Office Parties Are More Sober Affairs This Holiday Season : Celebrations: Health concerns and the continued crackdown on drunk drivers have prompted companies to offer rides and nonalcoholic beverages.

Getting into the spirit of Christmas is less likely to involve imbibing at the office party these days, according to a sampling of San Fernando Valley businesses, liquor stores and law enforcement officials.

As police set up roadblocks to catch intoxicated revelers heading home from office gatherings Friday night, dozens of party-goers said alcohol consumption is way down at holiday functions.

“The big decision at our office party was should we have Coke or Pepsi,” said Bob Walker, vice president of James R. Gary & Co. Ltd. East, a Studio City realty office.

“We had a bottle of champagne which we shared between about 10 people, if you call that drinking,” said Encino personal-injury lawyer Jack Edzant. “I don’t think they’re having the kinds of office Christmas parties that they used to have where everybody would walk out of the office stoned.”

Similarly, at Kinko’s Copies in Tarzana, about 30 employees shared one large bottle of white wine--just enough to make a holiday toast--at a Thursday night party, said office manager Kathy Cicciarelli.

“We don’t want lost lives,” Cicciarelli said. “We love our people and don’t want to see them hurt.”

Similar scenes were repeated across the Valley in this alcohol-conscious era of stiffer drunk driving laws and sobriety checkpoints.

Los Angeles police set up a checkpoint on Sherman Way between Canoga and De Soto avenues from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday.

Other agencies such as the Burbank Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Santa Clarita Valley station also planned roadblocks to catch drunk drivers.

Liquor is still served at most office parties, but far more nonalcoholic alternatives are being offered along with it, said Karen Hawk, manager of the Liquor Barn in Canoga Park.

“People just are not drinking as much because they’re concerned about health and somebody’s always got to drive home,” Hawk said.

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division have received calls from office managers seeking advice on how to limit employee drinking at office parties or on how to keep drinking employees safe after the festivities.

Carolee Newman, spokeswoman for MADD’S Los Angeles County chapter, said many offices issued memos suggesting that employees select designated drivers to remain sober at parties.

Sunkist Growers Inc. of Van Nuys puts out a brochure of recipes for such nonalcoholic cocktails as Peach Sunset and Fuzzy White Navel.

“There are more alternatives to alcohol and more social consciousness about the consequences of drinking and driving,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dennis Zine.

Alcohol will be served when the 35 employees of Lumber City in Van Nuys have their Christmas party tonight at the Van Nuys Holiday Inn, but store manager Chris Hatswell said she plans to stay sober so she can drive intoxicated employees home if necessary.

Some employees have reserved rooms at the hotel so they won’t have to drive home.

Others are asking spouses to stay sober, store personnel said.

“I think drinking is really looked down upon now,” Hatswell said. “God, I hope so. Too many people are getting killed by drunk drivers.”