Main Street

Long-distance fan a real 49er faithful

By Mary Ann Cook

Football fan: The Netherlands may not produce many football fans, but this one is such a staunch supporter that the 49ers made him an honorary member. Toon Vanderluit, dressed in 49ers hat and jacket, sits in his easy chair on Sunday mornings in the Hague and watches the prior week's game.

The tapes are sent to him weekly by Monte Serenan David Shaver. Shaver is the one who got him hooked on football to begin with. They are in-laws: Shaver's daughter, Robyn, is married to Dick Vanderluit, Toon's son. David Shaver took the avid fan to his first pro game.

That was in San Francisco in the Joe Montana days. Vanderluit was so thrilled with that game that Shaver figured out a way for him to see the games in Europe. Shaver found a VCR that was compatible with the European tape system and sent it to him.

Vanderluit, in turn, bought himself a big-screen TV, the better to see the whole spectacle. Shaver has been sending him tapes weekly, ever since that first pro game in the early '90s. In '95 Shaver jokingly suggested Vanderluit fly over for the 49ers-Cowboys playoff.

That was in a fax sent on Tuesday. The fan surprised him with a return fax saying he'd be there on a flight that arrived Friday. Vanderluit flew back on Monday, rich with memories. (And he's not a rich man, Shaver adds, amazed at his in-law's spontaneity where football is concerned.)

Vanderluit sends the tapes back yearly via boat. Shaver is distinguished in yet another area. He may be the person who sold the first cellular phone in this valley. He owned Campbell Electronics on Winchester Road in Campbell from 1981 to 1998.

"When the sales rep [for cell phones] came in I practically threw him out of the place," he says. "I told him it was totally ridiculous, would never catch on. No one would ever buy a phone to use in the car."

Let's hope that if he bets money on football games, his predictions are more on target than that one was. P.S.: He owned Shaver Radio in Los Gatos earlier, from 1976 to 1978.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET: Yet another winning speedster has whizzed into view--this one international in scope, on wheels. Los Gatan Dennis Varni came in fifth in the auto division in the famed Tour de France, bringing honor to himself and putting Los Gatos on the international racing map.

Varni is obviously a very experienced racer, having set records on tests conducted in the desert salt flats. He has an eight-car garage, the better to accommodate his all-consuming hobby.

LA BOULANGER TO THE RESCUE: At a recent Friday Forum, sponsored by Friends of the Los Gatos Library, the coffee pot burned out just before showtime. The Friends had promised coffee, so, undaunted, Dal Allen high-tailed it down the street to La Boulanger.

Employee Kristina Dark Brite was closing up, and had just drained the coffee for the night. But when she heard about the plight, she offered to brew a new pot or two for the emergency. Friends appreciated finding a new friend. (About that Dark Brite name: "My parents were hippies," she offers with a grin.)

ON--NOT IN--JEOPARDY: Los Gatan Lyle Hertzig showed up on the TV show Jeopardy recently. He didn't rack up a high enough score for a repeat appearance, but hey, it's hard enough to get on Jeopardy to begin with, so we're singing his praises for getting through that tough competition and being on that side of the screen.

CATTLE BARON'S TAKE: The fourth annual Cattle Baron's Ball raised nearly $875,000 for the American Cancer society. Some 1,200 attended the event at Moffett Field. Bidding at the live and silent auctions during the evening brought in more than $225,000.

FIRST LECTURE: Saratoga Foothill Club presents the first in its 1999-2000 lecture series on Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. with David Middlebrook, who will speak on "The Artist and the Community--An Artist's Evolution from Private to Public Art." Middlebrook is associate director of fine arts at San Jose State University.

The talk will be held at the Saratoga Foothill Club. The public is invited and a $6 donation is asked.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: Open Studios day at Montalvo takes place Oct. 24 from noon to 2 p.m. and will include presentations in the Carriage House at 2 p.m. and a reception from 3 to 4 p.m. Those who will be displaying their work are photographer Daniel Anizon; artists Daniel Hauben and Sarah Farrell Hughes; playwright Judith Lane; writer Rachel Democracy Levitsky; and composer Molly Thompson.

AUCTION: The annual book auction at the Saratoga Library will be held on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. sharp. One of the most unusual offerings, says Book-Go-Round manager Mary Jeanne Fenn, is a book written in the 1880s about the Crusades. But the selling point here isn't just the history, but the 98 illustrations by Gustav Doré. The book is unbound.

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