RITA’S BOWL: Band members at tiny Ellsworth...

RITA’S BOWL: Band members at tiny Ellsworth High School in rural Kansas set aside their fund-raising for a trip to Anaheim to perform at the Dec. 30 Freedom Bowl. Something else came up: Classmate Rita Henry, not in the band, had a leukemia setback. The 114-member band voted unanimously to raise the next $15,000 for her instead of their trip. . . . “The kids decided helping Rita was a more important project,” says band director David Rankin. The band still hopes to make the Freedom Bowl. But it’s struggling to meet its Dec. 1 deadline to raise the money.

WATER BUCKLES: Children age 6 and under must wear life jackets at all times while on the water in small boats, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Pete Wilson. . . . But harbor master Sam Sanai says the Huntington Harbour Marina, like most others, is ahead of the state on the safety issue: “We require all people, including adults, to wear life jackets. Most of the time, they do on their own. If they don’t, I ask them to put them on.”

SHOP & SAVE: When the county Transportation Authority was about to buy furniture for its seven floors of new offices in Santa Ana, Executive Director Stan Oftelie wanted bargain prices. He hadn’t counted on a near-steal. With Columbia Savings & Loan belly-up, its furniture--most of it still in crates--was going for about 20 cents on the dollar. Oftelie and crew bought all they could get their hands on. Says Oftelie: “Now the taxpayers have paid twice for it, but at least it’s getting some use.”

SUSIE’S HELPER: They’re starting to call her the Boot Lady at civic meetings in Brea. But Jane O’Brien, president of the city’s Historical Society, doesn’t mind. . . . For weeks she’s been carrying around a firefighter’s boot, asking people at government meetings and shopping centers to fill it with cash. Her cause: To pay for restoration of the city Fire Department’s 1923 Seagrave firetruck, known as “Old Susie.” O’Brien’s pitch: “Old Susie needs a face lift.”