Main Street
Golf fundraiser honors the late Duff Thrasher
By Mary Ann Cook
TO HONOR DUFF: In honor of Los Gatan Duff Thrasher, who died from a heart attack on Memorial Day, a golf tournament will be held on Aug. 11, at San Jose Muni. Duff Thrasher would have been 45 on that day. Funds raised will help finance local youth programs, a subject dear to Thrasher's heart.
The Thrashers owned Thrasher Termite and worked closely with real estate agents on house inspections and repairs. He was very involved with youth activities as his three children grew--Lindsey, a sophomore at De Anza College, Garrett, a senior at Leigh High School and Doug at Union Middle School.
Said close friend Mike Fitzsimmons, "He was a special guy, brash and blunt--with a huge heart. It's truly a loss."
Thrasher Termite will continue with Janet Thrasher at the helm. "It's a tribute to him and his employees that it's business as usual," said Fitzsimmons. "He and his wife were a team, both in the business and raising a family. They were beautiful to watch together."
The tournament in his honor is a four-person scramble and the cost is $125. To enter, contact Bill Ready at 408.265.8700, or WHREADY@aol.com. Entries to Thrasher Memorial Youth Fund, c/o San Jose Municipal Golf Course, 1560 Oakland Road., 95131.
YOUTH AWARDS: Joanna Mimi Choi and Richard E. Choi received Commendation Scholarships of $200 each from the Silicon Valley Charity Ball Awards Committee. Richard is a Los Gatos resident and a Bellarmine grad volunteers at Good Samaritan Hospital .
President of the hospital's Junior Auxiliary, he has logged 400 hours of hospital service since '98. He is also active in a jazz band and sports, and plans to study computer technology. Joanna is a graduate of Saratoga High and also volunteers at the hospital.
Vice president of the Junior Auxiliary, she has worked at the hospital for the past three years. She plays flute and piano, and organized a performance for patients this spring with other musically inclined volunteers.
In high school she was on the student council and captain of the cross country team. She will attend Stanford this fall, majoring in human biology.
HE'S # 2, TOO: Here's the second place win Gary Dahl penned in the Bulwer-Lytton (bad writing award sponsored by San Jose State).
"Gwendolyn, a world-class mountaineer, summoned the last of her strength for one more heroic haul on the nylon strap (for she was, after so many failed attempts, dangerously close to exhaustion) and looked heavenward with resolve, aware that, in spite of her fatigue and anguish, she must breach the crevice in one well-coordinated movement, somehow cleave the smooth fissure with the flimsy synthetic strand even though she was chaffed raw by her repeated efforts, or more sensibly, just give the heave-ho to this new-fangled (and painfully small) Victoria's Secret thong and slip into her well-worn--and infinitely more roomy--knickers."
Dahl, as you recall, won the first place award in the international contest, but his favorite entry was the one above. Let's hope that's the last example of bad writing you'll see in this column.
SKYSONG: Dolly Cahill Johnson is a watercolorist who lives on Skyline Boulevard and terms her aerie workplace Skysong Studios. She'll exhibit in the Palo Alto Art Festival on Aug. 26 and 27. "This has been a great year for me," she says, exhibiting in events nearly every weekend since the end of April.
She and husband Bob are the parents of three impressive offspring. The oldest, Ryan, is the recipient of the districtwide Rotary Scholarship for study abroad and also a candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship. Second son Gavin, a member of the Jazz Purrs while at LGHS, is a theater major at Northwestern.
Daughter Kelly plays viola with the San Jose Symphony Youth Orchestra, and is a drum major for the Wildcats Marching Band and for the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, a drum and bugle corps The corps will compete in the international championships in Washington, D.C., next week.
Another corps member and LGHSer competing is Laura Murphy, who plays baritone horn. Other Los Gatans heading for the contest are Andrew Wooster and Jennifer Leong, members of the color guard; and Kenny Leong on the contrabass. These three are members of the Mandarins, a Sacramento-based team, since their coach directs both the Winterguard at LGHS in winter and the Mandarins in the summer.
ART RECEPTION: A reception for the four watercolorists showing at the L.G. Art Museum will be held on Aug. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the museum. The artists are Ruth Morrow, Claire Schroeven Verbiest, Kay Carnie and Karen Honaker.
YOUNG THESPIANS: Two Saratogans are in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," playing until Aug. 6, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, a production of the Peninsula Youth Theatre. Fiona Lawson plays the narrator and Peter Thuener is Issachar.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
