THE young Marine from Los Gatos, Erich Pichler, who suffered a head injury in an automobile accident near Yuma, Ariz., was still in a coma last week but is doing somewhat better, according to his family. Erich's father, Arthur Pichler, of Redwood Estates, said the response of the Los Gatos community to the family's need for assistance has been "overwhelming." For example, the students at Fisher Middle School donated $1,600 in two days after hearing an announcement on the public address system. Art Pichler and his wife, Josette, faced extra expenses, traveling to and from a Phoenix hospital.
The U.S. Navy has relocated Erich closer to home in a small 25-room hospital farther up the Peninsula, where a doctor specializes in this type of case, his father said.
"There were many letters even from people we didn't know," Art Pichler said. "We averaged 20 to 30 calls a day on our answering machine inquiring about Erich." Church members offered prayers; former classmates from Los Gatos High School phoned and "friends of friends" called or donated.
The accident occurred last Oct. 6 as Erich and two other Marines were returning to their base. The driver apparently lost control. "Erich has damage to the top part of his brain, but there were no broken bones, cuts or bad bruises," his father said. "We wait every day for Erich to wake from his deep coma. His eyes open a lot and begin to track left and right. He reacted to the sound of a hand clap. These little signs mean much to us and to the doctors, who believe he will awaken soon."
A Friends of Erich Trust Fund was established at Great Western Bank, care of Heidi Hoefler.
SENIORS, by the way, who need tax advice can get it free starting Feb. 1 at either the Family Service program at the Los Gatos Neighborhood Center, 208 E. Main St., or at Great Western Bank, 449 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Phone 354-1514 to schedule an appointment at Family Service from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays, or for Tuesdays, during the same hours, at the bank.
EDNARAY Pagoda Restaurant, 406 N. Santa Cruz Ave., closed after a fire last year, is scheduled to open under new management in February.
THE SITE manager at Live Oak Senior Nutrition and Service Center, Eleanor Vora, was naturally delighted at news that the center, which serves seniors with daily lunches, will receive at least $50,000 from the will of the late Harriet Webley Mesenburg of Los Gatos. "It will enable us to expand our outreach program and serve more low-income seniors and serve more meals-on-wheels to the homebound," Vora said. Though it's up to the board of directors to decide how the bequest will be handled, Vora was confident the principal will be invested and use made of the interest, as the museum is doing with its recent inheritances.
Vora mentioned that Mesenburg, who lived the last years of her life alone in her house on Arnerich Road, was herself the recipient of the meals-on-wheels program for about seven years. "This is a wonderful gift for us," Vora said. "We hope it will inspire others to arrange similar bequests for the Nutrition Center. Some people think we are entirely funded by the government, but it's not so." The Live Oak center serves balanced meals to seniors at noon five days a week.
A COLOR photograph of a horse vaulting team in Saratoga made Eric Jewett of Los Gatos one of the 100 winners in Parade Magazine's Champions '96 Photography Contest, co-sponsored by Eastman Kodak. Jewett's striking picture, which appeared in the Dec. 8 issue of Parade, showed three members of the Woodside Vaulters, the '95 and '96 U. S. team champions, in the Spring Classic at the Garrod Farms in Saratoga. Jewett, an engineer with Lockheed Martin Advanced Technological Center, took a $100 cash prize, plus a $200 fee for having the photograph in the magazine.
Jewett used a Chinon camera and Kodak film to catch Aleta Kotecki, 17, of Santa Cruz; Jessie Fruman, 18, of Lafayette; and 11-year-old Jackie Bors of Woodside in a spectacular stance as the three rode the horse Toby in a circus style.
FOR Laurel Leonetti, 16, a Los Gatos High School junior who enjoys playing the drums, there was a training session every Saturday for nine weeks last October at "Rock the Weekend" in Morgan Hill and a chance to handle the sticks with a variety of rock bands. The event, co-sponsored by The Music Tree and Hillview Recording Studio, gives young musicians a chance to play with more experienced band members. Laurel, daughter of Jock and Leslie Leonetti of Los Gatos, plans to enroll in "Rock the Weekend II" Jan. 18.
ARTIST Bruni Sablan, who is more at home with the likes of Duke Ellington or Dizzy Gillespie, painted a fine portrait of this scribe for a forthcoming book from Metro Newspapers of my columns and articles. I suspect, though, it could turn out to be The Picture of Dorian Gray, looking older as year by year I grow younger. (So who am I fooling?)
LOS GATOS History Club, honored as Grand Marshal, was represented in the 1996 Christmas Parade by longtime members Marcella Starry and Thelma Rhinelander. The club will be holding a Centennial Open House Jan. 22, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., celebrating its 100 years in the community. Among the invitees are students from Van Meter School. Louise Van Meter was an active member. Among others asked to attend the open house are representatives of Los Gatos High School, which the club has aided with gifts and scholarships.
The History Club holds its annual rummage sale March 5-6 and is asking for clothing and closet items people no longer need. Bring them to the clubhouse, 123 Los Gatos Blvd.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 8, 1997.
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