Los Gatos Weekly-Times

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Mary Ann Cook

Meadows team chalked up some serious miles

WALK FOR LIFE: The Let's Get Moving Team from the Los Gatos Meadows was the first set of seniors in the South Bay to participate in the 16-hour (7 p.m.-11 a.m.) walk/run Walk for Life that raises money to fight cancer and support survivors. The Meadows team won a prize for the most laps covered.

The team's goal was 50 miles but they chalked up 73.25. Celia Lawson, at 90 the oldest team member, walked 4.5 miles. Other standouts: Russ Price, 74, clocked nine miles, and Evra Rogers totaled 9.25 miles. Team captains were Lee Hutchinson, 81, and staff member Nancy Castro, both cancer survivors themselves, so those two have a vested interest in the action. The 20-member team wore orange hats and T-shirts reading "Let's Get Moving."

MARATHON MS: Judy Etherington completed her first marathon--all 26.2 miles of it. The Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage took her seven hours and seven minutes, and she emerged weary, but with nary a blister. She met fellow Los Gatan Jeanne Moti at the event.

Moti had not been part of the Leukemia Society training for the marathon, so the two had never met.

More than $3 million was raised for leukemia research in Northern California. Nationally more than $30 million was raised, which included a San Diego marathon and a 100-mile bike ride in Tahoe.

MONTALVO WEDDING: This bride and groom grew up within a mile of each other but didn't meet until they were nearing 30--and thanks to the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company. The bride's mother managed the place, a friend of the groom's worked there and they decided the two would hit it off. Thus did Nancy Stillger and Thomas Ahearn meet and ultimately marry--at Montalvo in June. After the festivities, the couple exited in a prized TR3, owned and restored by the bride's father, Fritz. Her mother, Mimi, when not running coffee shops or helping orchestrate a wedding, volunteers at Elmwood through the literacy program.

The bridegroom's parents are Anne and George Ahearn. Los Gatos attendants were Sharon Beverly McNeil, Jane Beach, Deidre Hughes, Joe Keenan and Greg van Dalen. Nancy Stillger was an Open Space District docent and the first curator of the Ainsley House in Campbell. As Mrs. Ahearn, she's an arts consultant in Seattle. The cake was four-tiered and gift-box shaped, each layer set at an angle and each a different flavor. Overheard at the nuptials: "They were made for each other."

BUG ME: At Vasona Park Youth Science Institute insect zoo you can see hissing cockroaches, African millipedes, walking sticks, scorpions, tarantulas and other stuff to wow the peanut butter set. Look for a lab and classroom to be added to the office soon. Plans are in the works.

Does YSI have the best board in the valley? Executive director Anne Dunham thinks so, and Janice Bastiani of Los Gatos is part of it. This summer the three YSI camps will serve 1,700 campers during one-week stints at Vasona, Sanborn and Alum Rock parks. Now 150 different sessions are offered, reflecting a 60 percent growth in each of the past two years at Vasona and Sanborn. Spaces are still available at Sanborn. Call 356-4945.

The YSI Guild runs the Thrift and Gift Shop at Alum Rock Avenue and White Road. Pam Allison of Los Gatos, Merlene Bottomley of Monte Sereno and Cynthia Allen, Joanne Geggatt and Lyn Johnston of Saratoga are active in the guild.

YSI schedules science safari hikes for the whole family. Mysteries of the Night will be held July 25, 8-11 p.m. Astronomy will be a crucial part of the evening, what with Ralph Libby, a volunteer at Mt. Hamilton Observatory, leading.

BACKSTAGE: "Backstage at the Rep" is July 30, 6-9:30 p.m. to benefit the New America Playwrights Festival, a joint effort of San Jose Rep and Montalvo to be held Oct. 17-18. Besides dinner and drinks, "Backstage" will feature a workshop reading of Legacy. This play is based on Studs Terkel's interviews with achievers beyond retirement age and will be presented at the Rep next season. Cast members will all be 68 or older. Ann Atkinson is chairwoman of "Backstage," and table directors from LG include Jane Decker, Laura Harris, Vickie Kellogg, Elaine Knoernschild and Ginger McDonald. A $100 donation is requested. For tickets, call Tish Bayer at 367-7264.

MARQUEE: Sharp-eyed sportsman Kurt Lemons,who owns Upstream Flyfishing, noted a movie marquee at the Gatos that offered "Shooting Fish" and "Good Will Hunting" on the same bill. Since the marquee was posted during National Fishing Week, Kurt printed a flier with a photo of him in front of the marquee, holding a stuffed fish and admonishing: "As a strong advocate of catch and release, I would like to point out that shooting fish is usually fatal."

JULY MIXER: The Chamber of Commerce mixer will take place at Byington Winery July 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The winery is at 21850 Bear Creek Road.

OCTOBER FETE: Set aside October to celebrate the library's 100th anniversary. There'll be a Victorian tea with a fashion show, a book sale with appraisers and Friday-evening forums throughout the month.

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