Main Street

Terraces resident just keeps on giving

By Mary Ann Cook

CITATION: Bill DuSel has won the highest awards given nontheologians by the Baptists. He received a Presidential Citation from American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW) at the corporate meeting in Albuquerque last month for his service to the community.

DuSel, retired teacher and administrator, formerly of Saratoga, now lives at The Terraces, which is run by ABHOW. From there he volunteers as teachers aide for a third-grade class at Blossom Hill School, right next door. He also raises, in his plot at The Terraces, new breeds of lilies which he generously shares with others.

He's been known to give them to brides for their wedding bouquets. He volunteers in the horticulture class at Los Gatos High School, and he's a member of the Noteables, The Terraces' singing group that regularly entertains residents in assisted living/skilled care units.

DuSel taught English at San Jose State and was vice president of the university for 13 years during the tumultuous '60s. His first teaching assignment was at Los Gatos High School, so he's been contributing to this community for many years. He and his wife, Pauline, lived in Saratoga for 34 years.

He is also a musician of note, playing with different groups through the years, and is now a member of the Skillet Family Western Band. The Saratoga-based group plays at convalescent homes, fairs and schools.

GOOD SAMARITANS: Veteran Tom O'Donnell wants to give credit to the father and son duo that installed guard rails and grab bars in the bathrooms of his Los Gatos home recently. C.D. and Ron Mead are the good Samaritans, and they are part of a cadre of volunteer workers from Calvary Baptist Church.

O'Donnell is a disabled Vietnam vet and the materials came from the Veterans Administration. He was a paratrooper, part of the 5th Division Special Forces of the Green Berets.

ON THE TODAY SHOW: Sean Griffin, son of Norene and Rodger Griffin and a Saratoga High grad of 15 years ago, was on the Today Show with Katie Couric recently, thanks to the website he designed called howdydoodytime.com.

It's part of the Virtual Amusement Park listings for Planet FX.com. "Sean was always very creative and has a love of nostalgia," says his mother, in explaining the Howdy Doody phenomenon, a show that was far before his time. Sean's company is Studio FX in San Jose.

His dad is a longtime Los Gatos Rotary Club member, whose architectural design firm is Paragon Design in Los Gatos.

NATIONAL CHAMP: Another Los Gatos Rotarian making news is Ned Mansfield. At 81 he continues to rack up tennis titles. This year he won the 80 doubles in a national tournament in Palm Springs where 630 people were entered.

This past year he's come in second in two other national tournaments. Mansfield is ranked No. 1 in doubles in Northern California in his age division and No. 1 or 2 in singles. (The rankings are due to come out soon.) His national ranking is 9 or 10, but he's not sure which. He plays in the 75-year-old division, as well as the 80.

Mansfield plays tennis four times a week regularly with fellow Los Gatos Rotarian Dr. John Colwell. Mansfield's former Los Gatos business was El Gato Medical Supplies, at Good Samaritan Drive and Bascom. It's now part of Highway 85. On the days he doesn't play tennis he plays golf.

His wife is no sports slouch, either. She's a league tennis player in the B division and has played club tennis for years. The Mansfields take a monthlong vacation that is centered around tennis--watching and playing.

RIDING HIGH: Youth Science Institute (YSI) just received a federal grant for $277,500, bringing their fundraising campaign total to $740,000. The news means they can really get going on their building plans. They've hired an architectural firm, Ahearn and Kwock, and are looking at bids from exhibit designers.

Director Anne Dunham credited Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren for support in getting the grant and Congressman Tom Campbell, as well.

The goal is $1.2 million for the expansion that will double their current space at Vasona Park and serve 24,000 more youngsters per year. Meanwhile, they're holding open houses to acquaint more people with their programs and, they hope, raise funds.

The next event is a wine tasting on March 18 at the condominiums at Rinconada Hills Clubhouse from 4 to 7 p.m. Mary Sanders is hostess. Other volunteers who put these events together are Jennie Magid, Janice Bastiani, Nancy Valby, Carol Sabatino and Milli Wright.

Magid, Bastiani and Sanders live in Los Gatos. Wine glasses come from the Thrift and Gift Shop on Alum Rock, the shop that benefits YSI.

CREATIVE TYPE: Enter the Guardsman, a musical composed by Los Gatan Craig Bohmler, will be in San Jose Rep's lineup for the 2000-2001 season. Last year Opera San Jose premiered Bohmler's The Tale of the Nutcracker.

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