprawling Castaic jail facility, including landscaping, dog grooming and brush control during fire season. The toy-making program is just one element of the work conducted in the carpentry building. Under the watchful eye of Officer Bryan Trout, a 39-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. , the inmates repair furniture and design and build custom cabinets, desks and other orders placed from sheriff's stations across the county. ``We pretty well do what what nobody else can do or gets the chance to do,'' Trout said Friday as five inmates were busy sanding by hand the latest batch of toy trucks. ``We do all the sign work on the (Pitchess) ranch. We make cabinets. There's always something to do.'' During the holiday season, however, it's all about the toy trucks and helicopters, with wheels that roll and paint jobs that bring the salvaged wood to a glossy shine. An estimated 600 toys have been made in the past six months, Trout said. The bulk of the wood used for this year's toys came from the dismantled Guantanamo Bay Noun 1. Guantanamo Bay - an inlet of the Caribbean Sea; a United States naval station was established on the bay in 1903 bay, embayment - an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf set used during the filming of the TV show ``JAG judge advocate general (J.A.G.) n. a military officer who advises the government on courts-martial and administers the conduct of courts-martial. The officers who are judge advocates and counsel assigned to the accused come from the office of the judge advocate .'' With the squeeze on county budget dollars, Trout has reached into his own pocket to pay for the paints used to give the wooden gifts color. The inmates never get to see the faces of the sick or needy children who receive the toys for Christmas, but the men said the children's joy is never far from their thoughts. ``That's what makes it worth it,'' said LaPoint, who has two daughters, 13 and 11. ``Knowing it's going to a kid who maybe wouldn't get anything, you know you're doing something positive.'' The wood-shop crew arrives for work at 7:30 a.m. every weekday to cut, carve and sand. With the twang of country music on the stereo, the inmates work until 2 p.m. While they were quiet Friday in the presence of a visitor, Trout waved away any assumption that the men are always this way. ``Oh, they talk all day long. Don't let this fool you,'' Trout said, eliciting some chuckles
Amy Raisin Darvish, (661) 257-5254 amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) A crew of inmates, above, built toys for kids this Christmas, including hundreds of toy trucks and helicopters, below. (3 -- 4 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) The hands of an inmate, left, at Pitchess Detention Center use a drill press to fashion part of a toy helicopter. Above, final touches are put on wooden toys made by the inmates, toys that will go to less fortunate kids. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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