White House Toys With Its Image

The thank-you note from the White House was of the now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t variety. The note to the Racine, Wis., company that sent 50 cases of its Magic Slates to the State Department and the CIA to be used at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was written on--you guessed it--a Magic Slate. The toy is made of a thin sheet of translucent plastic that sticks to a wax-covered blackboard when inscribed with a stylus, creating an image on the sheet. When the plastic is lifted, the image disappears. Earlier this month, company executive Jim O’Donnell wrote President Reagan and sent the slates to Washington after learning that officials had suggested they be used to communicate in the embassy, which had been bugged by the Soviets. Ann Higgins, director of White House correspondence, replied: “Thank you for your letter to the President. Yours is the best idea we have had yet. Gave to Secretary (of State George P.) Shultz. I’m sure it will be S.O.P. for State, CIA and NSC. Please lift cover when done reading.” Acting CIA Director Robert M. Gates suggested that since the agency cannot accept such gifts, its 25 cases of slates be sent to a worthy cause.

--Baltimore Mayor Clarence Du Burns wants residents to sit up and take notice of some deserving citizens. So, instead of having the city’s benches bear only his name, the mayor is using the benches to salute others. The first newly repainted bench honors the late Eugene Wyche, a 25-year employee of the Department of Public Works “who despite illness, never missed any time from work,” according to the mayor’s spokeswoman. The green-and-beige bench is one of 10 that will bear words saluting Wyche, from “Mayor Clarence Du Burns and the citizens of Baltimore,” said George Perdikakis, a city official. The idea was suggested by Wyche’s daughter. Previously, the benches bore only the words “William Donald Schaefer, and the Citizens of Baltimore.” Schaefer, former mayor, is now governor.

--Eight people who parked themselves behind the wheels of eight used cars at a St. Paul, Minn., dealer for up to 2 1/2 days were able to buy each car for 99 cents. Entrants chose the used car, valued up to $600, they wanted and either they or their representatives had to remain in the driver’s seat until the close of the contest. If the car was left vacant, another contestant could get in and claim the car if he or she were there at the end. Jay Russell, 20, said someone offered him $100 to leave a silver 1979 Fiat Brava. “I told the guy, ‘No way.’ This is what I always wanted. My own car. My first car.” Dealership owner Steve Sands said: “Two or three of the families had never had a car before.”