STUDENT AMBASSADORS: Los Gatans Julia, 16, and Heidi Negendank, 14, both students at Leigh High School, are acting as student ambassadors to Europe for three weeks in July, traveling with the People to People Student Ambassador Program, founded by President Eisenhower to promote peace through understanding of other cultures.
The teens are touring France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. They will visit the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria and talk to a survivor of that camp. In addition, they are performing community service work in Sirnitz, Austria—visiting a home for the elderly and a home for disadvantaged children.
More lighthearted activities won't be neglected: they'll ride a gondola in Venice and dine aboard a river boat while cruising along the Seine. Some 36 students are in their delegation—from Gilroy to Palo Alto.
Julia and Heidi's parents are Paula and Terry Negendank, both natives of Los Gatos who were born here 48 years ago. Both are LGHS grads of '73 who left town only to go to college at UC-Davis.
Terry Negendank's dad, Robert, who taught history at LGHS for 38 years, is now retired. He was also a tennis and golf coach. Now 83, he lives in Blossom Hill Manor and still plays golf.
Paula and Terry, incidentally, met in high school, took senior history together, with Robert N. as teacher. They dated eight years before getting married, in order to finish up grad degrees. The two will take a long-overdue trip to Hawaii while their daughters are in Europe.
PURPLE HEART STAMP: Purple Heart recipients and Los Gatos postal employees Joe Castro and Bill Dunn were honored early this month at the unveiling of the Purple Heart postage stamp at the G.I. Forum in San Jose. Castro drives a postal truck, and Dunn is a distribution clerk for the post office. Both men were wounded while serving in Vietnam. Dunn was also a recipient of the Silver Star.
CAMP COUNSELOR: Ashleigh Weissman, 16, is working as an assistant camp counselor at the Hidden Valley Easter Seal Camp of New Hampshire for two weeks this summer. Hidden Valley is designed for youth with disabilities, ages 1324. Weissman served as a Landmark Volunteer, a counselor in training.
She was part of the team that helped prepare the camp by painting and doing light carpentry work before the campers showed up. At LGHS Weissman is an editor for the school newspaper, runs track, plays water polo and is in the Spanish Club. She takes piano, tae kwon do and kick-boxing lessons.
The daughter of Diana and David Weissman, Ashleigh was an active Girl Scout member, logging 100 hours of community work. She has also volunteered at soup kitchens and family shelters.
KIOSK: The kiosk outside the neighborhood center has undergone a remarkable makeover. The enhancements were accomplished by the town's arts commission and others at the behest of the beautification committee. Philip Lange sculpted the fish, Los Gatos Pescado, that is installed atop the kiosk. He loaned this work to the town as part of the public art program.
Those who plotted the beautification plan for the kiosk include Pat Bernauer from the beautification committee; Elke Groves and Gloria Alabaster from the arts commission; Marica Tjader from the art selection panel; and the aforementioned Lange. Bernauer and Lange removed what must have been hundreds of staples and prepared the kiosk for painting. Artists Nick White and Barbara Frese painted the underwater scene using town-supplied materials. Truly a group effort with a resplendent result.
The beautification committee also commends three summer displays around town—the Toll House Hotel, Palm & Granite clothing store and the landscaping at 134 Los Gatos Blvd.
The El Monte pathway off Main Street, near where the street bends to become Los Gatos Boulevard, has recently undergone refurbishment and is worth a gander, too.
MUSHROOM MENU: The King of Mushrooms, Todd Spanier, will present a five-course mushroom extravaganza at Kuleto's on July 20 at 6 p.m. The cost is $75, and Santa Cruz Mountain wines will be paired with the various dishes.
Spanier's business, Wild Edibles, run from his grandfather's Colma warehouse, gathers wild foods and then gets them into markets and restaurants.
BRIDGES: Foothill College will present a play titled Bridges prior to mounting it at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August. Bridges will be presented every Friday and Saturday in July at 7 p.m. in Appreciation Hall at the college.
It's a blend of five different 10-minute plays, and two of the playwrights are Los Gatans: Riva Rubnitz and me. Discussion time afterward will allow the audience to share its reaction. Admission is free.
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By Mary Ann Cook