Main Street

Community Health Library is one of town's treasures

By Mary Ann Cook

HIDDEN RESOURCE: One of the best health information resources around is the Community Health Library of Los Gatos located at the Community Hospital of Los Gatos but not affiliated with the hospital. And not many people seem to be aware of it, so tucked away is it. But since such treasures should be public knowledge, consider yourselves newly reminded of this service.

One Saratogan who volunteers there is Ivan Fawley. He serves a weekly stint and reports that fibromyalgia is the condition most asked about these days. Fawley helps people find their way through the labyrinth of the Internet to research answers to questions.

Los Gatans who help out are Dolly Krumm and Mae Olson. There are books, magazines and a computer--dispensing information about several hundred diseases. Mike Liddicoat is the librarian and he's also chairman of CHIP (Consortium of Health Information Providers).

He is as up-to-date as anyone can be and able to access the latest information from other area libraries.

The hospital library hours are expanding; volunteer help is needed alternate Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or alternate Thursdays, 6-9 p.m.

TEA FOR HOMELESS: The AAUW Committee on Homeless Women and Children will host a benefit tea/silent auction March 4 starting at 12:45 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church, Saratoga. Tea will be served at 2 p.m. The theme is All Dolled Up and work by Saratogan Edith Jones will decorate the room.

Jones is a photo-sculptor who fashions poster-sized photos of people mounted on wooden standards. In this case the people will be committee members' children or grandchildren. The posters can stand alone or can be hung.

Co-chairwomen for the tea are Nancy Anderson and JoAn Lambert. Decorations chairwoman is Nancy Shelly. Chairwomen of the committee are Melva Vollersen and Penny Sink.

Handmade dolls from Mexico will decorate the tables. The handicrafts were made by women learning new skills to help support themselves and their families. The church-sponsored cottage industry of doll making has allowed some of the women to move from cardboard houses in Tijuana to cement houses. The dolls are a reflection of the committee's work. They were donated by Jean Knofler and will be for sale for $20.

Music from "The Boyfriend," the upcoming production of Valley Light Opera, will provide entertainment. Proceeds from the tea benefit clients of the Georgia Travis Center, InnVision and San Jose Family Shelter. Benefit tickets are $20 from Jackie Anderson, 408.867.0108.

SPEECH WINNERS: Winners of the Lion's student speech contest were Ailinh Tran, first; Sean Catanese, second; and Albert Wu, third. All are students of Los Gatos High School teacher Sharon Smith. The subject was "Community Service: Who Will Be Responsible in the Next Century?"

This is the 63rd annual: What a different world was 1937. Has there ever been a reunion of winners? Judges were Steve Blanton, mayor; Dale Bryant, editor of The Los Gatos Weekly-Times; and Brad Bosomworth, Los Gatos trial lawyer.

In other Lions' news, the club netted a robust $13,000 from its recent cioppino feed--sounds like a lot o' clams.

FASHION SHOW: Last year's fashion show sponsored by the San Jose Historical Society was so popular that the Los Gatos Business and Professional Women decided to stick with an historical motif. This year's show will be "Fashions of Yesterday," presented by Goodwill Industries with authentic fashions from 1860 to 1950.

The event will be held March 11 at the Toll House, starting at 11 a.m., with lunch at ll:30 a.m. It's a benefit for the group's scholarship fund. The price is $27. Call 408.947.0348 for information and tickets.

EXPLORATION: Across the Top of the World: The Quest for the Northwest Passage by James Delgado has just been published. His father and stepmother are Los Gatans Bob and Lynn Delgado. Bob is a retired San Jose fire captain and Lynn is a judge.

James directs the Vancouver Maritime Museum. He has served as maritime historian for the National Park Service and headed the U.S. maritime preservation program.

The search for a route to cut through the frozen north to link Atlantic and Pacific is a tale of heroism, drama and tragedy.

AUTHORS: Three widely disparate authors spoke at the recent AAUW scholarship fundraiser. Glenda Burgess wrote Loose Threads to investigate how to change life directions. What makes us happy, she says, is the degree to which we've accomplished our individual purpose in life.

Laurel Doud was raising two teens and holding down four jobs. A really bad week prompted her to write This Body. She imagined coming back to life in the body of a young, drug-addicted woman. Though based on transmigration, This Body is "really about family life."

Lora Roberts and her heroine live in Palo Alto. The difference is that Roberts doesn't live in a VW van when she solves mysteries. She delights in being goddess of a fictional Palo Alto. "I get to kill off Realtors," she says with a grin.

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