Santa’s Helpers : United Parcel Drivers Race to Deliver Holiday Cheer

That jolly fellow in the red suit was nowhere to be seen along Graves Avenue in Encino on Christmas Eve.

Instead, a sweating woman in a brown uniform was rushing from house to house, laden with gifts and dispensing good cheer.

Linda Armstead was on the run, determined to deliver the last 150 holiday packages in her truck before Christmas.

If not the busiest of the year, the day before Christmas is the most important for United Parcel Service drivers. Armstead knows that there are empty places beneath Christmas trees to be filled and that she is carrying the last-minute gifts that will do it.

“Last year a lady was in tears when she saw me walk up carrying gifts for her,” said Armstead, 29, of Sylmar. “She hugged me and kissed me.”

There were smiles Thursday when Armstead braked to a stop in front of Darlene Jackson’s house and trotted up to its gaily decorated front porch.

“It’s from my husband’s sister in Colorado,” Jackson said as she glanced at the return address. “She always waits to the last minute to send her gifts. She never misses Christmas but it’s always the last second.”

Down the street, Jerry Rottner was surprised when Armstead handed him a package from Vancouver, Wash. He hadn’t expected it to arrive in time for Christmas.

“It’s from my sister,” he said with a laugh. “What can I say? She’s my kid sister.”

On Aldea Avenue, Leslie Anderson would have to open the box that Armstead handed her to find out whether it contained gifts from relatives in Texas or in Vermont. “I can never predict when they’ll come,” Anderson said.

Armstead left a note and hid a package behind a poinsettia plant when no one answered her knock on Ostrom Avenue. On Hatteras Street, she hid one behind a rock, next to a package delivered earlier by DHL--a competitor, like the U.S. Postal Service and Federal Express.

Tom Henkey, UPS service manager for the area between San Pedro and San Luis Obispo, said that nearly twice the normal number of packages were shipped this week. He said that with the help of recipients’ neighbors and occasional hiding places, his workers hoped to complete all residential deliveries in time for Christmas.

By Thursday evening, Armstead had emptied her truck. She said she planned to relax today.

Her family, she said, did its gift-shipping early this year.