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DECEMBER 2025
This rebellious arts festival embracing its inner Santa Claus
rooms nest around one bend, a waterfall and a concert stage around another.
The Sawdust Art Festival started in the mid-1960s as a reaction to – or a “rebellion,” as one of the participating artists put it –Laguna Beach’s more uppity Festival of the Arts, home to the long-running living-pictures show known as the Pageant of the Masters. Today, it’s a professionally-run affair, a place to hang and drink and dine as much as it is to explore handmade art.
And in the winter, its hippie edge is arguably softened a little more. For that’s when Santa Claus moves in for five weekends throughout November and December.
But no matter, if Sawdust is no longer a feisty little upstart it once was, it’s still a home for anything-goes, left of center art. More enticing: To step into Sawdust is to wander into a theme park-like world of winding paths covered in wood chips, one where artists booths are fashioned as mini cottages and every turn is full of surprises – psychedelic ceramic mush-
Sawdust is an artist-filled wonderland, and never is that more apparent than during its Winter Fantasy event, which will wrap Dec. 21. Christmas lights glisten, a communal tree beckons to be decorated and a marionette handler wanders the grounds. Artist booths place an emphasis on smaller, gift-ready items – think ornaments, colorful candy dishes, mini plates designed to nest a wine bottle – but Sawdust’s Winter Fantasy stops just short of going full holiday party, as this is still an art-driven event where one can join a pop-up ceramic class or crowd around a table and connect with strangers for a painting session.
“Sawdust is an experience,” says the festival’s President Jay Grant, noting that even today it conjures a different vibe than the concrete grounds of the nearby Festival of the Arts. “You walk through the front gate and you’ve got sawdust-strewn
ALLEN J. SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS FILE
Children enjoy the occasional fake snow fall next to the Santa meet and greet, at the Sawdust Winter Fantasy Festival in Laguna Beach, Nov. 23.
Talked to Santa in the Nick of time COLUMN
Italked to Santa by phone today. Truly. He was in St. Louis getting ready to head out for an afternoon shift at the mall and after that a couple of runs on the Polar Express.
Mrs. Claus was helping with the custom-fit red and white suit (which his daughter makes for him), the belt, the hat, the boots, the gloves and the signature beard.
Borgman
He says there are three types of Santas: The type that looks like Heidi’s grandpa with a bushy beard and wild hair, the Coca-Cola Santa and the Miracle on 34th Street Santa. He’s the Miracle on 34th Street type, give or take a few pounds.
making, ho, ho, ho-ing, and smiling for pictures, but he’s also watching intently and listening closely.
He can read between the lines when a child’s Christmas request indicates that the child’s mother is either sick or no longer in need of earthly things. He knows his offer to “do his best” will fall woefully short.
picking up food particles, as a sibling at home had life-threatening allergies.
Santa sent word to the mother that, if she liked, he would come to their home to visit the little girl in a brand new Santa suit, brand new boots and brand new gloves, all of which had never been worn before.
He did. It was a family from Georgia whose little girl couldn’t support herself sitting on Santa’s lap. So, Santa got up and put the little girl in his chair.
I asked Santa if he is a man of faith.
“Definitely,” he said. Santa has a heart so warm it could melt snow.
Santa shaves once the holiday season is over and starts growing his beard again in July. He likes his beard a little whiter than its natural color, so he gives it a quick blast of “Icy White” Punky Temporary Hair Color Spray.
“It doesn’t stink,” Santa says. “That’s the main thing. Santa shouldn’t stink.”
Agreed.
I asked when he knew he was going to be Santa. Quick as a flash, he said, “When I was 16 and drove my dad around as Santa with my three brothers and sisters in the backseat of our 1967 maroon Pontiac Catalina. I was glad I could drive the car and not be dressed up like an elf in leotards.”
In the years between chauffeuring Santa and becoming Santa, he worked in newspapers before the baton, or reins rather, passed to him.
Santa does a lot of merry
He knows when an adult leans in and whispers a request for “Peace on Earth” that it will most likely require a restraining order.
He understands that the unselfish request for “good health to all” likely includes the one doing the asking.
Santa has a soft spot for special needs kids. He once saw a girl and her mother seated far away from the group at a pancake breakfast with Santa. He learned the family had to exercise extreme caution about
The next night Santa paid a visit. It was the first time the 9-year-old had ever told Santa what she wanted. After he left, the little girl cried tears of joy.
Then there was the unforgettable boy with Down syndrome. He was ecstatic, jabbering and pointing at the lights. Nobody else was in line that night, so the boy hung out with Santa for 20 minutes.
Two nights ago, a woman came up to Santa and whipped out a cell phone to show him a picture. “Remember this?” she asked.
I asked Santa what was on his wish list this year. There was a long pause. I was about to ask if he was still there when he softly said, “It’s been a hard year. I’m wishing for happiness for my family, peace and contentment.”
Those gifts are on a lot of wish lists this year.
“One last question, Santa. Eggnog or hot chocolate?”
“Both.”
Lori Borgman is a columnist, author and speaker. Email her at lori@loriborgman.com.
Lori
Miniature chicken pot pies warm the soul
Now that your lawn is strewn with fallen leaves and you’re reaching for a sweater instead of sunscreen, it’s probably time to revamp the weekly menu to include the hearty, warming foods associated with fall. And what’s easier to cozy up to on a chilly autumn evening than a homemade chicken pot pie?
The classic marriage of golden, flaky pie crust with rich and creamy chicken is like a warm hug from your grandmother. Not only is it instantly comforting, but for many of us, it’s a familiar flavor from childhood that leads us on a walk down memory lane.
As one of seven kids with a working mother, I ate a ton of those small, frozen Morton and Banquet chicken pot pies as a kid. They were cheap, easy for my mom (or us kids) to heat up on a busy school night, and thanks to their inoffensive medley of diced carrots and peas tucked under the crust, a dish that pleased even the pickiest kid’s palate.
Now that I’m grown up, I make my pot pies from scratch, usually with chicken picked from the breast of a plump, grocery store rotisserie chicken. Depending on my mood, I sometimes throw a handful of diced potatoes into the filling along with frozen peas and carrot. I sometimes also add button mushrooms for a richer, earthy flavor or a cup of diced apple when I want to make the filling a little sweeter.
Without fail I use Martha Stewart’s recipe for pie crust because its flaky and buttery texture goes well with both sweet and savory fillings. Also, it’s easy to follow and requires only a handful of ingredients. This dough is so forgiving that it’s pretty hard for even novice cooks to mess it up.
While you can, and probably should, make chicken pot pie in a 9-inch crust for an easy, onedish family dinner, it’s just as easy to make mini pot pies using a muffin tin — simply cut the dough into rounds large enough to line each muffin tin cup and divide the filling among them.
The handy, single-serving packages can be enjoyed right away, warm from the pan, or frozen and reheated whenever the urge for comfort food hits — say, after sports practice or on movie night.
If you’re making the pot pies ahead of time for later use, place unbaked pies in muffin cups, wrap the muffin pan in foil, and freeze until solid (about 2 hours). After ummolding, wrap the unbaked pies in plastic wrap, place them in a large resealable freezer plastic bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
MINIATURE CHICKEN POT PIES
Makes 12 mini chicken pot pies.
For crust:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch pieces
¼ to ½ cup ice water
For filling:
4 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, peeled and diced
RECIPE
2 celery ribs, diced
1 medium onion, diced
½ chopped button mushrooms, optional
½ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 ½ cups chicken stock or broth
¾ cup milk or half-and-half
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups cooked and chopped chicken breast, from a rotisserie chicken
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for optional garnish
Prepare crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Sprinkle with ¼ cup ice water, then pulse until dough holds together when squeezed between your fingers, but still looks a little crumbly. If necessary, add more water, a tablespoon at a time. (I used the full ½ cup.) Be careful not to overmix; it will make the dough tough.
Divide dough in half, turn each piece out onto a piece of plastic wrap and gently shape into a disk. Wrap it tightly in the plastic, then
place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 20-30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare filling. In a large sauce pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery and onion and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes, then stir in chopped mushrooms. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
Add flour and stir well to cover the vegetables, and cook for 1-2 minutes to eliminate raw flour taste. Slowly pour in chicken broth and milk, a little at time, and stir occasionally until it forms a smooth sauce. Let sauce simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes, then add herbs. Mix to combine well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Stir in cubed chicken and Parmesan cheese, if using. Set aside while you roll out dough.
Roll out dough on floured surface and cut out 24 circles with a 4 ½ -to 5-inch biscuit cutter or glass. (I used a Tupperware lid for the bottom and a slightly smaller pint glass for the top layer.)
Lightly butter or spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place a rough round into each muffin cup, with side hanging over.
Divide chicken mixture between the cups, place another round on top and fold the overhang inward. Crimp the edge with a floured fork.
Cut a few vents in the top of the dough to allow steam to escape, sprinkle with a little grated Parmesan and place in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown and filling is bubbling out around the edges.
Allow pot pies to cool on the counter for about 10-15 minutes before serving, then gently run a plastic knife along the edges to lift each pie out without breaking the delicate crust.
— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette
Gretchen McKay
Gretchen’s table
GRETCHEN MCKAY/PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE/TNS
Mini chicken pot pies made in a muffin tin can be frozen and reheated when the urge for comfort food hits.
Arts
From Page 1
paths. You’ve got a rustic village. You’ve got waterfalls. You’ve got three stages, and you’ve got dem onstrations going on. There’s an excitement to watching artists create their art.”
And if one is too shy to bring out their inner artist, they can hang with a spiced wine in the dining alcove.
Sawdust’s winter edition launched in 1991, although the team had been talking about it since the ‘70s, says Grant, who has been involved with the festival for 52 years, first as a sales manager but occasionally as a participating artist selling ceramics and wind chimes. As for why a holiday event took about two decades to get off the ground, Grant cops to being a “canyon hippie” and says, “We took it one year at a time.” It’s shifted over the years – there were stilt walkers for a bit, and Sawdust’s historical site notes there was once a mascot in “Jelf,” part jester, part elf.
Jelf didn’t stick around long, and when asked why there’s no formal mascot today, Grant laughs. “We have enough characters just in the artists themselves here,” he says. “We don’t need to hire any characters. They’re some of the most eclectic, interesting ex-hippies.”
Muffin Spencer-Devlin may not be an ex-hippie, but she is a former pro golfer, once an outspoken celebrity persona on the tour.
Today, she’s a Laguna Beach resident and a full-time glass artist, her work experimenting with dashes of color trapped throughout her creations. I met Spencer-Devlin while eyeing her tiny glass angels with multicolored hearts.
Glasswork started as a passion project, but then became a second career for Spencer-Devlin. “I wish it was a hobby,” she says with a laugh. “I have to make a living somehow. I didn’t save all that money that I made, but I’ve been really good at spending it.”
She’s been attending Sawdust since the mid-2000s, and worked as an apprentice glass artist before eventually starting to sell her own work around 2009. The event has been a refuge, she says.
“I felt like I had found my peeps,” she says, “the people that I resonated with. Anytime I had a chance in those days, I was talking glass with somebody, and there were all kinds of people to do it with here, so it was an education for me.”
Folkloric and whimsical ceramic artist Lilia Venier has been exhibiting at Sawdust’s winter fest for 22 years. Sawdust’s main summer event allows only Laguna Beach residents to have a booth, but in the winter, the festival is open to those from other cities. Venier, based in La Crescenta, has found it welcoming, so much so that Sawdust Winter Fantasy is the most successful show the full-time artist presents at.
“The people who go there are very loyal,” says Venier, who also teaches at the Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre. “Every year, people come to see me and say, ‘What do you have this time?’ I have customers in Laguna that
have 40 to 50 pieces of mine. It’s very important that festival. It’s people who get what I do.”
Sawdust is on the verge of turning 60, which it will do when it returns to Laguna Beach next summer. It continues to evolve.
“Sawdust was a kind of rebellion from the Pageant, which was first. That’s very high-end and classy,” says Venier, when asked how the festival has changed in her two decades of coming.
“The Sawdust is more crafty. When I started, there were a lot of artists who were hippies. They were having fun, selling surfing clothing. You know, hippies on the beach. There’s not many anymore – a few.”
A concern among many artists was the cost of living in Laguna Beach, which has Grant wondering how to get younger artists involved when they can’t afford to live within city limits. As Sawdust heads into its sixth decade, Grant acknowledged they may need to relax some rules for the summer exhibition, such as allowing nonLaguna residents to present.
“There’s all kinds of ideas,” he says of trying to recruit younger artists.
But no major changes are yet on the docket for next season. Sawdust is still, after all these decades, taking it one year at a time.
Petey the dog peeks out as owner, Erick and Natasha Blaha, not pictured, of Huntington Beach, buy artwork from artist Tim Hahne.
Children explore the gingerbread house at the Sawdust Winter Fantasy Festival.
ALLEN J.
SCHABEN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/ TNS FILE
Michelle Burt, an expressive impressionist artist based in Laguna Beach, displays her work at the Sawdust Winter Fantasy Festival.
Shamus Skochis an found object artist and sculptor.
Artist Lupe Blanton makes ceramic garden art .
Hopelessly devoted to cookies? Try this spiced take on classic oatmeal
AMY DREW THOMPSON ORLANDO SENTINEL
Iam puzzling over what to call these cookies.
For roughly 20 years, they’ve just been oatmeal cookies, because these are the ones we make. They have dried cranberries instead of raisins, because all of the people in the world who have been scarred by raisins have scarred me with their raisin trauma.
Not really. I just like dried cranberries.
They’re colorful and fall-seasonal, and they go very nicely with the ginger that’s also been added to this warm, wonderful, seasonal cookie.
There’s an obvious name we could give these cookies (hint: it rhymes with oatmeal-raisin), but sadly, that name is trademarked, and I don’t want any trouble.
And so, as I go about putting this story on the editorial budget, I am struggling. I want to call them cranberry-ginger oatmeal, but then it’s pointed out to me that the oatmeal part should go first. Because they are, first and foremost, oatmeal cookies.
And while oatmeal cookies, by any other name, still taste as sweet, the combination herein, to us, is perfection. Bake them a little longer, and they’ve got more color and bite. A little less and they are chewy.
They’re also wonderfully welcoming at their spicy, little cookie party. So, if you’re the sort who likes to meld the whole chocolate and oatmeal thing, might I suggest some mini-dark or milk chocolate morsels? Or butterscotch. Or peanut butter.
RECIPE
They’re not fancy, but these croatmeal (ginger-cranberry oatmeal) cookies are a rustic treat on your holiday table, or anytime.
On this go-round, I tried toffee bits in one part of the batch (nice). And diced-up candied ginger in another.
Ginger is another thing. I use more than the below, which is a semi-neutralized recipe that I *think*, a long time ago, came from a cookbook. I honestly can’t remember. I just like them spicy. So, if you love ginger, use more. And if you like raisins, be loud and proud and use them, with or without the cranberries.
And as I am wrapping up this cute little blurb about cute little
cookies, a mighty bellow comes from the kitchen downstairs. A clever one, too.
“How about CROATMEAL?!!!”
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
GINGERY CROATMEAL COOKIES
(or whatever you want to call them)
Makes roughly 30-35 cookies.
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
TOP: This bath has extra mix-ins, including mini-semi-sweet chips, candied ginger and toffee bits.
BOTTOM: It doesn’t look like much now, and honestly, if you like fancy-perfect-pretty cookies, you might not think they look like much on the plate, but man, are they tasty.
In large mixing bowl (stand mixer if you have one), beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 or so seconds or until softened. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices and beat until combined, scraping bowl several times during process.
Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, then stir in remaining flour.
Beat or stir in oats.
Drop dough by roughly rounded teaspoons (mine are more like tablespoons) about 2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment paperlined cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden-brown for softer, chewier cookies. Go a 1-3 minutes longer for a deeper color on top. There are no wrong choices. Cool on wire rack.
AMY DREW THOMPSON/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS PHOTOS
SUDOKU
FUN BY THE NUMBERS
Like puzzles? Then you’ll love Sudoku. This mindbending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your Sudoku savvy to the test!
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
SOLUTIONS ON PAGE 10
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1. Spiritual leaders
7. A type of solution
13. Fortified wine
14. Edible mollusk
16. They precede C
17. A way to compare
19. Government lawyer
20. “Game of Thrones” actor Ciaran
22. The eighth month (abbr.)
23. Very willing
25. __ ex Machina
26. Makes happy
28. Type of berry
29. A doctrine
30. Popular Dodge truck model
31. Dekagram
33. Naturally occurring solid
34. Company officer
36. Villains
38. Cricket frogs
40. Influential German psychologist
41. Endured
43. A female domestic
44. You can get stuck in one
45. Cigarette (slang)
47. Fiber optics network
48. Group of blood disorders (abbr.)
51. Employee stock
ownership plan
53. Belonging to the bottom layer
55. Sound
56. MLB legend Hank
58. Very attractive person
59. Late beloved sportscaster Craig
60. South Dakota
61. Mocking
64. Symbol for gold
65. Longtime Braves pitcher Julio
67. Humor
69. Shawl
70. Preliminary patient assessment
DOWN
1. Animal disease
2. Commercial
3. Necklace material
4. Containers
5. A way to save for your future
6. Colorado Heisman winner Rashaan
7. Dipped down
8. Head injury (abbr.)
9. Lay about
10. Intestinal
11. Opposite of yes
12. Caused to be loved
13. Spiritual leader of Islam
15. Businesslike
18. Not in
21. Number above the line in a fraction
24. An animal with its own day
26. Pouch
27. Swedish krona
30. Start over
32. Field flowers
35. Fourteen
37. A visual way to interact with a
computer
38. Up-to-date
39. Campaigns
42. Touch lightly
43. “Boardwalk Empire” actress Gretchen
46. Violent seizure of property
47. Supporter of the Pope
49. Anxiety
50. Body fluid
52. One who’s faking it
54. Title of respect
55. Chilean city
57. City in central Japan
59. Silk garment
62. A form of dance
63. Automobile
66. The man
68. Justice Dept. head honcho
Y E A R S AGO
HISTORICAL EVENTS FROM DECEMBER 1925
The month of December has been home to many historical events over the years. Here’s a look at some that helped to shape the world in December 1925.
• The Farmer-Labour Party is dissolved just two hours after its formation in Japan on Dec. 1. The dissolution was ordered by the Japanese government, which accused the party of harboring a secret communist agenda.
• The border delineating Northern Ireland and Ireland is established on Dec. 3 when representatives of both countries sign the
Northern Irish Border Agreement.
• The George Gershwin composition “Concerto in F” is performed for the first time on Dec. 3. The performance in New York’s Carnegie Hall is conducted by Walter Damrosch and features Gershwin on piano.
• A counterfeiting scheme is uncovered by the Banco de Portugal on Dec. 4. An alert bank teller tips off the bank, which ultimately discovers that wealthy entrepreneur Arthur Virgílio Alves Reis is the mastermind behind the scheme. Reis was eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison.
• The Pottsville Maroons defeat the Chicago Cardinals in front of 6,000 fans on Dec. 6 in a game the press depicted as the championship of the National Football League.
• Russian Orthodox bishop Peter of Krutitsy is arrested on Dec. 9. Peter is charged with conspiring with Russian emigres in the west. Peter is ultimately executed by shooting on October 10, 1937.
• George Bernard Shaw is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on Dec. 10.
• Karam Chand and Kartari Chand tie the knot in India on Dec. 11. The Chand’s marriage lasts 90 years and 291 days, and is the
longest marriage recorded. Karam Chand passed away in 2016 and Kartari in 2019.
• Communist politician Benjamin Gitlow is pardoned by New York Governor Al Smith on Dec. 11. Gitlow was convicted for publishing a manifesto calling for the overthrow of the U.S. government, which Governor Smith characterized as a “political crime” upon issuing his pardon.
• The Qaja dynasty, which had ruled Iran since 1789, comes to an end on Dec. 12 when the country’s Parliament declares General Reza Khan Pahlavi Prime Minister and installs him as Shah of Iran.
• The Fascist government in Italy signs a secret pact with Britain on Dec. 14. The pact is designed to reinforce Italian dominance in Ethiopia.
• The national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega is founded at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania on Dec. 16.
• U.S. Army Colonel Billy Mitchell is convicted on eight charges of insubordination on Dec. 17. Mitchell was critical of military leaders for investing in battleships and had argued for greater investment in airbased defenses.
• Reichstag President Paul Löbe speaks
out in favor of partial prohibition in Germany on Dec. 19.
• George Edwin Taylor dies on Dec. 23 at the age of 68. Taylor was the first African American presidential candidate, running for the highest office in the United States as nominee of the National Negro Liberty Party in 1904.
• Law No. 2263 is passed by the Italian parliament on Dec. 24. The law states that the decisions of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and his government were not subject to legislative review and could only be overruled by order of King Victor Emmanuel III.
• A Christmas story published in the London newspaper The Evening News on Dec. 24 identifies a children’s character as “Winnie-the-Pooh” for the first time. The character had previously been referred to as “Edward” in a poem published in Punch magazine in 1924.
• The first attempt at a global New Year’s celebration is made via international radio on Dec. 31. Musical entertainment and greetings from various consuls general from an assortment of foreign countries are sent from New York.
First installed by the Fairfield Host Lions Club, this illuminated landmark has welcomed residents and visitors since 1925. Your donation will fund essential upgrades. Give $5 to keep our story ALIVE. FUNDRAISER GOAL: $100,000
SCAN HERE TO DONATE
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