Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Our Town

Bob Aldrich

Museum plans long-term investment for bequests

IF you were wondering how the Los Gatos Museum Association will handle the bountiful bequests left to it by the estates of two former Los Gatos residents, Rosalie Burns and Harriet Mesenberg, the museum board has some answers. The majority of the Burns bequest, about $600,000, will be allocated to "endowment status," assuring a long-term investment. Only the interest from this account would be used for operating needs, while the principal remains intact. A portion of the Mesenberg bequest, some $100,000, will be used to fund much-needed improvements to the two museums when it arrives.

The Museum Investment Committee has met with representatives from Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and the Oakland Museum and is creating a development plan. Meanwhile, certificates of deposit were chosen as the safest, most productive vehicles for the funds. The Investment Committee includes Roberta Blake, Joe Cusick, Pat Dunning, Jim Grupp, Elaine Stanley and Peter Tiernan. The two bequests will be kept in perpetuity, says the committee, to ensure that future generations can enjoy our museums.

MEMBERS of the Museum Association met at Forbes Mill June 7 for their annual meeting and potluck lunch. Nominees were named for a forthcoming election to the directors board.

AN archeology project at Forbes Mill, begun last August under the direction of Pat Dunning, unearthed the back and side walls of the old mill, which was torn down in 1916. Also found were the mill's wheel pit and a brick structure behind the mill that relates either to the Ice Works, which began operations in 1886, or to the powerhouse that began supplying electricity to Los Gatos in 1891. The area had a number of uses after the mill ceased operations in 1887, Dunning said. Also found were artifacts from the mill structure such as nails, bolts and window glass, remains of wooden posts and beams.

The excavation was done last fall by a team from San Jose State University's Archeology Field School and this spring by volunteers from Los Gatos and San Jose. "We would like to keep this area open as a permanent display of part of Los Gatos history," Dunning said.

THE ROLE that agriculture played in establishing Los Gatos and the region is the subject of a new Forbes Mill Museum Agriculture-Industry exhibit. A reception was held June 14. Those attending admired the 8-by-17-foot mural by local artists John Pugh and Carol Huboi, depicting the fruit-growing industry in the early part of the century. Forbes Mill curator Mary Foster plans an exhibit on Women of Los Gatos, to open Sept. 5.

BUDDING actor Jason Baca, a 1992 Los Gatos High School graduate, was recently cast for the film Flubber, starring Robin Williams, due in November. In April of this year Baca appeared in the television series Nash Bridges with Don Johnson, in an episode titled "Open Target." Currently he is cast in a film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt from the TV series Party of Five. The movie is expected in theaters early in 1998.

SANDY Spafford Paulson and Gavilan College head football coach Sam Moore are to be married this month. In preparation Paulson was joined May 22 by friends and fellow 1963 LGHS classmates Joan de Ferrari Winslow, Linda Overshiner Tilton, Sharon Walsh Olson and Geri Sorich for a five-day "bachelorette" affair at Cabo San Jose, Mexico. Paulson has organized a number of LGHS reunions over the years.

FRIENDS of the Los Gatos Library earmarked $7,100 in the past few months so the library could buy new workroom curtains, a microfilm cabinet and video-shelving units. The Friends contributed more funds for children's programs and a summer reading prize, as well as other items.

Proceeds from Friends' book sales bring in approximately $1,100 monthly. Friends' T-shirts and tote bags are also sold. Friends board members Marge Rice and Jan Goldfeder manage the book sales.

At a recent Friends of the Library meeting, Kathy Cusick was elected president; Lesley Dinette, secretary; Harvey Sanner, treasurer. Other executive board members named were Joanne Crum, Dale Hill, Dal Allen, Rita Baum and Mary Ann Cook.

PASTOR of the Los Gatos First Baptist Church Roger McCarty is the speaker at a Red, White and Blue breakfast, sponsored by the Association of Republican Women, June 18 at 9 a.m. at La Rinconada Country Club, with the theme "One Nation Under God." Jeannie McCann is vocalist. The fee is $11. Call Barbara Wales, 379-0727.

TWO LGHS graduating seniors, Deva Dawson and Adelia Barber, each won $1,000 scholarships from Cornish & Carey residential real estate.

LOS GATOS Kiwanis Club presented $1,000 scholarships to LGHS students Emily Wu, Han Lee and Peter Carter.

MANY consumers are concerned about the state-mandated chemical MTBE now in gasoline as an anti-pollutant. There have been complaints about the health risk and possible damage to autos. Tracy Hammeter of the Santa Clara Valley Water District told the Kiwanis Club that not enough is known about its effect in water. A tiny presence of the chemical affects the taste and smell of water, Hammeter said.

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