X PRIZE LAUNCH: Two local aircraft enthusiasts witnessed the first flight of Space Ship One, from the first private enterprise to launch a manned spacecraft to 62 miles. The two are Steve Hum, a teacher at Fisher School, and Doug McNeil, a Cisco engineer whose daughter Jessica is in Hum's class.
The craft they watched was competing for a $10 million prize called the X Prize.
The X Prize launch was held at the Mojave Civilian Test Flight Center shortly before dawn. After the launch the two locals lucked into breakfast with Burt Rutan's family, sharing aviation stories and photos for more than two hours. The next week Rutan went on to win the X Prize in his launch that reached 69.6 miles.
Rutan is a well-known aerodynamicist who designs experimental airplanes. The Voyager is his, along with James Bondtype one-man planes and kits for those who want to build their own manned aircraft. The X Prize is similar to the Orteig Prize, established in 1927 and an impetus for Charles Lindberg's first piloted trans-Atlantic flight.
The idea of both prizes is to make manned air-and-space craft a commercial reality. To that end, Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines has signed an agreement to build vehicles that will provide commercial flights by the year 2007. The enterprise is called Virgin Galactic Airways and Rutan is one of his designers.
McNeil would love to be on one of those space flights. (A reputed $200,000 is the price tag.) Meanwhile, back on Earth, Steve Hum is the UXL Rocket Club adviser at Fisher, and one of his four teams last year placed eighth in the national rocket competition in Washington, D.C.
Some 900 schools compete initially, with the number eventually whittled down to 100. The top Fisher team won $3,000—and considerable glory. Hum teaches rocketry and ceramics at Fisher.
WINNING COMBO: Emily Leo, a diabetic nurse counselor, first met her husband, Thomas, an internist, very briefly at Community Hospital of Los Gatos where they both worked. Another nurse had asked who Dr. Leo was and Emily said she had no idea. But when a newcomer came down the hall, she jokingly said, "Here comes Dr. Leo."
When he introduced himself, "I started to laugh and left the other nurses to handle the situation." To this day the others think she knew him earlier. Two days after that fleeting meeting, however, Dr. Leo had a more leisurely introduction to his future wife when both attended a Quaker meeting.
"He made a beeline for me," she says, and reintroduced himself. The pair fell in love and married, raising their family in Los Gatos. "I bought in Los Gatos because houses were less expensive than in San Jose—can you believe that?" says the longtime nurse.
The diabetes program at Community that Emily Leo works with recently received a certificate of recognition from the American Diabetes Association, largely for classes taught there. Emily is one of the two certified diabetes educators; the certification process requires 2,000 hours of practice and a rigorous exam.
She's been at the hospital more than 25 years, managed the pediatric unit before turning to diabetes. She's also worked at diabetes camps for children. "Life is a challenge for those living with diabetes, and it gives me pleasure, gratitude and a sense of accomplishment to help people meet that challenge," she says.
DORM DEPOT: Barry Shimelfarb is a Los Gatan who started Dorm Depot, a portable-furniture line for college students. The furniture is sold strictly online via website http://www.dormdepot.com. This fall a TV show for teens about room makeovers, called Knock First, features Dorm Depot sofas on its set.
Dorm Depot products are lightweight, can be navigated through narrow hallways and stairs. There's space underneath the cushions for storage. Slipcovers are available to change the look and the furniture is described as hip and edgy. (I don't know about describing furniture as "edgy," even though sofas usually don't have hard edges. I keep bumping into those edges.)
Costume designer Lisa Peters created Diva!, a sofa with red velvet side panels, pink silk vents, and blackbead fringe. Orders have come from tattoo parlors in Las Vegas and coffee houses across the country. Prices start under $200.
IN PLEIN AIRE: Even though she had only pledged to award an exhibition to one artist, Tercera Gallery director Michele Scott is exhibiting the work of two plein air winners at her gallery—Nancy MacDonald of San Jose and Kevin Courter of Mountain View.
HOSPICE BENEFIT: A holiday boutique will be held at Masonic Hall Nov. 6, 10 a.m.5 p.m., to benefit Hospice of the Valley. Angel and Sid Rampy are the spearheads. Creative Hands craftsmen will sell jewelry, cards, hand-bound books, portrait pillows, pictures and gifts for pets.
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By Mary Ann Cook