WITH the temperature at 32 degrees, the coldest Jan. 1 in London in nearly 20 years, Los Gatos Marching Band members warmed the hearts of Londoners as they took part in the British capital's annual New Year's Day Parade. Spectators broke their British reserve to cheer and clap as the band, having passed Big Ben and Parliament, swung through Westminster and crowded streets, led by director Judy Bingman and drum major Andrea Schaefer. Though I didn't get to London I was "there" by way of a 45-minute video made by Ron Fink, who journeyed there with his wife, Linda; son Scott is a band drummer.
Fink's tape glimpses some other entries in the parade but mainly focuses on the band from home. "You looked marvelous," one woman told band members as they were boarding their bus at the end of the parade. Another woman came by and said, "You were wonderful." That would warm any musician's heart on a freezing day.
Fink is the longtime manager of the oldest business in Los Gatos, the Macabee Gopher Trap Co. on Loma Alta, founded in 1894.
IN a last-ditch effort to try to prevent the Old Town Theater from being converted to a retail shop, Los Gatos theater enthusiasts have been circulating a petition, hoping to gather enough signatures to call for repeal of Ordinance 2025, permitting retail use in the former school auditorium..
THE Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire Team was minus its rescue truck and lifesaving equipment last week after a fire of unknown origin destroyed its frame station on Old Summit Road during the night of Jan. 3. The fire was discovered about 10 p.m., but the building was a loss by the time firefighters arrived.
"The building wasn't worth much. One engine and our rescue truck, plus our tools and equipment like the jaws of life, were the real loss," said Guy Denues, an architect who is one of the 30 volunteers. The team gets between 250 and 300 calls in a year, of which 75 to 80 are for rescue operations, including accidents on Highway 17, Denues said. Cause of the blaze was being investigated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Meantime, an engine was loaned from Santa Cruz County.
A MEXICAN child of 4 named Abigail, who lives in a poor village in Baja Norte and is in need of a hernia operation, hasn't been forgotten by the Flying Doctors. "We have a nurse in San Diego who checks on her regularly," said volunteer pilot Don Wolf, who with his wife, Anita, was planning another flight to Zorillo, where Abigail lives. The Flying Doctors hadn't yet decided whether to obtain a surgeon from Mexico to treat her or wait for an available surgeon from the Bay Area. "Her condition must be taken care of or she will die, but it isn't immediately urgent," Wolf said.
DOES it pay to go out of your way to do a good deed? One would like to think so, but Maureen Conlin wonders if she'll stop next time she sees a dropped package. Conlin, owner of Los Gatos Travel, was driving on Shannon Road with her husband, Jay, when they spotted an Airborne Express package and retrieved it. The package was destined for Eastridge (what it was doing in Los Gatos was a mystery). Inside were two diamond rings, one with a label that said it was worth $10,000. The other ring was evidently being shipped for repair. Conlin spent six days making phone calls and getting nowhere. She had found a list of numbers that apparently identified jewelry stores and finally traced the shipment to Crescent Jewelers of Oakland. Someone there was finally able to identify the contents and recovered the rings.
PAUL ARENSON, who lives on Massol Avenue, hasn't lost his interest in flying since he was a P-51 pilot in World War II. Arenson is squadron leader of the Golden Gate Squadron of the Confederate Air Force, a nationwide nonprofit group that maintains the world's biggest collection of flying aircraft from that war. The Golden Gate Squadron meets monthly at the Officers Club at Oakland Airport.
The "Confederate" label began as a gag when it was painted on the tail of a crop-dusting P-40 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. "The name stuck," says Arenson. Each year the Confederate Air Force stages an air show in Midland, Texas, with what he describes as a "breathtaking display" of WWII aircraft. This year's show featured the Blue Angels.
The Golden Gate Squadron maintains one vintage plane, a U. S. Navy SNJ-5. Arenson flew the low-wing, single-engine plane to the 1996 air show. "The trip to and from was astonishing," he said. "Everywhere I landed, people appeared as if by magic to see this old airplane. It made me realize how important that period of time was in the lives of many of us."
During WWII, Arenson was slated to head for Okinawa when word came that the Japanese had surrendered the island. The rest of his service was spent in stateside training.
The Golden Gate Squadron has 125 members who meet the fourth Thursday of each month. "Currently we're negotiating to move our squadron to the Alameda Naval Air Station." They hope to bring to the Bay Area an air show similar to the one in Texas.
LEE DAUSTER'S deep bass resonated in a reading of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" as the Los Gatos Rotary Club enjoyed its talent show. While he was at it, Dauster related another Robert W. Service epic, "The Cremation of Sam Magee." Bill Johnson played the violin and told jokes, and Len Overholser offered a song and dance. Leo Kramer was the show's "Ed Sullivan."
AT the Los Gatos Kiwanis Club, Ben Nerenberg, honored for his 50 years as a member, presented a demonstration of three-dimensional photography.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 15, 1997.
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