Main Street

Wealth manager throws party to aid homeless

By Mary Ann Cook

GIVING BACK: Los Gatan Leslie Pederson's occupation is "wealth manager." She's dedicated to giving back to the community. With that end in mind she's collecting for the homeless by staging an event at the Opera House Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.

Price of admission is a blanket or clothing to be donated to the homeless. Pederson will be footing the bill for the food and drink for the evening. Attire, says the hostess, is "a simple style of elegance." She asks that reservations be emailed to her at wealthmanagement@msn.com.

REINDEER: Operation Reindeer, a joint venture of the Silicon Valley Area Realtors Association, the Red Cross, Fisher school students and third-graders at Blossom Hill, made a difference to more than 200 people this past holiday season.

Holiday baskets with scrips for perishable food, toiletries, school supplies and toys were delivered before the holidays. The schoolchildren involved contributed toys. June Sythe was coordinator of Operation Reindeer; Don Newhall was the Red Cross chairman. Those on the committee say it makes their holiday.

TO LIBRARY: Another who gave during the season is Jason Farwell, owner of Stovie's Pasta & Pizzeria, 206 N. Santa Cruz Ave. He staged a fundraiser on the day of the Children's Christmas and Holiday Parade and collected $500 for the library. The money will be used, at his request, for new materials for children. A bounce house, dunk tank and face painting were all part of the action, too.

FLIRTERS BALL: Lynda Evjen of Los Gatos will co-chair the Flirters Ball Feb. 8 at the Capital Club in San Jose with Sandi Conniff. The ball is sponsored by VIA Rehabilitation Services and money raised will go toward Camp Costanoan and First Step Early Intervention Program for infants and toddlers.

Both services are set up to help disabled children. Los Gatos chefs will be spotlighted: Gary and Vickie Messick of Tapestry will prepare the main course. Jim Stump, of A.P. Stumps and Los Gatos Brewing Co., will also command the pots and pans to create another course. Other locals will wield a whisk, too, and Joe Sharino's band will play. Cost is $150. For more information, call 408.243.7861.

BYE, BYE BLACKBIRD: That's the old song title, but locals are more apt to be singing, "Hello, Black Birds, Hello." Noticed the proliferation this season? I asked local bird guru Jean Dubois if he could explain the population explosion. "Those are crows," he said, first off.

But he didn't know why the upsurge, other than there must be plenty of food around. But he did clear up the nomenclature: Crows and ravens are birds that are black, but are not blackbirds. They're bigger than blackbirds, and ravens are bigger than crows.

Ravens have a rounded tail, and a crow's tail is squared. Blackbirds found here are the Brewers blackbird, smaller than a robin, and the red-tailed blackbird, often spotted at Vasona. Another bird one can spy there is an osprey. (Called an osprey, but actually a fishhawk, according to Dubois.)

This bird has taken up residence overlooking Vasona for the past couple of years from October to April. Usually those birds don't linger in these parts, but this one has become a bona fide Los Gatan. It can be spotted from University Avenue near Villa Felice.

CRAB FEED: The Los Gatos Rotary Club hosts its annual crab feed Feb. 2 at St. Mary's Church. Time is 5-7 p.m. for families with children; 7-8:30 p.m. for adults; live auction at 9 p.m.; silent auction closings at 7 and 8:45 p.m. Cost is $30 for adults, $15 for children 12 and under.

VEG FAIR: Los Gatan Colleen Holland is coordinating the first ever Veg Fair on Feb. 9, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Holland is founder/editor of Veg News, the largest (100,000 circulation) vegetarian publication in the United States. The idea is to introduce meat eaters to tasty, healthy vegetarian foods, says publicist Ronald Schmidt.

WISH GRANTED: Vera Hostov, who lives at Villa Vasona, has a herniated disc, uses a walker, and is in her 80s. A native of Russia, she's an avid reader, but can't comfortably sit in a chair for very long. She was hoping a gadget called Sacroease, which fits in a chair, would help her condition.

Los Gatos Senior Coordinator Linda Gallo, hearing of this wish, wrote it up for the San Jose Mercury-News Holiday Wish List this past season. Generous readers responded with $475, which meant that besides the Sacroease, which costs $215, there was money left over for clothes and other items.

Gallo and case manager Shannon Phalen bought the gadget last week. And later Phalen took Hostov to Target, where she used the remaining money for cotton clothing and magazine subscriptions. Hostov reports the Sacroease has made a decided difference.

She takes it with her wherever she goes--to ESL classes, for one. She was also given a lift chair by a Los Gatan who read about her back condition and had a back-saving chair to give. This chair, similar to a recliner, lifts the sitter to an upright position so it's easier to get out of the chair.

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