The newest owners are Bob and Nancy Schramm. Nancy is Ed's daughter and vows to continue her father's trust--to run a small nursery with plenty of individual attention to customers. The address is 8470 Pharmer Road and the phone is 408.847.2313. Hours are Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment.

Saturdays will find the Schramms at the farmers market. Nancy assures me that their road, Pharmer, isn't someone's idea of a play on words but a bona fide family name of earlier settlers.

Ed Carman was a Los Gatos High grad, the most modest of men, who had an international reputation for being able to cultivate rare species. Growers worldwide sought his advice, and Nancy grew up helping out in the nursery.

Ed was an expert on wisteria, and he introduced kiwi into California. He was the only nurseryman in the state to be chosen by UC-Berkeley's Bancroft Library to be documented in an oral history book for his contributions to horticulture.

ARBOR DAY: This was a special Arbor Day for Los Gatos as two town beautifiers were memorialized with the planting of two more Chinese pistachios in Oak Meadow Park. Shirley Henderson and Graham Burrows were the two town treasures being commemorated.

They died within a few months of each other and were both active on the town's beautification committee. Burrow's widow, Glenda, and Henderson's daughter, Denise Harr, helped fill in the spadesful of dirt around the respective plantings.

Also spading were 32 members of the Pepper Tree Pre-School and Kindergarten. "My mother would have loved the fact that children were taking part," Denise said. "Nobody loved children like Shirley." Tim Boyer of the parks and public works department oversaw the event.

HOLLYWOOD SON: Ron and Lynn Letterman's son, Robert, was the principle writer/director of Shark's Tale, nominated for an Academy Award. He was always creative, says his mother, and always dreaming up schemes to make money. He grew up in Hawaii and put on dances and other promotional events while still in high school.

After attending USC, he directed a short animated film that was shown at Sundance and his career took off. For Shark's Tale he performed the role of script doctor, revising earlier versions. Robert comes from a family of artists: His mother paints on large 3-by-5-foot canvases, using house paint and spackle. The results are mainly realistic, but with a Middle Ages, European feel to them, she says.

Lynn's work can be seen at the Triton show "My Place at the Table," on display until May 14. It's an echo of Judy Chicago's Dinner Party piece. Lynn's studio is Alameda ArtWorks in San Jose. Ron Letterman is chairman of Classic Custom Vacations, a wholesale travel company, part of Expedia.

NIKKEI FESTIVAL: Kik and Jim Sugai are active in the Nisei VFW 9970 Post and its auxiliary. Kik is starting her second year as president of the auxiliary. The two were busy this past week in the Nikkei Festival held in Japantown in San Jose. Several blocks of Jackson Street are cordoned off for the yearly event, now in its 28th year.

It's a celebration of spring, held on the first Sunday of May. Dozens of members of Buddhist church groups and scout troops, mainly of Japanese-American descent, sponsor booths for food, crafts or information. Money raised goes to support community service projects.

KUDOS TO VOLUNTEERS: There are 500 town volunteers who contributed 40,000 hours of work last year serving on commissions at the library, the senior center and at town events. All this labor represents $1 million if the town were to pay for it, announced Mayor Mike Wasserman at the annual volunteer appreciation reception. Jim Farber was pianist at the event.

CORRECTION: The correct phone number for Los Gatos Audiology, which is offering free consultations through May, is 408.354.1312. The fax number was mistakenly given in last week's column. If only I could say I misheard it.

MUSCLE POWER: St. Mary's teen group, Welcoming All Voices, and junior high students from the religious education program will supply the muscle power behind a rummage sale to be held in the church parking lot on May 14, a benefit for the Emergency Housing Consortium. Carol Thornton is St. Mary's youth leader.

AUTHOR/SPEAKER: Lea Frey, author of Dear Voices, is the Friends of Library speaker May 13, 7 p.m., at council chambers.

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