Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

Former tourist becomes resident town booster

New Town, new menu: Kerri Dillon answers the call and has for 20 years. She's one of the voices who responds when you call the 411 number for information from the phone company. For the past 10 years she's been coming to Los Gatos on holiday, strictly as a tourist. She stumbled onto our town quite by accident when making a freeway stop from Los Angeles, where she lived. She enjoyed Los Gatos so much she decided to make it an annual destination. Then, a few short months ago, she thought, why not live there, instead of just visiting? So she applied for a transfer, got it and took root in Los Gatos, renting a place a couple blocks from the main intersection of town. Since she doesn't have a kitchen and doesn't like to cook, she eats nearly all her meals out. For a while Andales was her plat du jour. Then, when Mondeo Pronto opened with its international-style "wraps," she added that spot to her repertoire. Other customers were friendly, and she made friends and got acquainted with the town while unwrapping her daily wrap. One day the customer crush was so overwhelming that she began busing tables. This kindly act was noted, and manager Steve Frasch asked her to join the staff. Kerri's been working there ever since, Thursday and Fridays and an occasional weekend. But ask her about Los Gatos, and you'd swear it was the Chamber of Commerce who had employed her.

Fast-drying paint: You may have noticed the man painting watercolors at Main and Santa Cruz a couple of weeks ago. He's a mobile kind of painter so he's probably vanished by now. "I may be gone by tonight," he said, when quizzed. His name is Tyler Wallace, he left home at 13 and he's been on the road ever since. His earthly belongings consist of "two loads of laundry," plus a portfolio of painting supplies. He finishes up two watercolors a day at $40 a clip, and sells them on the spot. Sometimes he earns enough for a hotel room, but usually he sleeps outdoors. When he wants to move on, he hitchhikes his way, sticks to the warmer climes. "It's never going to snow on me again," he vows, when explaining how his paintbrush froze up on his last northern trek. Even Kerri Dillon couldn't talk him into lingering in Los Gatos, citing the lure of the farmers' market and all the weekend tourists.

Baywatch watchers: Flying in for her sister's wedding July 19 was Marleah Leslie, a '79 graduate of LG High. Her public relations firm, Marleah Leslie & Associates, handles a medley of well-known Hollywood names: Tim Allen, Cloris Leachman, Jim Carrey and Pamela Anderson Lee (formerly of Baywatch). Marleah's sister, Heather, married Doug DeMasi in a tented garden wedding at the Leslie home, complete with bagpipes, a harpist and a seven-piece band. Malcolm and Beverly are the parents of the bride: He's a Los Gatos surgeon. There are six girls in the family: The others are Talitha (Thomas), Colleen, Alison and Jennifer (McNeill), who was the m. of h. Kendra Thomas, 9, was flower girl; Joshua Thomas, 10, an usher; and Tom Zumbo, best man. The newlyweds will live in Carson City, Nev., where Heather is a teacher. Alison works at her sister's PR firm; Colleen is in the medical field; Talitha and her husband own a jewelry store; and Jennifer works with computers. Jennifer was married in April, so that makes it three down, three to go for the Leslies, if your thoughts, like mine, turn to Jane Austen when six daughters are mentioned.

Has dulcian, will travel: Peggy Murray will retire Aug. 21 after 912 years as Los Gatos' library director and will pursue a performance degree in early music at UC-Berkeley come fall. For the past 20 years Peggy has been a member of the San Francisco Early Music Society, playing and studying such instruments as the recorder. "I'm a latecomer to music. I always loved Renaissance music, but I didn't get a recorder until I was 32." Now she's more interested in playing the shawm, which is the predecessor of the oboe, and the dulcian, the predecessor of the bassoon. She's been taking lessons on that one for the past three years. Before directing the Los Gatos Library, she served as supervising librarian for eight of the 17 branches of San Jose's libraries. Now she'll be able to devote herself full time to performing on medieval instruments. Planning director Lee Bowman and his wife, Roberta, will hold a retirement reception for her Aug. 28. The search is under way for her replacement, but the applicant doesn't have to own a dulcian.

Friends bid a fond farewell to longtime Monte Serenan Marilyn Zaklan at an afternoon garden party (which included Los Gatans Frances Roberts and Linda Carney). Since most of those gathered were published poets, they were inclined to wax poetic. Marilyn, whose husband, Peter, died a year ago, has sold her Los Gatos house, bought a condo in Rossmoor, and will start a new phase in her life come August.

Garden tour: Patti Hughes, Los Gatos High VIP and VP, gave 12 seniors from the Meadows a tour of her impressive garden up in the Los Gatos hills earlier this summer, a rare treat for all concerned.

[ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ]