They're working for a living ... on Christmas Day

Christmas is here - and as we celebrate, let's give a thought to those hardworking folks who are still on the job, helping to make it a happy and safe holiday for all.

Gus Villarreal and Tracy Gibson, managers

TravelCenters of America Truck Stop (I-90/Route 20 Exit) Hampshire

Holiday spirit shines at the TravelCenters of America Truck Stop on Route 20 in Hampshire, where icicle lights twinkle inside the Country Pride Restaurant, and cozy booths are decorated with red poinsettias and tiny snowmen. A festive tree trimmed in red, white and blue is topped with a star and an American flag.

Assistant manager Tracy Gibson will be dishing up tonight's specials along with a big slice of Christmas cheer. "Most people are in a holiday mood," she says. "It's hardest on the truck drivers. I think they come to get cheered up." How? "I give them a bottomless cup of coffee - also good service and conversation."

"People miss that family atmosphere," says restaurant manager Gus Villarreal of Huntley. "I'm away from my family, they're away from theirs, so we keep each other company."

While others enjoy Christmas morning at home, he'll head in to work to get ready for the dinner rush.

"We're serving a nice, plated Christmas dinner and you can reorder as much as you want," he says proudly. "It may not be Mom's cooking, but we try to make it feel like home."

"Families come just for the (Christmas) dinner," says Gibson. "We get travelers and truckers who have to work, and a lot of singles, too."

When her shift ends, she and her teenage son will head to Indiana to spend the rest of the day with their family.

The 24-hour restaurant bustles all night, even on Christmas Eve.

"Breakfast is big," Gibson says. Then there's the gift shop with toys, treats, and gadgets galore. Last-minute shoppers can snag a cut-glass angel from a showcase next to the pretzels and Klondike bars. Need a satellite radio, a Cubs T-shirt, a doll or a teddy bear? You can get it all here, and beef jerky, too.

Mike Alejandro, owner/driver

Route 47 Taxi, Huntley

Mike Alejandro knows all about working holidays. Before starting his own cab service, the Huntley resident worked for years as a long-haul trucker.

"I've been out driving over the road on Christmas Day," he says. "It's lonely. You don't stop, you just keep rolling."

This Christmas, Alejandro's Route 47 Taxi service will be running all day, with 12 drivers including himself, his wife Eila, and new driver Erik Vahena of Des Plaines, who will help with airport runs.

"If he calls, I'll go," says Vahena. "It's a small startup company, and we all have to pay our dues. We have to put in our hours."

"We work 24/7. We don't take a day off. " Alejandro explains. "When there's rain or snow, we're out there."

Last year, a simple airport run turned into an interstate trip.

"I had a fare to O'Hare, then the airport was shut down," he recalls. "A family of six needed to get to Knoxville (Tenn.) on Christmas Day, so I took them out there. It was a long ride. While everybody was opening gifts, I was spending gas."

Bad weather means a busy day, holiday or not.

"Once, I even gave a ride to one of those tollway guys (on I-90). His car wouldn't start, it was a pretty cold day and he needed to get home. So I picked him up and took him home to Harvard."

Alejandro sympathizes with the toll booth operators and salt-truck drivers who also work on Christmas.

"On snowy days or holiday times, they have it pretty rough. They've got to be in those trucks all night long."

Andrea Teegarden, cocktail waitress

Grand Victoria Casino, Elgin

This Christmas, Andrea Teegarden will be serving up drinks and smiles at the Grand Victoria Casino in downtown Elgin, and she doesn't mind at all.

"When I started 15 years ago, it was harder because my children were young," she says. "Now that they're older, I don't have a problem."

Teegarden, who commutes from St. Charles, says she enjoys chatting with customers who are often lonely on holidays.

"I know a lot of them don't have families and they don't have anywhere else to go. They love talking to us and we are their family, in a way," she says.

"I try to brighten their day if I can, and I give them special attention. I just love it!"

There's a holiday feeling between her fellow casino workers, too. The company provides holiday treats, and workers bring food to share. "We set up a nice little buffet," she says, "and then we go and work. Then eat, and work, and eat. All day long. For 10 hours."

This year, employees will get to sample the casino's new "surf-and-turf" burgers and ice cream, Teegarden says, "with all the toppings you can imagine - I can't wait!"

At Christmas, she can't help thinking of others less fortunate. "I have my job which I love, and I know there are people out there who have lost their jobs. Especially at times like this, it just breaks my heart."

April Weydert, Obstetric Nurse

Delnor Hospital, Geneva /St. Charles

Even on Christmas, always expect the unexpected, advises obstetric nurse April Weydert at Delnor Hospital's NewLife maternity unit.

"I've been a nurse for over 10 years, and it's always something new," she says. "Babies don't stop coming on holidays."

"Being a hospital, we don't close. We have to be fully staffed, because you never know what's going to walk in the door."

Working in labor and delivery is like an emergency room, Weydert says.

"We either have nothing going on, or we can have everything going on, at the drop of a hat. You can't always plan just when babies are coming."

Holidays are normally quiet, but sometimes the miracle of birth won't wait.

"Last year we had a delivery on New Year's and it was one of our nurses," she says. "It's absolutely wonderful - I love it!"

She's disappointed to miss Christmas morning with her 2-year-old, Elizabeth, but Weydert says her family will celebrate later. On Friday, everyone is coming to her Sycamore home when she gets off work. And her husband? "While I'm working, he'll probably be cleaning," she says.

Melissa Russell, front desk clerk

Marriott Courtyard Hotel, West Dundee

Christmas travelers can always find room at the inn at Marriott's Courtyard Hotel in West Dundee. Melissa Russell, of Lake in the Hills, is an experienced hand at holiday hospitality and she'll be at the front desk greeting guests today.

"I've worked in hotels for two years, and I've been in retail for about 12, so I'm used to working holidays," she says.

When most folks are home with their families, the Courtyard's staff will be making others feel at home.

"Our hotel is built around the business guest," Russell explains. "On the holidays, we do get more families with children. That's why it is so important we are here."

"They come to visit relatives who don't have the space to take them in. Some people thank us for staying open," she says. "They know we are giving up time with our families to do this, so it's more of a festive feel!"

Beth Heitkamp, dispatcher

QuadCom 911 Center, Carpentersville

"Our holiday calls are usually 'domestics,'" says dispatcher Beth Heitkamp at the QuadCom 911 Center in Carpentersville, where emergency calls are routed for nine area police and fire departments. "A lot of it is the stress of the holidays, and people who aren't used to being together. Of course, 'festivities' sometimes play a part in that, too."

Even on Christmas, medical emergencies, traffic accidents, and house fires still happen, and those calls will be answered by Heitkamp, a 25-year dispatch veteran, and her fellow 911 operators.

Thanks to safety education, fires from holiday decorations are less frequent, she says, "but we still get our share." Police calls are usually minor infractions or traffic incidents, but still demand a quick response.

Trying to schedule family gatherings at her Lake in the Hills home is a nearly impossible task, Heitkamp says. Her husband, Tom, is a Carpentersville police officer, one daughter is a Woodstock firefighter, and another daughter is a dispatcher in Lake County. All will be working different shifts.

"I hate to say it's 'just another day,' but for us, it will be a quiet one," she admits. "We actually did Christmas (last) Sunday, when my oldest son was home from the military. We had a rare, two-hour window where we could all be in the same place at the same time."

Her younger son will probably spend Christmas Day at his girlfriend's.

"Normally I'd say no, but everybody's going to be working, so he might as well have a tree and a nice dinner."

Officers Pete Bone and Don Wells

Carpentersville Police Department

Working on Christmas is no problem for officer Pete Bone, an 18-year veteran of the Carpentersville Police Department.

"I've worked major holidays - Christmas, New Year's - where it can be extremely quiet, or it can be really busy from the minute we go out to our cars to begin the shift," he says. "There's no way to be able to tell what mood people are in."

On Friday, Bone will be helping to train a new officer, Donald Wells, a recent Air Force veteran who joined the police department after serving in Germany, Korea, Kuwait and Iraq.

"After 12 years in the military, you get kind of used to working the holidays," Wells says. "It's just part of the job."

Christmas is "about the same" as any work other day, says Bone.

"I feel extremely fortunate, especially in this economy, to even be employed. I want the community to know I'm out there to answer their calls."