Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

Lord mayor looks after Los Gatan with lost photo

Photos lost & gained: Patricia Anderson, who works for Coldwell Banker, is a certified international property specialist and member of a prestigious group called FIABCI, which is based in Paris and composed of attorneys, developers, international real estate agents and the like. Yearly the group gathers, and this year's congress was in Dublin.

There they were feted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin himself, Brendan Lynch, and the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of you-know-who. (On her piano were pictures of the Kennedys at play.) This FIABCI group always hobnobs with the top echelon of the hosting country.

A friend took Patricia's picture with the Lord Mayor, but the camera with the picture therein disappeared. Patricia wrote a thank-you to the mayor (officially called the Right Honorable the Lord Mayor Councillor Brendan Lynch, P.C.) and mentioned that the picture had been lost. Not one to miss a photo op, the mayor sent back an autographed picture of himself inscribed with "Best wishes to Patricia," which helped assuage the loss.

The Lord Mayor knows this town because when he comes to the South Bay, he hangs out at C.B. Hannegan's, even though Dublin is a sister city to San Jose rather than Los Gatos. Anderson has been president of the Northern California branch of FIABCI and was secretary general of the World Residential Committee. That sounds even more impressive than that lengthy RHTLMC title affixed to Lord Mayor Lynch. Anderson doesn't know what that P.C. after his name stands for. I suppose personal computer would be a limp guess.

Mother Goose hobbled: Los Gatos' own Mother Goose, Mary Foster, slipped on a step in her garden-in-the-hills and is now outfitted with cast-to-the-knee and a walker. She'll be on the mend for three months, but the broken limb doesn't seem to have slowed her down much. It happened on Thursday. On Sunday, she went to church; on Tuesday, she made jam. . .

SILVER MEDALIST: Sheldon (Shel) Smith brought home second-place honors and a silver medal in bike racing from the second annual San Jose Senior Games July 23 at Hellyer Park Velodrome. Shel was only 15 seconds behind the victor, Dennis Brinley (who formerly biked in England in the winter for conditioning), and third place was won by Dave Ogilvie, 12 seconds behind Smith. The race was six laps around the track, which is 2 km or 1.3 miles. Both road bicycles and track bikes were allowed to compete in this race for seniors age 65-69. Smith rode a road bike. A retired space scientist for NASA-Ames Research, he is chairman of the Trails and Bikeways Committee for the town. Smith lauds the games by saying they give him something to condition himself for, to look forward to, and that the "paltry" registration fee pays him back 100-fold.

winged Women: Theresa Robinson's sculpture series of winged women--angels with a '90s twist--and her distinctive note cards are on sale at the Los Gatos Company on Santa Cruz Ave. in L.G., Marnie and Andy Bivetto's gallery that features fine art and contemporary crafts. "Swimmer from Alcatraz" is a wall hanging crafted of wood and metal, priced at $350. Another piece of hers featured in the front window titled "Masai Figure" is $395. "It's hard to keep her work in stock," says owner Andy Bivetto. "They sell so fast." Robinson creates sculptures with a folk-art feel. Printmaking and etching are also part of her oeuvre. She illustrates sayings, some famous, some not so, with her trademark whimsical line drawings.

canít stand the heat?: Then get into these kitchens; they're probably air-conditioned. To introduce the community to an organization called Ch-Am Circle, a service group of Chinese American women, tours of five area kitchens, new or newly renovated, was held Aug. 3. The kitchens belong to Mabel Lai (owner of Mabel's Lantern House) of Los Gatos and Margaret Gee, Marlene Duffin, Rose Tang and Pat Lum of Saratoga. Outstanding features include a built-in wok (at Lai's), granite island and dinette, handmade tiles picturing anchovies and pears, violet paradiso granite counters and an island sink for vegetables. Ch-Am benefits Self Help for the Elderly in Santa Clara County and disadvantaged children at Agnews Development Center and offers annual college scholarships, among other good works.

GARLIC=HOT: If you've ever been to Gilroy's Garlic Festival, you know it usually coincides with one of the hottest weekends of the year. That's one reason why Los Gatan Mike Miletak's booth was so popular. He sells Misty Mate: a line of cooling products for the out-of-doors, such as mist systems, cool ties, cool wands and stands and foam-blade pocket fans, all designed to soothe those fevered brows. He sells at fairs and by mail only. Call Mike at 356-7409.

FISH STORY: If goldfish in bowls are a current trend in wedding reception decor, can that craze of the '20s, fish swallowing, be far behind?

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