A DAY FOR BLUE CANDLES

The Chaney family in Boise became part of a special tradition this year.

Cindy Chaney is active in a national online community, NAVYforMoms.com. Her son, Morgan, 20, leaves home Saturday for California, where he'll be stationed to train as a medic.

Cindy Chaney, like other members of the online group, lit a special blue candle Christmas morning.

The tradition started some time ago in Texas, with a woman who wanted to do something to honor her son who couldn't be home for the holiday.

"This is the last Christmas for sure we'll have Morgan home. We don't know what the future will bring," Chaney said.

Finding the Navy moms group has been a "lifesaver" for her she added.

"People who don't have kids in the military understand to a certain point what you're going through, but now you can get on the Internet and find hundreds, thousands of mothers who know exactly how you feel."

The online community became low-tech recently. A group of local Navy moms met in person for coffee and pie.

"It was like we knew each other already," Chaney said.

The Chaneys hit a small snag as they prepared for Christmas morning. They found it surprisingly hard to find a true, deep Navy blue candle.

Not to be deterred, Cindy Chaney got the wicks, and wax, and made her own.

A PARTY ON IDAHO STREET

Months of planning and fundraising went into the fifth annual "Miracle on Idaho Street" at Old Chicago in Boise - a Christmas Day event for people in need that's a little hard to describe: It is part buffet, part clothing store, part family photo studio, part carnival, part school supply warehouse and a whole lot of other things - like Christmas music, ham aromas and white tablecloths, filling the restaurant and spilling over into the Rose Room nextdoor.

Brent Giroux, from Old Chicago, said he expected that by the end of the day the restaurant would feed about 1,200 people.

Staffer Zulema Orozco volunteered her time on Christmas, and brought along her family. They're all bilingual and were welcoming guests in English and Spanish. They had their own Christmas earlier: tamales and presents at midnight.

Catherine Milton, her sister Becky Smith and Smith's baby daughter, Lacey, got their picture taken with Santa in the Rose Room.

Milton's worried because her hours at her job at Burger King just got cut from 40 hours a week, to 33. Milton and Smith share a New Year's wish: a better economy.

EVER PAINT A GREEN BAY PACKERS LOGO?

Angel Anderson, volunteer face painter at Old Chicago, painted her own nose Rudolph red.

She faced a challenge early on, when one of her clients requested not a candy cane on his cheek, not a snowman, but the logo of his favorite football team.

Anderson, who volunteered at the event for the first time, normally works at Wal-Mart.

She got divorced this year and was looking for a way to remake the holiday on her own terms. "To make it my Christmas, individual and happy for me."

She painted blue snowflakes on the cheeks of two sisters in matching dresses. She was having such a good time, she said, she was already planning to offer up her face painting skills again next year.

Anna Webb: 377-6431