GRIST, GUMPTION, GENIUS: A roundtable discussion Jan. 27 called "Why Didn't I Think of That? Meet the People Who Did," will be held in town council chambers Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. Such visionaries as Ira Spector, Dudley Warner, Geoff Lee, Charles Walton, Steve Wozniak, Al Alcorn and Rick Tharp are the panelists.
After the roundtable discussion there will be a reception at the History Museum and guests can ogle the exhibit, called "Grist, Gumption & Genius," exploring the many inventions that began or were nurtured in Los Gatos. The imaginative display runs through April 24.
In the exhibit are The Pet Rock; the original Apple Computer; Pong, the granddaddy of all video games; and historic LG inventions such as the Macabee Gopher trap, still selling briskly after more than a century, and the John Bean Sprayer, forerunner of FMC. Curator of this fascinating show is Jade Bradbury.
ART ACHIEVERS: Lydia Denola Mednick and Lorri Scott are two Los Gatos artists who will be honored at the American Pen Women's Celebrity Recognition luncheon Jan. 5 at the San Jose Elks Club. The annual fundraiser recognizes women achievers in the arts.
Also recognized in the category of art is Susan Terry of Sunnyvale. In letters, those to be honored are Mary Miller Chiao of San Jose and Julie Berry of Campbell; in music, Emily Ray of San Jose and Dr. Sondra Clark of Los Altos.
Pen Women's national president, Anna Di Bella of Washington D.C., will read from her poetry at the luncheon. Di Bella gives poetry workshops. Other entertainment will be provided by club members and includes ventriloquist Carol Greene, singer Susan Zerwick and writers Louise Webb and Vallie Chan.
Chan will read her haiku and Nancy Bloomer Deussen will play the piano. The Reverend Dwight Kintner will give the invocation and Michelle Gabriel will introduce the achievers. Contact number is 408.238.2340 for reservations. Checks for $30 can be sent to Sha Ron Haugen, 2156 Snowbank Court, San Jose 95135 by Jan. 26.
ART AWARDS: Cray Foley won the Los Gatos Art Association's People's Choice Award for his oil, "The Hills of Rancho San Antonio." He received a $100 gift certificate donated from University Arts.
The Artist of the Year Award from the LGAA went to Annie Olander for winning the most ribbons for work brought to the Peer Jurying competition at each general meeting of the club.
LGHS ALUMS MEET: The LGHS Alumni Association will hold a wine and cheese gathering at Los Gatos Lodge on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to meet and greet former Wildcats and discuss upcoming projects the association is planning.
New co-presidents are Dan Pinschmidt, '69, and Chris Miller, '99. New treasurer is Zoe Matlock, '83. Other officers are Sandy Paulson Moore, past president; Toni Blackstock, newsletter editor; Bonnie Knopf, liaison to the high school; Margaret Hokeness, secretary; and Shirley Corbett, scholarship chairman.
Upcoming projects include a Faculty Art Show featuring the work of William Cunningham; scheduled alumni luncheons; and the annual All-Alumni Weekend. Maintaining the database of more than 15,000 former students to facilitate reunions is an ongoing project.
CULTIVATING INNER GARDENS: Los Gatan Diane Dreher, author of Inner Gardening, will be the Friends Friday Forum speaker Jan. 28. Dreher's book gives practical tips on gardening as well as principles designed to cultivate a greater joy in life.
Dreher teaches creative writing and Renaissance literature at Santa Clara U. She is the author of The Tao of Inner Peace, The Tao of Womanhood and The Tao of Personal Leadership and conducts workshops on personal growth.
The program starts at 7 p.m. for a book signing; Dreher's talk is at 7:30 p.m. in town council chambers. Friends of Los Gatos Library is the sponsor.
DEFINING NAME TAGS: One way to get the conversational ball rolling at a gathering where guests may not all know each other is to have them write offbeat, skewed definitions of themselves. That was the tack that Monte Sereno Mayor Curtis Wright and his wife, Jeanine Bugh, took at their annual holiday party.
The name tags were used as a veil to evade detection in some cases, such as Thomas Kinkade's. He wrote "bouncer" on his tag. (Though he did wear a beret, which should have been a tip-off.) Retired surgeon John Colwell wrote "Committee Chairman to Recall the Mayor" on his badge.
Mary Martin put "re-doing kitchen" on her i.d., which may have been the most evocative of all: produced an outporing of horror stories from many others. Mayors were in plentiful supply: Wright was Lord of the Manor, and then there was Mike Wasserman, Los Gatos; and Kathleen King, Saratoga.
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By Mary Ann Cook