Main Street

Ninety-year-old gets around in a classic convertible

By Mary Ann Cook

NONAGENARIAN : Audree Sheehan turned a cool 90 last week and the occasion was marked with a bus trip to Las Vegas with friends, and then a surprise party given by her family on her return. You've probably seen M. Sheehan tooling around town in her classic '67 Cadillac convertible.

Or you may have seen her at Good Sam, where she has worked as a volunteer for 21 years, delivering flowers, wheeling wheelchair patients to their cars upon discharge, or running errands for doctors and nurses. A group of volunteers from the hospital treated her to a birthday luncheon earlier.

Or maybe you knew her before she retired, when she worked for various Los Gatos physicians, such as Drs. McGrath and Van Ooy. Her husband Frank Sheehan, a TV syndication executive, died in 1995. Their son, Kelly Sheehan, is vice president of sales for Nobel Biocare USA and lives in Orange County.

His wife, Susan Sheehan, is a marriage and family counselor. Audree Sheehan has two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Grandson Mike, our informant, says his grandmother recently took up painting "and has really gotten good." Besides that, she loves walking and swimming.

Don't you love the word for those in their 90s--nonagenarian. I realize it's derived from the Latin for nine, but still, it seems to imply agelessness. Seems appropriate for someone zipping around town in a jazzy convertible.

OSCAR PARTY: Sounds like the Oscar for Oscar-throwing parties should go to Los Gatans Daved Garza and Bill Canum. They've been sponsoring these bashes for 10 years and they go all out--setting a theme, decorating their house to a fare-thee well, and renting furniture in keeping with the theme.

Guests dressed a la '30s and '40s costuming, and entered the house on red carpeting and stepping through a giant Brown Derby constructed by Garza. The dining room was transformed into that famed eatery/nightclub with an art deco mural and Hirschfield-type cartoons of stars on the walls.

The menu: Crouching hen with Tiger sauce, Almost Famous saffron rice, Gladiator braised spears (asparagus spears, that is) and Chocolat sorbet. Guests submitted their own ballots and the winner(s) split the kitty, which could add up to $300. The winners were John Leet, Erik Vogelgasang and Karra Canum, who split the kitty.

XTREME BOWLING: Some $30,000 was raised for Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Santa Clara County on a recent Saturday at the Saratoga Lanes Bowling alley. Bowl for Kids' Sake brought forth some 200 bowlers. The event is called Xtreme Bowling, because the alley is transformed into a darkened, Halloween atmosphere.

These bowlers go cosmic what with blinking disco balls, glowing black lights, flashing colored lights and rock 'n' roll in the background. By collecting sponsors the bowlers raised $25,700. Corporate matching donations are expected to swell the coffers to $35,000.

Bowling for Kids has been a fundraising effort for some 20 years in this county. Two two-hour sessions filled more than 20 lanes with teams of four to five bowlers. Said first-timer Logan Deimler of Saratoga, "My wife (Carole Amos) and I had so much fun we're looking forward to next year."

For more on Big Brothers-Big Sisters, the contact is Howard Guss, development associate, at 408.244.1496. Some bowlers told Guss they rack up better scores in the darkened alley because they concentrate more. These are not dedicated bowlers, for the most part, but people who play but seldom.

COSBY AT CHARITY BALL: Comedian Bill Cosby will be the star entertainer at the Silicon Valley Charity Ball to be held on April 21, at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. Irresistibly Italy is the theme. Sponsors are hoping to reach their goal of $1.5 million for the fundraiser.

Some 61 nonprofit agencies in the valley will be the beneficiaries. The evening will include dining and dancing, with music provided by Bill Hopkins Rockn' Orchestra and the Dueling Pianos. Emcees for the gala are Terilyn Joe and Allen Denton of Channel 11 news.

The ruins of Rome, gondolas on the canals of Venice, a crowded piazza and an Italian trattoria will all be replicated in different sections of the convention center. For reservations and information, call 408.260.0594, or email at Joyce@svcb.org.

ACADEMIC DECATHLON: The St. Mary's team came in second in the academic decathlon held last month, competing against 28 other schools in the diocese. Team members were sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

TOP 'O THE HEAP: Bryan Giese-Gardner of Los Gatos racked up a perfect 4.0 grade-point average for the fall quarter at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

DAFFODIL DAZE: If you need a reminder that spring is indeed here, think in terms of daffodils. Some carry out the daffodil theme more fully than others. For example, Patti and Bill Hughes' spread up in the Santa Cruz hills. They've got 2,000 of the bulbs ablaze--in all different varieties, what with Patti being a landscape gardener and all.

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