Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Our Town

Bob Aldrich

Emerson Shaw scholarship fund for student trip grows to $24,000

THE scholarship fund that Emerson Shaw founded to enable Los Gatos High School students to visit Washington, D.C., for a week has grown to $24,000, Assistant Principal Patti Hughes reports. There will be six young people from LGHS who will drop in on the nation's capital June 14. In addition, Saratoga High has begun its own fund for the same purpose, and some 28 students will be seeing Washington this summer.

SURPRISE visitor: Dana Bottenhagen, Los Gatos investment adviser for Edward Jones & Co., 101 Church St., was consulting with a client at about 1 p.m. May 13 when they heard rustling in the tiles overhead. "I assumed it was birds," Bottenhagen said. Suddenly a live raccoon plunged through the ceiling tiles. The animal clung to the tiles without dropping. The 30-pound animal was later trapped. Pest control inspectors found there were three baby raccoons, too. "This building, once the town jail, may be more than100 years old," Bottenhagen said.

ANGEL Cheng, a 17-year-old graduating senior at LGHS, has established an outstanding record for school and community service. Now the Saratoga resident is looking forward eagerly to an opportunity to travel to China this July and August to the People-to-People U.S.-China Youth Summit.

The purpose of the student ambassador program begun by President Eisenhower in 1956 is to educate future leaders in international affairs.

Angel is in need of financial help for the trip to Los Angeles, Beijing and Shanghai and is soliciting aid from companies and individuals. "I strongly believe this experience will be invaluable in terms of my continued learning," she said.

Among her many activities, she has worked with CASA against student drug use. Her community involvement led to her selection as a Whistle Blower at the annual Children's Christmas and Holiday Parade. To help with the $3,700 cost of her trip, mail checks payable to Mendy Cheng (Angel's mother), 19791 Merribrook Dr., Saratoga, 95070, by May 31.

IT WAS A surprise to Suzanne Boddington of Los Gatos, owner of the Sugeo Beauty Salon in Campbell, when she was chosen to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show May 14. She was flown to Los Angeles to take part in a program featuring Tina Turner and an "over 50" theme. Boddington, 56, was picked for the show after one of her employees mailed Winfrey a letter about her.

THE Los Gatos Weekly-Times and The Terraces invite the public to the Seniors of Distinction Awards May 23, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the Glenn Rouse Assembly Hall at The Terraces of Los Gatos, 800 Blossom Hill Road. Los Gatos Mayor Joanne Benjamin will present the awards. For reservations call Pamela Bancroft, 356-1006, ext. 157.

COUNT among those doing good in a beleaguered world members of Los Gatos United Methodist Church involved in construction of a black Baptist Church in Georgia, whose sanctuary was burned. Working in a rural area north of Savannah were Ray Cobb, Chuck Bull, Stan Tenold, Marvin Curtis, Karen Weber, Bob Fyock, former Los Gatos mayor Chuck DeFreitas (now of Paradise) and the Rev. David Wolf, who coordinates volunteer teams. Almaden and Los Altos United Methodists also took part.

LIONS CLUB members are proud that longtime Lion Brother Norbert Korte was named Lion of the Year by a district convention in Sacramento, and that the local club was named Club of the Year. The district convention includes Lions in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties, embracing more than 50 Lions clubs. Some 25 Los Gatos Lions attended the convention.

THE American Cancer Society's Discovery Shop at 39 E. Main St. is getting help from a group of LGHS students who made bag drops. People receiving the bags are asked to fill them with "any bric-a-brac and clothing that has become closet clutter." School chapter members of the California Scholarship Federation participating are Stephanie Eichelberger, Mindy Roberts, Jenni Bailey, Yana Glotser, Christine Cordes, Tomas Lopez, Chiara Grabill, Chris Park, Chris Herr, Ryan O'Leary, David Aidi, Carrie Walsh and Christy Filice.

THE WINNER of the Opera Award at the San Jose Opera Guild's auditions recently was Lori Decter, a senior at San Jose State University. She will receive a cash scholarship. and in her winner's role, she will sing arias at a tea given for members and guests of the guild May 22 at the Los Gatos History Club. The day's program will feature a discussion by Barbara Day-Turner, conductor of Opera San José, who will describe the fall opera season.

LOS GATOS High School's Class of 1947 will meet for a 50-year reunion celebration on June 21. A dinner is planned for 7 p.m. at the Villa Felice. John MacDonald will be emcee for an informal after-dinner fest. For questions call MacDonald at 358-1514. The dinner price is $30.

RUNNERS and walkers should gear up now for the Bay Area Lupus Foundation's third annual 5K Run and Walk, scheduled for June 8 at 8 a.m. The course is two times around the West Valley College Campus in Saratoga, site of the Eastfield Ming Quong Strawberry Festival for the first time this year. Participants receive a strawberry and pancake breakfast, T-shirts and goodie bags. BALF is a chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America. For information or to get registered, call 954-8600.

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