It's his third CD on the BlahBlahWoofWoof label. A CD release party is scheduled for Aug. 7 at 8 p.m. at the Espresso Garden Cafe, 814 S. Bascom Ave. The Los Gatos composer also has a new website at www.chuck-mccabe.com and calls the whole shebang an exciting time for him.

Last year McCabe won the prestigious Woody Guthrie songwriting competition with his song "Minimum Wager," about the working poor. Chicken Dinners marks a musical return to his childhood in the South and his early years as a five-string banjo picker in a bluegrass band.

With a lot of fingerstyle guitar and a bonus helping of homespun wit, the material is pure Americana, folksy and woodsy. "I'm writing about a lot of stuff that happened to me when I was a kid. I guess it took me this long to figure it all out," McCabe says.

Guest performers include Mary McCaslin and fiddlers Joe Weed and James Fingers Shupe. Bobby Black, from Asleep at the Wheel, adds Hawaiian steel on one track. Percussion sounds are mostly brushes on a snare, plus there's dobro, fiddle, harmonica and mandolin.

ALOHA ADDITIONS: Historian Bill Wulf points out three other aloha connections between this area and Hawaii, a subject that is the current offering at Forbes Mill Museum. First off, there's James Alexander Forbes himself, practically Los Gatos' founding father. He's the namesake of Forbes Mill, of course. Seems JAF journeyed to the Sandwich Islands, as they were then called, before he set foot in Los Gatos.

He was on the lam, fleeing the Argentinean government, having been on the Uruguay side in a battle against Argentina, firing on them from his uncle's fleet off the coast. His flight landed him on a British whaling ship, where he served as fourth mate.

Then there was Willard (later Julian) M. Hanks, who built the first sawmill in Lexington in 1847 and was the first to spread the word of California's statehood. A sea captain, he traveled to the islands many times, racking up a life of hair-raising adventures—fights, desertions, imprisonment and escapes.

He ferried supplies for the Union during the Civil War and eventually died at sea.

Lastly, Claus Spreckles, whose connection to Los Gatos is a bit tenuous, although he did have relations who lived here whom he visited. But the Sugar Baron had sweeter interests in Salinas and Maui, what with his sugar plantation and factories. Thus, Hawaiian royalty visited him regularly and vice versa. And surfing lessons were given as early as 1881.

DOWN UNDER: Five Los Gatos teenagers spent most of July in Australia and New Zealand as part of the People to People program. The five are Emily Bays, Lauren Barnes, Wyatt Kelly, Melissa Cosgrove and Greg Calimpong. People to People is a Student Ambassador Program.

The program encourages exchanges between young people of different cultures through site visits and home stays.

TRODDING THE BOARDS: Local youngsters abound in the Peninsula Youth Theatre's offering of West Side Story playing until Aug. 1 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Los Gatos actors include Kendall Bartlett, soloist; Lindsay Wilkinson, Jet girl; and Kelly Sullivan and Julia Thomas.

Cast members from Monte Sereno are Rachel Balma, soloist; Polly Ellis, Sharks girl; Jon Oleson, police officer; and Taylor Tolbert. Saratogans include Blythe Faxon, who plays Anita; Ted Sclavos, who plays Chino; and Beth Guido, Sharks girl soloist.

Tickets are $16 and $13, except for weekday matinees July 29 and 30, when the price is $6. The box office is 650.903.6000.

SHORT LEAPS: A 10-minute play by Los Gatan Riva Rubnitz titled A Time to Love was selected by Three Wise Monkeys for a program of short plays to be presented on Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco. The production is called the Short Leaps Marathon.

NEW ZEALAND ZEAL: Los Gatan Chris Christianson will give a slide show of New Zealand at a potluck dinner at Sanborn Park Hostel in Saratoga July 29. Potluck is 6:30 p.m.; slide show follows. Call 408.741.9555.

HOEDOWN: A Square Dance Hoedown will be held Sept. 16, 6:30­8:30 p.m., at the Neighborhood Center. The caller will be Mike Luna of "Square Dancing with a Smile, California Style." Experienced or beginning dancers, singles or couples are welcome. Tickets are $4 in advance, $5 at the door. For a salad before the dance, call 408.354.0707.

ART HISTORY: A four-week art history class will begin Aug. 3, 1­3 p.m., at the Neighborhood Center. The class will cover 1850­1900, the era that spawned impressionism and cubism. The instructor is Betsy Parravi and the cost is $45. To register, call 408.354.8700.

Got a tip for Main Street? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.