HO, HO, LOT OF MAIL: If you’re...

HO, HO, LOT OF MAIL: If you’re late sending a package to someone right here in Orange County, and you just know it won’t make it by Christmas Day, the U.S. Postal Service has a suggestion: Express Mail. . . . If it’s the Santa Ana area, not only are you guaranteed Christmas Day service, you can have your packages delivered by someone in a Santa Claus hat--if you ask. . . . The Santa Ana postal district is one of 36 areas in the U.S. offering “Santa” deliveries.

LITTLE ENERGY: Remember those house calls Anaheim officials started making last year to help residents save on their energy bills? Nearly 500 homeowners have taken them up on their offer. Maria Cover, spokeswoman for the project, says it’s helping two kinds of customers: “Some people need to find ways to reduce their utility bills, and others are just very environmentally conscious.” . . . Besides a complete house survey, the city will even supply some energy-efficient lights.

WAR HERO: Before Henry Segerstrom was an agricultural baron, or built South Coast Plaza, or helped build the Orange County Performing Arts Center, he was one of the heroes of World War II. . . . Fifty years ago this week, he was wounded while with an Army field artillery unit during the last major German offensive turned back by the Allies--known now as the Battle of the Bulge. . . . Segerstrom, who left the war as a captain, has modestly declined comment about it.

FRESH-FACE FRESHMAN: If you’re the youngest golfer ever to win the U.S. Amateur, expect to draw attention. The ’94 champion, Tiger Woods of Cypress, 18 and now a Stanford University freshman, got a couple more nice plaudits this week. . . . He was pictured on the cover of the weekly magazine Golf World as its “Man of the Year” and was picked by Elle, the fashion magazine, as one of the “fresh faces of ’95.” Says Golf World: “Tiger inspires kids who have never had a role model like him.”