Southland events help bring out the Christmas spirit

Bone-chilling gusts didn’t keep 12-year-old Guillermo Bazan from his usual holiday tradition. At 3 a.m., he arrived in his pajamas at Hollenbeck Youth Center’s annual toy giveaway. Eight hours later, he walked off with his reward: a crimson and gold football.

“Now it’s starting to feel like Christmas,” he said with a wide smile as he carted home a doll for his younger sister and a toy truck for his younger brother.

Throughout Los Angeles, thousands set out in the cold Saturday looking to get in the Christmas spirit.

They laced up ice skates and glided around a rink at Pershing Square, lined the sidewalks for a holiday parade downtown and greeted Santa Claus during a Salvation Army food and toy drive in South-Central Los Angeles.

For many, the day offered a respite from a tough year of job losses and dwindling budgets.

At the Hollenbeck Youth Center on East 1st Street in Boyle Heights, about 10,000 people -- families lugging lawn chairs, strollers and blankets -- stood in a line that stretched for about a mile down North Cummings Street to East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue for the 27th annual “Miracle on First Street.” The first in the queue arrived at 3 p.m. Friday.

The Ixcoy family took its place about 5 a.m. The eight siblings arrived with spouses and children in tow, the youngest 2 months old.

By noon, their lips were chapped, their feet hurt and their stomachs growled, but they joked and laughed as they waited.

Earlier this year, every one of them lost their jobs, but Saturday morning was not about the economy. It was about seeing smiles on the children’s faces as they collected their toys.

“I want them to receive at least one gift,” said Lidia Ixcoy, 23. “Because this year, we don’t have any money to get them anything.”

In South-Central, the Salvation Army partnered with a handful of other organizations to hand out toys, along with necessities in high demand by needy families. They unloaded boxes containing bottled water, toiletries and enough food to feed a family of four for a week.

Paula Walker arrived about noon with a cousin and her grandmother. The 24-year-old lost her job at a candy store last month. This is the first time they have lined up to receive help, she said.

“We’ll take anything they give us,” she said, trying to keep warm in a hooded sweat shirt.

In a line that meandered from South Central Avenue onto a residential street, some people waited with grocery carts and dollies. Food vendors took advantage of the crowds, hawking tamales, cotton candy and chopped fruit.

“There are people out there who may feel that they have been forgotten,” said Mortimer Jones, the Salvation Army’s executive director. “We want them to know that they are still loved.”

On Figueroa Street downtown, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was expected to lead a parade of floats and marching bands in the “Live Positively Holiday Parade.”

And at Pershing Square, crowds streamed in to listen to live bands and watch dance performances. Children from nearby schools competed in a holiday tree-decorating contest.

Ice rink manager Paul Tellez feared that potential rain might keep people away, but the rink remained packed throughout the day.

He said the chilly weather “really gave the day a winter festival feel.”

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esmeralda.bermudez @latimes.com