Main Street

Los Gatans gear up for Symphony Gala

By Mary Ann Cook

SYMPHONY GALA: On the auction block at the San Jose Symphony Gala on Sept. 18 will be such coveted attractions as the chance to personally conduct the symphony, a signed Mark McGwire baseball bat and a seven-day cruise on the Mediterranean.

Opera star Kathleen Battle will be the featured performer, singing with the San Jose Symphony at the Center for Performing Arts. Before the concert, gala-goers will have dinner under the tent in Discovery Meadow. "A Night of Renaissance" is the theme.

Cost is $250 for concert, cocktails, dinner, dessert, live auction and dancing. Concert-only tickets are $25, $50 and $75. For reservations and tickets, the symphony box office can be reached at 288-2828.

These locals are nurturing the health of the symphony by taking a leading role in the gala: Joan Hackworth and Karen Krueger, both of Saratoga, are the co-chairs of the gala committee. Tent entertainment is under the eye of Lois Hanson of Los Gatos, and decoration direction is by Tina Nicholson, Los Gatos, and Judith Marshall, Saratoga. J. P. Puette, Saratoga, is captaining table sales, and Cathy Gillum of Los Gatos and Marie Low of Saratoga are publicity chairs.

HONORED GUEST: Los Gatan Margaret (Margarite) Guy will be an honored guest of the Japanese government in October in Tokyo as a participant in the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. Guy, who teaches Spanish and ESL at Prospect High, was selected from more than 2,500 applicants by a panel of educators for this honor.

Under this program, American teachers tour Japan in groups of 20 for three weeks to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations. Some 200 educators are selected. Guy's visit will include a home stay with a Japanese family.

She will visit teachers and classrooms, cultural sites and local industries. The Japanese government fully funds the program and initiated it as a payback for the United States' Fulbright program, through which nearly 6,000 Japanese students have come to the U.S. for graduate education and research.

Guy has won many awards throughout her 27 years in teaching. Four years ago she won a similar Fulbright scholarship to visit Poland and Hungary. "I am intensely interested in the culture of other countries," she says.

She lived in Saratoga before moving to Los Gatos. Her children are Alexander, who graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1991, and Natasha, who graduated from Saratoga High School in 1995.

BEST AND BRIGHTEST: Thomas Watkins, 11, a student at Carlton Elementary, was named a Pop Warner All-American Scholar in ceremonies at Disneyland earlier this year. Thomas was a member of the Peninsula Pop Warner first team and the National Pop Warner second team.

As such, he was in the 1 percent considered the best and the brightest of Pop Warner players in the United States and Mexico. The award is given to honor football players who also excel academically. Applicants are graded on a weighted scale--85 percent academic and 15 percent for extracurricular activities. John and June Estruth of Los Gatos are his grandparents.

'SEEK!' AND 'SAUCER WISDOM': More Los Gatos authors keep cropping up. This one is Rudy Rucker, who has two new books out--Seek! and Saucer Wisdom. Seek! is a collection of essays on such topics as science fiction, computer programming and art--Bruegel being a favorite. Saucer Wisdom is a science-fiction novel set in Los Perros (read Los Gatos), full of speculations about the future. Rucker teaches computer science at SJSU and is the author of 20 books, mainly sci-fi or programming. Publisher of Seek! is Four Walls Eight Windows; Forge/Tor Books published Saucer Wisdom.

RED RIBBON DINNER: ARIS donors were feted recently at a special dinner at La Estancia, the historic estate of David Stonesifer and Larry Arzie. This fifth annual dinner is a thank-you to major donors and included guests Mark and Barbara Beck, Kevan and Anita Del Grande, John and Valerie Hopkins and Diane Van Vorhees.

The word major in this context means a donation of $2,500 or more during the fiscal year 1998-99.

BRANDAU UPDATE: Brandau Brandau Hair Salon raised $5,000 on a recent Sunday by offering $15 haircuts, the proceeds of which all went to the Capernaum Project for handicapped children.

Clients helped out, too, where needed. The line was long and it was a hot day, but some of the more shaggy-haired had postponed cuts in order to contribute to this cause. 'Twas a long day for Kerrie and George Brandau, but well worth it--now that it's over.

GRAND MARSHAL SOUGHT: Do you know someone who has helped better Los Gatos, particularly for children? If so, Reed Graham would like to hear about her/him. Graham is chairman of this year's Children's Christmas and Holiday Parade, sponsored by the Lions, and is seeking a worthy grand marshal for the event. Call the Los Gatos Lions at 356-1266 with suggestions.

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