ONETIME Los Gatos mayor (1970-71) and retired dentist Charles (Chuck) DeFreitas was responsible for "rescuing" the San Jose Garden City Chorus, the barbershop-harmony organization that gave a benefit concert for the Los Gatos High School Marching Band in April. According to Eliot Wirt of San Jose, a longtime member, the chorus was nearly disbanded back in 1959, after a concert at the old Civic Auditorium lost money. "Chuck kept writing letters to anybody who'd ever been connected with the group, telling them what a wonderful bunch it was and how much fun," said "El" Wirt. "This brought back a lot of supporters.
"Then, a few months later, Chuck organized another concert at the same auditorium, and this time it was very successful."
From then on, Garden City has gone on to win many awards, to be cited as the top barbershop group in Northern California, and to give well-received shows at Flint Center in Cupertino. The chorus also helps school music departments raise funds, as it did for Los Gatos High. Chuck and Wilma DeFreitas now live in Paradise, Calif. They subscribe to the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and must have been surprised to read here that they reside in "Pleasanton." Sorry about that.
THE EXHIBIT of photos of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, which has drawn some good attendance at Forbes Mill Museum, closes April 28. Beginning May 3, there will be an exhibit of Los Gatos photographs, artifacts, paintings of local buildings and some history accounts, gathered by curator Mary Foster.
SOMETHNG different was on stage at the high school auditorium for the season's third Community Concert April 21, as the Mexican group Khenany performed on guitars and various wind and percussion instruments from South America, with emphasis on music from Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Just to show they could, they played some familiar North American tunes. Final concert of the 1995-96 season is May 12 with guitarist Terrence Farrell. (Hey, thanks for the plug for the Weekly-Times and yours truly in the concert program!)
It would be nice to see more young people take advantage of student prices for these entertaining concerts. Phone Ruth Capps, 356-7268, for information.
AN AWARD from the American Bible Society was presented to Earl Bowen of Los Gatos during April 20 services at the Los Gatos Seventh-day Adventist Church. For the past nine years, Bowen, a retired teacher, has had the society's booth, sponsored by the church, at the Santa Clara County Fair.
WITH or without a dog, you are invited to take part in the 10th annual Walk-a-Dog-a-Thon May 11 at Vasona Lake Park, from 9 a.m. to noon. Persons collecting the most pledge money in the fundraiser for the Lions Club Blind Center will get a vacation for two in Los Cabos, Baja California (three nights and air fare.) Among other prizes, second top pledger gets a trip to Hawaii or anywhere SunTrips flies. Phone 295-4016.
THEY'LL be together again, Dick and Tom Smothers, May 10 at Flint Center for the Timpany Center Awards honoring children and adults who live with disabilities. The 8 p.m. program, "A Celebration of Courage," has tickets for sale at Timpany Center, 295-0228, or at Flint Center, 864-8816.
LIVE OAK Adult Day Services offices at 19 High School Court have a brighter appearance after volunteers from Silicon Valley corporations spent a day painting. They were among some 150 community projects organized by CHARITECH, an organization formed to encourage corporate service to community projects. "They worked hard from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.," says Pernilla Holmdahl, LOADS program director.
A RECEPTION for the Los Gatos Art Association's Open Juried Show will take place May 4 at the Los Gatos Museum from 1 to 4 p.m., when prize winners will be announced. The exhibit will be open from May 2 to June 1.
THE BOY who wouldn't grow up will fly again, cavorting with Captain Hook and Tiger Lilly in a musical production of Peter Pan by the Loma Prieta Community Foundation Theater in the Mountains, scheduled to open May 17 at 7:30 p.m. There'll be six performances at the Loma Prieta Community Center, 23800 Summit Road. Colette Froehlich, a C. T. English seventh-grader, plays Peter. Tickets may be ordered from the Recreation Program office, 353-2834.
TWO Los Gatos artists will be showing their work in a San Francisco multimedia exhibit called "Visions of Homelessness" from May 11 to June 22 at Iguana Galleries, 536 Pacific Ave. Sculptor Janet Fullmer Bajorek builds clay-slab human figures covered with stains or glazes. M. J. Orcutt, recently here from New York, made a quilt of newspapers and discarded objects of the homeless. "And there, but for the grace of God, go I! " she says in a poem audiotaped for the exhibit.
"DEEP PURPLE," played by Al Donahue and his orchestra, wouldn't ring a bell with the younger listeners. That's one of the discs in Rotarian Sam Burtchaell's record collection. His was one of the hobbies Los Gatos Rotary Club had on view for its annual Hobby Day. Hobbies ranged from Rodger Griffin's Hopalong Cassidy collection to Lee Overholser's cribbage-scorekeeping devices. (There's a connection there; cowboys used these on the trail); Allan Blaine's model trains, Jim Lyon's dancer dolls from around the world and Lew Merrill's remote-control steamship were hardly eclipsed by Don McCleve's space photography with a high-power telescope.
The Rotarians recently heard a talk by one of 600 volunteers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Dave Zelles told of a new unmanned submarine that will be able to make discoveries two miles below the surface of Monterey Bay.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, May 1, 1996.
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