Mystery Painting Makes a Holiday Message

If there is one holiday greeting card that will be remembered long after the others are packed away with the Yuletide decorations, it’s from Lois and Don Dechant. For 34 years--the last 25 of them in La Jolla--a painting done somewhere in France by Don’s father in 1919 has proudly hung in the Dechant home. This year, a photo of it graced the front of their Christmas card, and on the back was the story behind its creation.

The painting was as mysterious as it was beautiful, because it was not quite finished--a scroll in the lower right-hand corner where Miles Dechant most logically would have identified the location it depicted was left blank. And since 1942, when the artist died, his descendants--and their friends--have hoped to solve the intriguing family mystery.

Last fall, Don, an engineering consultant, and Lois, who wrote society and women’s features for The Times from 1950 to ‘54, (“back when there was such a section of the paper,” she said, laughing) transported the painting to France, determined to find the locale. Their research, gleaned from other sketches of French towns of the period, led them to Rouen, about 100 miles northeast of Paris. And there, after an exhaustive search, they came upon Miles Dechant’s inspiration--the entrance of the 16th-Century Cloister of St. Maclou. A photo as it appears today is on the inside of the Christmas card.

“The whole experience was very special to our family, and somehow it seemed appropriate to share it with our friends during the holidays,” Lois said. “It made our year.”

It Begins With an ‘E’ . . .

‘Tis the season for poinsettias, and that means ‘tis also the season when the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas is in its finest glory. The venerable North County flower-grower is renowned for growing some of the most beautiful poinsettias in the world, and last week he received nationally televised kudos for his work from none other than Johnny Carson.

Carson, sitting at his interviewing desk and surrounded by dozens of poinsettias, thanked Ecke for sending the beautiful plants that traditionally grace the “Tonight Show” set at Christmastime. Next year, though, at least for promotional purposes, Ecke might want to put a return address on his flowers. Although Carson remembered Ecke’s name, he couldn’t recall the name of the Southern California town where the flowers were grown. Neither could Ed McMahon or the “Tonight Show” staff. “Well, it’s somewhere down the road,” Carson finally determined.

Big Wheels

Some kids get cars for Christmas, which is just fine with the Escondido Auto Dealers Assn., but those expensive wheels are no more appreciated than the ones the association gave away Saturday at a special Christmas party.

Having discovered a sizable surplus in their end-of-the-year promotional budget, the auto dealers decided to buy more than 40 bicycles and hand them out to underprivileged children, who were chosen by Escondido school officials.

Give Me an ‘I’

The Cafe del Rey Moro in Balboa Park will be besieged by Hawkeyes Friday evening as the Iowa Club of San Diego holds a rollicking pep rally in anticipation of the University of Iowa’s game against UCLA in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Among the out-of-town luminaries in attendance will be Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, school mascot Herky the Hawk and members of the university’s cheerleader squad and marching band, which will practice in Balboa Stadium from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. earlier in the day. San Diego will be represented by local Iowa Beef Queen Robbie Ely and, to quote a promotional flyer, “whoever is mayor of San Diego that day.”

Attorney Bob Ottilie, president of the Iowa Club, said as many as 1,500 people are expected to attend the rally, which is being carried live on a Des Moines radio station. Ottilie said as many as 50,000 Iowans are expected to travel to Southern California for the Rose Bowl, and many of them are expected to follow the marching band and spend the day in San Diego on Friday. “Let’s just hope for gloomy, rainy weather so they don’t all decide to move here,” Ottilie said.

Eat and Be Merry

City officials love a convention, because conventioneers tend to run up big bar and restaurant tabs, and that means more transient occupancy tax revenues for San Diego. So the City Council was excited last week about a whopper of a meeting planned here in 1990 by members of Alcoholics Anonymous from throughout the nation.

“There are going to be a lot of people eating and drinking in town when they come,” said Councilman Bill Cleator, who then backtracked and said, “Well, they’ll spend a lot of money on food, anyway.”