POLLS ARE CLOSED FOR THE WAKCHERS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Odds and ends from around the Valley:

For the past 15 years, the 700 registered voters in precinct 900-7674A in Tarzana knew exactly where they had to go to vote - Ann and Harold Wakcher's living room over on Trancas Place.

Not this year. The Wakchers will be out of town on Nov. 5.

``We feel kind of guilty resigning like this, but we're empty nesters now, and we had to chose between another Election Day or visiting our youngest son in college on family weekend,'' Ann said. ``We chose our son.

``I just hope they've found somebody else to take our place, because it doesn't seem that people want to open their homes or garages as polling places that much anymore.''

The Wakchers took over as the neighborhood polling place in 1987 from an elderly couple that had been doing it since the housing development opened in the mid-1960s.

I called Connie McCormack, county registrar-recorder, to see if they'd found a replacement for the Wakchers yet, and she thought they had.

``Every one of the 4,922 voting precincts in the county has a polling place right now, but that doesn't mean we won't lose some between the sample ballot mailing and Election Day,'' she said.

``We always do. Houses are always iffy. I've had to use my house twice as a last-minute polling place because we lost the one in our neighborhood.''

McCormack didn't know of any trend of long-time polling place people, like the Wakchers, bowing out, but she is worried about the schools bailing out on her this election.

``The schools are our biggest concern because they're in the lock-down mode and don't want strangers coming on campus,'' she said.

Ann Wakcher says she's not going to miss the 14-hour shifts that work out to less than minimum wage. Precinct clerks are paid $55 for the day, and an inspector $75, with an extra $25 going to the homeowner.

``I'll miss the camaraderie of neighbors, like the Mitchells and Wachtels, helping as precinct workers,'' she said. ``And we'll miss catching up with neighborhood events and seeing children grow up and become voters themselves.''

``But we won't miss the 14-hour shifts,'' she said with a laugh.

Hey, Ann, you and Harold shouldn't feel guilty about resigning. For 15 years, you've allowed your home to be the neighborhood model for what the Founding Fathers of this country had in mind back in 1776.

The only people who should feel guilty are the bums who don't even bother to vote.

Today is Sammy Weiner's lucky day. It was 58 years ago, on Sept. 27, 1944, that Sammy's B-24 took off with 29 other B-24s from an airfield in England to bomb military targets in Kassel, Germany.

After dropping their bombs, the planes were heading home when 130 German fighters broke through heavy clouds.

``They knocked out 25 of our 30 B-24s, the worst loss for any group in the history of the 8th Air Force,'' said Sammy, who was a radio operator.

``We got hit, and I was right behind the engineer getting ready to parachute out when the plane broke in half, and I fell out of the opening,'' the North Hollywood retired vet said.

Sammy spent eight months in a prisoner of war camp before coming home to the second luckiest day of his life, he says.

July 5, 1945 - the day he met his wife, Teri.

And finally, the Valley Artists Studio Tour 2000 next month has added a hot, new local artist to the tour.

Tonie Michaels, the homeless artist I wrote about in July who was living in a cardboard shanty with his dog, Skipper, in an alley by Van Nuys Airport.

Michaels, who still has not found a permanent home, will be showing his work at Blue Skies Aviation, 7535 Valjean Ave, at Van Nuys Airport.

Owner Dave Kirdendall has given the 87-year-old artist, who fell on hard times, a room to store and show his work, which is listed as abstract contemporary oil on canvas.

``Most of the 30 artists on the tour are having their showing in their homes or studios, so Tonie's pretty unique,'' said local artist Trice Tolle, who has been helping Tonie out.

``Right now, he's living behind a chain link fence between two buildings near the airport,'' she said. ``He says everybody tells him he should be living somewhere else, but there are some people who know him who think maybe this is the way he wants to live with his dog.''

The Valley Artists Studio Tour 2002, sponsored by the Valley Cultural Center and the San Fernando Valley Arts Council, will be held Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Advance tickets and additional information are available by calling the Valley Cultural Center at [phone] or by visiting their Web site at www.valleycultural.org.