HOMECOMING: First Lieutenant Ryan O'Reilly is returning after a 15-month extended duty tour in Iraq. His mother, Suzette O'Reilly Austin, is hosting a party Aug. 7, starting at 3 p.m., to celebrate his return.
"Now, we're all so glad /That he's back from Baghdad!/Not only did he survive/Promoted to captain in early '05," as Suzette's invitation put it. Ryan was commissioned into the Army on his graduation day from Santa Clara University. He has a three-plus-week hiatus from the Army, then goes to Fort Polk. From there he's off to Fort Knox for captain's training starting in October.
Ryan is a dynamo, according to his mother. At 5 feet, he's somewhat short, but long in talent and action. Summers he'd wakeboard; winters he'd ski. He was an altar boy, an Eagle Scout, earned mostly A's at Archbishop Mitty.
A wrestler, he played sax and acted in plays. At SCU Ryan majored in computers and philosophy. His ROTC unit was known as "Wolfpack." In Iraq his job was supervising VIP escorts with Humvees and tanks. The temperature reached 130 degrees.
The native Los Gatan was stationed at the Palace in The Green Zone and swam in Saddam's pool. And for three months he ate only rations. If you'd like to help celebrate Ryan's return, the number is 408.203.7707.
FIESTA POSTER: Nick White's Morning Coffee was chosen the 2004 poster art for Fiesta de Artes to be held Aug. 14 and 15, 10 a.m.6 p.m., at the town Civic Center. White's painting illumines a typical Los Gatos morning on Main Street outside the Coffee Roasting Company with the witch's cap of the La Canada building in the background.
White's work is impressionistic, and he and his wife, Rebecca, are members of the LG Art Association and Museums of Los Gatos. Nick volunteers at the museums regularly and leads a plein air group monthly.
Artist booths, live music, performers, family activities, brews and wine are all part of the Fiesta. Rusty Rinehart, local attorney, is Fiesta chairman. Coordinated by the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos, the fundraiser benefits local organizations, with an emphasis on youth.
To volunteer, call Tim Coughlin at 408.354.9310 or, for more information, visit http://www.LGFiesta.org. Kiwanans hope to raise about $30,000 at the event.
FOND FAREWELL TO AMY: Friends of Amy Konsterlie gathered at the home of Alice and Steve Lopes last week to honor the departing artist and wish her godspeed in her new life in Portland, Ore. Konsterlie has taught all ages of Los Gatans for the past 25 years—from seniors to youngsters.
She was active in the Los Gatos Art Association and the Los Gatos Art Docents and has done 1,000 renderings of Los Gatos homes. "Those are artwork in themselves," attest colleagues. The artist/teacher is relocating to help care for her mother and start a new life up north.
But knowing how vast her talent, vivacity and friendliness, it's a given that it won't take her long to make new friends in art. "She encourages people's creativity," as Alice Lopes says. Many of the attendees said they wouldn't be painting today if it weren't for Konsterlie's encouragement.
Thus it was a poignant gathering for admiring friends and colleagues who had to say goodbye.
POETRY BOOK: Former LG resident Tim Fitzgerald has collected a book of his satirical poems called Letters to the Editor: Impressions from Idle Rock, and it's been published through Authorhouse, a print-on-demand house. The 100 rhyming poems take a critical look at today's (and yesterday's) social and political scene.
Fitzgerald now lives at Mammoth Lake, where he writes and teaches, most recently at Cerro Coso Community College. A political activist and avid letter-to-the-editor writer, he is one of the founders of the Green Party in the Mammoth area. The poems were written over a 30-year span.
The book is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. His email is Timkf@hotmail.com.
PUBLIC ART: The public art of Glen Rogers and Bill Gould will be on display Aug. 5Oct. 2 at the Los Gatos Art Museum and a reception will be held Aug. 8, 14 p.m. Gould is an architect and Rogers a printmaker, and the closest spot to view their work is at LGHS near the new pool. It's a red fence made of steel with snowflake-like cutouts. The two incorporate student ideas and artifacts into their installations. They designed Galarza Elementary on Bird, a fanciful building of reds, greens and yellows. Not your usual elementary school by any means.
CAT/BOOK: What's a cat and an open book all in one image? The logo Rick Tharp designed for the Hooked on Los Gatos event at Borders the weekend of Aug. 1315. First you see an open book, but step back and you can also see a cat. That Tharp has done it again.
VIRGINIA: Virginia, the mannequin overlooking the Union 76 Station at LG Boulevard and Lark Avenue, is perched in a coral dress, waving an American flag. To remind us of our birthday, the conventions and the Olympics, perhaps.
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By Mary Ann Cook