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Main Street
Los Gatan at the controls of Battlebots entry
By Mary Ann Cook
TURNAROUND SCHOLARS: Here are the names of the winners of the Los Gatos Kiwanis Club Turnaround Scholarships, awarded recently: Jeremy Bates, Sandra Bryant, Kristi Cuschieri, Lily Foster, Steven Lyman, Emily Reilly and Daniel Sporleder from LGHS; and Joseph Adura-Miranda, Chelsea Purvis and Rachna Shah from Saratoga High.
These students started out poorly in high school for a variety of reasons and then turned their attitudes toward school completely around, so that now all are making exemplary grades as seniors. They received $1,000 scholarships toward further education.
This is the third year the Kiwanis Club has given out these awards and one of last year's recipients, Daniel Nilsen, talked about how meaningful it had been for him. Bob Jones is coordinator of the Turnaround Program and particularly thanked Vince and Sandy Mutascio and Leo Shortino for their generosity.
This program is a highlight of the Kiwanis year, with recipients talking about overcoming adversity--in health, situation or attitude. Dry eyes were hard to find among the assembled. Counselors Gerry Watanabe of LGHS and Gail Wasserman of Saratoga High recommended the students to be honored. Columnist Leigh Weimers emceed in his usual winning way. Trudi McCulloch and Bob Jones are co-chairpersons of the Turnaround Program.
FOOLING THE EYE: Well-known trompe l'oeil muralist John Pugh recently won another competition: this one was for the Arts in Public Places contest, conducted by the city of San Jose. As a result, he'll soon be creating a 12-by-200-foot mural for the front of the Berryessa Community Center.
Pugh, of Los Gatos, has a national reputation after his 23-year career in fool-the-eye murals, several of which can be seen in Los Gatos, i.e. the Honda dealer wall and the wall that encloses Pasta, the Italian restaurant across from the Ferrari dealership.
Besides San Jose and Syracuse, N.Y., Pugh will complete murals for Boise, Idaho; Anchorage, Alaska; Merced and Dublin--all in the coming year.
CULTURAL MISSION TO PARIS: Los Gatos was well represented by a cultural commission to Paris this month. Not surprisingly, the emphasis seemed to be on food and wine, though tourism and cross-cultural strengthening were the ostensible reasons for the trip.
These Los Gatans jetted to Paris on the weeklong excursion: winemaker David Bruce and restaurateurs Emile Mooser of Emile's and Jim Stump of A.P. Stumps. The trip was sponsored by the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau, the SJ airport, the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and American Airlines, which now has a new nonstop from SJ to Paris.
ROBOTIC MAYHEM: One of those participating in the robotics competition called BattleBots over the Memorial Day weekend was Christopher Pate of Los Gatos. In BattleBots remote-controlled robots are pitted against each other in feats of skill and survival.
Technological mayhem ensues, obviously, since spikes, buzz saws and sledgehammers are all part of the action. The competition was held on Treasure Island and edited film of the event will be used as part of Comedy Central's BattleBots programs. BattleBots must be a gadget-lover's dream program.
ACADEMIC HONORS: Named to their respective dean's lists were Kathryn Breed, in the school of education and social policy at Northwestern U., an LGHS grad of '98; and Angelena Parr, who is majoring in baking and pastry arts at the Johnson & Wales University. Johnson & Wales is a career university.
Paul Grewell earned a doctor of medicine degree from New York Medical College this month and received the Leonard Paul Wershub Memorial Award. His residency was in urology at NYMC, with an undergrad degree in molecular and cell biology from UC-Berkeley. He is the son of Sahaj and Amarjeet Grewall of Los Gatos.
WILL HAVE A BALL: Cattle Baron's Ball co-chairs for 2001 are Mary Ellen Comport of Saratoga; Anne Parker of Los Gatos and Helena Chenn Junker of Santa Clara. The ball will roll out on Sept. 29, at Moffett Field and benefits the American Cancer Society.
THEIR 50th: The LGHS class of 1951 will hold its 50th year reunion at the Toll House on Sept. 15. Some 40 classmates are among the missing. If you have any leads to the whereabouts of possible missing classmates, contact: Benny Pierce at 408.356.5414.
FORMER STUDENTS ALERT: If you are a former student of Bob Tetzlaff and would like to help honor him on his upcoming retirement, contact Pamela Nudelman at 408.395.0552. Her email is panacea7@aol.com.
MOUNTAIN ART SHOW: Mountain Art Guild presents its annual art show on June 9, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and June 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Loma Prieta Community Center, 23800 Summit Road. Fifty artists, food and live music promised, all in conjunction with the Santa Cruz Mountain Vintner's Association Festival tour.
A percentage of the art sales will go to the Loma Prieta Schools art programs. For more information, call 408.353.4257.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
