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"Officials get subtle message in gifts"

By Karen Brooks and Bob Mahlburg, December 25, 2000

Reprint Courtesy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH - Among the holiday gift baskets that showed up in offices of elected official last week, there appears to be a theme - or maybe a message.

"There seems to be a real focus on nuts," said a suspicious Marti VanRavenswaay, a county commissioner.

Most public officials across Tarrant County received almonds, cashews and pecans for Christmas - gifts that seemed to send a subtle message.

"Some of them must think I'm nuts," Fort Worth Councilman Jim Lane said.

District Clerk Tom Wilder is a confessed "sucker for cashews," and his staff gave accordingly.

Council member Clyde Picht received pecans from Kelly Hart and Hallman - the law firm representing Fort Worth in the long fight involving Dallas, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines over flights from Dallas Love Field.

No word on whether the nuts came from those fine folks at American.

Wilder's favorites are the "the sinful things" like M&Ms and candy bars.

But that's about as sinful as it gets these days, Lane said mournfully.

"It used to be you got a little wine or whiskey," he said. "Now it's all fruit baskets."

At least one county commissioner got lucky in that area, but J.D. Johnson says he doesn't drink the hard stuff.

Johnson, whose scratchy drawl and cowboy boots apparently invite a more tradition Texas goody, couldn't recall what kind of booze he got.

"I got a couple of bottles, but I don't even remember where they came from," Johnson said. He plans to stuff someone else's Christmas stocking with those gifts. Most officials said they received the delicious, the quirky or the useful - but not the extravagant.

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